2006 Summer Institute for Teachers/ORCA Flatwater Instructor's Course
WE DID IT
After a very long week of 13-hour-days, a group of canoe students completed and sucessfully passed the ORCA Flatwater Canoe Instructor's Course.
The pre-course began with the usual organization of campsites, equipment, instuctors, car-pooling options, payment, menu, and the course intinery/schedule.
Flatwater ABCD skills were honed to near perfection:
Monday: tandom skills, lesson planning, learning styles, theory 1, 2, 3, 4
Tuesday: tandom skills, intro to solo, tandom lessons, theory 4, 5, 6, 7
Wednesday: solo with stopping, windy weather paddling, theory
Thursday: solo with landings, solo lessons
Friday: practice/evaluations, canoe dance, final exam
Each morning we were on the water at 7 am sharp and with usual breaks etc. we got off the water around 9 pm each night. By mid-week we had muscles, or rather pains we could never had imagined, but through a sense of comradary we kept one another going and going until each one of us finally got there: Certified ORCA Flatwater Canoe Instructors.
The entire course was held at Silent Lake Provincial Park, a wilderness park, wherein we found excellent canoeing conditions, except for one afternoon where we found ourselves in a wind storm with high waves.
We had three well seasoned instructors: Phil, Alan, and Jennifer, who all came from various backgrounds and skills. There was ample time for one-on-one instructions when a student came into problems honing in on their own skills.
At the onset, Phil, the lead instructor warned us all that we were going to be taken beyond our capabilities and he did not waver from this admonition. Many of us, mid-week, had thoughts that we might not make the grade; the going was tough, however the end result paid off: we worked extremely hard and all of us are now registered ORCA Flatwater Instructors.
Not to simply mention the acquired skills and credidation, we also developed a keen sense of team work and friendship during this grooling week-long course. When one of us fell down, others were quickly there to pick us back up and get right back at it, learning to keep on canoeing to the end.
It is a time I shall never forget, the hard work, the team work, the amazing sense of comradary, and the ever-present forebearance of the three instructors who had the the patience of Job.
The pre-course began with the usual organization of campsites, equipment, instuctors, car-pooling options, payment, menu, and the course intinery/schedule.
Flatwater ABCD skills were honed to near perfection:
Monday: tandom skills, lesson planning, learning styles, theory 1, 2, 3, 4
Tuesday: tandom skills, intro to solo, tandom lessons, theory 4, 5, 6, 7
Wednesday: solo with stopping, windy weather paddling, theory
Thursday: solo with landings, solo lessons
Friday: practice/evaluations, canoe dance, final exam
Each morning we were on the water at 7 am sharp and with usual breaks etc. we got off the water around 9 pm each night. By mid-week we had muscles, or rather pains we could never had imagined, but through a sense of comradary we kept one another going and going until each one of us finally got there: Certified ORCA Flatwater Canoe Instructors.
The entire course was held at Silent Lake Provincial Park, a wilderness park, wherein we found excellent canoeing conditions, except for one afternoon where we found ourselves in a wind storm with high waves.
We had three well seasoned instructors: Phil, Alan, and Jennifer, who all came from various backgrounds and skills. There was ample time for one-on-one instructions when a student came into problems honing in on their own skills.
At the onset, Phil, the lead instructor warned us all that we were going to be taken beyond our capabilities and he did not waver from this admonition. Many of us, mid-week, had thoughts that we might not make the grade; the going was tough, however the end result paid off: we worked extremely hard and all of us are now registered ORCA Flatwater Instructors.
Not to simply mention the acquired skills and credidation, we also developed a keen sense of team work and friendship during this grooling week-long course. When one of us fell down, others were quickly there to pick us back up and get right back at it, learning to keep on canoeing to the end.
It is a time I shall never forget, the hard work, the team work, the amazing sense of comradary, and the ever-present forebearance of the three instructors who had the the patience of Job.
posted by Gregory West - Computer Instructor & Freelance Writer @ 5:38 AM
0 Comments
