Cadets who are certified but don't know what they are doing.

[Cadet CMSgt]

Ok we have been training in GTM3 and UDF for a while now. But I have a hand full of cadets that are GTM# and UDF certified that will come to me asking me questions about : "how do I do this again?". When I taught them just a week before. What can I do to help keep our ground team and UDF team clean of clueless cadets who need more training?

[Alaric]

Ok we have been training in GTM3 and UDF for a while now. But I have a hand full of cadets that are GTM# and UDF certified that will come to me asking me questions about : "how do I do this again?". When I taught them just a week before. What can I do to help keep our ground team and UDF team clean of clueless cadets who need more training?

Make sure they are proficient before signing them off

[Cadet CMSgt]

I didn't sign them off my Squadron Commander did. To add to my question as well. What do I do about an SET that can't teach at all the proper way of doing things. He's all about using phones and stuff.

[Storm Chaser]

Talk to your squadron commander. While skill evaluator appointments need wing approval, he or she can remove appointments at his or her discretion according to CAPR 60-3, Para. 2-2a(1).

[Cadet CMSgt]

Ok thank you.

[Spaceman3750]

1. Though it depends on the circumstance (just taught last week), there is nothing wrong with "How do I do this again? Better check my task guide". SAR is a perishable skill, which is why we write things down in the task guide and train.

2. Go train with them until they can't get it wrong. And then in six months when their skills have perished a bit - train again until they can't get it wrong.

[Storm Chaser]

+1

[lordmonar]

Ok we have been training in GTM3 and UDF for a while now. But I have a hand full of cadets that are GTM# and UDF certified that will come to me asking me questions about : "how do I do this again?". When I taught them just a week before. What can I do to help keep our ground team and UDF team clean of clueless cadets who need more training?

Modify your training and certification process.

There are no clueless cadets.....there are only bad trainers.
It is your job as a trainer and a SET to ensure that your students can perform the task as described in the task guide.

Once qualified nothing can be done by anyone lower than the commander.
But one of his questions is going to be "who trained this cadet?" so be prepared.

[Eaker Guy]

Ok we have been training in GTM3 and UDF for a while now. But I have a hand full of cadets that are GTM# and UDF certified that will come to me asking me questions about : "how do I do this again?". When I taught them just a week before. What can I do to help keep our ground team and UDF team clean of clueless cadets who need more training?

Asking questions does not equal clueless. Maybe that's the C/CMSgt in you talking(I remember back then!), but remember that it is a lot better that they ask questions than go on a mission with the fear of asking questions. What if you are right and they don't know vital GT tasks? If you use the same attitude in your training as you do here they will be afraid of asking questions, which may jeapordize the safety of the mission. Tread lightly. I don't know about anyone else, but I would have serious reservations about being called "clueless."

[Cadet CMSgt]

Ok we have been training in GTM3 and UDF for a while now. But I have a hand full of cadets that are GTM# and UDF certified that will come to me asking me questions about : "how do I do this again?". When I taught them just a week before. What can I do to help keep our ground team and UDF team clean of clueless cadets who need more training?

Asking questions does not equal clueless. Maybe that's the C/CMSgt in you talking(I remember back then!), but remember that it is a lot better that they ask questions than go on a mission with the fear of asking questions. What if you are right and they don't know vital GT tasks? If you use the same attitude in your training as you do here they will be afraid of asking questions, which may jeapordize the safety of the mission. Tread lightly. I don't know about anyone else, but I would have serious reservations about being called "clueless."

Ok yes ill agree maybe thats the CMSgt talking. And i didn't always train them. But in the stuff i trained them in the remember because it was hands on. And im sorry for saying clueless. How about disoriented in what to do? Or scared cause they've never taught?

[JC004]

Learning is what you RETAIN, not what you ingest (in a class, from a book, etc.)...

If the cadets do not retain the things taught to them the week before, you should:
1.  Develop your own instructional skills
2.  Deal with any individual cadet issues, if any, with the advice of your Deputy CC for Cadets.  That means if an individual cadet isn't learning because they're goofing off during a class, or if a cadet is disrupting the learning of others.

To develop your own instructional skills, you will want to focus on teaching skills and public speaking skills.  Techniques like emphasis or repetition will help.  You can take the CAP Instructor Course online.  You can also get some books on instructing and public speaking.  The Exceptional Presenter is a good book.  Another great book: 100 Things Every Presenter Needs to Know About People (this one might be worth it for you, because it sounds like you could use the insights into presenting from the student end).

Work on developing your instructional techniques, like doing hands-on demonstrations.  If you need some items like practice compasses, talk to your seniors about whether the unit can purchase some instructional materials. 

An example would be:
"The cadets don't remember how to do the map work!"
Instead of showing them a slide with map symbols or something:

   
• Print USGS Topographic maps (USGS Map Store).  You do not need to purchase these (they're expensive).  You can print them from home using the Poster setting on your printer, then tape them together carefully.
• Print the USGS Topo Map Symbols (PDF).
• Take a couple sample compasses with you.  (if possible, BOTH lensatic and orienteering/plate, so they are familiar with both)  Teach them the features of compasses.  Teach them about declination.  You can also get a huge compass to teach with:  http://www.thecompassstore.com/514955.html (or make your own like this, but you can do better than this one)
• Teach them the map symbols
• Have them practice with the important symbols (flash cards are good.  You can make sets of flash cards and have pairs of cadets test each other)
• With the paper maps in front of them, ask them to find certain features on the map(s).  You can ask them to find a firehouse, a municipal government building, a post office, a depression, a lake, a creek, a road cut, a US highway, an Interstate Highway, etc., etc.  They are learning how to read a map and becoming (first-hand) familiar with the features of a map during this activity.  If you've DONE something, instead of just hearing it in a class, that is retained better.
• Demonstrate how topo contour lines work by doing this with a rock, water, a plastic container, and a marker:

   
• Pour unused water on any disruptive cadets  (j/k)
• Take the cadets OUTSIDE to show them, using your LOCAL topo map what things look like (if possible)
• Ask the CADETS to identify the features they see outside and show you on the map
• Show them how to work with the compass on the map.  Have them shoot azimuths of things outside.  Whenever possible, make sure EVERY cadet gets to do it.
• If you have a set, have them use alcohol pens and a map case to draw on the maps
• Have the CADETS EACH practice working with the map/compass
• You can get sand (very cheap) and rocks, put them in a container, and make 3D geographic features.  You can use paper or other items for buildings or whatever.  You can get creative with this.  You can tell them things like "make a depression" or "make a hill with a road cut."
• Use this experience to teach YOURSELF how to do further hands-on learning

ALWAYS be thinking that learning is about RETENTION.  Reinforce skills by reviewing them at meetings, doing small practice sessions (like a navigation challenge), running a small exercise (can be done during a regular meeting), or running regular full-scale exercises.  Think about what would help YOU learn and RETAIN the skills. 

[Cadet CMSgt]

Learning is what you RETAIN, not what you ingest (in a class, from a book, etc.)...

If the cadets do not retain the things taught to them the week before, you should:
1.  Develop your own instructional skills
2.  Deal with any individual cadet issues, if any, with the advice of your Deputy CC for Cadets.  That means if an individual cadet isn't learning because they're goofing off during a class, or if a cadet is disrupting the learning of others.

To develop your own instructional skills, you will want to focus on teaching skills and public speaking skills.  Techniques like emphasis or repetition will help.  You can take the CAP Instructor Course online.  You can also get some books on instructing and public speaking.  The Exceptional Presenter is a good book.

Work on developing your instructional techniques, like doing hands-on demonstrations.  If you need some items like practice compasses, talk to your seniors about whether the unit can purchase some instructional materials. 

An example would be:
"The cadets don't remember how to do the map work!"
Instead of showing them a slide with map symbols or something:

• Print USGS Topographic maps (USGS Map Store).  You do not need to purchase these (they're expensive).  You can print them from home using the Poster setting on your printer, then tape them together carefully.
• Print the USGS Topo Map Symbols (PDF).
• Take a couple sample compasses with you.  (if possible, BOTH lensatic and orienteering/plate, so they are familiar with both)  Teach them the features of compasses.  Teach them about declination.  You can also get a huge compass to teach with: http://www.thecompassstore.com/514955.html
• Teach them the map symbols
• Have them practice with the important symbols (flash cards are good.  You can make sets of flash cards and have pairs of cadets test each other)
• Demonstrate how topo contour lines work by doing this with a rock, water, a plastic container, and a marker:

• Pour unused water on any disruptive cadets  (j/k)
• Take the cadets OUTSIDE to show them, using your LOCAL topo map what things look like (if possible)
• Ask the CADETS to identify the features they see outside and show you on the map
• Show them how to work with the compass on the map.  Have them shoot azimuths of things outside.  Whenever possible, make sure EVERY cadet gets to do it.
• If you have a set, have them use alcohol pens and a map case to draw on the maps
• Have the CADETS EACH practice working with the map/compass
• You can get sand (very cheap) and rocks, put them in a container, and make 3D geographic features.  You can use paper or other items for buildings or whatever.  You can get creative with this.  You can tell them things like "make a depression" or "make a hill with a road cut."
• Use this experience to teach YOURSELF how to do further hands-on learning

ALWAYS be thinking that learning is about RETENTION.  Reinforce skills by reviewing them at meetings, doing small practice sessions (like a navigation challenge), running a small exercise (can be done during a regular meeting), or running regular full-scale exercises.  Think about what would help YOU learn and RETAIN the skills.

Thank you JC004. Thats is really useful information i will use.

[JC004]

Here is the Instructor Course online info: http://www.capmembers.com/cap_university/basic_instructor_course.cfm

Visuals and hands-on training aids make a REAL difference.  When I teach about looking for downed aircraft, to introduce the idea that they are not looking for a FULL airplane in most cases (they're looking for a small junk yard of metal), I have a chunk of a downed airplane that I got from a plane crash (the pilot survived and gave me permission to take what I wanted, from this plane that went down near my house).  People who've actually handled pieces of a crashed airplane RETAIN the information:


Don't forget to use the Task Booklets evaluation sections to identify the exact learning outcomes of your class.  This will become the "SWBAT" (Students Will Be Able To) for your class outline:




If you have a SM who likes working with wood, sucker them into making one of these for you:

[Spam]

I smell "Caption Contest" here.

- "Follow Me - I've Got the Orange Safety Belt"!
- "He With the Biggest Nav Device, Is Never Lost"
- (on stenciled logo) "This Side Towards Enemy Nav Point"
- "SGT Rock knew that with his back to them, and with his trainees 10 meters away, they'd never see his fear of instructor failure"
- "THIS, Gentlemen, is the AN/PJN-58 Massive Magnetic Nav Device... it makes a DISTINCTIVE click in your vertebra when lifted".

- Spam

[SarDragon]

IMHO, as someone who has been through formal military instructor training, that course is a waste of time and bandwidth. Twenty pages of text and a ten question quiz do not an instructor make. I spent four weeks of classroom time, and many off-duty hours doing homework to pass my course. About 60% of it was practical work, doing what I was learning the other 40% of the time. I don't expect any real level of competence in that short time.

[JC004]

IMHO, as someone who has been through formal military instructor training, that course is a waste of time and bandwidth. Twenty pages of text and a ten question quiz do not an instructor make. I spent four weeks of classroom time, and many off-duty hours doing homework to pass my course. About 60% of it was practical work, doing what I was learning the other 40% of the time. I don't expect any real level of competence in that short time.

It needs help.  TTT and CTTT were good for instructor training, but they are gone now. 

[SarDragon]

IMHO, as someone who has been through formal military instructor training, that course is a waste of time and bandwidth. Twenty pages of text and a ten question quiz do not an instructor make. I spent four weeks of classroom time, and many off-duty hours doing homework to pass my course. About 60% of it was practical work, doing what I was learning the other 40% of the time. I don't expect any real level of competence in that short time.

It needs help.  TTT and CTTT were good for instructor training, but they are gone now.

I attended those too, and was equally unimpressed.

[JC004]

Those I took were good.

I am trying to think of a teaching book that would be good for cadets - without being too focused on something like being a school teacher.  The public speaking/presenting books are good, but I can't think of one on instruction specifically.

[RogueLeader]

There is also a distinction between Training a person and Evaluating a person.  Anybody can train anybody.  They can even train themselves.  Evaluation only comes from certain people.  As an evaluator, I can only go off of what they demonstrate.  If they do not correctly demonstrate/fulfill the requirements of the task guide, they won't be signed off.  If there are issues down the line, and a member can not pass muster on a task (ie: making a charlie foxtrot out of it) I, as Assistant Director of ES am going to be looking at who did the evaluation, and how long it has been since the last practical evaluation.  Definitely if they were just recently signed off, then that is a major training issue; as to if it has been just shy of 3 years, then its not necessarily the fault of the Evaluator- just need retraining.

For example, my last Mission Observer evaluation was August 2012, and I've only flown right seat twice since then- is it my evaluators fault if I don't know how to work the GPS?  No, its mine.  If my re-evaluation happened last week, and I couldn't use the GPS in the same aircraft as my eval, that most certainly is an Evaluation issue.

[Eaker Guy]

Ok we have been training in GTM3 and UDF for a while now. But I have a hand full of cadets that are GTM# and UDF certified that will come to me asking me questions about : "how do I do this again?". When I taught them just a week before. What can I do to help keep our ground team and UDF team clean of clueless cadets who need more training?

Asking questions does not equal clueless. Maybe that's the C/CMSgt in you talking(I remember back then!), but remember that it is a lot better that they ask questions than go on a mission with the fear of asking questions. What if you are right and they don't know vital GT tasks? If you use the same attitude in your training as you do here they will be afraid of asking questions, which may jeapordize the safety of the mission. Tread lightly. I don't know about anyone else, but I would have serious reservations about being called "clueless."

Ok yes ill agree maybe thats the CMSgt talking. And i didn't always train them. But in the stuff i trained them in the remember because it was hands on. And im sorry for saying clueless. How about disoriented in what to do? Or scared cause they've never taught?

Disoriented would do, as would hesitant. As you approach officership, try to be more and more flexible in teaching methods. You will get better results that way. Some learn broth hands on, some learn through classes, some learn from both.

Good luck!