CaptUnderhill

I am in the process of creating my lovely binder for my CFI training. Just wondering how many lesson plans to create? I am going through the PTS and highlighting the main tasks. There are some topics that I don't see the point on making a lesson plan for ex: Straight and level flight, Cockpit mgmt., Engine Starting, etc. Just wondering if there is a required amount and if anyone had any tips on lesson plans or CFI training in general? Thanks!

JamesNoBrakes

You have to make lesson plans for as many topics as your flight instructor requires? If you are asking about the checkride, you have to be able to teach any area within commercial and private PTS and the fundamentals (principles of flight, etc), all are fair game. There are certain areas that are required to be tested. You aren't required to teach all of them, but you may not know for sure what you are going to teach, depends on the examiner.

Some instructors teaching in a classroom setting may assign students with certain lessons to prepare, and then allow the students to "share" so everything is covered in the end. I've found it can be painfully obvious when someone is using a lesson plan they did not develop though.

Lesson plans should be just that, plans, not complete information on a subject, that should be in your head, in the books you are going to use, and so on. Try not to "tell" anything or use commercial sources that don't trace directly back to the PTS, look it all up in the appropriate reference as part of the lesson, airplane flying handbook, etc. I'm not saying to not use stuff outside of the FAA resources, but don't use a jeppeson book that simply restates what can be found in the appropriate reference, because that can leave the student clueless as to where the information really comes from. Make sure the student gets actively engaged. Handouts and aids can be good supplements. The more you teach and the more frequently you teach, the less you may need a lesson plan, but you are starting from the opposite situation usually.

Teaching takes practice, that's why it's a hard checkride, so prepare as much as possible and practice! A good idea during any of is to keep telling yourself: "Teaching isn't telling"

Yoda2

Good advice from JNB. Make your own lesson plans, without going into too much explanation, you will be glad you did. Also write them on a program like MS Word. This also helps when you make slight changes to them. Also add notes and points of emphasis. Also incorporate power settings, configurations, and "gotchas" Etc. If you put some though into the lesson plans they will be complete, comprehensive yet easily workable and not complicated or cluttered. Remember this is not just about getting your CFI, you owe it to your student and others to do the very best possible. Also don't forget the principle of primacy and like JNB said "Telling is not teaching" as far as items that you think might not be in the PTS, many actually are, though may not be referenced directly. It is safe to say you should also be able to teach how to tie down an airplane, so you should be able to teach a knot or two. There is lots of little stuff like that. Make lesson plans for those things as well. After you think your plans are finished and your instructor critiques them, start practice teaching. Do it at home, teach your mate, your kids, your pets if you have to. Practice, Practice, Practice! and Talk, Talk, Talk! Practice in much the same way a salesman does, A good salesman takes a complicated script and practices until it flows, until they are comfortable and it is conversational. And like a good salesman, stick to the script/follow the format. Especially when a new CFI, you don't have enough experience to wander into uncharted territory, that will cause big problems. If you don't know the answer to something, do not make one up! Tell your student "I don't know, but we will find out" or look it up, Etc.

Ultrasweatproof

I used Gleim's Flight Instructor Flight Maneuvers and created a lesson plan for each topic in there. I view them as not something I'm going to repeat verbatim to a student but something that I can use to guide my lesson/discussion/demonstration. Its amazing how after you've passed all your other ratings, you don't even think about maintaining heading or altitude; its all second nature. Then you realize while making your lesson plans, that there is more that goes into it than you otherwise would have thought being so far removed from your PPL days. I also went so far as to draw diagrams on a few of mine; the same diagrams I will use to teach on the whiteboard. Also be sure to add any material/schematics/articles, etc that you'd like to pass a long to your future students as well. This is what I've done at least.

Death2Daleks

The trick with the binder is to make it personal. The question is, what do YOU think you should have? If it's just to get through the checkride, it'll all be a waste of time. Build a binder that you will likely reference when you become a CFI, so that it wasn't just a huge waste of time.

CaptUnderhill

Thank you for the input!