Your Best Open Water Instructor

[ScubaMike14]

I will be leaving the United States in a few months to attend an instructor course. I am curious about the following: When you took your first class, Open Water or whatever it was called at the time.....if you had a really great instructor, what one thing or attribute did she/he have that stood out?

If you had an awfull instructor, what did/didn't they do that made the course bad?

I am hoping to pick up a few a few things that I can apply to myself and my teaching styles.

Thanks

Mike Rushton
PADI DM 174448

 

[Ber Rabbit]

Challenging activities that showed you how much you had learned and how your comfort level had increased. My favorite activity, the one that kept me coming back to help with classes and eventually resulted in me becoming an instructor was the "Black-Out Mask" exercise. Our masks were covered with duct tape (can use aluminum foil also) so we could not see. We reviewed hand signals by feel as well as OOA without being able to see then we went on a "treasure hunt" in the deep end. Each buddy pair had to come back with 4 metal items (CO2 cartridges). All of the buddy pairs went down at once; you hold your buddy with one hand and feel the bottom with the other looking for cartridges. Once you found 4 you had to maintain your slow ascent rate without being able to see. It was a ton of fun!
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

My instructor just has a certain aura of competence and he's very matter-of-fact. He didn't sugar-coat anything in the course. If your skills sucked, he'd tell you so, but then work with you until you got it right. He illuminated many vague points with anecdotes that really brought the important things out, and maybe more than anything else, his whole attitude and demeanor... It's hard to really put into words.

 

[OE2X]

For me it was having an instructor that never talked down to his students. If anything he made his students excel beyond the basic course work. One of the best instructors for that is board member Gratefuldiver. I worked with Bob on his AOW and rescue classes and it would seem to me that the book is only the starting point for any of his classes.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I will be leaving the United States in a few months to attend an instructor course. I am curious about the following: When you took your first class, Open Water or whatever it was called at the time.....if you had a really great instructor, what one thing or attribute did she/he have that stood out?

If you had an awfull instructor, what did/didn't they do that made the course bad?

I am hoping to pick up a few a few things that I can apply to myself and my teaching styles.

Thanks

Mike Rushton
PADI DM 174448

The thing that stood out for me about my OW instructor was his incredible patience. Nothing ever seemed to fluster him. If a student was having difficulty on a particular point, skill, or concept, he'd just find another way to present the information until the student got it right. He exhuded confidence in his students' ability to be successful ... and because he believed you could do it, you did. As an instructor, I have tried very hard to emulate those qualities ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[RumBum]

I think the instructor should listen to the student's worries and fears and work those out rather than just blowing it off with phrases like "Awww, don't worry about it so much," "This is EASY," and "TRUST ME." It is natural for a student to be scared or nervous about breathing underwater; be understanding.

 

[Amberjack]

My OW instructor had that same unflappable quality, which kept me feeling relaxed. He seemed very cool, calm and collected all the time. At the same time, though, you got a sense of how much he LOVED to dive, which made me feel less goofy for feeling so excited about being underwater.

 

[www.scubamazing.com]

I was 16 & a little shy. I just liked that my instructor was friendly and has some humor.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

I hated my first instructor. It was back in the dark ages and I had already logged 250 dives before I took the class. But the shop no longer would fill my tanks without a card so I had to take the class.

He had the military DI mentality and chased off a bunch of us. When he signed me off I never spoke to him again.

My best was my Instructor Trainer. He had a manner that I loved. He would never answer a question directly but instead he would draw the answer out of you.

 

[VKdiver]

After 17 years and three more certifications I still remember my OW instructor fondly. He was overweight, admittedly so, and immediately made everyone at ease by stating that if he could get to the instructor level we certainly could learn to be good divers. His enthusiasm and love for diving was infectuous. That is the best quality that you can exude to your students some day.