How to do a rotating curriculum

[kenpo4life]

Hey folks,

I am the solo teacher at my location so far, and I have limited times available. How does a rotating curriculum work in that context. If I have a person joins 3 months after the program begins, how do I keep the original group moving, while getting the new kid up to speed? I struggle with this, that is why I haven't moved ahead with my Kid Karate class yet. Can anyone explain it to me? Thanks in advance!

[Karate_John]

Imo a true rotating curriculum will not work without having different level of classes. for example, you would need to hold classes at different times for beginners intermediate, advanced students. It really comes down to that all students need to be around the same level, only the order of teaching techniques changes within the curriculum cycle. So it does not mater when they move up to the next class level, everyone is always moving forward or reviewing.

in your case, you can do a hybrid rotating curriculum. You can use it as a class plan and group students to work on different material that matches the curriculum plan. You spend some time with each group showing something new to practice or review.

[kenpo4life]

Thank you for the reply. What you put is along the lines of what i was thinking. But I am still very curious as to how other people pull it off. Keep the good stuff coming guys

[Nidan Melbourne]

If you have a small number of students (<15) you can easily operate as normal, but still have an emphasis on Basics. Because we all know Basics is Life.

Also it depends on the ranks and age of those already training. Because you can utilize the most senior student to assist and teach the beginner student.

Personally I agree with what Karate_John said, because having multiple classes makes life easier for a rotating curriculum. My Dojo operates 16 Classes Per Week; each with specific grades permitted to attend each one. As such we rotate the required curriculum according to available grades.

If you have a wide spectrum of ranks, split into x number of groups and get them to work on a particular skill or set of skills. But instead of them doing it on their own; have students to pair up and work on it together. That way you will find that students will get the practice they need, but also when they are helping their fellow student they'll learn by; watching, correcting and discussing with that person.

[Lupin1]

It's hard to do a rotating curriculum yourself having everyone in the same class.

Although I don't teach my own program yet, as a teacher by trade I enjoy planning out what my curriculum would be. I would use a rotating curriculum.

I think the brand new beginners would have their own class. That way we can really go into the basics of each movement without boring the kids who've already done it (not that they wont continue to work basics) and the beginners can have all my attention.

After that I would probably do three belts intermediate (yellow, orange, blue), three belts advanced (green, purple, brown), and then a black belt class (starting with junior black belt).

The intermediate and advanced classes would be taught on a three or four month rotating curriculum. Kids would only be able to join at the beginning of the session. Each session would focus on a kata, some movements, some partner drills/self defense techniques, an aspect of sparring, and possibly some grappling techniques.

Starting at junior black belt (equivalent to adult brown belt) kids would move at their own pace as one would assume by that rank they'd be capable of self-managing their own learning with some guidance. In my experience that's also when kids' attendance becomes more spotty or kids start hitting more plateaus or dips in motivation. Allowing them to work at their own pace allows someone to push through something like that while also teaching them self-management and independence.

I think, if I had room, I'd like to do at least one "open" class a week so the beginners can benefit from working with the advanced students and the advanced students could develop their leadership skills.

Those are my thoughts on how I'd like a curriculum to work. This is assuming I'd run my program through a rec center or youth center and only be able to teach a few days a week. I also wrote my dream curriculum for children. I don't feel capable of teaching adults right now and would probably send any interested adults over to my instructors. If I were opening a full school with a full schedule, I'd probably work it a little differently.

[Luther unleashed]

Ahh the greatest headache I have had to date. Nobody can argue with the effectiveness of having a class size of 5 students, and having at the very least a beginners group, intermediate group, and advanced. Also having a black belt class will help things to be very effective.

If we are talking one teacher, I approach it like this when I'm alone as I have been a great deal lately and I don't think to hard about it anymore. I often work on the same material as a group. Now, how does the red belt be more advanced then the yellow belt if you teach 9 classes in a row where they are doing the same things? Well, if we are doing kicking drills I tell students over such and such rank to perform this kick, and students under that rank to do something else. Also, I often view rank as quality and not quantity. The red belt will clearly be much better at those things because of doing them more, they look like a red belt performing these moves, and the yellow belt has been there less time so has done them less and again looks like a yellow belt doing the moves.

This approach must be seen as "less is more" or more specifically "it's not about how much you know, but how well you know something"! Again the ideal situation will always be that I have 3 assistant instructors and we are always broken into groups of classes by rank, but that's not always possible and even if a place has that now, things can get sticky. I sometimes view my classes when I'm in a tight spot and I'm alone, as a seminar. I teach just as good, but you may have to really pay attention and work hard to be as good.

[kenpo4life]

Thank you guys for the responses, if anyone else has any suggestions, i would love to hear them!

[ninjanurse]

While it is easier to teach the same thing to everyone in attendance it's just not practical when you have new mixed ranks, and besides, I am a traditionalist and it doesn't sit right with me to teach advanced kata to a yellow belt-LOL! I prefer to teach by age group (all ranks together) so they newer students see the progression and work with higher ranks to gain from their experience. I tailor my teaching style to the age group (physical and cognitive development) and alter the language and/or intent based on the maturity of the group.

I use a pseudo "rotating curriculum" that serves everyone and allows for some variety. I teach the following curriculum areas: kata, step sparring, escapes, kicking combinations, basics, boxing/striking, sparring tactics, arnis, and jiujitsu. I divide these areas into A or B and assign a day of the week as an A day or a B day. There are certain areas that we cover every class and an area that we rotate on a 4 week basis, for example: On A days we always cover Forms, Basics, Escapes, and Step Sparring and each week rotate through Jiujitsu, Boxing, Arnis, and Instructors Choice over the 4 week cycle. B days are set up the same way.

This is the way that I found works well with my teaching style. Teaching a multi-level class takes planning, good time management, and class discipline....learning to be creative in delivery takes time and some trial and error.