Originally Posted by
at1024
I've been instructing for 2.5 years and have a little bit of dual given (1500+) and the best thing I could say is don't forget who's PIC. You're students will make mistakes as is required in learning but don't let it jeopardize your certs.
I've been flight instructing for over a year now and this is the thing that freaks me out the most about it. (my fellow coworkers always joked that the students try to kill you--some days, it feels like that..) I've seen the results when a student did something durastic on landing that put a blemish on his CFI's record. Vigilance is absolutely necessary, no matter how much experience your student has because you're still PIC.
Fun CFI story: on my very first day instructing, my very first student ever put me into a steep spiral (not quite into a spin) on a power-on stall. There's nothing like that experience to say, "welcome to flight instructing!"