Syllabus vs Wing it

[PooterMan]

I've been in Tang Soo Do about 9 years always under an instructor who has always just played class by ear. He doesn't have specific things he does, just depends on how many are there that night and his mood. I'm not discounting this in any way, as classes are always interesting, we get thru all of the usual stuff (our organizations forms,one steps hands/feet, self defense) every month. I find I even do it myself now that I'm required to teach. (as a Cho Dan). I never seem to have an issue coming up with something for them to do.. (I can always resort to forms/one steps/marching)
I'm just curious what percentage of instructors have a very exact plan layed out before a class or if you just wing it as well depending on who's in class, the "feel" of the room etc.

 

[Kenpo Missle 47]

i suppose its cool , but sometimes you just want learn all your techs. and all your forms and dont want to play around , makes you feel like your learning or something , even though you really are.

 

[ralphmcpherson]

I have asked this question of my instructors and they have told me that they generally wing it. We have 40-50 students in our class and that can range from mostly coloured belts to almost a whole class of black belts. My current instructor usually sees what mix of students arrive to train, see if anyone has any injuries etc and basically makes the class up as he goes depending on how he feels. I have always liked this style, you never know what you may do at training and if the instructor feels we, as a group, are lacking in an area he will give extra attention to that area, or if he knows a lot of students are carrying injuries he may leave sparring out of class for a week or so. They basically tailor class to the clientel on any given night.

 

[sfs982000]

In our class it seems that every week the instructors have a few things that they'll concentrate on be it forms, one steps, or breaking it down even further like working on roundhouse kicks. There have been classes though that the instructors "wing it" and to me it helps keep things interesting and breaks up the normal routine.

 

[Namii]

He usually has an idea of what he will do before the class starts. Sometimes though it changes depending on who shows up, his mood or our moods.

 

[Aiki Lee]

we have a pretty general syllabus with the idea being that the students need to work on this, but it is up to the current instructor to how he or she wants to teach it. We've found that certain drills help alot with learning, but some people find them repetitive so we find multiple ways to teach the same skill or lesson.

We only break from the syllabus when we notice something is right elsewhere. For example, if we notice everyone's ukemi is starting to suck we change the syllabus to focus on that and return to normal syllabus when we think they are getting back on track.

 

[chinto]

we do a bit of both at our dojo. works well for us.

 

[Aikikitty]

My sensei does both. When he decides he wants one of us to test then he'll go through the list of techniques to make sure we know them. But normally he goes with his mood or knows what we (or certain people) need to generally improve on so he'll teach movements and techniques that apply. I really like that as it's more personalized for us.

Robyn :asian:

 

[OKenpo942]

I have a very loose plan. I know what I want to cover beforehand, but usually end up going over a lot of other things as well.

 

[Sensei Payne]

With the black belt classes, unless there is a guest instructor, or a higher up come to visit we don't usually have a lay out of what we want to do.

But for the under belts we usually will have a spot where we left off in the belt requirements for them to pick right back up the next day, basically working straight from the book. Unless of course there is some special occasion.


For me personally, I prefer a good mix...open floor days along with structured ones...more structured than open though IMO

 

[Mark Lynn]

FWIW
I believe there is a difference between a "Syllabus" and a lesson plan. I believe your question revolves more around a lesson plan for a class than a Syllabus.

A Syllabus would be like what you teach for a given style of martial art, the main areas of study, what is contained in each belt rank etc. etc.

A lesson plan would be what do I want to teach today for this class. You could expand the lesson plan(s) to include the week or month grouping several lesson plans together to teach specific techniques for a specific goal in mind and still keep it in line with the syllabus.

Anyway I laid out a whole bunch of lesson plans to teach in a modular format, say for instance Chungi module. For X amount of classes I laid out how long to warm up, warm up drills, basic drills, kata practice etc. etc. all with the goal of really learning Chungi and corresponding skills for that belt level.

But I never implemented it, I was to use to winging it. Once I started to implement the lesson plans I found I didn't sustain it. Ultimately dropping that methodology of teaching.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

I've been in Tang Soo Do about 9 years always under an instructor who has always just played class by ear. He doesn't have specific things he does, just depends on how many are there that night and his mood. I'm not discounting this in any way, as classes are always interesting, we get thru all of the usual stuff (our organizations forms,one steps hands/feet, self defense) every month. I find I even do it myself now that I'm required to teach. (as a Cho Dan). I never seem to have an issue coming up with something for them to do.. (I can always resort to forms/one steps/marching)
I'm just curious what percentage of instructors have a very exact plan layed out before a class or if you just wing it as well depending on who's in class, the "feel" of the room etc.

I always have a lesson plan.

When I teach for my GM at his school, my plan is more of a guide. He does not separate his classes by geub level and really doesn't do anything do discourage kids from coming to the adult classes, so I never really know what mix I will have; I have had classes with all blackbelts and classes with almost one of each belt.

When I teach in my own studio, I tend to be true to my lesson plan and only deviate from it occasionally. In that setting, I have very few students. They are all fairly close in grade and I know what each of them is working with, so I it is much easier to adhere to a specific plan.

I don't see anything wrong with either approach. Some teachers are highly structured and others improvise. Some students will prefer one or the other approach, but most will be okay either way, so long as the teacher looks like he or she knows what they are doing and doesn't seem to be fumbling in the dark.

Daniel

 

[tinker1]

When I first started teaching, I was so excited that I would make copious notes regarding what I wanted to teach. Then I quickly found that I would not use them.

I believe there is an underlying pattern you have to follow - especially for non dan belts because they test more frequently than do dan ranks. Basically, you have to prepare them for their test - make sure they know what they need to know and can do what they need to do.

The thing is that probably the majority of what a student should learn is not contained in their testing.

So when I teach, I have a general idea of where I want the class to go.. but as to the exact path I follow to get there, I wing it.

You also need to remain flexible and be observant. If you see 1 or more class members that are weak in a particular area, then you should work on that area in class as probably all in the class will benefit from it.

I also tend to teach themed classes - wherein the students know what sort of class they will be attending... Friday night = fight night, is a good example. But there are also form classes, self defense classes, blocking theory, candle light training, and the famous *night of 1000 kicks*.. among many others.

So I suppose I'm in the "kind of winging it" classification.