Click the button to download a FREE Video Self-Evaluation template!
Growing as an instructor does not have to be expensive!
A massively underutilized tool you can use to grow and refine your teaching skills is VIDEO!
We have these wonderful, portable video cameras (aka your smartphone) in our back pockets now…why not make more use of them?
You don’t even need a cameraman to record a video of your teaching for a review! Make sure you have memory space cleared on your phone, set your phone up in a secure location, and hit record! The first couple times may not come out perfect, but as with anything new there is always a learning curve until you get used to things.
Tips for Recording a Lesson
- Set your phone up in a corner so that you can get more arena in the shot.
- Record horizontally so the arena can fill the screen as much as possible.
- Cut your arena in half to give yourself a smaller teaching area that might fit better within the shot.
- Adjust your pattern or activity to fit within the recording frame for the lesson(s) you are recording.
- Try to project your voice towards the phone or recording device (recording in general is a great way to be more aware of voice projection)
- Give your students and their family a heads up of why you are recording AND honor all photo/video releases even if this is for personal use!
Click the button to download a FREE Video Self-Evaluation template!
4 Tips for a Successful Self-Evaluation
- Do a self-analysis of your lesson after you are done teaching. Jot it down on a note pad, in a note app on your phone, etc. List the 3 top positives from your lesson and 2 top areas that need improvement. It is also great to note any ‘aha’ moments that happened (example: make sure the hole on the barrel is turned down towards the ground…or else you might loose a toy in there!)- save this self analysis…you will need this in the steps below.
- Watch the video of your teaching 2-4 days after the actual teaching date. This gives you time to process things and also have ‘fresh eyes’ when reviewing the video. While you are watching the video, write down the top 3 positives and the top 2 areas for improvement. For the two ‘improvement’ areas write down how and what you need to do to improved these parts. If you have any issues that came up that are separate from the top 2 improvement areas, address those as well and think of a solution
- After you have watched the video, take your notes from watching and compare them to your post lesson notes. Were they the same? Were they drastically different? What did you completely miss in person that you later saw on video?
- Get the most out of the video by having a peer and/or professional mentor/coach review your teaching. Compare their notes to yous. See if you saw the same things, what areas you not see that they did, what did you see that they did not, etc.
Click the button to watch a replay of our Instructor Chat: Growing as an Instructor
Interested in receiving professional instructor coaching to refine your teaching?
Working towards a certification and need mentoring or supervised teaching hours?
Hoof Falls & Footfalls provides remote and in-person coaching for adaptive riding instructors of all levels!
Contact us at Saebra.P@HoofFallsandFootfalls.com for more information or see our "Services" tab here on the website.
Saebra Pipoly
Hoof Falls & Footfalls
I’d love to have the links to groups where I can learn more about disabilities, horsemanship, etc.
Living and working in southern MD
To grow as an instructor I’m enrolled in the Intuitive Instructor Club now in my 2nd year. I keep up my CEU’s for PATH and I attend as many related classes, webinars and riding lessons for myself. I’d love to take the Pony Club Horsemaster’s course if I can find one in my area as well as going to the next level in PATH.