Clean Run Magazine - December 2009 - 43

The students become invested in maintaining the class dynamics. Heaven help the newcomer to the class with too much magic. It can be a real sink or swim situation and the teacher may need to help that person feel welcome for some time. Classes with too much magic can consist of any level of trainers and competitors, and any type of people. The point is the chemistry between the people that can create a sometimes less-than-desirable teaching atmosphere. Here are some types of classes that you may recognize as having too much magic. This class is a higher level class consisting of competitive people who often go to lots of seminars and are smart, skillful trainers. This can lead them to believe they know more than the instructor. These individuals exist in many classes, but when you have a pack of them in one class, it can get ugly. If you are teaching a class where the students have as much or more experience or talent than you have, you can assume they need a place to work their dogs more than they need your instruction. While it might not always be a totally comfortable situation, it is not the end of the world; you are still selling something they need. I suggest more runs per class than lectures or detailed explanations since those students want to work their dogs. Set up difficult drills, run each drill twice, and insist they handle their second turn a different way. These students are often uncomfortable handling outside their strengths. You can make their weak links stronger when you have them handle outside their comfort zone. Don’t be afraid to compliment them on a handling choice you did not think of; they will respect you for it. Occasionally insist on all rear crosses or all front crosses on a particular sequence but do not do it more than once a class. If they don’t know more than you do, but they think they do, you are in pretty much the same boat, unless the skill is simply not there. Then it is an easy fix: just set up drills beyond their current capabilities and help them to succeed so everyone wins. I don’t allow these students to teach one another as they sometimes try to do. When other students start to teach or offer advice to a classmate, I smile and ask them if they are planning to charge for their services. It works like a charm. This does not mean I discourage handling discussions; I encourage these discussions during the walk-through, which is the appropriate time for the class to talk about handling choices. Come right out and ask students how they are planning to handle the drill. They might give you some better ideas than you had when you set up the drill! Hold this class early in the week and you can teach what you learned from them to your other classes. The Know-it-all Class By Sandy Rogers I wrote the series “When the Magic Is Missing” to help instructors solve problems in their dysfunctional classes. We have covered the typical classroom problems from training issues to gaps in handler and dog abilities. This article, the last of the series addresses the class that has magic, lots of magic, in fact, too much. Classes that have too much magic have their own special challenges. Usually healthy camaraderie in any class is pleasant to have and is productive to learning. The benefits are obvious. What I’m talking about is the next step after healthy camaraderie, where the students’ relationships have morphed into a comfortable state that can begin to resemble dynamics more often found in a workplace or family than a highfunctioning classroom. These classes have typically been together for a long time. The students know one another well. The class grows its own dynamics. It is interesting to see how these dynamics can get in the way of class productivity. December 09 | Clean Run The Rulers of the Agility Universe Class This class is made up of agility trial addicts. Although they are not always at the top of the competitive food chain, they are at the top of the agility universe food chain. Every weekend they make the shows happen in every way shape and form: they judge, they chair, they time, they scribe. They are active and participate in the sport way beyond just going to trials on weekends and running their dogs. They read blogs and discussion lists. They are club officers and on the board of directors. They are invested in the sport, not just their own goals, and they are passionate about that investment. Keeping a group like this on track takes guts. They are opinionated and have earned the right to be. If they are in your Tuesday class, they may not have had an opportunity to talk agility for over 48 hours. They will take any opportunity to talk agility politics, and since each has an opinion, it can bring class to a grinding halt. These students think jump-height-change time is a perfect time to bring up the latest rule-change considerations. It would be okay if they could talk without gesturing and pausing for effect while they change the bars, but they can’t.
Clean Run Magazine - December 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run Magazine - December 2009
