Teaching Teenagers

[Angwilwileth]

I'm going to be helping my coach run a fencing day camp this summer for kids ages 13-18.
I've got almost no experience teaching this age group, so any help/input would be greatly appreciated.

[tbryan]

Originally Posted by Angwilwileth

I'm going to be helping my coach run a fencing day camp this summer for kids ages 13-18.
I've got almost no experience teaching this age group, so any help/input would be greatly appreciated.

A little more information might get you more response.

What age group do you normally work with?

How much fencing experience will these fencers have? That is, is this a camp for those who have never fenced before, for relative novice fencers interested in competition, or for fencers who have been competing for years already?

[Angwilwileth]

Most of my experience teaching fencing to people in my own age group.
The kids I'm teaching are beginners who've never tried fencing before.

I'm going to be involved in demonstrations, directing, and supervision of drills and bouting.

[Timo]

I fit all the criteria for who you'll be teaching.

What I'd be most interested in learning that would not be way above me would be footwork first, followed be basic lunge and parrys. To keep them interested through the footwork, put on a reallt interesting fight at the very begining. Show them what they might be able to do someday with a lot of work.
but that's just my 2 copper

[tbryan]

Originally Posted by Angwilwileth

Most of my experience teaching fencing to people in my own age group. The kids I'm teaching are beginners who've never tried fencing before.

I don't think that there's that much difference between twenty-somethings and 18 year olds as a group. The 14 year olds will probably vary a bit more on their maturity, but the ones I've worked with tend to follow the tone of the group or to split off into a little group of folks their age and interests. If you have a group like the latter that tends to goof off or be distracting, just identify it early and split them up more often. For example, instead of having people form groups of 4 or something, just assign people into groups.

With a group close to my own age, I tend to work as a peer. Here are some things I know, I can help you out. We'll work together. That kind of tone.

With fencers in the 13 - 18 year range, it can be useful to maintain a bit more distance. That is, if the group is younger, they may find it more difficult to have you switching back and forth between buddy and instructor. In that case, I find that it's easier to start with a bit more emotional distance than I would with an older crowd.

In any case, by the time they're 14, most people can sit still and listen for a while and can handle some drills whose benefit isn't immediately obvious to them. I wouldn't think that you'd have to change much about the structure of a course between 14 year olds and 20 year olds. One good thing about the younger students is that they may be more willing to go along with whatever you can establish right from the beginning. Older folks have seen a bit more of the world, and they may simply balk at doing something that they find odd. The younger the group, the more freedom you have with the structure of the course. Just make sure to set the tone right away. Once you've established a tone, it can be difficult to change it.

But, like I said, once they're 14, they're probably capable of handling anything fencing- or drill-wise that you can throw at them. If you're introducing a group to fencing, then I think that the bigger challenge is just making it fun, helping them to see what fencing would be like if they stuck with it, etc.

Oh, the one other thing that you may want to think about with the 14 - 18 crowd. People in that age group might not have figured out ways of negotiating awkward situations. For example, if you provide lunch, a 20-something vegetarian probably has some established ways of handling the situation. A 14-year old might not know how to handle the situation and might not feel comfortable opening the subject in front of a group. So, if it was not done when they were signing up for the class, you might want to give a preview at the start and before each set of drills and mention what it will involve (contact with others, etc.) and mention that students should come talk to you if they feel that they cannot perform the drill for some reason.

[jBirch]

I've spent a lot of time teaching this age group.

To start, you need to assert yourself fairly regularly. All members will be testing themselves using you as the benchmark, so make sure you both know what you're doing AND can demonstrate it.

Next, this group is highly interested in social status. Know who the cooler members are and who the uncool members are. Force a fencing definition of "cool" by praising those students who perform well AND showing attention to those who practice hard.

Expect to be faced with a lot of challenges to your authority as well as attempts to shift the fencing lesson into different areas. I had one student who liked to talk about his website and politics instead of fencing.

Know that at this age, you're the leading male/female role-model in their lives outside of their parents. Expect your opposite sex members to find you "hot" simply because of your position. Don't get caught reciprocating. Endeavour to encourage good life skills in addition to good fencing skills. They will mimic you and call you out on any discrepency between your words and your deeds.

Finally, you need to commit to these students totally and endeavour to convince them that you're the fencing coach, not their parents. If you really respect them and try to teach them, they'll respond.

Do you have any specific concerns?

James.

[Peach]

They are a great deal more sensitive than they seem, and if you hurt their feelings they will either get their revenge on you or (which is worse) on their classmates, if they model themselves on you. Sarcasm gets results in the short term but is very damaging in the long term. Be straight with them, be honest, be a good role model, and don't make the mistake of trying to be their friend.

[stickhorse]

I'm an assistant coach helping out with kids ranging from 7-15, and a few adults. But I'm only 16, so I remember what it was like to be on the recieving end.

Don't embaress indiviuals infront of the class, if you need to say something to them, do it in a professional way, not condescendingly. Make sure that you clarify that fencing is not swashbuckling. In my first class half the kids were there because they wanted to sword fight with their friends.
With older teenage kids, don't be afraid to be their buddy sometimes. It can help draw them into the sport. One reason I stuck with the fencing is because I had two great coaches who weren't afraid to joke around with us once in a while. That being said, if you feel like the kids aren't able to see you as a buddy and still respect you as a coach, keep your distance.
Don't treat them like children. They will give you just as much respect as you give them.

[RITFencing]

As some of you know, I've recently had a lot of experience with high school kids. Some of the things I've learned, most of which have also been pointed out here.

1) Respect them. This is the NUMBER ONE most important thing. They are people too, and while not fully developed, they are not little children either. If you treat them like adults, they will tend to act like adults.

2) You are not their friend, you are their coach. This does not mean you can't crack a joke now and then or establish a rapport with your fencers, but you need to keep in mind the dynamic of this relationship is not one of two friends, especially in the beginning. You can warm up a little bit as the relationship goes on, in the case of longer term students, but for a camp, you are teaching, they are learning. Remember that it is possible for two individuals to like each other (and probably more important, trust each other) without being friends, per se.

3) Keep them involved and busy. Don't spend too long on one task, they will get bored. Keep the activity changing, keep them switching with different partners. Once they get good enough to handle bouting, i find that rotating between a drill and some bouting time helps to reinforce the drill and keeps their attention much longer. Before you get to this point, try to think of multiple games and activities that all work towards the same goal. This way you can keep them working on, say, lunges, for a long period without them nodding off.

4) Keep it fun. Remember that these are probably not a bunch of already dedicated, hard core fencers. They are trying it out to have a good time. Making sure they have said good time will help you out immeasurably.

5) Lay down the law early. It is MUCH harder to go from an undisciplined environment to a disciplined one than vice versa. You can still keep things fun and interesting while keeping a bit of a tight reign on the class early on, and it will help set the tone for things to come.

6) When you do have to punish something, punish it EVERY TIME. I know it sounds draconian, but letting one student go when you punish another will lead to cries of "That's not fair" and "How come Jimmy didn't have to do push ups?" It's just like being a ref. Be very, very consistent in how you handle discipline. Also, when you have to assign a punishment, stick to it. Don't bluff, and don't back down. I cannot stress that enough. Like they tell police officers: you do not draw your gun unless you intend to use it.

7) Speaking of discipline: lay out goals, objectives and rules very clearly in the beginning. Be reasonable in your rules and expectations; you don't have to be a jerk or a control freak, but you should let them know what will be expected of them, and what they will expect of you.

8) Be positive and supportive, but not a milksop. If a student is doing something wrong, don't be a jerk, but don't pussyfoot around it either. I find that a healthy mix of sportiveness and directness are the best ways to deal with mistakes. By the same token, be sure to praise good effort and good attitude.

9) Never, ever, EVER lose your temper at the kids. Punishments aren't done in anger, and if you can't control yourself, you won't be able to control them when necessary. If it gets really bad (hopefully it won't) excuse yourself and have another coach handle it.

10) The parents are always watching. Never forget that. Anything they don't see, they will hear about, and they talk to each other. I've been burned on this before.

That's all I can think of right now. Hopefully I haven't scared you too much.

[qatet]

Originally Posted by RITFencing

9) Never, ever, EVER lose your temper at the kids. Punishments aren't done in anger, and if you can't control yourself, you won't be able to control them when necessary. If it gets really bad (hopefully it won't) excuse yourself and have another coach handle it.

All really good stuff.

RE: 9... If you're the only one in charge (no one else can step in) and you feel that you could potentially actually get angry at the kids, ACT angry before you are angry. In other words, perform the situation, don't get emotionally involved in it. Quite a lot of teaching is performing in one way or another, but this is a particularly important spot to be able to act.

[RITFencing]

Originally Posted by qatet

All really good stuff.

RE: 9... If you're the only one in charge (no one else can step in) and you feel that you could potentially actually get angry at the kids, ACT angry before you are angry. In other words, perform the situation, don't get emotionally involved in it. Quite a lot of teaching is performing in one way or another, but this is a particularly important spot to be able to act.

Excellent counter point, though I prefer to not even act angry. This many, however, stem from the fact that I'm a large male and have been told by some people that I can be very intimidating, so I don't want to travel down that road. Your mileage may vary.

It is very, very different when you are the only authority figure there, though. Have some rep for pointing that out; I completely forgot about it.

[qatet]

Originally Posted by RITFencing

Excellent counter point, though I prefer to not even act angry. This many, however, stem from the fact that I'm a large male and have been told by some people that I can be very intimidating, so I don't want to travel down that road. Your mileage may vary.

Indeed. It's an approach I've never had to use until this past few months, although it was one of the first pieces of advice my coach/boss ever gave me. Somehow putting in 12-16-hour days on my dissertation means that I have a harder time dealing with the kids when they get goofy, and it's spring, so they're getting pretty goofy.

Which is another thing to consider - if you know that there's some mitigating factor in your life outside of coaching that is going to impact how you deal with the kids, factor it in when planning out the class. If you've only had three hours of sleep in the past week, edge a bit more towards games and bit less towards intricate bladework drills or complicated explorations of the tactical tree that will require your focussed attention. You are an important part of the class and setting up a structure that you can't deal with for the day isn't going to help anybody. Know your limitations.

[RITFencing]

Another good point, and it leads me to something I really should have mentioned when dealing with all age groups:

PLAN AHEAD. This is SO important for a camp, especially when you haven't been fencing long (your profile says 1 year.) I've been doing this for almost a decade, so I'm generally ok to wing it now and again, but I much prefer to have a general sort of plan going in. It doesn't have to be much, or even written down, but spend some time beforehand thinking about what you want to accomplish, how you're going to do so, etc. Plan out activities, roughly how much time you want to spend on them, what order you want to do them in. You don't have to stick to it religiously, or even at all if things go sour, but try to do as much work as you can beforehand, so you can focus on teaching the camp when you're there.

If you're the assistant, this may not be as big of a deal for you, but try to come prepared with a few fun, easy games the kids can do. They don't even have to be fencing related.

In fact, I find it's best to open with a game that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with fencing, just to help warm them up and put them in a good frame of mind. Having a bit of fun to tire them out and help break the ice right at the start can save you some trouble later by creating a good first impression of that day, the camp as a whole, and you as an instructor.

[Durando]

Originally Posted by Peach

They are a great deal more sensitive than they seem, and if you hurt their feelings they will either get their revenge on you or (which is worse) on their classmates, if they model themselves on you. Sarcasm gets results in the short term but is very damaging in the long term. Be straight with them, be honest, be a good role model, and don't make the mistake of trying to be their friend.

Peach, you are right on about this. After a few years of teaching, I'm still surprised how vulnerable this age group is. Their vulnerability is all out of proportion with their ability to make life miserable for everyone around them. They can dish it out, etc. No matter how many times I repeat the above to myself, I'm surprised every time.

You have to learn to be a quiet presence, I think. They are generally reluctant to show respect so don't expect it. It comes with time, though.

I haven't blogged about my kids lately, but Royal is a great example. We joke around a bit. We're generally competitive. He's a bit of a rock star and wastes time learning tricks when he ought to be thinking about real problems. (He's in a period where he will never put out a simple stop when he could throw a flick.) My number one goal is to get him through this period because he's going to stall out and become frustrated otherwise.

Little bits of attention constantly deployed seem to be doing the trick. Taught him how to wire a blade, for example. I hide his weapons when he leaves them on the floor. The other day in competition he actually asked me a tactical question about another fencer!

I think for a teenager to ask a question means they admit to not knowing the answer. Which is a huge step. You have to let them make that step. This means saying much less than you know.

[Durando]

Just want to underscore how good the advice is in this thread. A., you should simply print this thread out for later reference. "Plan ahead," is probably the one thing that will save you more heartache than any other point.

And remember, pedagogically speaking, this age group is nearly the hardest to teach. You're going to screw up, but do remember to forgive yourself for doing so.

[Stranger In Black]

When and where?

heh, Now I'm excited.

[Angwilwileth]

Thank you so much for all the excellent advice in this thread! Rep all around!