While doing research on Dr. Richard Farson, I stumbled across this write up in, of all places, a site for ski lessons. WAIT! WAIT! WAIT! I was skeptical too, but there are actually some really good tips here that we could all learn from…I mean, he does quote Farson.

Ten Instructional Paradoxes: Learning does not entirely come from the teacher, but from within. The student, too, has an opportunity to enhance the learning process and its results—even a responsibility. Ponder the points below, and the suggested responses in italics (responses added to Dr. Farson’s points):
by Dr. Richard Farson

1. People learn most when they are talking, not when they are listening. So, talk in your lesson; ask questions, relate successes and failures.
2. More of certain types of learning can take place when one tries not to teach. Your instructor may suggest a “free” run, for this reason; be receptive. Odds are you’ll be attempting what you have just been working on and will be more playful than when “under the lens” of your teacher and/or peers—and will probably be more successful.
3. Some things are learn-able, but not teachable. Such as the sensation of control while sliding, although this can be set up by an instructor with your participation.
4. Everything we try works. But some things work better; seek those even though they may be harder at first.
5. What is true for children is probably true for adults too. Often true; you can even think and do like a child for results.
6. We think we learn from our failures and other people’s successes, but it is the other way around. It is hard for us to accept our failures due to the ego factor but we can see what causes others to fail; we love our successes and like to be told of them and will therefore add them to our systems.
7. We grow from calamities, not from virtues. Overcoming difficulties is part of life and we are better for it; same in skiing, but as in life we must persevere and will grow if we do.
8. Don’t try to improve people, improve the situation. In better situations—easier slopes, clearer explanations, greater attention— people then can improve. Can you, too, find ways to improve your learning situation—avoid the cell phone, point out your need for rest room or warming-hut stops, get adequate rest the night before, refuel the body, manage your fears?
9. Students can learn more from each other than from the teacher. We respond best to our peers, not our superiors; join in to sessions where you are paired with another lesson-taker. Observe their progress and failures and consider their questions and comments.
10. We learn to ski in the summer and swim in the winter. Somehow we retain over the summer what our bodies learned to do in our skiing from the prior winter and are often better at the sport the next winter; so be patient with your progress, for your breakthrough may not come until the following season!


The ten worst listening habits in America—and how to correct them for a more effective ski lesson.

Communication is a two-way street. Listeners can get more out of the time invested listening by correcting any of the 10 worst listening habits in America they may be afflicted by. On the other hand, speakers should assume their audience is afflicted by all of the habits and make their presentations that much more effective and forceful.

1. Calling the subject uninteresting. Listen attentively for information. Be selfish in listening for things you can use.
2. Criticizing the speaker’s delivery. Accept speech, grammar, and delivery defects by listening around them.
3. Becoming over-stimulated on an objectionable point. Hear the speaker out instead. Don’t let a point of disagreement block your thought process.
4. Listening only for facts. Absorb the underlying principles as well.
5. Trying to rigidly outline every speech. Instead, listen for awhile. Then take summary notes. And, you can’t outline the un-outlinable.
6. Faking attention. Listening is an active process, not passive. Gazing steadily at the speaker, possibly with head cupped in palm, apparently in rapt attentiveness, often is indicative of a mind “out to lunch”.
7. Tolerating or creating a disturbance. Avoid extraneous stimuli. Quell it if possible. For instance, a lift ride could be used by the instructor to give needed verbal explanations saving on-slope time or by students needing to communicate with friends or family.
8. Listening to the fun material only. Listen to the thought-provoking material also.
9. Allowing loaded words to form barriers to listening. This is much like number 3 above, but is concerned with a single word that has an undesirable connotation to the listener. Granted the speaker should not have used it had the effect been known, but why should the listener miss subsequent points because of the speaker’s error, perhaps unwitting?
10. Wasting the differential between talking speed and listening speed. We talk at 100-125 words per minute. We listen at 400-500 words per minute, and we think at about 750 words per minute. Unless the spare time is used profitably, we soon tune ourselves out and start thinking about an entirely different topic. To avoid this, run mentally ahead of the speaker and anticipate coming points. Identify evidence the speaker uses. Engage in mental recapitulations of what has been said.

—after Wymond Eckhardt, National Park Service Training Center

Found here:
http://www.skimybest.com/skiless.htm

This “Why Take a Ski Lesson from a Professional” page last modified 02/14/2010: \SkiMyBest\skiless.htm. Copyright © 2010 William R Jones.