TEACHING TIP: Talk to your volunteers THROUGH your student!

What’s one of my top tips for working with non-verbal, limited verbal, or under responsive students:

Don’t leave students out of the plan! Focus your communication on your students even if they are assisted by volunteers!

How?

Talk to your VOLUNTEERS through your STUDENT!

Why?

Even though your student may not be able to execute all the steps in a plan, understand exactly what is going on, etc. still talk to them and keep them involved. Your student is directly impacted by what is about to happen….give them the respect and courtesy of being included in that plan.

So often I see/hear instructors say a little something to their student like a “good job” or “lets get ready to have some fun”

……then they turn their verbal and nonverbals away from the student and focus communication on the volunteer(s) (sidewalker or horse lead)

……the instructor then give information about what is going to happen to that student to the volunteer

….without ever including the student in on the plan!

And yes, I’ll be the first one to admit I’ve done this in lessons! I’ve been “one of those” instructors has left the student out of the plan with how i communicated…..BUT I became aware of the problem and made the choice to change how I interact with my students and you know what?

IT WORKS!

Communication, even if it feels like a one way street at times, is part of building a relationship and showing your student you respect them and want to engage with them.

You might be surprised what happens when you make this shift!

So HOW do we talk to our VOLUNTEERS through our STUDENTS?

• Make eye contact with the student, as much as possible depending on their level of comfort.
• Tell the student what is going to happen, including how their volunteers will be involved.
  • EXAMPLE: “Sara, you are going to ride your horse at a walk through the barrel pattern. Jenny and Dale are going to have thigh holds on you around the barrels to help you stay balanced but on the straight lines between the barrels they are going to not do a hold. Jim will help steer Kisses through the pattern so you can focus on staying centered and balanced during turns and straight lines. Let’s see what you got girl! Sara’s team…are you guys all ready”?
• Make eye contact and look for head nods with the support team to check that they understood what was communicated to them while you were talking to the student.

Have you tried this technique? How has it worked for you? I’d love to hear in the comments below.

Want to learn more about topics mentioned in this post? Check out the Intuitive Instructor Content below:

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