To NECCA I go: Teaching training workshop, part 2

So, after the completion of day two, I still feel like the worst spotter/instructor in the room. Maybe that’s because I can’t see what anyone else beyond the small groups I work with are doing, or maybe I feel that way because I keep ending up with people who already teach and know what they doing, or maybe I just really lack confidence in this and need to build it up. It’s probably a mixture of all three, but at least the people I work with don’t seem to be holding it against me. In fact, I kind of like working with people who already teach, because they seem to be happy to teach me how to spot.

I also got hit in the nose with the end of a trapeze in the morning. That didn’t exactly help my confidence. And I accidently felt up someone’s butt (when I thought I was holding onto their sacrum) while I was trying to spot them through a bird’s nest pose. I will improve with practice, right?

Something new we talked about yesterday was learning styles: visual, auditory, and kinetic. I’ve known for some time that I’m pretty strongly kinetic in my learning style (apparently it’s a fairly small portion of the public that is, around 10%). For one thing, when I’m in a fabric or knitting store, or shopping for clothing, I MUST TOUCH EVERYTHING. If it doesn’t feel nice, I’m not interested.

How does being a kinetic learner factor into my aerials training? For one thing, I have what I call, a "gold fish brain" when it comes to learning new moves. As much as I try to position myself in a good spot to see what the instructor is doing, and hear what they’re saying, once I get up on the apparatus to try the move myself, I’ll almost immediately ask, “Okay, so what do I do now?”. Then I need to be walked through the steps again. The good thing is, once I get something in my brain and body, it’s pretty much in there…but only if I totally get it.

If I haven’t mastered something by the end of the class, chances are I’ll need the instructions over and over again until the information and my body click to perform the manoeuver I was struggling with.

Everyone’s learning style is different, and most people aren’t 100% one type of learning style only. In terms of teaching it means that you have to use a variety of techniques to demonstrate and show students how to accomplish aerial skills. It means I have to think of ways that maybe somewhat foreign to me of explaining how to do things to others. It’s a challenge, but hopefully one I can rise to.

Ciao.