What Is Your Biggest Headache As An Instructor?

[ForeverYoung]

I'm curious about the pain points you all experience.

1. What are the biggest problems you all face as instructors on a day-to-day basis?

2. If you own your own school, what problems cost you the most money?

Venting is allowed

[mal103]

We are coming up to a grading and the majority are ready and keen, my biggest annoyance is those that coast along and expect to grade but put in very little effort.

A mid level student (as an example) regularly skips lessons and forgets what they have learnt so you have to teach them the same things over and over....

Marketing the clubs, advertising, delivering leaflets and then 2 people show up.... Students who miss lessons saying they were tired - after you had to drag yourself out of bed after missing sleep and feeling ill but still willing to give a good lesson.

BUT - it's all worth it when your best students smile after each lesson and are over-joyed after their grading. Even if it was 1 student it would be worth it.

An app to generate lesson plans or different combinations/drills.

[ForeverYoung]

Thanks, Mal103. Well said. In my experience, the "coasters" also hinder the progress of the students who are actually eager to learn, because instructors have to spend more time reteaching what they've already taught. And personally, every time I was paired up with a "coaster" for a drill, I knew I wasn't getting the most I could out of the combination/drill because I had to go down to their level.

Interesting app suggestion How do you personally compile your lesson plans and combos?

Thus begins the wheels turning in my head! Anyone else, feel free to suggest an app/software you'd like to see created that would make your lives easier (I'd requested that in my original post, but had edited it out).

[kensei]

People coast bug the heck out of me too. I also have students that coast, show up late for class and bolt after class is done....right after. then get mad that we dont talk to them about the spots they need to work on and explain things.

It frustrates me that students feel we are responsible 100% from white to Sandan for their training and work.....Cant do it. You need to start taking responsibility for yourself from DAY ONE. The instructor must teach...but the student has to learn and has to ask questions, train at home and push to be their early to ask those questions and work and then leave late after asking questions and working on the things that they should be doing in class.

Parents that demand things that we can not do is also a tick off for me. We have a group of parents at a different club my junior runs who demand things like belts a few days after testing, we are a smaller group and we have to order from a city that is far away, no MA stores in our area. We try and put together stalk but its hard to make sure you have enough with out going into pocket. Those parents...same ones that are late with fees, dont want to pay for testing or seminars ext.

Personal pet peeve students that have a lack of common hygene...or weird thoughts like wearing a deoderent is a bad thing....dude you smell BAD! Wash yourself and put something on so you dont offend...and I note those that STINK also have bad eating habbits to match the poor hygene and you end up with a filthy stinky student! Then I end up sparring with them and they just get worse and worse through the class....smelly feet, horrid BO and DIRT on their legs...in the summer those that wear sandles should wash their feet before coming into the training area...its sad and gross!

How about parrents that fail to pay dues....after getting family discounts and the MOFO is a LAWYER that makes 4 times that of the lady that works at a coffee shop and pays the full amount for her kid to train (I have given her free months when her take home was less during a work slow down, but he did not know that). And he was almost a full month late! And he demands that certificate and belt be ready with in a week of the testing. He is a GIANT pain in my back side and has once said to my junior that he is a "client/customer" and this was bad customer service. My come back was customers pay on time and pay the full amount on time or the service is cut off.

I dont own my own school. I work with our cheif instructor, but I am the chairman and executive director for our local group. The biggest challenges are actually marketing and coordinating the clubs. The second biggest issues are working with the people that run the clubs to make them work together as a smooth team...and the last is dealing with about 2% of the parents that end up being a big pain for me. the other 98% are fantastic, pitch in, pay on time, support the group and really make it worth while.

I have to say, much like others, the days I get to go out on the floor and be a student...to train and bust off a sweat...the days I get to push myself make the training worth while. And the kids that come up and hug you after class, or the adults that thank you and let you know that what you do makes their life a tad bit more fun...that makes it for me. thats what drives me to be better and to serve the students. The 2% that make it more difficult, well they are just a bump in the road!

[lowereastside]

What Is Your Biggest Headache As An Instructor?

Trying to give the knowledge to my students - making sure they get it.

[ForeverYoung]

What Is Your Biggest Headache As An Instructor?

Trying to give the knowledge to my students - making sure they get it.

Thanks, Lowereastside. I'm noticing a common thread here about students not "getting it." Perhaps that's something that comes with age and maturity? In some of my classes that were mixed with kids and adults, the adults were always more serious, which makes sense, because they had made the decision for themselves to be there. Of the kids, there were always a couple that didn't really want to be there.

However, we also had a handful of "rock star" students that loved it. A couple kids in particular had great technique and discipline for their age. It really makes you excited to see the adults they would become!

[ForeverYoung]

People coast bug the heck out of me too. I also have students that coast, show up late for class and bolt after class is done....right after. then get mad that we dont talk to them about the spots they need to work on and explain things.

It frustrates me that students feel we are responsible 100% from white to Sandan for their training and work.....Cant do it. You need to start taking responsibility for yourself from DAY ONE. The instructor must teach...but the student has to learn and has to ask questions, train at home and push to be their early to ask those questions and work and then leave late after asking questions and working on the things that they should be doing in class.

Parents that demand things that we can not do is also a tick off for me. We have a group of parents at a different club my junior runs who demand things like belts a few days after testing, we are a smaller group and we have to order from a city that is far away, no MA stores in our area. We try and put together stalk but its hard to make sure you have enough with out going into pocket. Those parents...same ones that are late with fees, dont want to pay for testing or seminars ext.

Personal pet peeve students that have a lack of common hygene...or weird thoughts like wearing a deoderent is a bad thing....dude you smell BAD! Wash yourself and put something on so you dont offend...and I note those that STINK also have bad eating habbits to match the poor hygene and you end up with a filthy stinky student! Then I end up sparring with them and they just get worse and worse through the class....smelly feet, horrid BO and DIRT on their legs...in the summer those that wear sandles should wash their feet before coming into the training area...its sad and gross!

How about parrents that fail to pay dues....after getting family discounts and the MOFO is a LAWYER that makes 4 times that of the lady that works at a coffee shop and pays the full amount for her kid to train (I have given her free months when her take home was less during a work slow down, but he did not know that). And he was almost a full month late! And he demands that certificate and belt be ready with in a week of the testing. He is a GIANT pain in my back side and has once said to my junior that he is a "client/customer" and this was bad customer service. My come back was customers pay on time and pay the full amount on time or the service is cut off.

I dont own my own school. I work with our cheif instructor, but I am the chairman and executive director for our local group. The biggest challenges are actually marketing and coordinating the clubs. The second biggest issues are working with the people that run the clubs to make them work together as a smooth team...and the last is dealing with about 2% of the parents that end up being a big pain for me. the other 98% are fantastic, pitch in, pay on time, support the group and really make it worth while.

I have to say, much like others, the days I get to go out on the floor and be a student...to train and bust off a sweat...the days I get to push myself make the training worth while. And the kids that come up and hug you after class, or the adults that thank you and let you know that what you do makes their life a tad bit more fun...that makes it for me. thats what drives me to be better and to serve the students. The 2% that make it more difficult, well they are just a bump in the road!

@ Kensei! Seriously, kudos to you (and all instructors) for persevering. If only the parents and students knew what you had to go through. But like you said, the students and parents who put in the effort, pay on time, and generally appreciate your hard work make it all worth it.

As for students training outside of class, do you think it would help if they had some kind of app/course material they could have access to at home that would give them drills to practice? And if they had access to it, do you think they would actually use it? Hmm...

[kensei]

@ Kensei! Seriously, kudos to you (and all instructors) for persevering. If only the parents and students knew what you had to go through. But like you said, the students and parents who put in the effort, pay on time, and generally appreciate your hard work make it all worth it.

As for students training outside of class, do you think it would help if they had some kind of app/course material they could have access to at home that would give them drills to practice? And if they had access to it, do you think they would actually use it? Hmm...

I love to teach, the gripe was more about those that complain about service and dont pay on time...they forget that we dont make much money on the Karate teaching, I volunteer all my time in fact! And we have to pay rent...with out the funds coming in....well they could look elsewere but I dont see many being a patient as we have been.

The ap is an interesting idea. I think that we need to move into the new age when it comes to teaching. I have a blog they follow, well some do and I think it helps. but some people...well its like my grand father used to say...."you can lead a horse to water...but just you try and drown em".

[ForeverYoung]

Very true, Kensei. Moving into the new age is often met with resistance, but people usually come around, especially if it's truly useful and makes their lives easier.

[bushido_man96]

Right now, my biggest headache is not having more leeway in what I can teach. We worry too much about the next testing, and don't do as much sparring and self-defense stuff as I think we should. We do have a day during the week that we do forms review and then some kicking drills, which is a nice shake-up.