CFI/II Lesson Plans

[socal_pilot]

Thanks OTTO, I couldn't agree more!!!!!

 

[JAFI]

Alimbo, I hate to break this to you but as far as I know for the last 30 plus years if a student screws up the FAA looks directly at the CFI. This is nothing new. Teaching Instruments only was always something the experienced CFI got to do, the "new" guy taught primary how to fly stuff.

Regardles which CFI exam you take first, you better have your act together. Know everything a new CFI needs to know and where to find it.

As far as some of the "quick" schools failure rates, I administered enough exams through one that we just planned on them failing because the school did not even come close to prepareing them for the exam, they just sold them X number of hours of instruction then sent them off for the ride. It was really sad.

 

[ALIMBO]

I'm honestly not doing it anymore so it doesn't matter. As for more experienced people teaching instrument it makes sense but my knack is in instrument. Thanks for the help.

 

[Sig]

Alimbo, I hate to break this to you but as far as I know for the last 30 plus years if a student screws up the FAA looks directly at the CFI.

I've only been in the flying game for a few years (just over a decade), but I saw that lesson in bright technicolor at an early stage. So very, very true.

I passed my initial CFI the first time. It was as grueling as any I've heard. 7+ hour oral on day one (ONE). At the end of the ride on day 2, I was so blasted tired I didn't really give a dang if I'd passed or not- I just wanted to know what I needed to focus on next: Ale (yay!), Lager (well, try again), or Liquor (hang 'em up).

As it turns out, I passed the last unknown: Will he give up before or after engine shutdown on the ramp?

Tough ride, but I freaking earned it.

 

[ALIMBO]

Guess Ill never know I may try the ride but I wont pursue it if I don't pass it. Might as well take a shot at it since I dropped 4g's on this crap.

 

[socal_pilot]

Anyone want to bet that Alimbo is going to fail both rides and once he does get his ticket he won't be able to find a job because he's such a tool?

 

[ALIMBO]

Wanna bet that if/when I fail I wont retake it?

 

[avbug]

Actually I'm just not guna do it anymore not worth the time. In fact I think I'm just guna finish up my degree and get whatever job I can and build time in other ways. Being a CFI is not what I thought it would be. If I pass my CFII then I will instruct but nothing more than instrument students. The FAA is imposing new rules to screw over CFI's if your student screws up apparantly it takes effect in Feb. So I'm not taking the chance of losing my certificate because of another person making a mistake and quite frankly I know my skill at teaching students other than instruments and its just not worth.

Wow...failed before you even took the test, and gave up already. Amazing. That's dedication. Your recent sob story about all your sacrifice and dedication...and now you just give up. Beautiful. Clearly you were in it for the long run.

Newsflash; the FAA has always looked hard at the flight instructor when a student fails, and a failure record on the part of your students has always meant that the CFI comes under "surveillance," meaning that the CFI is closely watched to determine if he or she is indeed the problem. This may even include retesting, or in some cases suspension or revocation of the instructor certificate or a 709 ride.

This is news to you, apparently...but not to the rest of the flying community, where it's been policy for over 30 years.

Now you're blaming the student you don't even have yet, for your own failures. You're not going to take a chance on this imaginary student who might ruin you...blame thrown on the imaginary student already...you're just going to give up. One excuse after another.

You know your own skill outside of teaching instruments, you say. You have decided it's poor. Interesting that your own instructor doesn't want you to have an instrument student, though. Seems your teaching skill is extremely poor, period...clearly so if you've already given up.

Another newsflash for you. It's not your skill, it's your attitude. Skills can be learned, and skills can be taught. Even you could be taught, if you'd permit it. You run your mouth too much, display too much teenage attitude, to be teachable. You are your own worst enemy, and you are the reason for your failure here. You are also the only one who can preven this failure and turn it around. Get it? It's all up to you.

Can you pass the test? Yes, you can...but not with your present level of immaturity and foolishness. You've got some growing up to do. Once you commit to that, chances are that you can certainly learn to do it...but the only obstacle between you and a successful career in aviation, as an instructor...is YOU. There is NO reason why you can't pass the test. Others have done so. Why not you?

Everything you write and type about this event has been an excuse and a preparation to fail. You haven't been preparing to succeed at all...but laying the groundwork to have excuse upon excuse on which you can fall back, when you fail. Did it ever occur to you to prepare for, and plan for success? Have you been preparing lesson plans and gathering friends and family to practice teaching? Do you get on sites such as flightinfo, find questions that need answering, and do the research to properly answer? It's excellent preparation and practice for teaching. Have you built training aids, and model airplanes which you can use to teach students? Or have you simply looked for quick, free lesson plans to copy in order to get through it as easily as possible?

The four grand you drop on preparation is the easy part. The preparation involves mental, and often physical sweat. You need to step outside yourself, lose your ego, and learn the material. You need to understand the basic laws of learning, among which is the simple fact that the way you present yourself has a direct bearing on the way a student receives instruction from you. If you can't do that here on an anonymous web board, most certainly you can't do it in the cockpit...the cockpit being the worst classroom there is.

If you can't perform basic flight instruction, you certainly can't teach instruments. Flight instruction is built upon precept after precept, building block upon building block. You can't teach timed turns without knowing how to teach coordination and the basic aerodynamics of the turn...it's not enough to simply tell the student to step on the ball and keep the pointer lined up with the doghouse. It's not enough to tell the student to scan. You need to be able to help the student correlate where he or she has been and what the student has been taught in the past, with what's being taught now....and that means you've got to be able to teach the past as well as the present.

Flight instruction isn't about flying. It isn't about instruments. It's about teaching. It's the ability to break down a subject for a student in a way the student can understand and receive it...and most importantly, it's all about teaching.

Instructing is administering a syllabus. A primate can do that. What's needed is a teacher, and a teacher exists for the student. You exist for yourself, your ego, your pride, and your smart mouth. You can't see beyond yourself. When you learn to do that, you'll be in the right track to learn to teach. Teaching doesn't come first time right out of the box; it's a learned skill, and you can learn it, if you'll get over yourself and concentrate on your student instead.

It's up to you. Sounds like you planned to fail and therefore met your goals. This is unfortunate and sad. Perhaps one day you'll get over that hurdle and do it properly, and be pleasantly surprised that you have the same capability as the rest of us. We're all essentially the same; you're no different. Stop trying to be different, cooperate, graduate, and learn to teach like the rest.

Short story: you can, but you won't. When you will, you'll win. Think about it.

 

[JAFI]

As for more experienced people teaching instrument it makes sense but my knack is in instrument.

I do not know how to put this any other way. You really have no clue about Instructing. There are two groups that will tell you what you are going to teach, your boss(s) and your students. Your boss will decide what level you work depending on your perceived ability, school staffing, and student need. Your students will decide what they want you to teach them and if at all.

Teaching is not for everyone, nor should it be. You have to want to teach for more than time building or a paycheck. To use the word "crap" for learning to be a CFI tells me you need to pick another vocation.

As for how hard aviation is. The best answer I have is a discussion I had with a Grandmother down the block. I made the comment some people think the FAA makes getting a certificate hard. She looked at me like I was going to be slapped in the face for saying something stupid. She said "It is suppose to be hard, peoples lives are at stake". Then she turned and walked away as if to say I was "dismissed" and there was no further need for discussion.

Good luck.

JAFI

 

[ALIMBO]

Exactly the reasons why I'm not taking up flight instructing.