Teaching Basic 8 Group Lessons

[Luckster013]

Ok, this is probably a stupid question, but what are the qualifications for teaching group basic 8 lessons?

I mean, if your a good skater it probably wouldn't take much to teach a group of kids how to forward stroke, right? I really really want to do that except, i'm not a coach:(

I can kind of remember my basic 2 teacher but I dont think she was a real coach. She wasn't wearing the coach jacket and I never saw her again. She was a good teacher though!!!

So, is it up to the rink to decide who teaches? Can you volunteer, or is it some superserious-seniorlevelskater-passedallyourtest-job?

Thanks!!!!!!

[jskater49]

Actually you would be surprised how hard it can be to teach someone how to do something that comes easily to you. You really should have some training to teach. Because you need to be able to see why a kid is having trouble doing something.

I actually find it easier to teach 3 turns than swizzles because I remember learning 3 turns and I know what I've done wrong and can see it in someone else. Swizzles come so naturally to me I find it quite challenging to help out a kid who just doesn't get it.

j

[Clarice]

Rinks generally set their own qualifications for the instructors they hire to teach in their Basic Skills programs. At ours, you need to be over 18 and have insurance, either through the PSA or US Figure Skating. They do use younger skaters as assistants, though. I'm an Adult Silver skater, and I've been teaching Basic Skills for several years now. My classes are generally Basic 3 and lower, at my request. I would not feel qualified to teach someone to jump. Besides having skating skills considerably higher than the levels I teach, I'm also a certified teacher, so I have good classroom management skills, and am particularly good at dealing with the little ones in the Snowplow class. Being a mom helps, too! :) I'm always learning better ways to teach the skills - I'm happy with the new Basic Skills Instructor Manual this year, and am finding it more helpful than the last version.

[phoenix]

Most rinks will start you out by putting you in as a helper to a coach in a group class. That way you can observe and learn as you help teach the kids. Eventually you can work your way up to having your own classes, depending on what the rink requirements are. You should talk to the skating school director to see if they will let you volunteer as a helper/apprentice.

And yes, it can be very hard to teach something as *deceptively* simple as forward stroking. It takes a lot of time "practice" teaching before you get really good at it. I was a helper for 3 years before I got any classes of my own. I didn't get paid, but I did get free ice time in return.

[Kim to the Max]

I also started off as a helper for different classes (anywhere from SS to FS). I then was given my own Snowplow class during a busy session, and taught on my own from then on. I taught anywhere from Snowplow Sam 1 to beginning freestyle. My compensation was generally an ice punch card corresponding to how many sessions I taught (1 teaching session = 1 skating session).

Where I live now, I am unable to teach because they require one to have passed their Juvenile FS test. While I have passed my MITF, I have not completed my FS test that high.

[becky_girl]

...even the basic learn-to-skate programs (CanSkate i.e., skills such as gliding, stopping, turning) a person needs to be certified.
To apply to take the courses to become certified, one needs prerequisite test levels, e.g. Junior Bronze FreeSkate, just to apply for the CanSkate (learn-to-skate) Coach Course.
Skate Canada has implemented changes in coaching requirements; the Association requirements/training is now akin to becoming an elementary school teacher. Even creating written "lesson plans" for the very basic of group learn-to-skate lessons.


http://www.skating-wos.on.ca/coaches/howto.htm

[slusher]

You need preliminary freeskate at the least and then a higher skill or dance. I coach Canskate, okay, not even canskate, it's Kidskate, this is what our club calls a program for 3 & 4 year olds. There's no possibility I'd be teaching these tots a lutz, so skating wise I'm totally overqualified. (yes I can teach higher but I choose to do this program) However, that program IMHO is the most difficult to teach because in the 30-45 minutes they're on the ice, they need to be kept moving and active and they can't do anything! I start a new session of them today, and yes, I did write out a "lesson plan" because if I tried to wing it, I would have run through all of my activities in the first 10 minutes and then be stuck. My lesson plan is:

lie on the ice
sit on the ice
circle game and introduce ourselves
------so that's the warm up

the actual lesson:

getting to their feet


cool down:
clapping game. Hopefully they're on their feet by then.
Stickers and bye bye

So, there is the need to have skating background and to know the basic movements, teaching getting to their feet can be done badly, honestly!, but there is an entire set of planning, time management and personality skills that is required too. Skate Canada has really changed their coach program to emphasize planning. Some of it is useful and some of it is....... :frus:

[Skate@Delaware]

This really hit me today because my "highest" class is just now learning basic stroking. I just started teaching and have only passed ISI tests. But, as someone else said, I am a mom and can explain things, but would not want to teach anyone to jump. I will move them on to another instructor.

Our "beginner" instructors start as helpers and if they show they can handle it-they are given 1-3 students to teach basice things (Basic 1 or Snowplow 1-2).

Our skating director decides who is able to teach (hires/fires etc). She also gives advice for those students who seem "stuck" as well as the instructor.

[Isk8NYC]

It really does depend on the school's director. Some are weak and just hire anyone they like or can get. The best program I've taught in had a rule that instructors had to pass Preliminary MITF/FS before they could teach groups above Basic 8.