KISS - Keep it simple stupid

I've been teaching stuff for a long time, although I haven't always been employed as a teacher;

Here I am in the Brecon Beacons teaching climbing. Before I was a teacher, I taught principles of flight, marksmanship, lifesaving, swimming, water polo, map skills, mountaineering, rifle drills. I've been a mountain instructor and a other stuff too.

By 14 I was teaching adults how to safely use a variation on the SA80.

From this age, I was introduced to a simple way to start learning, and I still use it now:

INTRO. For:

Interest - motivate, spark, inspire

Need - why is what you're about top learn important. Trust me, that's simpler to do when related to firearms.

Title - this is kind of important.

Revision - or how does this learning link to others

Objective - behavioural linked in the RAF, but objectives are important.

This got me thinking about other routines. One that I am a firm believer in is a strong routine for the beginning of a lesson. This sets the tone for behaviour and sets a positive climate for learning. Being a nomadic teacher means that I don't have a classroom so they have slipped, but I used to:

Meet them at the door and say something to each and every one of them

Have something for them to do straight away

Erm, that's it.

PRINT

Another helpful routine for transitions that I came across and still use, although not always explicitly is PRINT

Purpose - why are they about to do this activity?

Resources - what will they need? Are they available? Where are they?

In or out of seats - make this explicit

Noise - silence, partner, pair or group voice

Time - how long do they have?

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David Rogers

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