I'm looking forward to the Continuing Professional Development Days for teachers. Cath Whiddon (Peninsula BC) and I have planned a great weekend for the first one, in Sydney,  on 21 September. You're invited to come on Saturday 20, to attend a morning workshop of mine, then play in  the afternoon game, and join us for dinner.  The CPD is the next day.  

I will be using brand new material which I hope will be of benefit to teachers, providing content for intermediate to advanced lessons. It will be about  Modern Ideas in Bidding, especially in Competitive Situations, and I'll be looking at the role of Opener, Responder, Intervener, and Advancer in each segment. There will be a teachers' meeting at the end of the day too. 

ABF and the states involved are making this happen for teachers, and you're all invited, regardless of experience. For teachers who have completed a TTP, it's a step on the way towards accreditaiton.  You can accrue 10 points towards this, but other teachers are welcome too.

Links to: (1) the flyer http://www.abf.com.au/teaching/flyers/2014PDD_Peninsula.pdf and (2) the day's activities http://www.abf.com.au/teaching/flyers/2014PDD_Peninsula_Program.pdf

Flyers are now available for the next CPD days, Melbourne (VBA), 11 October  http://www.abf.com.au/teaching/flyers/2014PDD_VBA.pdf

Ballarat, 12 October  http://www.abf.com.au/teaching/flyers/2014PDD_Ballarat.pdf,

and Brisbane (Toowong), 23 November http://www.abf.com.au/teaching/flyers/2014PDD_Toowong.pdf

The last TTP for 2014 will be held at QCBC in Brisbane on October 25,26. http://www.abf.com.au/teaching/flyers/2014TTP_Brisbane.pdf

If your club would be interested in hosting a Teacher Training Programme or a Continuing Professional Development Day in 2015, please contact me, joan@joanbuttsbridge.com.

For teachers who can't attend CPD days, very soon there will be a video/podcast on the ABF website, covering some of the material. 

 

A number of teachers are close to achieving Accreditation. They've been sending feedback after courses, and details of innovative ideas they've tried in their clubs. You don't need to complete every activity suggested in the ABF Accreditation Scheme, just a few of them. Each beginners or other course you do will add more points.

Increases in ABF membership are being reported too, in clubs where teachers are trying out new ideas. Maitland, for example, has increased their membership by 64% in six months. Jenny Coyle has written an excellent article about it, featured in the latest ABF magazine, and on the ABF website. Miriam Officer, Wendy Rissler, Jenny and other hard working people are reaping the benfits of using modern techniques in teaching.  

Peninsula Bridge Club, where Cath Whiddon is  head of the education committee, has gained more than 100 new members over the past year too. Congratulations from the ABF!

Send in your stories, I'd love to read them.   

Take a tour of my website https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWcd76cG3-M#t=12  I'm adding videos and lessons with hands to play online, with the computer playing the other hands for your students.  Recently I added six lessons and videos on Card Play Techniques, based on my second book, Play Bridge 2, and soon there will be six more on Competitive Bidding. That's free, but if students want to play the hands, they'll be asked to subscribe. The cost? $10 a month.

This book, by Josh Waitzkin, a chess champion, is not written about bridge (it's about chess and martial arts) but could relate equally to bridge. He believes that the best instructors are not the ones who teach via the "cookie cutter" mould, but who try to develop students' own creativities.

He says that "depth is much better than breadth", meaning it's far better to teach our students smaller amounts of knowledge, and teach them well, rather than overloading them with too much.

It's only when the fundamentals are in place that any higher integration can take place. Also, having short breaks within intense periods of deep thinking is essential to maintain focus,( so if you're dummy, take a mental break during partner's declarer play.)

Finally, it must be accepted that integrating new skills will result in a period of confusion before mastery. He quotes golfers like Tiger Woods whose swing was taken apart, to be rebuilt, and who took months working to perfect it. It's a great read for anyone interested in education. 

Cheers

Joan Butts (National Teaching Coordinator)