Canadian Lifesaving Program

Swim Patrol Program

Rookie

Ranger

Star

Bronze Star

Bronze Medallion

Bronze Cross

NLS, Distinction, Lifesaving Instructor

Diploma

Junior Resuscitation

Senior Resuscitation

Aquatic Emergancy Care

Lifesaving Instructor

Advanced Instructor

NLS Instructor

NLS Examiner

NLS Instructor Trainer

AEC Instructor

AEC Examiner

AEC Instructor Trainer

Lifesaving Examiner

Lifesaving Instructor Trainer

Red Cross Water Safety Program

Aquatots

Aquatots 1-3

Aquaquest

Aquaquest 1-12

AquaAdults

AquaAdults 1 (equiv AQ 1-5)

AquaAdults 2 (equiv AQ 5-9)

AquaAdults 3 (equiv AQ 9-12)

Leadership Awards

AquaLeaders

Water Safety Instructor

Water Safety Instructor Trainer

Master Instructor Trainer

Lifesaving Program Structure

Content of Program **

  • Water Proficiency
  • First Aid
  • Recognition and Rescue

Award Guide Lay-Out

  • Skill Item
  • Objective
  • Purpose
  • Must See
  • Notes
  • Suggested Activities

Water Safety Program Structure (Red Cross)

Two Main Messages **

  • Prepare! Stay Safe! Survive!
  • Water Safety, Swimming and Safety Scenes

Water Safety Themes (Page 15)

  • Stop! Look! Listen – deals with site safety, supervision, open water, and exposure to heat.
  • Stop! Look! Go Slow! – deals with entries.
  • PFD and Me – deals with the use of personal flotation devices and life jackets.
  • Stay Warm! – deals with ice safety, snowmobiling, hypothermia.
  • Boat Smart! – deals with boating safety.
  • Rescue – deals with self-rescue and the rescue of others.

Swimming has three main themes

  • The Developing Swimmer – deals with beginner progressions
  • Strokes – deals with the progressions and standards of the six swimming strokes
  • Endurance – deals with developing fitness using combinations of the six strokes

Safety Scenes are scenarios that link knowledge and skills from the water safety program.

There are a sequence of activities in, on, or around the water in which the students demonstrate they have the knowledge, skills, and judgement to be water safe and make wise chioces. Safety scenes may include –

  • Entries
  • An endurance component
  • Self-rescue skills
  • Risk activities
  • Strokes and/or water safety skills

Motor Skills

Steps in Learning a Motor Skill **

  1. Perceive
  2. Translate
  3. Try
  4. Feedback

Stages of Learning a Motor Skill

  1. Thinking about it stage
  2. Trying it stage (early)
  3. Trying it stage (later)
  4. Got it stage

Learning

Factors Influencing Learning

  • The Learner
  • The Instructor
  • Content
  • Environment

Learning is enhanced through effective interaction of these four main factors.

The Learner

Key Factors

  • Age
  • Learning Rates
  • Readiness to Learn
  • Disabilities
  • Learning Styles

The Learner – Age

Although learners are individuals, and should be treated as such, people of a similar age often have traits and goals that are common. An understanding of age characteristics can help instructors design appropriate learning situations for each learner.

Factors in Adult Swimmer

  • past experience
  • ready, willing and able
  • objectives, practice, and feedback
  • success and motivation
  • physical and emotional climate
  • time and pace
  • learning styles

The Learner – Learning Rates

  • Past Experiences
  • Age Characteristics
  • Sex
  • Motor Skill Ability
  • Personality Traits

The Learner – Readiness to Learn

  • Motivational Factors
  • Degree of Challenge
  • Anxiety (stress)

The Learner – Disabilities

There are different types of individuals with special needs:

  • Learning Disabled
  • Mentally Disabled
  • Physically Disabled

The Learner – Learning Styles

  • Auditory
  • Visual
  • Kinesthetic (hands on)

The Instructor

Key Factors

  • Practice Time
  • Effective Feedback
  • Teaching Method

The Instructor – Practice Time

Maximize Repetition by

  • use of formations
  • allotting sufficient time
  • use of visual cues
Importance of Practice

I hearI forget

I seeI remember

I doI understand

The Instructor – Feedback

Roles of Feedback:

  • to direct present efforts
  • to reward past efforts
  • to motivate future efforts

Guidelines for effective feedback:

  • specific (not general)
  • constructive (not destructive)
  • directed at changeable behavior
  • sooner (not later)
  • positive and informative
  • checked for clarity
Feedback

When?

Where?

How?

What?

Summative Feedback

-decision making evaluation to determine result / status

Formative Feedback

-developmental evaluation to affect change

The Instructor – Teaching Method

  • appealing to a variety of senses
  • keeping instructions simple and short
  • concentrating on the key points
  • using demonstrations carefully

The Content

Appropriate to Level

  • build on what swimmer can already do

Interesting

  • has value to swimmer

The Environment

-Temperature

-Distractions

-Space

Before During and After you Instruct

Before You Instruct

-make sure the site is safe

-plan your lesson

Before You Instruct – Site and Student Safety

-assists/ aids

-equipment

-procedures

-site

Before You Instruct – Planning Your Lesson

-long term plan

-lesson plan

“To cover all the content and meet everyone’s needs, you need two kinds of plans”

Long Term Plan

-a plan for the entire set of lessons

Lesson Plans

-a plan for each lesson in the set

Gather Information

Length of class and pool time

  • number of classes
  • number of students
  • Information you have to teach (topic/skills)
  • different methods to teach/evaluate the items

Purpose of a core plan

  • logical progressions
  • initial screening
  • difficult items introduced early
  • cover items three times
  • equipment
  • coordinate facilities
  • prepare for interruptions

Prioritize Teaching Information

  • group together the related items
  • order topic/skills into a progression with key words
  • decide on what method you will use to teach each item

Designing a Core Plan

Use a legend

R = Review

I = Introduce or N = New

P = Practice

Draw a “layout” of the course that you can see in at a glance.

Common Mistakes

  • time
  • too much / too little
  • teaching too much, too soon (I-P-R)
  • teaching items too advanced
  • bad progressions

DAILY LESSON PLAN

Identify key components

  • Topic
  • Teaching Strategy
  • References and Equipment
  • Time allotted for each item
  • Formations
  • Progressions
  • Designated Teaching Area
  • Important Reminders

FOCUS ON PLANNING

Summary

In planning there are five major considerations – people, learning, teaching, management and content.

In long term planning the content is the focus.

In lesson planning: teaching methods, management, and content are blended together in a teaching strategy.

Teaching and learning occur when the instructor and learner interact.

Because it’s impossible to anticipate all the functions involved in a lesson, the instructor must be prepared to adjust.

BEFORE DURING AND AFTER YOU INSTRUCT

While you Instruct

  • safety first
  • communicate
  • active and wet
  • feedback
  • adjust as needed

After you Instruct

  • performance criteria met?
  • recognition award and progress memo
  • complete paperwork

Teaching

Developing your personal style and select a teaching strategy.

Developing your Style

Why makes the decisions

Teacher Centered =>

  • what to learn
  • how much to learn
  • how long to learn
  • when to learn
  • how to learn
  • why learn

<= Learner Centered

Establishing Trust

  • create a positive atmosphere
  • emphasize student’s worth
  • be professional

Selecting a teaching strategy

  • discovery teaching
  • direct teaching
  • corrective teaching
  • teaching with games

Selecting a teaching strategy

Discovery Method =>

Open Ended : variety of possible solutions

Closed =>

solution is pre-determined

Direct Method =>

The instructor provides an explanation or demonstration to meet a specific objective.

Corrective Method =>

Shaping

Over Correction

Physical manipulation

Games =>

Games with aims

Safety scene

Progressions

A progression is a gradual and logical arrangement of sequenced activities.

Progressions start with easier skills and build to more difficult ones.

WHOLE – PART – WHOLE

Progressions

  1. Logical Sequence
  2. Manageable Chunks
  3. Build on what learner can do
  4. Flexibility
  5. Reinforced Regularly
  6. Learner Confidence and Performance Improved

CLASS MANAGEMENT

As the instructor, you are responsible for the instruction, control and safety of the learners.

  • Routines
  • Formations
  • Rules
  • Discipline
  • Safety Supervision

Swimming Strokes

All strokes have three characteristics

  • the goal is efficiency and motion
  • the stroke depends on the physical principles
  • each stroke can be broken down into specific components

Stroke Components

  • Mechanics (arms and legs  recovery, catch, power)
  • Body Position
  • Coordination (breathing and timing)
  • Distance