Consistency of Coaching
To ensure your syllabus is being correctly taught within your classes you’ll need the right tools for the job.
Your lesson plan is an indispensable tool that will ensure everyone is working from the same page and that you are sharing your syllabus directly with your students.
Lesson plans are an extension of your syllabus and are a means to ensure your syllabus is being taught to your classes.
Your lesson plans will create “consistency of coaching” within your lessons and throughout your school. It will ensure that your students learn exactly what they need to progress predictably.
Start by creating lesson plans based on your syllabus that you can use at least once per week. Ensure that you also include variations that will be suitable for different classes from beginners to advanced.
Always teach from your lesson plan. It avoids repetition, confusion and ensures that your entire syllabus is taught, which means students feel more confident and are more likely to grade on time.
Aspects to Consider
When creating a lesson plan, there are things to consider (lesson Structure):
- Class ( Little Dragons, Beginners, Intermediate, Elite)
- Class size (can you do what you are planning if more turn up than you are expecting)
- Can the plan be adapted
- Is it too simple / to hard for the group your teaching
- Make it enjoyable, interactive
- Will the class be able to follow the lesson and pick up the task in hand and succeed
- Are you able to explain what your doing easily and simply
- Are you confident explaining, demonstrating what your teaching
- Don’t try and cover too much in one lesson, pick one type of technique and stick to that
When you teach you need to consider the above, also a good tip is always plan to do more than what you actually deliver, just in case you find yourself running ahead of time, that way you can fulfil the time you have rather than think of what to do for the last 10 minutes as if you stand there thinking and hmmming, it could look like you don’t know what your doing.
Also if you have an assistant instructor in the class, make sure you brief them on what you will be doing in the class so they have an understanding and they are not finding out the same time as the class your teaching.
Add the fun element, this will make your students want to come back again and again, as potentially 10% of every class could lose interest in what you are teaching, and this could be the difference between them staying or leaving.
If you have fun teaching, the students will have fun learning.
Lesson Plan Template
• Welcome the class
– Make it warm, sincere and appreciative.
• Pre-frame the class
– Tell your class what you are going to be doing and how much fun it’s going to be.
• Any injuries or questions?
– Note any new injuries and address any questions that come up before the class.
• Lesson specific warm up
– For example, if your lesson involves a lot of kicking, your warm up will focus on legs.
• Technical drills
– Drilling techniques or sequences to improve your students’ abilities. The focus here is on technical execution rather than power.
• Partner or bag drills
– Use partner/bag drills that are logical, progressive and challenging.
• High energy finish
– Finish with sparring or a challenging fitness routine that will boost your students’ endorphins and leave them on a high.
• Summary and praise
– Deliver a summary of the class objectives and spotlight a couple of the students who impressed during the class.
(don’t use the same students every time)
Timing
When you are creating your own lesson plan template think about timing first.
How long is your class? If your class is one hour long, you need to be able to divide your lesson plan objectives into 10-15-minute sections.
Your timing will ensure that your lesson plan flows and that you don’t run out of time.
A lesson plan is like a good story or film, it needs to have a Beginning, a Middle and an End.
Lesson Plan Example
After Initial Welcome etc
The Beginning (10 Minutes) should consist of:
- A Cardio element to get the heart pumping and the blood flowing around the body 1-2 Minutes
- Arm stretch 3 Minutes
- Leg stretch 3-4 Minutes
- Neck stretch 1 minute
The Middle (Main Lesson) 30 – 35 Minutes consists of the bulk of the lesson, so choose something your confident to teach. So for example kicks, you would teach the kicks needed for the grades in your class, and then do a couple of kicks over there grade if you get a chance.
So the lesson would consist of the following:
- 2 slow demonstrations of the kick with an explanation
- 2 quicker demonstrations with no explanation
- Then a walk through with the class following.
- Kicks to count and then walk around and assisting students.
- Repeat the process for each technique.
- When you have gone through the techniques you could repeat the process but to bags or pads.
- Add some fun into it by adding mini fitness competitions, asking students to choose numbers, and a switching competition.
The Ending (5 Minutes)
Use this time for a cool down stretch, especially if this is a very fast paced lesson. You can also recap on what you have covered in the lesson, and ask students to demonstrate what they have learnt. Also use the time to use the PCP method, such as
P – Awesome class tonight guys you all done really well
C – Some of you just need to make little corrections, as I mentioned as I walked around so practice those at home
P – But again you were all brilliant and gave everything a really good try.
TIPS
PEMDI
P= Preview the Techniques. Frame the purpose and the use of the technique. For example “Today we’re learning a Snap Punch/Jab. It’s used for…”
E= Explanation of the technique – explain the technique in context.
M= Mistakes common to the technique. Make sure you mention the most common problems that students face, so that they can avoid them before they even start.
D= Demonstrate the technique from several different angles.
Full speed and half speed.
I= Involve students in the learning process be asking questions and including them in the discussion.
PPP Pair Partners Properly
To prevent unnecessary injuries and make sure everyone has a good time, Instructors should pair partners based on (not in order):
- Size
- Skill Levels
- Gender
- Athletic Ability
- Competitive Interest
- Toughness
- Injuries
With an odd number of students, you can put the students into groups of 3 and rotate the groups.
