While teaching sailing many years ago I was required to take a five day course with a component on one of those days of delivering a thirty minute lecture which was filmed. We had a written manual intended for all sports, not just sailing, and I was assigned to speak about the chapter which included motivation. 

I’ve been thinking back on this course for a couple of days because of topics which were included in various areas of the Leyden Summer Symposium which was held last week. Two themes for technology coaches that popped up a few times were don’t flood a teacher’s brain with too much new technology information at one time and give fewer choices. George Couros told us of the three things-three years system used at his school.

One of the salient points in the coaches manual used in my sailing class was that when someone achieves something they have never done before, let them have the moment. Let them bask in the moment. Let the moment linger.

It’s so easy to want to share another Web 2.0 tool, and then another, and then yet another with a teacher who has just had a big success. But sometimes, especially with timid technology users, it is a good idea to slow down a bit. Wait until they are fully conversant with a program, wait until they are hungry for more, wait until they have had their moment at the top and are headed down before suggesting they now try that super cool, extremely awesome tool that would be just perfect for one of their class projects.