a regular day here on the farm...

Scott thinks hes a pirate, and sequehenna thinks she is a parrot.

Kennedy loves to get her picture taken.

CFI assignment #3

Question

You have a brand new private pilot. On your very first lesson with them you do a "expectations" talk so they know what you expect them to do and what they can expect you to do. What items would you cover?

Answer

We learned in fundamentals of instructing that one of the principles of learning is readiness. Readiness implies a degree of single-mindedness and eagerness. Outside factors, such as schedule, finances, or outside responsibilities can quickly deteriorate a students ability to learn. It is my responsibility as the instructor to get the student ready to learn.

Expectations I would have for the student:

I would discuss with the amount of time, money and effort that is needed to become a pilot. Learning to fly is an investment. Like any investment, you can't get a good return unless you give towards the investment. With flying, it takes money, time, and hard work. But like an investment, can be well worth the sacrifice. However, if you are if you only invest the money, and not the time and hard work, you are probably better off not flying as flying will be difficult and expensive if you are not fully applying yourself to becoming a pilot.

I would expect my student to be willing to study on there own. I would expect them to read assignments and do research. I would expect them to show up for lessons prepared and ready to learn. I would expect the student to fly at least 2 a week, weather permitting. 3 or 4 times is more optimal. I would expect the student to be open and willing to learn. I would expect the student to be excited to learn to fly as well. I would expect the student to be on time and cancel lessons only when necessary. I would also expect the student to have the financial capabilities to meet their goals.

The student can expect me as an instructor to be professonal. I would be expected to be on time and be prepared for each lesson and only cancel lessons when absolutly neseccary. I could be expected to guide the student by suggesting study assignments, answering questions, and guiding the students learning procsess. I could be expected to take my students seriously and understand that they are investing alot to have me teach them. I will not take advantage of the student and "use" them for flight time. My primary goal will be to help them accomplish there goals. I could also be expected to be honest and follow the laws and regulations.

House remodeling update

CFI Assignment #2

Here is another blogging assignment for my CFI class.

Question #2

You have a new student that you picked up from another flight instructor. What are you going to be looking for in the students folder to give you an indication of where they are at? what questions are you going to ask the students previous instructor? What questions will you ask the student? What techniques will you use to figure out where the student is in their ground knowledge?

Answer

This is a really tough question. During my instrument, about half way through, my flight instructor landed a job with and airline and was gone. It was a difficult transition as a student to make. My new flight instructor had to re-asses me and try to jump in with training where ever I was.

You may think that being part 141 would make the transition smoother. However, you need to be careful thinking you know where a student is by looking at there folder and seeing how far along in the syllabus they are. Just because my old flight instructor and I had gone over everything in the syllabus, doesn't mean that I learned everything, or that I even remember covering somethings. To make matters worse, my old CFI had marked everything we had gone over in the folder with a 3. If I did really bad on a maneuver, I got a 3. If I nailed a holding pattern, I got a 3. So my new instructor really didn't have an idea from my folder how I was doing with different areas.

So, if I was looking in a folder of a newly transfered student, I would check to see what marks the student had been recieving so far. I would check how far along they are in the sylabus. I could look over the paper work as well. Is there medical or student certificate expiring soon? Maybe look over the airplane check out quizes or pre-solo quiz. I would not use the folder as a crutch. I would be sure to asses the student myself and ask the student and the old CFI questions.

If I have get a new student from a flight instructor, I am going to make sure that I have a talk with instructor that is transferring me the student. What were the students strengths and weaknesses. What might have not been gone over very well. Were do they feel the student is in the training? Also I would ask questions that don't pertain to how far there training has come along. What are there career goals? How is the students attitude? What are the students goals with flying? Have you picked up any diffence mechanisims? What type of learners are they, visual, kinesthitic...?

I would also ask the student several questions. Many being the same. What are your goals with flying? How much time do you devote to your training? What do you feel some of your strong points are? How about areas you would like to work on?

Discovering were the student lies in knowledge areas seems to be the hardest. After a couple of flights, you can quickly find out what kind of motor skills the student has developed. I would start finding out were the student stands in there knowledge skill by doing some oral quizing. Maybe have the student explain some things to me. I would let the student know that I wasn't testing them, and if they can't answer some of the questions or explain things, that is ok and expected. I'm just trying to get a feel for were they are.

You may be able to find out alot by taking a flight as well. Ask about airport signs. See how well they can handle the radios. Can they set up a traffic pattern, or do they know what airspace we are in.

Overall, I think this would be an extremely difficult situation. I would need to be completly objective and not assume anything in my assement. I would need to make sure that I don't assume the student already knows something and leave a hole in there training. Although, as in instructor it would be my job to do this quickly and efficiently, as the student does not want to waste money while I am attempting to make sure there are no holes in the training.

Pictures from Mandy

Tom and Lorna were sealed in the Logan Temple.
Mandy came up and took tons of pictures.

Kennedy helping "the round one" down the hill.



Mandy and Katy!


2t! Sweet!

Miss Kennedy! I don't know what that look is for. Maybe I asked her if she wanted to help me take the chicken to the vet

Heidi goes to the Vet

The new chicken, Heidi, got bit by a dog. Kennedy tells the story in her blog. If you haven't read it, you must. These are some pictures the Mandy took of Heidi's trip to the vet. At the time, Scott was worried that her leg might be getting infected because her wound turned all black and funky and she wouldn't walk on her leg. The vet gave us some antibiotics to kill the infection and said that she should be just fine. If you don't know how much fun in is to give a chicken a pill, then you must come over and see.





Buckle up chicken bird! Yee haw!!


"I'm ready to roll!"