Principles of Teaching

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Principles of Teaching

• Presented by Guy Edson
• American Swimming Coaches Association
• Also coaching a novice team in Fort Lauderdale

If you would like a copy of the presentation,
please send an email that includes your snail
mail address to gedson_at_swimmingcoach.org 800-356-
2722
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Whats Wrong With These Kids?

• Try this question instead
• What can I do to get my points across?
• This presentation is about finding a way to
  effectively teach skills.

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Teaching is a skill therefore

• It can be learned
• It can be improved
• It needs to be practiced, or
• It can be forgotten
• Just as we would expect our swimmers to improve,
  we should also expect our coaching skills to
  improve. Congratulations on joining this training
  session!

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Thorndikes Three Laws of Learning

• Law of Readiness
• Create an environment, or manage the environment
  for optimum learning
• Law of Repetition
• Have your swimmers repeat the skills until they
  become automatically correct
• Law of Effect
• If they had a positive experience they will be
  eager to come back again.

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How do we teach?

• We provide the proper environment
• We use the right teaching style
• We use demonstrations and explanations
• We administer practice to form a habit
• Practice makes habit" is a more accurate
  statement than "practice makes perfect
• We challenge
• We praise or reward

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Law of Readiness

• We have three topics here
• Students
• You
• The Physical Environment

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Students

• What is their most important need?
• Am I normal?
• What is their level of desire?
• Why are they there?
• What is their attention level?
• You maintain by providing meaningful examples
• Do they have any learning disabilities ?
• Conversations with parents are important
• What are their learning styles?
• (Next slide)

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How Students Learn

• Three basic modes of learning
• Visual
• Kinesthetic
• Verbal
• For Maximum effect, use all three teaching
  methods all the time
• Take Minimum time from the explanation, or
  demonstration, to the exercise
• More on each of these later in the presentation

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Lets Talk About You

• Positive attitude -- your presence
• Your learning style is probably your teaching
  style
• Does it match all your athletes?
• Body language
• Teachers must be aware of how important the
  length of presentation is when teaching skills.
• A normal 8 year old takes 10 seconds to process a
  question, therefore
• Be aware of frustration -- yours and the
  swimmers

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Environmental Factors

• The Focus Needs To Be on YOU.
• What is the most critical environmental factor?
• Time within practice session
• Length of teaching session
• Length of practice
• Arrangement of swimmers
• continued

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More Environmental Factors

• Extent of area being used
• Outside noises
• Spectators, parents
• Visual distractions
• Lighting (position of the sun and you)
• Equipment available

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Law of Repetition

• The three levels of control of movement
• Conscious
• Automatic
• Reflexive
• How do we teach an automatic movement?
• How do we fix a bad movement that is automatic?
• It takes 5 times longer to fix an improper
  movement that has become automatic than it does
  to teach a new movement.

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Law of Repetition

• How do students learn?
• From Consciously controlled movements to
  Automatically controlled movements.
• Consciousness may be pictures in the mind (for
  the visualizers) or actual verbalized words.
• Move from the conscious to the automatic with
  many exercises or repetitions at the conscious
  level.

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Law of Effect

• If they liked it, they will come back for more.
• Be aware of how the teaching session ends.
• They will blame themselves if they perceive they
  are inadequate. Am I normal? No.
• Never use sarcasm
• Tangible rewards
• Stickers
• Ribbons
• Tattoos
• Non-Tangible Rewards
• Lead the cheer
• Ring a Bell
• Lead the Group

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Praising

• Catching them Doing Things Right
• Use different Levels of Praise
• Avoid perfect
• Letter grading
• Good, very good, excellent
• Praises only work if balanced by
• almost
• Not exactly
• no

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8 Important Teaching Techniques

• Over correction
• The verbal-physical connection
• Kinesthetic
• Weird Stories (analogies)
• Demonstration
• Listening to Feedback
• Self-feedback
• Dryland Practice

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Overcorrection

• is based on the premise that the student is not
  well connected
• Poor or still developing proprioceptive ability
• First, Tell what to do, not what not to do.
• Use one on one only
• Use kinesthetically, and visually, and verbally
• Watch results

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Verbal-Physical Connection

• If they can describe it in words, it increases
  the chance that they can perform it.
• Say it, do it.
• Ask standardized questions and teach them the
  answers.
• Use key words. Single or two words.
• Teach them the answers!
• How this works
• Ask the question
• Get the answer
• Show me (good for the visualizers and
  kinesthetic learners.)
• Do it.

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Kinesthetic Teaching

• let me try, let me try, let me try
• Ask permission to touch
• Underhand, versus over hand
• Asking versus demanding
• Touching only extremities
• After you control a movement pattern, like
  alternating backstroke arms, let them try it
  immediately.

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Weird Stories

• Use Analogies
• Be funny
• Put pictures in the mind
• Props work well

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Demonstrations, Part 1 of 2

• Use students to demonstrate most of the time
• First, Tell what to do, not what not to do.
• Catch people doing things right.
• Do demonstrations in and out of the water
• Let them watch from different angles
• Be very specific in what you ask them to watch
• Watch one specific thing only, then try the skill
• Use Props
• Mannequin heads and feet, mirrors

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Demonstrations (contd)

• Ask for feedback
• Did you see what Billy did with his head?
• Follow-up Show me,
• or for the verbalizers Tell me followed by
  Show me
• Use letter grades
• Who can give Billy an A for his head
  position?
• Use laminated photos
• My Picture Perfect book
• Use video

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Listening to Feedback

• OK, so an 8 year old is not going to give you a
  lot of feedback. Ask anyway.
• Recognize that older swimmers will oftentimes
  give feedback according to their learning styles.
• I felt like
• I took too many strokes
• I think that I
• Ask secondary questions to validate their
  feedback and to clarify.
• Offer what if questions
• What do kids really want to know?
• Am I getting better? Am I normal

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Self-Feedback (biofeedback)

• Being able to see yourself
• Shadow swimming
• Mirrors
• Wet Shadows
• Video

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Dryland Practice

• Combining all of the above on the deck
• Walk throughs
• Easier to communicate
• Can use kinesthetic teaching
• Shadow swimming
• Mirrors

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When do you correct errors?

• The great coaching dilemma stop now, or correct
  later?
• Factors
• Ability level of swimmer.
• Objective of workout.
• Coaching philosophy.
• No absolute rights or wrongs here.
• In general, the time frame for providing positive
  feedback is immediately.
• In a teaching situation, immediately after an
  instruction, dont be in a hurry to correct an
  incorrect technique because it may take several
  strokes before the swimmer figures it out.

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When, Where How We Teach

• It all dependsFactors to consider
• age
• skill level
• time available
• training philosophy
• time of season
• time of week
• time of workout
• Should we teach one on one, or..
• small groups, or..
• whole groups?

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Two Types of One on One

• True one on one one coach, one athlete
• When?
• Before practice
• Advantages
• Opportunities
• Issues
• During practice
• Yikes! Whats everyone else doing?
• After practice
• Other times
• Also called, a private lesson
• How?
• Be aware of the uncomfortable-ness of being one
• Being extra positive

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Another form of the One on One Method

• Divide team into small groups of 12 or less
• All but one group works with the pace clock or
  assistant coach
• You do stroke work with one group
• Work on one skill per day, for example freestyle
  entry
• Use a small area of pool, preferably outside lane
• Only use first 10 yards of pool
• Swimmers sit on side and one by one will swim for
  the coach
• Explain what you are looking for
• First, a swimmer tries the skill for a few
  strokes, receives feedback, then tries a few more
  strokes, then walks back
• Then next swimmer goes
• The coach works quickly and tries to get through
  the group 2 or 3 times in 15 min

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Group Method

• Groups of 12 or less, divided into 2 to 4 heats
• Swim short distances. Ideally from the side of
  the pool to the third lane line (take out first
  two lane lines for this)
• Keep everyone in front of you, dont allow the
  group to be spread out over 25 yards.
• Use verbal-physical concept
• Ask a question/give an instruction send them
  off
• Very short swims
• It is better to watch 2 or 3 swimmers closely and
  give good feedback than to try to watch everyone
  and not be able to give any feedback.

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Ending Notes

• Teach from a lesson plan which is based on
  objectives
• Build a foundation and then
• Teach skills in a progression
• Be safe always
• Love your children, have joy and patience, give
  thanks for the wonderful opportunity to be a
  positive and inspiring part of their day.

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Thanks!

• Thanks for attending.
• Thanks to Tom Avischious and USA Swimming for the
  opportunity to make this presentation.
• http//www.swimmingcoach.org