I Don't Know How Instructors Do It

Greetings All:

Well, I'm newly certified PADI OW, as of a couple of weeks ago. Today I went out for my 6th and 7th dive ever. Had a blast.

My instructor from my OW class called me up last week, and asked if I'd like to get wet, and go out with him and a class of his (OW Students on final OW dive) into the Atlantic.

I had a great time, and found that dives #6 and #7 really pushed me over the top as far as comfort level goes. My buoyancy skills are getting better and better, I'm making all of my safety stops, gotta love it.

I had a private class one-on-one with my instructor for my OW certification, so this was my first chance to see a group class in action, 6 students, the instructor, and an assistant instructor. Pretty good ratio for a group.

Anyways, talk about SCARY. I never realized how "good" my skill level is for being a new diver. Some of those students were down right DANGEROUS, not only to themselves, but to each other, and most importantly, TO ME.

I won't even begin to talk about students crashing into the ocean bottom, destroying 4' tall sponges while doing so, or those that tried to "pet" the "pretty corals" despite the instructors clear warnings before diving. Or, the student that actually attempted to take a 8" brain coral up to the surface with him as a keep-sake (urgh).

However, I will talk about a student that found some fishing line, and decided to keep pulling on it until he managed to hopelessly entangle himself. The guy couldn't even maintain his depth, and what made him decide to try and bunch up an entire spool of fishing line is above and beyond me. Of course, the instructor had to pull out his knife, and cut the fool free. While doing so, the student managed to keep flapping himself around enough to get himself tangled in the tow line of the dive float. The instructor had to spend time getting him untangled from that, too.

Then, there was the student that decided that he wanted to try to fly through the water like a bird, by flapping his arms all over hell. Of course, he managed to knock the regulators out of 2 other students mouths, which in turn caused them both to signal out of air. I helped one realize that hey, if you put your regulator back in your mouth, you'll have air again! The assistant instructor managed to show another the same.

I got kicked in the face twice by two different students, who both fell rapidly from above me, causing me to loose my mask. Of course, one student, for whatever reason, swam over to the instructor one of the times that this happened and signaled to him that I was OUT OF AIR. I gathered my mask back up, cleared it, and signaled to the instructor that I wasn't out of air, and was fine. I gave the student that kicked me in the face the 1 finger OK.

I found out afterwards, that this instructor, who had been my instructor (who is an INCREDIBLE teacher), didn't work with these students before today, and they had been "taught" by someone else. He simply had to take them on their final OW dive, because their original instructor was unable to make it.

I'm not exactly sure if he's going to pass any of them, I think he was going to consult their previous instructor.

I don't know how in the hell you instructors do it. I wouldn't feel safe being in the same ocean as these people, much less the same group.

Never, ever, EVER again will I tag along with an OW Class, and I have MORE than made up my mind that any and all future training that I get, will be ONE ON ONE with the instructor!

Also, there is no way in HELL I will EVER become an instructor. I would have NO patience for these people, and would just as soon flunk them as look at them.

I know that I have a LOT to learn, but at least I realize that. I also know what my limitations are, and make sure that I stay within them. Oh, I also have this handy little skill called COMMON SENSE. I wonder why PADI doesn't make that a prerequisite?

The above really sums it up.

Sometimes, you I'll have a class that is really "dialed in", other days, I will have classes where I watch students do similiar things dispite my very detailed dive briefings, manage to do the complete opposite. (The latter remediate the dive)

How do I do it? It's fun. When a class is rather "challenging", after I am home and I've gritted my teeth all day, I do have a good chuckle about the hours before, I may even talk to another Instructor friend and share the events of the day.

I enjoy teaching people to dive and I also enjoy the fun I have sharing diving with brand new divers. That's how I do it. If I encounter a student who is a real "spaz", at times, a good private earbending is in order, mostly, it's just informing the uninformed or oblivious. In the end, it works out. So far, so good.

And some of our Open Water Referral students wonder why we want to see them in the pool before ever taking them to the ocean.

Murphy's Law dictates that if you must fill in at the last minute it will be for a large class full of "challenging" students.

"challenging" or "challenged" ? hahaha...

I wouldn't be to harsh on all of the students, remember anytime you point a finger at someone you always have three of them pointing back at you, we all have to start some where and just as in teaching student pilots ....somedays we take two steps foreword's and the next day we may take three steps back, and like in flight training with new students any landing you can walk away from is a good one........ so I guess in answer to your plight of having to deal with other student divers......you lived to talk about it and learned something in the process......... So today I would say you took two steps ahead.....you learned something!
but just remember tomorrow it may be you that takes three steps back!
Dive Safe!
Rob

It's a real challenge

Good days
None of the students listen
None of the students learn
None of the students do anything they are told
All of the students try and kill you underwater with rapid ascents, spitting out regulators, dropping their weight belts in 18 foot of water
But going diving anyway

Bad days
No students .... no diving ...

To be an instructor takes a special person. Someone who knows the material, skills, equipment, and who has the ability to make people understand and perform. It can be the most rewarding feeling to take a student that knew nothing when they came in, but when they left, they had all the knowledge they needed at that time.

But that’s when you get a group of students that want to learn and who are capable of learning. I've been teaching for 25 years, and my course last 12 mouths (paramedic) and deals with life saving skills as well as the knowledge they need to do those skills and think. Most of the time the students are good and trouble free. But then there are the times when you get student from hell, for the whole year. This is when you need to have the teaching ethics to do the right no mater the obstacle. And I always have.

A good instructor will be the person that goes all the way for there students, so that they make their goals. But you can get burned out, which is not good.

Luckily the dive instructors love what they do. This makes it easy and enjoyable for both them and the students. When it stops being fun, it time to move on.

Bill

Belushi once bubbled...
Good days
None of the students listen
None of the students learn
None of the students do anything they are told
All of the students try and kill you underwater with rapid ascents, spitting out regulators, dropping their weight belts in 18 foot of water
But going diving anyway

Click to expand...

Nice one Belushi, that made me laugh, we have all had those sort of students.
How boring would it be if every student did every skill required perfect on the first attempt?.
And the fact that you told them all not to spit the reg out on the CESA, isn't going to stop any of them doing it and it keeps you on your toes as well.

JohnVranesevich once bubbled...
Greetings All:

<snip odd sounding story>

Click to expand...

I wouldn't necessarly put all the fault for this scene on the students.

To me it sounds like the instructor and his assistant (perhaps moreso than the instructor in some ways) weren't keeping very good control of this group. I mean, where was the control when someone was pulling the fishing line out of the bottom? The assistant should have been right there telling him to leave it alone. Same with petting the corals and trying to take the braincoral and the flapping guy knocking other people around. I also find it highly unusual to invite a recently certified OW diver to tag along on an OW training session (with an unknown group) unless he was a problem case and he's going as a student for the extra skills practice and I find it even more unusual to stand off while he makes an assist with a student who had lost his regulator and is signing OOA.

In fact, with all due respect I find your story pretty hard to take a face value.

What *does* seem to be clear is that it didn't take you long to cop an attitude about "new" divers, even to the point of telling a student in training to F-himself for running into you and accidentally dislodging your mask.

I'm curious. What was that diver doing up there to begin with? Where was the instructor or the CA when that happened? Who was in control? Where was the guy's buddy?

Also, I'm curious which excercises they were doing. Which skills were they domonstrating? Was there an ascent line? What were they using as a reference for ascent/descent? Describe the dives a bit.

R..