It has been quite some time since I have attended a pistol class. I’m not a GM or anything, but I have a decent level of skill with a pistol, and handgun classes just haven’t been a training priority for me over the past few years. This year I ran across the Cognitive Conclave, a pistol class offering something different and I had to do it. This is a detailed, after-action review of that class.
UPDATED AAR: Randall’s Adventure Training Field Survival
“This 3-day class is an aggressive immersion into the challenges of surviving with minimal gear in a field setting. THIS IS NOT A BUSHCRAFT CLASS!” “Significant stressors are placed upon the student in the forms of hunger, physical exertion, thirst, lack of gear, personal discomfort, and sleep deprivation as a means to simulate a 72 hour survival scenario.” “BE WARNED: THIS IS NOT AN EASY CLASS!” These warnings were all present in the literature for the Randall’s Adventure Training Field Survival Course.
Time Management for Instructors
I would like to pose question to my instructor friends out there: why do you teach? I hope the answer is something along the lines of, “to provide my students with valuable information.” Poor time management can completely interrupt the learning process. I’ve written about respecting students’ time before. Today I’m going to delve deeper into the idea of time management for instructors, using a bad example.
Even More Instructorship Lessons
I recently mentioned attending some outdoor Search & Rescue training. The class wasn’t bad but there was definitely some poor instructor behavior. I’ll be honest, I thought I had seen it all until began attending public safety training. Here are a few instructorship lessons that may help make your classes better.
My Pet Monster: Shotgun Skills with Tim & Ashton
Yesterday I attended Shotgun Skills with FPF Training. Taught by Tim Chandler and Ashton Ray, this is my first formal shotgun class. Bottom line up front: if you’re looking to improve your existing shotgun skills or gain new ones, if you want to tame the monster and turn it into a pet, you should consider this class.
Instructor 101: Answering Student Questions
I have attended a number of classes in which instructors struggle when answering student questions. The problem isn’t a lack of knowledge; the instructors generally know the answer. The problem is they don’t know how to systematically provide the answer to the class. I hope this tutorial on answering student questions helps a few instructors out there.
Instructor’s Guide to Using PowerPoint Well
We are all familiar with the term, “Death by PowerPoint” and for good reason. Poorly designed and poorly presented PowerPoint presentations can suck the life out of the most dedicated student. PowerPoint is one of the most misused and misunderstood instructional tools out there. It’s really fun to bash PowerPoint; it’s much less popular to admit it can be a highly effective instructional tool if used well. Here I offer you a guide to using PowerPoint well.
Instructor 101: The Basics
I wrote “Lessons Learned as a Professional Instructor” over three years ago. It is still one of my favorite things I have ever written. I wrote it at a time when I made my living surrounded by other professional instructors. At the time I was burdened with the idea that all instructors possessed some level of professionalism and pride in their craft. The paramedic class I have almost finished has taught me this is not the case. Here are some basic recommendations for running a high-value class.
AAR: Chuck Haggard’s OC Spray/Less-Lethal Weapons
Early last month I had the pleasure of attending the OC Spray and Less than Lethal Weapons for non LE Instructor Course taught by Chuck Haggard of Agile Training & Consulting.
2021 Goal Progress: April
In January of 2021 I committed to some New Year’s resolutions: spend 15 minutes per day learning Spanish, workout 3 times per week, shoot my bow 3 times per week, read 73 100 128 books, and stay off tobacco. This is my progress so far in the year. Aside from just my results there’s some really good information at the bottom of the article.