This is a great thread. Here are a few things to consider when teaching:
1. It's all about patience.
2. You can't teach everyone the same amount in the same time frames (are you
listening Mr. Bush?).
3. If the student knows more at the end of the lesson than when they started
the lesson, the lesson was successful.
4. Some students need more lessons than others to meet the course
objectives.
5. A good student is a good student; gender is irrelevant.
6. You are both the teacher and the student; recognize that you can learn
from everyone.
7. It's all about patience.

Scout.
"profanity and obscenity entitle people who don't want unpleasant
information to close their ears and eyes to you."
Kurt Vonnegut


"Jonathan Ganz" wrote in message
...
Hey, here's an on-topic post.... sorry.

I had a student yesterday who just does not seem to get
it at all. She spent nearly 2 hours rigging a very simple
Holder 20. Literally, a main, a jib, and that's about it.
Most students take 30 minutes tops the first time out. It
seemed like everything was a struggle for her.

I'm not sure how to proceed. When we finally got out on
the water, she did ok, but was very hesitant with almost
zero self-confidence, especially about gybing, even though
the wind was very light on the lake.

I hate to dissuade her completely from sailing, but I also
hate having her waste her money on lessons. She's had
two other instructors prior to me, and took the full basic
sailing class. Obviously, she's trying really hard... said
she wants some independence from her husband, her
own hobby, etc. I talked to one of the other instructors,
and he said basically the same thing... doesn't know
why she's having problems like this... didn't know what
to do.

She's got the basic book, she can usually tie a bowline
the first time in about 5-10 seconds, but then she gets
totally stuck on a stopper knot (fig 8). I saw her take
3-4 minutes to do it right, even with me talking her
through it and showing her countless times.

Has anyone had a student like this? What did you do?

10 NG pts for a workable solution.

Jonathan

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com