NCO class

[c/LTCOLorbust]

I need some help from any cadet NCO's out there and any one else...But I need catchy ideas of subjects to teach at an NCO training course. Please help if you can thanks.

[mprokosch11]

Try a class on proper command voice because I know some people who you can't hear when they drill you.

[Chris Jacobs]

A few things that i would touch basis on would be: Organization, how to hold a comand presence but not be on a power trip, Planing, teaching techniques, how to deal with problem cadets, responsibility, and chain of comand.  There is other things but i guess that is just a few.

[SarDragon]

How long a course are you looking at?

After reviewing your planned topics, I think you should look closely at what you plan to cover in "teaching techniques". Giving too little or the wrong bits of information is almost as bad as not teaching anything at all.

As a bare minimum, the best things to teach them would be VEGAS.

Voice - Articulation and pronunciation. Speak clearly, with sufficient volume to reach the back of the room. Goes along with command voice in drill.

Eye contact - Eye contact is important for three reasons. First, it lets the students know you are interested in them. Second, effective eye contact allows you to receive nonverbal feedback from your students. Third, effective eye contact enhances your credibility.

Gestures - Gestures may be used to clarify or emphasize ideas in the lecture. By gestures we mean the purposeful use of the hands, arms, shoulders, and head to reinforce what is being said. Fidgeting with a paper clip, rearranging and shuffling papers, and scratching your ear are not gestures. They are not purposeful and they distract from the verbal message.

Attutude - Be positive and enthusiastic. Know your stuff.

Speech -  Avoid "vocalized pauses" -  the name we give to syllables "a," "uh," "um," and "ah". Similarly, avoid overusing stock expressions, such as "OK," "like," and "you know." These expressions serve no positive role in communication and only convey a lack of originality by the speaker.

I went through the Navy's Basic Instructor Course some time ago. We spent the better part of a day discussing just these items. Good skills here are essential for a positive classroom experience. All told, the course was four weeks, so stuffing a few significant bits into a shorter presentation is difficult at best.

Download and read Chapter 13 of Air Force Manual 36-2236, Guidebook For Air Force Instructors. That's how the AF does it, and closely mirrors what the Navy taught me on the same subject.

[c/LTCOLorbust]

Thank you Sir, I had never heard the Vegas before... I will use it..

[shorning]

I went through the Navy's Basic Instructor Course some time ago.

  I missed this the first time through...

[SarDragon]

I went through the Navy's Basic Instructor Course some time ago.

  I missed this the first time through...

Back in your box.   

The training is no less valid today than it was whenever I attended that course, prolly when you were still trying to chase cheerleaders in HS. Or was it middle school?   

[shorning]

The training is no less valid today than it was whenever I attended that course...

I'm sure.  I'd like to get to the AF's Academic Instructor School, but I know what that means for assignments.  I'm weighing that option.

, prolly when you were still trying to chase cheerleaders in HS. Or was it middle school?   

Well, I never chased cheerleaders.  IIRC, that just might have been while I was is middle school.  But then, I didn't have to avoid the T-Rex on my way to school...

[SarDragon]

The training is no less valid today than it was whenever I attended that course...

I'm sure.  I'd like to get to the AF's Academic Instructor School, but I know what that means for assignments.  I'm weighing that option.

My instructor tour was the most challenging and most rewarding assignment of my career. The lessons I learned there are still helping me today.

[Newhall]

I recently taught a class on NCO leadership I found this book by Cpt. Shawn S. Stanford very useful. I hope you do too.

http://www.njwg.cap.gov/docs/cadetnco.pdf