Desire - Instructor Tools

It is down to the individual trying to master the skill to have the Desire; the need and want defined in a clear goal.  The instructor can inspire Desire and create a SMART goal-based environment.  If you have not already, please read the other pages in the Desire section before continuing here.

Set a club goal each month:  New students in particular will find it difficult to craft a SMART goal or even figure what they need or want.  Pick a SMART goal with a time limit of a month's worth of classes'.  Each class in that time period will have a set amount of time dedicated to working on that goal, be it through instructor lead activities, or open floor time.  The challenge is to craft a goal that:

1. A complete beginner can achieve should they join that month.
2. Will allow the experience students to either challenge their existing skills or gain a complimentary skill

A scenario based goal might work best, but also provide a technique and application that can be expanded upon by those with the experience, but is self-contained enough to work by itself.

Share student goals: Make the students craft personnel SMART goals and have them declare them to the rest of the class.  Post them on a wall perhaps.  Then check on them periodically.  By sharing them you can ensure that they are indeed SMART and encourage the student (or have their peers encourage them) to tweak them in the right direction if they are not.  Occasionally students will express common goals or inspire new goals from each other, "Oh, I need to work on that too, do you want a partner?"

Support student goals: There is no point in crafting a goal without follow through.  Yet everyone blows off one New Year's resolution or another.  A student who knows that someone will check up on their goals will likely work a little harder on them.  Be a supporter, not a task manager.  The goals are theirs to succeed or fail in, and even the best will fail on occasion.  When they do fail, help them reflect and adjust the goal as needed.

Provide time/space: A student's personnel training goals may not always line up with the general class goal or even the style syllabus.  Rather than damper this Desire, provide open floor time if possible.  Perhaps it's "over time", 15 or 30 minutes after the regular class ends or before class begins, or on a day outside of regular classes.  Regardless it's some time for the student(s) to have the space, tools and partners to work on their goals.  This can be also be an opportunity for the instructor to develop their own skills, or determine goals for future months.

No one has ever mastered a skill they did not need and want