Sailing Instruction at WoodenBoat School: Lessons in Teaching, Learning, and Reflection

Elements of Sail classes at WoodenBoat School are unique in several ways. First, you get to sail on the most beautiful small wood boats you can imagine. Second, you have not one but two instructors, and two coaches, and an additional waterfront staffer helping students. Usually up to 12 students rotate between four boats. There is one teacher per boat for a variety of sailing and maneuvering instructional sessions. As an instructor, deliberate practice and reflection on lessons learned is something I value. In the previous article, I spoke about what I learned from my students and how I will adjust instruction accordingly. Now I take a look at how my instructional practices will be affected by my peers’ teaching styles.

From my co-instructor Dave, I learned that the students’ reflections we instituted are essential. It’s added learning to take advantage of the power of 11 different people.

They bring different experiences, even when reflecting on the exact same maneuver. The power of that is immeasurable, and experiences will come up that benefit everyone.

From waterfront manager, Rick, I learned to keep a straight face. Always smile, relax and enjoy the process. Teach, teach, teach.

Stick to the topic at hand, listen intently, ignore outside clutter. He also demonstrated how waiting to respond can allow students time to self-reflect and often answer questions for themselves.

From Rene on the waterfront, I am reminded that the best sailing instruction is to teach others.

The more you teach, the more you analyze, and the more you learn.

In three weeks, I saw her skill level expand exponentially simply from instructing others. She’s a natural sailor, and, a natural teacher.

From Andy on the waterfront, I learned that my fellow instructors are just as excited about the beautiful wooden boats as I am.

Somehow, I thought I was the only one over the moon about the wooden boats we sail. It was gratifying to learn others were as star-struck as I over their beauty and grace.

From Roger in another class, I learned to not make assumptions.

Even though someone is at WoodenBoat School; they often are quite open too experiences on fiberglass boats.

I was shocked that people asked about taking sailing classes with me down in Florida on fiberglass boats.

One last reflection. Students sometimes will sign up for a class and have far more or far less experience than the class requires.

Don’t assume everyone has the same level of knowledge. Some students will sign up for a class due to availability instead of ability. You must find a way to bring them up to everyone else’s level without slowing down the entire class. In comes that differentiated instruction mentioned in the last article.

What I learned from the other instructors the week of July 13-18. Check out the previous article for lessons learned from my students. Don’t forget to subscribe so you receive notifications of upcoming articles.

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• Mustang Survival pfd’s and foul weather gear for military specifications equipment.
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• Girls That Scuba – members discount card for all things diving.
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