8 Weeks Teaching

I have been asked to come to a primary school to teach the yoyo for 8 weeks with only 25 minutes each week. The students are year 5-6 and do not know how to throw… how much to learn each week?

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You’ll have to gauge how fast of learnes they are when you first get there and constantly cater towards that. Have a general plan but expect it to change as needed.

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Thanks for the advice!

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I’m not a teacher :wink:

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Does that mean 5-6 year olds or 5th and 6th graders? I am sure 5th and 6th graders. I guarantee you will find one or two prodigies.

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We use years usually in Hong Kong so years 5-6 are US 4-5 grades

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US system

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Perfect age! Be patient. There will be some kids that will show no interest. Some will pick up the basics easily and there will be some that really want to learn but get frustrated because they feel uncoordinated but REALLY want to understand and get good. Let the kids who get it keep practicing and then spend time with the slower kids because if they feel ignored they will just drop their interest. I was horrible at math in school but one year I had Algebra and was in a small class and the teacher was able to spend a lot of time with us individually and I got A’s! The next year I had General Math in a class of 30 and barely passed. I tried to learn Barrell Rolls for 2 months and practically gave up. I met a yoyoer and he taught it to me in 10 minutes!

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Soooo…………

  1. Do you get to see the same group each week?

  2. If you do get to see the same group do they each have their own yoyo, or have access to a yoyo so they can practice between sessions.

  3. Are they attending the yo group of their own free will or is it somewhat mandated?

  4. Are they all beginners or will there be a range of experience levels?

  5. Who brings the pizza each session? :pizza:

  6. Are you starting responsive or unresponsive? If they bring their own yoyos and some are responsive and some are unresponsive how are you going to deal with it?

  7. String, bring lots of string and something to cut it with.

  8. Who is supplying the beverages? :cup_with_straw:

  9. Time management: yeah that’s going to be huge!
    Something to consider; you actually wont have 25 minutes each session. It will take some time for everyone to arrive, get settled, and get focused. You will also lose a few minutes at the end when everyone gets ready to leave. I’m going to guess that you are going to lose about 5-10minutes of your 25. That’s not going to be a lot of time to teach, practice, learn, experiment. If they each have their own yoyo or access to a yoyo during the week it will really help.

  10. Be certain the end of the class is super fun! The end is really important. They will want to come back if they leave with smiles and laughter!

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Okay, huge amounts of tips and advice. Just be chill and don’t let us make you nervous. The kids as well as you will be having a learning experience. You’re all going to have a great time. Yoyoing is about fun.

We are all potential teachers and the first time we teach someone something we become a teacher. Each time we teach someone we become better at teaching. You’ll be fine!

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……………

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Me, obviously :laughing:

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