Cfi lesson plan from scratch or pre made lesson plan

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Trcpilot

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Cjayfly1
First off good morning,

I posted yesterday and received great responses and great feedback from everyone on the post. An interesting subject did come up and I don’t know a lot of pilots or even a lot of cfis but I did wonder what is everyone thoughts on this topic. For a cfi initial candidate, what is the best way to go about lesson planning. Do you recommend making it from scratch or do you recommend purchasing an already pre made (bsp, divergent or etc) type lesson planning. I would like to ask for the pros and cons on both.

For lesson plans from scratch can you give an example of 1 page of what your lesson planning look like.


My post are to help others who may be in my shoes that have no idea where to turn for cfi initial training and looking for advice or guidance.

I appreciate each and every one of you, have a good weekend and fly safe!!
 
No opinion on store bought vs homebrew. But after all the stories I’ve read about CFIs abandoning students to go to the airlines, if I were a student I would demand a copy of the written plan in advance for myself. That way if my CFI moves on to the airlines or I change CFIs we wouldn’t have to spend money backtracking on somebody else’s plan (Of course, I’d expect an initial evaluation of my skills by the new CFI).

We didn’t have lesson plans at all when I trained.
 
rhkennerly said:
No opinion on store bought vs homebrew. But after all the stories I’ve read about CFIs abandoning students to go to the airlines, if I were a student I would demand a copy of the written plan in advance for myself. That way if my CFI moves on to the airlines or I change CFIs we wouldn’t have to spend money backtracking on somebody else’s plan (Of course, I’d expect an initial evaluation of my skills by the new CFI).

We didn’t have lesson plans at all when I trained.
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This is actually really good advice. I never thought of it in this sense, because during my training instructors did leave mid training to go to the airlines. I appreciate this post here.
 
We use a syllabus that spells out what to cover on the ground and in the air for each lesson. Students have a copy. After each lesson, the CFI and student both initial the copy on file. When I fly with another instructor's student, I can tell from the syllabus exactly what they have done and what is next.
 
I have always been a strong advocate of building your own lesson plans. It's a skill you need to have, and when else are you going to force yourself to practice that skill then while in CFI training? I've posted my views on this before:

I said:
If you've never written lesson plans for pilot training, then it isn't "reinventing the wheel" to you.

The thought process involved in constructing the lesson plans is the point of doing it, not the result, and that process is very valuable.

I wrote all of my own lesson plans, and I'm glad I did. A lot of my training now is specialized, tailored training - someone puts in a new piece of avionics equipment, and they want me to train them on it. So, I create a lesson plan for that one instance. Maybe I'll use it again sometime later, but maybe not. That's part of what they're paying me for. Had I not developed my own plans in training, I likely wouldn't have the background and experience to do it well now.
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I also said:
This is one case where it's not the result that matters, it's the process. Developing the lesson plans, and thereby developing the ability to structure your thinking is the whole point.

I'll paste something I posted in a similar thread about a year ago:

Build your own lesson plans. That way you will not only understand the material far better, but will be better equipped when a client asks you if you can train them on some non-standard item that you don't already have a lesson plan for. You will know how to construct one for maximum effectiveness and therefore know exactly what needs to be modified or expanded when it isn't working right. It's by far the best way to learn to be an effective CFI.
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This sounds like a 141 operation. Is that where you taught it or under part 61
Gilbert Buettner said:
We use a syllabus that spells out what to cover on the ground and in the air for each lesson. Students have a copy. After each lesson, the CFI and student both initial the copy on file. When I fly with another instructor's student, I can tell from the syllabus exactly what they have done and what is nethi
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G
RussR said:
I have always been a strong advocate of building your own lesson plans. It's a skill you need to have, and when else are you going to force yourself to practice that skill then while in CFI training? I've posted my views on this before:
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Great point, I really appreciate this information.
This is the question I have, how and where do you start to write a lesson plan. It’s not like I’m taking notes and summarizing on a blank word document. It has to be some form of format or is it up to the user to decide?
 
Trcpilot said:
G

Great point, I really appreciate this information.
This is the question I have, how and where do you start to write a lesson plan. It’s not like I’m taking notes and summarizing on a blank word document. It has to be some form of format or is it up to the user to decide?
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There used to be a lesson plan format in the Aviation Instructor Handbook.
 
if you are working for a flight school, they should have a syllabus and lesson plans for you to follow. If you are creating your own, be sure that you have objectives that you want your student to achieve during the session. Be specific - “understand “ is a poor objective. Set parameters that are doable for the student by the end of the lesson. Remember to review, ask your student to verbalize, brief and debrief.
 
I wrote a syllabus and lesson plans for private through cfi when I was a private pilot and used my lesson plans for my own training.

It was a good use of my time when I was working to save money for the flight training.
 
Of the 8 CFI's in my logbook not one ever had a lesson plan. THis was Part 61. That's right NOT ONE. I didn't even know what the PTS (now ACS) was until I was done with my 'long' XC.

So while you are sweating a lesson plan for the DPE, the second you get that certification you will never use that lesson plan, ever again. I know Pt 141 has a more formal training syllabus, but you are not using YOUR lessons, you are using the schools.

I'll reiterate my long held and mostly correct statement: most CFI's are horrible teachers and teaching is just a turd sammich they have to eat until they make ATP minimums. CFIs are the reason there is an 80%+ drop out rate... they aren't teaching, they are collecting hours at the students expense.
 
I've instructed at 3 different Part 61 schools and all 3 used a formal syllabus with specific lesson plans that were signed off after completion. I also bought lesson plans from Backseat Pilot when I went for my checkride.

I'm familiar with another part 61 school at a field I used to instruct a private owner at and they were **** from all indications, with no formal lesson plans and instructors that routinely cancelled on students for dubious reasons. Their owner also refused to hire instructors that weren't taught by his instructors.

As always, YMMV.
 
I have obtained a couple lesson plan sets commercially prepared. One is a slick and beautiful set. Another is barely adequate. But none have my personal touch. I'm a new CFI. I drafted a bunch of lessons in my voice and because I intend to a be CFI for life, I will be modifying them continuously and tailoring my lessons to individual students. Syllabus I use from the school.
 
Sierra_Hotel said:
I've instructed at 3 different Part 61 schools and all 3 used a formal syllabus with specific lesson plans that were signed off after completion. I also bought lesson plans from Backseat Pilot when I went for my checkride.
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Did they all have a lesson plan for a Flight Review?
 
I've never seen or used a specific lesson plan for a flight review besides the FAA guide and checklist for one.
 
Sierra_Hotel said:
I've never seen or used a specific lesson plan for a flight review besides the FAA guide and checklist for one.
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Yet the Aviation Instructor’s hHandbook says a lesson plan “should be prepared for each training period and be developed to show specific knowledge and/or skills to be taught.” So all the schools you’ve worked with have deviated from FAA guidance.
 
The lazy people will tell you to purchase, beg, borrow or steal lesson plans; try to justify why you don’t need to write your own; tell you how well they have done as a CFI without writing their own; yada yada yada.

If you want to be a really good instructor, you will write and perfect your own lesson plans.
 
Sierra_Hotel said:
I don't know, you brought up flight reviews after I mentioned using syllabi at different schools, you tell me.
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You also mentioned using lesson plans at different schools…in a thread about lesson plans. that’s why my question was about lesson plans.
 
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Correct, hence why Maule's question seemed tangential. I figured it was obvious that I was talking about the syllabi Ive used not having a flight review lesson plan. Devising a plan with the pilot at the start of a flight review to cover any specific questions/areas of concern using AC 61-98D is clearly putting together a lesson plan on the fly, and satisfies the quoted section of the AIH he mentioned.
 
Sierra_Hotel said:
Correct, hence why Maule's question seemed tangential. I figured it was obvious that I was talking about the syllabi Ive used not having a flight review lesson plan. Devising a plan with the pilot at the start of a flight review to cover any specific questions/areas of concern using AC 61-98D is clearly putting together a lesson plan on the fly, and satisfies the quoted section of the AIH he mentioned.
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You didn’t say anything about devising a plan and/or how that constitutes a lesson plan. You said you had never seen a lesson plan for a flight review. The FAA guide and checklist are not a lesson plan in and of themselves.
 
Cool, I'll be more specific next time in anticipation of unrelated questions.
 
Sierra_Hotel said:
Cool, I'll be more specific next time in anticipation of unrelated questions.
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yup…and also clearly define your version of “unrelated,” and/or identify when you’re making unrelated statements so we don’t ask questions about them.
 
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