ASA Instructor Qualification Clinic Training – 118 Docking Endorsement IQC
ASA 118 Docking Instructor Qualification Clinic
Becoming an Instructor
Prospective instructors must demonstrate command of the topic, pass a written test, and instruct in that topic to other instructors and the instructor’s instructor.
ASA instructors, though licensed captains, must pass qualification tests through American Sailing for every level of certification they wish to instruct.
It’s very intense to pretend to teach captains with as much or more experience than yourself.
Docking Clinic
For our docking clinic, we had three candidates. All three of us work as captains for St. Augustine Sailing and know each other, making the instructional sections even more challenging because we know that each of us already knows the topics. One of the captains is one of my former students who has become an instructor, Nuri, to the left here.
Our Class Makeup
In my recent clinic, out of the three instructors testing, I probably was the middle knowledge person. One of my former 101/103/104 students has gone on to earn his captain’s license, and has become an instructor at the school where I teach – St. Augustine Sailing. The other ASA instructor from our facility has decades of experience. All three of us were very familiar with the boats we used for the clinic.
Practical Segment
First, we headed to the boat to teach a practical segment.
We each had to go through our topic as if the other “students” (us) had no familiarity with the topic or skill. It was odd to “teach” instructors with more experience than myself!
Skills Proficiency Demonstration
Next we demonstrated proficiency by putting the boat through a series of maneuvers.
Part of this segment was determining how to adjust actual classes to our twin-rudder Jeanneau 349’s for the purposes of the course. Maneuvers like the standing turn are slightly different due to the vessel configuration.
Lesson Plan Time
This is where I have the advantage – I also teach for a high school, so I’m able to construct complicated lesson plans in under five minutes complete with success criteria, learning targets, and lesson objectives. Add to that 30 years of teaching experience as well as a master’s degree in teaching adult learners, and I can come up with some strong methods for instruction.
Docking on the White Board
For my white board instruction, I chose a lesson that would give opportunity for each instructor to speak, allowing them to demonstrate understanding of the topic. Of course, I knew my “student” are actually licensed captains, but the gist was to demonstrate that I, as the instructor, could judge if individual students were following the theoretical practice of docking.
Textbook Lesson
In building my lesson, I listened to what our instructors’ instructor suggested, and did exactly that.
Our instructor reminded us that we were not there to show how much we knew, but if our students were learning.
My Lesson
I presented a scenario with a “T” dock, wind direction, and several docking choices. We discussed the pros and cons of each choice, chose the “best” and “worst” choices, and what factors made each choice more or less desirable.
For each docking choice, I alternated asking the particular benefits and drawbacks of each option.
The Other Lessons
Truthfully, I was so relieved to have finished my lesson that I don’t remember much of the other two lessons.
I passed!
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