Teaching others to ride | GTAMotorcycle.com

Teaching others to ride

Baggsy

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I've got some time available now, and have signed up for the introductory instructor session here.

For those who've taught the courses, is it worth going through the hassle?

Do the good times greatly outweigh the bad?

Are there some students who make it not worth the effort?

Got any good stories about those you've trained, or the classes?
 
Depends on your motivation. You are not going to get rich. factor in what you get paid per weekend and the hours you put in, you could do about as well working at Tim Hortons.
But if helping and inspiring others (i.e a coach at heart) its a great time. Students can be great, never had one that was an awful person. Some need a little more assistance/time/confidence building/love than others.

If you are not doing it for the money and enjoy seeing the end result, more skilled (relative term) and safer riders and it is great.
 
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I teach at Durham College. Its pretty fun. In dealing wih the public, you're always going to have a few "memorable" students that were difficult... but for the most part people are inherently good, and the rough ones are far and few between.

In 9 seasons teaching, i still have fun with it. By this point i could teach the Gearing Up program in my sleep. I'm good friends with many of my fellow instructors. I meet students i've taught out in the world at random places. Met 3 at a random burger joint on the way out of Port Dover this year.
 
I teach at Durham College. Its pretty fun. In dealing wih the public, you're always going to have a few "memorable" students that were difficult... but for the most part people are inherently good, and the rough ones are far and few between.

In 9 seasons teaching, i still have fun with it. By this point i could teach the Gearing Up program in my sleep. I'm good friends with many of my fellow instructors. I meet students i've taught out in the world at random places. Met 3 at a random burger joint on the way out of Port Dover this year.

Hey Matt, how did you get in at the DC course? I'd like to help teach the course. I live up the road in Brooklin and have weekends off work. Would love to get involved.
 
I'll send you a pm with the details.

I assume it is the same with most other courses. As a new instructor , we have to do one weekend a month during the winter to learn the curriculum and learn public speaking skills. They test your riding ability and consistency in demo-ing the riding portion of the lessons.

We've had some people that nearly piss heir pants when talking infront of a group...
You have to be able to take instruction in order to give it.
They usually run a new instructor course every couple years. They test riding usually in september, then weed out those who can't, or won't learn the curriculum.
 
Teaching is one of the most rewarding things I've ever done, and it's helped immeasurably in my full-time career.
I started teaching the basic course Gearing Up when I was fairly young (23). I remember showing up nervous every Saturday morning, so much so that I couldn't eat breakfast...and by the time I was with my group of students, I was relaxed and having a ball. Starting young helped me develop great observation and coaching skills that are essential for parents. The observational and interpretive skills have been great for developing analytical skills for my job - and the public speaking experience is fantastic for everything - even just to build confidence. On top of all of that personal development opportunity, you get the immense satisfaction of helping someone learn a fairly complicated new skill. It's not quite on par with watching your own child take his first steps or first ride on a two wheeler, but the feeling is similar ;). I concentrate mainly on the M2 Exit program now, and the policy development and examiner training and certification for that. I find that very rewarding too, because the people that come back for M2 Exit training are committed. They also have experience, so I can learn from them as well. Next year will be my 27th year. I have no intentions of stopping any time soon.
 
This coming year will be my third season teaching, and I love it. I do it because I like teaching, bikes, the students and getting the extra money :p I like when I run into people who took the course years down the road. Yesterday I ran into a woman I taught who works at Honda, and we exchanged info so she can help me out in getting a job at Honda. You never know who you're going to meet.
 
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For those in the Niagara Region thinking about wanting to be an instructor. Niagara College is looking for candidates this year. They will be at Clare's Harley and Clare's Cycle this Saturday at their open house taking names of those interested in becoming instructors at Niagara College.



Clare's Cycle & Sports Ltdmore info
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799 Regional Road 20
Pelham, Ontario





Clare's Harley-Davidson® of Niagaramore info
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590 York Road
Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario

 
Like others have said, an incredibly rewarding experience.

It's nice to know your students learned the proper skills from you. Seeing past students all over the place and having them thank you for teaching them a particular skill helps feed the fire to teach a lot.

Biggest help for new instructors is realizing no one knows your nervous/new unless you explicitly let them know it. Keep calm as you can and deliver what your supposed to deliver; the other more senior instructors will have your back and help if need be. Other "pro" tip is to keep things short. Don't tell students 5 extra tips during the lesson that you found useful while riding. Stick to the lesson, then maybe 1 tip. Same goes for coaching, focus on fixing one thing with one tip, students just get confused/don't process more than one thing at a time.

It's quite amazing seeing how apprehensive/stressed some students are at the beginning. Some have only seen motorcycles in popular culture... It's a scary experience for them and takes some courage. However, witnessing the transformation from a stressed student to a (albeit new) motorcycle rider in only a couple of hours is quite profound. Can't help but be proud that you were a part of that experience.

Everyone remembers their motorcycle course. It is up to you to make it an outstanding memory, and not simply a mediocre one.

Don't stress too much, have fun, and keep it simple.

It's not for everyone but for those that enjoy it, there's little else that compares.
 

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