How I Taught a Group of Naught

People seem obsessed by the different sizes of groups that they teach.

Individual vs small groups vs large groups vs massive gatherings.

All different? Not really.

Thinking group size matters is a recipe to get confused. It's a spurious division.

Sure, the emphasis is different, but watch Anthony Robbins teach a group of 5,000 people, and you still see Anthony Robbins teaching individuals.

One human being is the discrete component of any teaching situation.

Yes - I can teach alone, in absentia!

I often do. In other times I have written - a teacher is not a teacher unless a student exists for them. Did I mean a real, live student, or just an imaginary one?

BOTH.

Before I teach an individual, group or large gathering, I teach them in absentia. I IMAGINE the situation, imagine how I will respond, imagine what they want, imagine how I will deliver it. Of course I am unlikely to do this, if I don't have an appointment to deliver it.

A successful strategy for ANY teaching situation, is to go in with at least three or more plans that you could follow. And then remember this…

There is no teaching plan that lasts beyond the first encounter with a student.

I have been teaching since 1978, so I have innumerable teaching plans available to me. If you are fresh to this, then do what I did (and still do)…

WHAT I DID (or how I taught naught)

For several years at BodyChance, I would plan every class in great detail. I have note books which, stacked on top of each other, reach up to my waist.

Here's how I would do that:

FIRST - Imagine Your Students

Think about what they have experienced, what brought them to class originally, what questions they have previously posed. This can be done, if you know them or not. It doesn't matter. Just imagine it sweetheart.

SECOND - Write Down Random Ideas

No editing here. Free flow. Do this. Play this. Say this. Get it all down in a haphazard way. Mind map, make lists, whatever. Find your way, but GET IT ON PAPER.

THIRD - Create an order

I roughly categorized each component of my teaching into these elements:

1. Games: the main criteria, that the student(s) had fun
2. Drills/explorations: the main criteria, that student(s) had to think different
3. Interventions: the main criteria, that one individual had a breakthrough
4. Talks: the main criteria, that I presented a cogent concept
5. Q&A/discussion: the main criteria, that it was interactive with student(s)

Then I created a structure around that, usually in the order I have listed them above, and not always. This is not some "written in stone" must-do-at-all costs list; it's just my way of making sense of a teaching situation.

I am sure there are other lists and ways to break it down that are better. Keep seeking information, and new tools.

The change compass is one of the most powerful tools I know.

And you can learn all about that dear reader, when you register to get the first offer I will make, on showing you how the Change Compass is a true reflection of Alexander's story, and the most accurate guide to learning that you will ever study…

ThinkingBody Online

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