Today, I had the opportunity to teach a class for a group of extremely skilled agents from a highly respected full-time federal tactical team.
As I always do when teaching, I tried to demonstrate most of the drills. Instructors who won’t demo are always suspect, in my mind.
Today, I proved that an instructor who does demo can be pretty suspect, too. Using a pistol I borrowed from the agency, on the first demonstration of the day I drew the gun, yanked the first shot horribly, short stroked the trigger reset, spent an inordinate amount of time trying to reload the pistol, and then actually managed to eject the magazine unintentionally when I fired the last round. Nothing so confidence-inspiring for students as an instructor who looks like a clown on the range. Nothing so confidence-inspiring for an instructor as a class of people laughing their heads off. The Three Stooges couldn’t have done a better job.
I’d like to think the class went well regardless, and certainly the critiques at the end were complimentary. But I can’t remember the last time I felt like such an idiot with a gun in my hand.
How to handle something like that? First, I didn’t try to hide it or deny it. I laughed along with everyone else because, let’s face it, it was pretty damn funny. The fact is, if you teach enough and demo enough, odds are you’ll make mistakes. You just have to accept it and drive on. In my experience, students don’t expect teachers to be infallible.
The worst demo ever, though, comes from the instructors who won’t accept their mistakes. If you’ve been to enough classes, you’ve seen that type of teacher. He’ll keep doing the drill over and over again until he gets it right and is impressed with himself. And if a student gets a faster time or better score, he’ll do the drill some more until he “beats” his student. What does that tell you? The instructor is more interested in looking good and being better than his students than helping them become better themselves.
When you teach, learn to laugh at your fumbles. It will happen. Deal with it, drive on, and remember your responsibility is to your students, not your own ego.
Stay safe! ToddG