Have you ever felt like you are teaching the same thing
repeatedly? Have you been frustrated by using the same old practice
drills every week? Do you sometimes sense that your students are
getting bored or are losing interest? Often one of the biggest
challenges for a martial arts instructor is coming up with different
ways to present the same material and create varied lessons each week.
Finding a balance between teaching the required content and making
classes fun and different is not always easy.
Rest assured that you are not alone. All instructors at some point in their development feel the need to take their classes to the next level and change things up a little bit. Therefore, if you are at this point but are unsure how to inject some fun and excitement into your classes, then start today by implementing these five simple tips for making each lesson different.
1. Brainstorm all of the different training drills and teaching methods that you currently use in class and write them all down. Now you have a starting point for organizing your content and your delivery methods. Next, organize these drills and methods into similar categories such as basic training, forms training, sparring drills and additional content. From here, you now know what your base content and methods are and you can gradually begin to build your teaching repertoire and incorporate new drills.
2. Make a monthly schedule of what needs to be taught each class and then plug your training drills into each lesson. By making a monthly teaching schedule of which content you will cover in which lesson, you commit yourself to focusing on different content for each class and you will not allow yourself to fall back into the trap of teaching what is most comfortable for you. This method still gives your students what they need and it forces you to stretch your content knowledge and overall teaching skills.
3. Change the order of presenting lesson components. If you have done steps one and two and you still find that you have several lessons that cover the same content, a simple way of making the lesson different is to change the order in which you present the content. For example if you are used to beginning with a warm-up, then doing basic techniques, then going to forms training and finishing with some partner work drills, why not begin by using forms training as a warm-up, then move to partner work drills and finish with basic techniques. There are several ways that you can change the order of your content and thus make each lesson appear to be different despite teaching essentially the same material.
4. Adjust the pace and focus of the lesson. Another easy way to make your lessons different while covering the same content is to first change the pace of your lesson and then adjust the focus. For example if you want to teach punches in two separate classes, the first class could focus on a detailed explanation and practice class on the fine points of each punch and the second class could be a fast-paced workout with multiple repetitions of each punch. To adjust the focus you might want to use line drills in your first class and pads and targets in your second class. There many other ways to adjust the pace and focus of your lessons.
5. Alter the context in which you teach your content. A simple change in the context of your lessons can very easily make two lessons that appear similar have a very different theme. Let's take forms training as an example. In the first lesson, your context could be to teach Form #3 of your style, focus on the performance of the movements, and relate this to tournament participation and demonstration. In the second lesson on Form #3 of your style, your context could be to look at the sets of movements within the form and apply the different sets to self-defense situations.
So as you can see, these five simple tips can dramatically help you design multiple lesson plans for your students that focus on similar content but which are delivered in different ways with interesting and varied approaches. These types of adjustments in your overall teaching methods can also lead to increased student retention and improved skill levels for all of your students.
If you would like to learn more about different teaching methods, then please check out my FREE Report on "Instructor Mastery: How to Become a Great Instructor Right from the very First Lesson". You can download it at http://www.freekarateinformation.com.
If you have any questions on how to become a better instructor then contact me today at Paul@freekarateinformation.com and I will be happy to help.
Good luck and best wishes on your journey in karate.
Rest assured that you are not alone. All instructors at some point in their development feel the need to take their classes to the next level and change things up a little bit. Therefore, if you are at this point but are unsure how to inject some fun and excitement into your classes, then start today by implementing these five simple tips for making each lesson different.
1. Brainstorm all of the different training drills and teaching methods that you currently use in class and write them all down. Now you have a starting point for organizing your content and your delivery methods. Next, organize these drills and methods into similar categories such as basic training, forms training, sparring drills and additional content. From here, you now know what your base content and methods are and you can gradually begin to build your teaching repertoire and incorporate new drills.
2. Make a monthly schedule of what needs to be taught each class and then plug your training drills into each lesson. By making a monthly teaching schedule of which content you will cover in which lesson, you commit yourself to focusing on different content for each class and you will not allow yourself to fall back into the trap of teaching what is most comfortable for you. This method still gives your students what they need and it forces you to stretch your content knowledge and overall teaching skills.
3. Change the order of presenting lesson components. If you have done steps one and two and you still find that you have several lessons that cover the same content, a simple way of making the lesson different is to change the order in which you present the content. For example if you are used to beginning with a warm-up, then doing basic techniques, then going to forms training and finishing with some partner work drills, why not begin by using forms training as a warm-up, then move to partner work drills and finish with basic techniques. There are several ways that you can change the order of your content and thus make each lesson appear to be different despite teaching essentially the same material.
4. Adjust the pace and focus of the lesson. Another easy way to make your lessons different while covering the same content is to first change the pace of your lesson and then adjust the focus. For example if you want to teach punches in two separate classes, the first class could focus on a detailed explanation and practice class on the fine points of each punch and the second class could be a fast-paced workout with multiple repetitions of each punch. To adjust the focus you might want to use line drills in your first class and pads and targets in your second class. There many other ways to adjust the pace and focus of your lessons.
5. Alter the context in which you teach your content. A simple change in the context of your lessons can very easily make two lessons that appear similar have a very different theme. Let's take forms training as an example. In the first lesson, your context could be to teach Form #3 of your style, focus on the performance of the movements, and relate this to tournament participation and demonstration. In the second lesson on Form #3 of your style, your context could be to look at the sets of movements within the form and apply the different sets to self-defense situations.
So as you can see, these five simple tips can dramatically help you design multiple lesson plans for your students that focus on similar content but which are delivered in different ways with interesting and varied approaches. These types of adjustments in your overall teaching methods can also lead to increased student retention and improved skill levels for all of your students.
If you would like to learn more about different teaching methods, then please check out my FREE Report on "Instructor Mastery: How to Become a Great Instructor Right from the very First Lesson". You can download it at http://www.freekarateinformation.com.
If you have any questions on how to become a better instructor then contact me today at Paul@freekarateinformation.com and I will be happy to help.
Good luck and best wishes on your journey in karate.
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Paul A. Walker, is a 4th degree black belt karate instructor with over 25 years of experience in the martial arts. In June 2003 he attained his 4th degree black belt, after studying with the legendary Karate Master, Hirokazu Kanazawa at his Headquarters Dojo in Tokyo for three years from August 1996 to July 1999. Paul has operated his own karate training center in Southern California for the last five years.
Additional free information on karate for people who are investigating, just beginning, are advanced in their practice, or who are instructors, is available at Paul's website at http://www.freekarateinformation.com
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Paul A. Walker, is a 4th degree black belt karate instructor with over 25 years of experience in the martial arts. In June 2003 he attained his 4th degree black belt, after studying with the legendary Karate Master, Hirokazu Kanazawa at his Headquarters Dojo in Tokyo for three years from August 1996 to July 1999. Paul has operated his own karate training center in Southern California for the last five years.
Additional free information on karate for people who are investigating, just beginning, are advanced in their practice, or who are instructors, is available at Paul's website at http://www.freekarateinformation.com
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