This coaching tip continues our 8 part series on simple strategies for maximizing your student’s ability to learn. These tips come from a lecture by Debra Bell. The third simple strategy is the student must have some control over what it is they will learn.
This can seem a bit tricky to accomplish. After all, like any good curriculum, Driver Ed in a Box® has lesson plans already laid out for you and the student. So, how do you give the student control over what they will learn when the lesson plan and curriculum is already set? The answer is you give your student options when going through the lesson. For example, when you’re practicing in the parking lot, you can give your student the option of whether to work on left or right turns first. When practicing backing the vehicle, give your student the option of practicing backing into a space or backing out first. These are small choices, but by giving your student options, by giving them control, it makes them more involved in their own learning process. By having them choose what to learn first, they are actually choosing to learn, and that will help them invest more focus and energy into what they are learning.
Watch this video to see Patrick Barrett, the Driver Education Guru, talk more about how your student will learn better when they can choose what they learn.