rltoma said:
Also, if you have any suggestions to make the process of obtaining the CFI certificate easier, I'd appreciate the advice.
Since the lesson plan issue has been pretty much played out (what makes anyone think that someone learning how to be a CFI can create better lesson plans or syllabi than those who have been doing it for years), I'll take a shot at this one.
Bore people to death.
The best way to learn anything is to teach it. So the best way to learn how to teach is .... to teach.
The hardest part of teaching is explaining things in a way that the audience will understand it. Although that's true in the air also, it's especially true on the ground, whether you are trying to teach a pure ground subject or doing the pre-flight for a maneuver.
When I was working on my CFI, I kept a Cessna 172 cockpit poster on the wall and a bunch of unintelligible graphs and outlines on a whiteboard in my office. Woe to she who looked at the wind triangle on the board and asked what it was! Or who heard about some small airplane mishap in the area and asked how I thought it happened! There are still people who run the other way when they see me coming. If you et real close to them, they seem to be mumbling something about altimeters or CDIs.
But it's effective.
Another thing to do is to participate on online forums that focus on training, like studentpilot.com. Not to ask questions or listen to others answers, although that helps also, but to answer them. Don't know the answer? Look it up!! And match your answers with the other ones you see (even if you don't post yours).
It will not only make you a better instructor, but even if all you care about is building time, it will make that oral so much more pleasant since you'll have heard questions even the examiner hasn't thought of!