How to Stomp Yer Teaching Segment

By Roark Congdon

Winter 2003

1. RELAX!
2. SMILE!
3. MOVE! Free run for purposes of MA, if you are going to teach dynamic skidding for instance, take a run or a half a run, and watch your group do some of the desired tasks, (if it’s a real lesson, watch your student) as examiners, we don’t like to stand around. Real students are often on their first fun of the day, give them a chance to WARM UP!*
4. WHAT! What are we going to do today is X.*
5. WHY! The reason we are going to work on X is Y. e.g. The reason we are going to ride switch today is it’s fun, cool, and sometimes when we huck we land backwards and we need to be able to ride away like rock stars!*
6. HOW! How are we going to do this is by……..We will start our in this position, the ANKLES will be in this position, the KNEES will be in this position, and the HIPS will be in this position. At this point in the turn (TIMING) we will take BODY PART X and do Y (push, pull, flex, extend, shove, relax, turn, twist, tweak or straighten) this much or this hard (INTENSITY) for this long (DURATION) at which point we will take body part X, Y or Z and (more TID bits until the process of the turn is explained fully).*
7. DO! Give your students a demo and DO what you said you would do, show what you said. If you feel you botched your demo, that’s cool tell your group or, alas, your examiner, you did not feel comfortable with your demonstration, or the terrain you chose and do it over. A side note, tell your students where to meet, as you will be well below them when it is their turn to ride. Try to do this before you ride away, as opposed to when you are riding away. * Mileage is key here so use a lot of the run. You can’t learn anything in a hundred yards.
8. FEEDBACK! Watch your students, five them individual feedback. It is OK to give the same comments and tips to more than one student. Remember, when giving feedback, be positive, negative, positive, our ego’s are fragile, if you belittle them they won’t be back!*
9. PROGRESSION! If this process if REPEATED say three times, rode a lot, been ENTERTAINING and the exercises presented use skill that build upon each other, you have most likely presented a logical progression.**
10. WRAP IT UP! *Summarize, in the theater it is called denonoument (pronounced den me you wah) in the original Star Trek it was the part at the end of the show when Dr. McCoy mocked Spock and Kirk said, “Ahead, warp factor one Mr. Sulu.”
11. WAIT ‘TIL THE END OF THE DAY TO PICK UP YOUR SHINY PIN OR GIGANTIC TIP!

*Check for understanding “Does this make sense?”

**Bonus points are given in exam situations for creative and unconventional teaching, your pin will be just a bit shinier, your tip will be a bit larger, and everybody’s day will be better.