Did anyone have any triumphs in their LTS classes this week?

I have to share mine: We are in week 6 of 8 of our current session. I'm only teaching snowplow 1 this time around, a group of about 7. This time around three or four of them took more than 2 classes to get up on their own (rare- most are able to get it by the end of 2 classes if not the first one), but all but one of them got it by the fourth class. My last one- who didn't even move at all the first class (just stood terrified, but did arm motions), but managed to slowly started inching across the ice by the second class, finally stood up on his own this week. He did it twice, so I'm checking it off!

I am so so pleased, because it's so hard to not pass the snowplow 1 kids, especially the ones who are old enough to understand level promotion. The elements are so basic, that it seems like if they are older than a young 3 they should get it in 8 weeks. The only kids I've held back have just lacked the muscle development due to age. This is a 4 year old, so I'm really really glad I can move him on now. He's been marching slowly, but well, and can wiggle, and dip, it was just the getting up that was giving him problems!

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-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)

Congratulations for a job well done! I've had the occasional 4 yr old who just wasn't physically ready, and more that were in terrible skates. The skates are more easily fixed . If you get one who is too scared to make the effort, you could suggest a few private lessons for her/him. Just one or two private lessons can make all the difference at that age.

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Thought I would add this week's story to this thread- it deals with the same thing: getting up.

All the kids in the class can get up on their own now, but some take SO long. They flop around like fish out of water trying to get me to pick them up, which I resist for as long as I can, even usually getting down on the ice to coach them through standing up (just depends if my knees hurt worse than my back will after a day of picking them up!). I usually have them give me 5 earnest efforts, then lift them up. They are wasting their time in class, my time watching them, and creating a hazard by laying on the ice kicking around. Only 1 or 2 get up quickly each time.

So at the end of the class we played a game. I counted to three, and we all fell down as quickly as possible (this to help the kids who still take ages to fall when we play "elevator" doing dips- they are so timid) then once everyone was on their bottoms with their hands over the head, I counted to three and said "up" and we raced to see who could get up fastest.

I did the standard "like a doggie, one foot up, push on knee" get up the first few times, so I was going slowly, and my co-teacher got up quickly. Half the kids beat me. And those who didn't weren't too far behind. (I did that slowly so they'd all have a chance to feel successful.) So we did this for almost 5 minutes, and even after I started getting up at my normal speed (um, I'm a bit slow) one or two of them were still able to beat me. Some of them even gave my co-teacher (a novice man) a run for his money on getting up fastest.

Those little stinkers are just so LAZY! They'd rather flop around on the ice than get up. But not only can all of them do it, they can get up fast! I was also really impressed at how fast some of the ones who are usually timid were able to fall. I think this "race" will be good for them in that respect too. Getting rid of the fear of falling is never a bad thing!

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-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)

My 60-something year old lady, who last year had Frankenstein arm issues and could barely skate around the rink (with someone else coaching her) is now doing crossovers regularly--and today she started outside edges on a line and did her first spin! She has made more progress, given where she started from and where she's at now, than any of the kids I'm working with, although some of them have made great strides too!

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You miss 100% of the shots you never take.--Wayne Gretzky

My Basic 2 class is muddling along. We made real progress on the 2-footed 3turns, except for the whimpering child. lol She just kept whimpering like a puppy while practicing on the line. It was comical because I wanted to start whimpering too - about teaching kids who don't appreciate my efforts! lol This poor kid was promoted to Basic 3 and "sent back down" so she's very unhappy, but she really belongs in Basic 2.

Three of the four teens are angry with me because I moved up one of their friends to Basic 3 the second week of classes. They still need to learn the Basic 2 skills, but their friend could manage everything in that level. We split the Basic 2 class up, so I let them go to the other teacher's group. Figured it saved face, right? Politics on the ice, sigh. Too bad - I liked those teens.

I teach two groups of Freeskate 1-3 back-to-back. In the first class, I have one (1!) FS1 student. She gets a private lesson during the group class. In my second group, I have four FS1 students and 1 each FS2 and FS3. I think I'm going to get the numbers of the FS1 students and ask the parents to switch to the earlier class. They'll get a better lesson since it will be focused on what the FS1 skaters need to work on and the class will be pretty much the same size. It'll also make the FS2/FS3 students more productive since we can focus on their problem areas.

My Basic 7/8 class is okay. I have two B7's - one is strong and can move up to B8; the other might have to repeat the level because she can't figure out left from right or forward from backward - it's very strange. "Skate forward..." means nothing to her - I never know what she's going to do! lol She might even repeat the level, eek. The B8's are doing well, but 2 out of 3 aren't strong skaters to begin with. I've been doing drills to get them moving smoothly and with speed. By the time you get to Basic 8, you should be able to push forward properly, IMO.

Highlight of the week: one of my private students, who has been struggling, added practice time to her schedule and now she's got strong outside edges and speed for the first time. Her jumps are getting recognizable, and she actually did a few good spins. Best of all: she can do all four basic mohawks and her threes are getting there. She's got a month before the synchro class starts and I think she'll do well!

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Funny how that practice time helps, isn't it

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-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)

It really does make all the difference. I have a student who struggled along always a bit unbalanced, who began skating three to four times a week. Bingo - he's so clearly at ease on the ice now, and is really making progress week to week.

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Most of my Basic 2 students are ready to move up in two weeks to Basic 3. Two students are still lagging behind, so I'll probably keep them in B2 for another session. I wish they'd use the free public session card to practice, but it doesn't seem to happen. If you only skate during your lesson, it's more of a supervised practice than a lesson, sigh.

I already moved up one of my Basic 7 students, the other is still struggling with mohawks. She's little, so I gave her an imaginary beachball to hold over her free hip inside the circle- that helped her check, but she'll need tons of practice to get it by next week. The Basic 8's are all pretty much good to go, but they're choppy when they do their maneuvers. I saw five OUTSTANDING Mazurkas last night - I'm so proud, sniff.

I hope we bring back the power skating group lesson soon - I would suggest it to all the Basic 7 and Basic 8 kids. It would make these levels easier if they had speed and control together. There are two camps: skaters with control who trudge along at a snail's pace and skaters with NO control who zip along 100 mph....on the same circle, lol. It's a collision waiting to happen, lol.

One of my private students is doing GREAT - her edges are 100% better than they were two months ago. Her turns are improving each week. I chalk it all up to practicing. She comes one extra freestyle and hangs out with my twins. I go on the ice to supervise while I goof around with my bad footwork, mainly because the high-level skaters are on the same session and I don't want the kids to get mowed down.

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I've unfortunately gotten stuck again with a difficult group. This is at a different rink than I usually teach and and I always get stuck with a tough group whenever I agree to go teach a session there. I swear, no more, I'm not doing this rink again!

The problem is it's an odd mix of tots, I have two or three that can stand on up on their own, two that don't listen at ALL, and will either sit or roll around on the ice, one today whose father puts him out without gloves so I gave him mine, and the kid then refused to listen and when I tried to help him, he just flopped around. He ended up crawling off about halfway through too. I can't get them all standing at the same time. If I can get a couple standing, sometimes they'll march. It's the ones that aren't listening to me that's the problem. The one that was rolling around on the ice, the mother took off about halfway through. Another one that wouldn't listen or stand, when I gave him back to the mother at the end, she said to him "I'll be out in a few minutes and I'LL show you what to do" (they have public skate after the lessons). I didn't spend a ton of time with the kid since he wouldn't do anything for me. He wouldn't do anything with her either.

Of course I don't show it on the ice, but I'm extremely frustrated with this group. It feels like I have no control over them since a bunch of them won't listen or try. I got a few of them marching today, but then they leave behind the ones that won't stand up. I really am at a bit of a loss with this one. I know they'll be marching more next week, and I really don't want to have to go back and forth between a set of marching kids and a set that is sitting on the ice.

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"Where are we going and why are we in this handbasket?"

How old are they? If you can scrounge up some small stuffed animals, or buy some at your local dollar store, that can help a lot. Draw a couple of parallel lines on the ice, about 4 ft apart. Put the kids behind one line and give each of them an animal. Then have them throw their animals over the other line and go get them. You can move them back and forth that way. The ones who won't get up might do it for an animal, and meanwhile, you are controlling where the moving ones are going. You can also draw an "adventure" trail on the ice with zig zags and various things to do as they learn them. I do an "up" arrow for a little jump, \ / marks for marching, parallel lines for a glide, a pinwheel for turning around once, etc. Another way to try to get them going and control where they go, is to "race" them from one point to another (cones are good for that, but you can also draw lines). Tell them that if they pick up both feet, keep their arms out, and look ahead then you are not allowed to pass them and they can beat you. The kids love it when they win, and I skate behind them calling out to them about arms, feet, etc. You can take some who aren't moving by the hands, one in each hand on either side of you, and help them along if they are willing. Ultimately, though, there are going to be a rare few who will just not respond for whatever reason. Sometimes they don't want to skate at all, they are cold or uncomfortable, they are afraid, they want mommy, etc. Good luck with this one!

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Stormy - Do you start your class with a few warmup exercises and some off-ice falling and getting up? I find it helps them warm up in both body and personality, lol. You can sing "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes" while tapping each body part, or London Bridge ("We all fall down...") Songs really help - I use "Hickory Dickory Dock" for marching and gliding.

For under-6 skaters, just let them have fun and become comfortable on the ice. Don't worry about the skills too much - kids who listen and try will advance, the ones who don't want to learn will repeat. If a child is disruptive, try playing the guilt card: "Your mom told me you were a good boy who was going to try his best. Get up now and show mom how you can try."

I'm sorry, but that mother who was going to "show you what to do" is crazy. If her child needs a secret signal to cooperate, he's going to be a nightmare in any school setting. Sounds like you have less than 10 in your group, which is tiny compared to a classroom setting of 20-30 students. She needs to have her son learn to adapt to learning situations instead of being cajoled and coddled. (Maybe she plans to homeschool? *shrug*)

Here's my best toddler secret: you can tell them not to cry. ROFLOL! I only figured this out last year, after watching my kids' Tae Kwon Do instructor use it on a youngster in his class. The kid started crying because he couldn't do some move or another. (He cried during almost every class, but he was only 3 or 4 at the time.) The Master took him aside and said "I know you're getting frustrated, but I also know you can do this. Crying is makes it harder to do things and holds up the whole class. You need to try more and don't cry."

I used the tactic with the next meltdown in my own tot class and it worked! The kid sucked it up, stopped crying, and is still skating two years later. I think the key for her was that I just asked her to TRY, I didn't tell her to "DO IT!" I also stopped focusing on her alone. I took her to the side, said my peace, and then told her to rejoin the rest of the class when she was ready. Her mother gives her a lollipop after every class if I give her a thumbs up that the skater TRIED, lol. It works!


One of the ladies who coaches the "Mice on Ice" class bought big sponges at a dollar store. She drew pictures on the ice with markers and then had the kids erase them with the sponges. The game got the crawlers moving around, and they soon realized that the skating group was passing them by, so they got up on their feet.

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For tots, we will often have a "picnic" on one of the red dots with a camp fire...we have hotdogs, and hot chocolate, and marshmallows, but, what ruins a picnic more than ants??? so, I have the kids get up and squish all the ants...it works pretty well...

We also play simon says a lot...with "Simon says smile really big, Simon says wave to mommy and daddy!"

Apparently I am VERY amusing when I teach tots

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Skating Dreams

"All your life you are told the things you cannot do. All your life they will say you're not good enough or strong enough or talented enough; they will say you're the wrong height or the wrong weight or the wrong type to play this or be this or achieve this. THEY WILL TELL YOU NO, a thousand times no, until all the no's become meaningless. All your life they will tell you no, quite firmly and very quickly. AND YOU WILL TELL THEM YES." --Nike

We do start every lesson with sitting down and getting up, several times since I have so many struggling to get up. I haven't brought out the animals yet, I thought about it in yesterday's class and I defintiely will next week. They're all about ages 3-5, maybe one is 6. I'm definitely not worried about skills at this point, but they all should be capable of getting up and at least trying to march in place, if not forwards.

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"Where are we going and why are we in this handbasket?"

It may be a behaviour modification schooled behaviour. When we're working with kids affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder or other behavioural challenges, (I'm a special education teacher, behavioural), we sometimes teach them specific "cues" to help them with behaviour. I.E., tapping a desk to get their attention, a smile and 2 nods to signal approval, a frown and two shakes to signal disapproval, etc. If the kid is in process with BMod, then, whatever the mom tells you might really help; in my classes, it's a godsend when I know what the kid has been taught to respond to. It's worth a shot, and it might also help the kid learn better (or, you're right, he might just be a spoiled kid who has got mom trained - !).

Play popcorn on the ice. My daughter does this ... she sits on the ice, bounces on her bottom, bounces up on her knees, bounces up on to one knee, and then up ... all the time making popping popcorn noises. She's a real clown with the tiny ones, so she gets them giggling so hard that they bounce right along with her.

Of course, she's 14, and has the young knees and bottom that make this easier - !

I do see your point, but I think that mother would have explained it as a special situation instead of coming across as so condescendingly to the instructor. Parents that I've met who have kids with ADHD or autism-spectrum diagnoses are usually pretty forthcoming afterwards when they see the kid giving the teacher a hard time. I've never met one that questioned my teaching or communications abilities - they can't expect a skating instructor to be an expert on challenged kids.

I've taught Aspberger-afflicted students in three states. Those parents have ALWAYS clued me into their verbal cues before or after the first lesson, such as "Let me see your eyes", "() focus, please", etc.

I wonder you could ask if the child has a special learning need? Hmmmm.... might offend her unless the question was posed right after the mom tells the coach that they're teaching wrong. Then it would be okay, I think, to ask.

I'm still not convinced that this is a special-needs situation, unless it's not been addressed/diagnosed. I guess that's possible, right?

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The mom wasn't saying it to me, she said it to her son as I handed him off. She was implying I didn't know what to do and that she'd have to teach him, that's how it came off to me at least. The kid is small, I'm pretty sure he's 3, maybe 4. I watched the mom try to teach him on the public skate and he wouldn't really do anything for her either and she was speaking to him in sharp tones.

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"Where are we going and why are we in this handbasket?"

Know what? I've taught my own kids and it's never pretty....lol Especially when I make them practice MITF, which I'm off to do now!

Stormy - I usually give out stickers after tot classes, but our hockey LTS guy gives out Starburst candies. I had one tot in a parent&me class who would REFUSE to get on the ice until he saw the hockey coach come out with his little candy bucket. Then the little stinker would be on the ice in a shot!

If that were my kid, I wouldn't let him take a piece. Then again, I'm mean. See: teaching own kids/not pretty, lol.

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I always hesitate to bring out the stuffed animals for my classes, but when I do, the kids always light up and are motivated even to do the most simple things. They love those damn toys! I put a basket halfway down the ice and have them put the animals into the basket. Throwing the animals away is good, but only works for the kids who don't get attached to them immediately. My kids love stickers, too. I totally bribe them with stickers - "Be good and do what I say, or you might not get a sticker!" Muahaha.

As for that mom, some parents are just impossible. You can't please everyone, and very few 3-year-olds are ready for a full-on LTS class anyways. Even a lot of 4-year-olds aren't ready.

I NEVER hesitate to bring out the beanie babies. I think we use them every class.

We put them in rows and march in and out of them (or do curves if it's a high level... that rarely happens). We swizzle over the line. We rocking horse over a single one. We throw them and go pick them up. We balance them on our head and do dips or march across the ice (no looking down or the ice monster will eat them!). Kids LOVE the beanie babies. In the freestyle classes I've taken we've even had to balance them on the back of our hands while doing figure 8 crossovers.

The rink also has a set of plastic bowling pins in different colors. For the tots we will place one of each color around the hockey circle and have them take the rest and match the colors. Or for the non-moving class we'll set them up and let them slide hockey pucks at them. For the older kids we'll set them up like a bowling alley and have them skate towards them, and stop right before they get there for opposite bowling (don't hit any down.)

I wish we had markers, but there is just no where around here that sells ones that will write on the ice for more than 20 seconds. Apparently the store that used to carry them stopped.

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-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)

I use colored beanbags instead of beanie babies - same idea. It works really well, as Skittl described. I also stole her idea of the plastic bowling pins last session, and that was a hit, too. My kids didn't quite get the point of "reverse bowling" - they fixated on "don't knock them down" instead of "practice stopping" and would glide around the formation of pins so they wouldn't hit any. I drew a "lane" on the ice that they had to stay inside, and modified the game so that we try to knock down ONLY the first pin. That seemed to work better.

I use the giant Avery washable markers. I can't get them at my local office supply place any more, either, but ordered a dozen on line. You can get them in black, red, and blue. The different colors are good for drawing balloons for the Snowplows to "pop" by stamping on them.

I always use Crayola washable markers. The ink comes off the ice and mittens, hands, clothes, etc. They're considerably cheaper than the Avery ones, but they don't last as a long, so they end up costing about the same amount of money.

Whenever you get a new marker, test it on a hockey line first. If it comes off the ice, you're golden. Not all come off in one or two ice cuts. (Esp. RoseArt brand - they last for at least a dozen cuts. We should use those to draw out the MITF patterns, lol.)

I have some penguin bowling pins that used to be inflatable. Sadly, some of the skaters insisted on kicking and stepping on the poor penguins. It was always the boys, for some reason! I salvaged them by using fiberfill stuffing, but the penguins are at the end of their lives.

I liked them because they're just the right height for beginners to reach without getting nervous and falling. As they progress in skating, I'd lay the penguins down to make it more challenging. Of course, they make great cones for slaloms. They're easy to grip (because they're soft) so I can get kids to hold up both their arms by putting a penguin in each hand and telling them to "give the penguins a tour - make sure they can see where they're going!"

The penguins each have different numbers and can be paired by tie color. I had the toddlers pick them up and bring them to the glass, lining them up in order so we could count off, or I'd say "I need a penguin with a .... YELLOW tie!" and they'd scamper off to get the right one. It was a fun learning experience. Only works with a handful of kids because I only had a half-dozen penguins, lol.

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