What if you could get inside the minds of your students? It”™s common to hear compliments from your regulars about what you are doing well, but what about the students who come once and decide never to return? Last week, we explored the importance of preparation, which opened up a great discussion about our responsibilities and how much is too much to expect of the instructor. This week, we'll examine a different type of rider and a different type of issue.
Imagine that you are unpacking your gym bag after class. There is a note sitting on top. It says…
Dear Cycle Instructor,
Hi. My name is Emily. I came to your class last week - the one where you played that great Rihanna remix and had us do those really hard intervals. My legs are still shaky that class was so hard! I'd never done any kind of cycling before. It was cool. I loved your music and I thought class was fun. But, I dunno, I just really felt left out of the whole thing. Do I have to come more times before I feel like I belong? I guess I was sitting kind of towards the back, but that was because I didn't want anyone to watch me make a fool of myself. Was I so far in the corner you couldn't see me or something? You gave shout outs to everybody in the front row. They are probably your friends. Plus, you didn't even know my name, so I guess you couldn't. At one point you came over and gave a high-five to that kind-of heavy lady. She was doing a good job - it was cool that you cheered her on. I think that would have been great to get a high five from you. I mean, you are really motivating and everyone likes your class. I can see why they do. You are intimidating, but in a good way, especially when you said you were watching the athletes to be sure they don't cheat. I'm no athlete, that's for sure. Maybe that is why you skipped over me? I promise I was doing the best I could. I just really had no idea what I was doing.
So, I'm not sure whether or not I will come back. I'll probably give it another try, because it was fun. If I do, though, it would be so great if you could, you know, say hello or something. I mean, not anything huge or anything. You don't even have to like be my friend or whatever, I mean obviously we aren't friends yet, but just, I guess a little acknowledgement would be good. Just a "hey" or whatever. I guess what I am asking is, could you please help me feel welcome?
Thanks for considering,
Invisible Emily
How would you respond to Emily? What advice do you have for this instructor?
- Dear Instructor: The Importance of Preparation - July 25, 2022
- Be the helper - October 11, 2019
- Dear Instructor: If you don't have something nice to say… - January 15, 2017
Hi Krista,
I find your posts very provocative (in a good way). Great articles.
What I do to make feel people welcome and accepted is to be available 20 minutes prior to class. So as soon as I am all setup and ready to go I scan the room and acknowledge all students.
I do a quick (in my mind) assessment of the newcomers and offer any kind of help I feel is necessary.
I am not on my bike before class starts. While I am waiting I am normally standing by my bike facing the door and trying to greet every single one that come thru the door.
Also at the end of class I remind people that I welcome their feedback – questions, suggestions and criticism. And sometimes I get some good stuff from my audience – good and bad.
And when you get feedback is also very important to acknowledge the feedback as useful, thank the person providing the feedback and not engage the person in any useless argument as I seen some people do.
I feel that my approach works pretty well because the other day I was told by a couple of my students that I am always available and ready to help :).
Obviously, as an instructor you do get to know some students more than others. I also arrive at my classes at least 20 mins early and in many cases even earlier. I make it a point to meet and greet everyone that comes through the door and offer assistance with bike set-up and answer any questions. The one thing I do toward the end of the class is that while we’re in cool down, I get off my bike and go around the room to each individual and tell them face to face–great job, way to work that body, and thanks so much for attending while giving a fist pump while doing so. That’s my way of acknowledging everyone and not leaving anyone out or making them feel neglected. Hopefully, that helps build their confidence and they will be eager to return for the next class.
Thank you Alan, and wllmgrrngr (curious to know how you pronouce that?). I would love to be a student in your classes to receive such caring and thoughtful instruction.
This will likely be a challenging one for folks to identify with. We all believe that we are encouraging and inclusive, and we may feel that we are doing everything we can to welcome everyone. But have you ever had a rider that might have “fallen through the cracks?”
I will tell you that this letter comes from a real-life experience of mine. I was floored to realize that by doing everything I could to make everyone feel special, I was actually making some feel less special. I don’t know, maybe it was the “If everyone’s super, then no one is” syndrome or that I couldn’t give the exact same attention to everyone. Some get high fives, some get shout outs, some get thumbs up and some get gigantic smiles. If the recipient of the gigantic smile didn’t realize what I was doing, then they felt overlooked.
I guess my point with this one is that sometimes even the best intentions can have unintended consequences. What are your thoughts?
I agree that some people may feel left out no matter what you do. That is inevitable and it will happen.
And when we get comments like the one in the article, we must introspect and honestly try to see if we really did our best to accomplish what we wanted or if the feedback has some truth in it.
Our job is to do everything that we feel is necessary to create and inclusive, encouraging accepting environment as perceived by our students.
Remember, ultimately you are teaching the people that pay your salary.
Another great post Krista. Still, though the comments are great and tell us what some do regularly, they have not said how they would respond to the note.
My response; come on back to another class… Take a chance on me and us, it could change your life.
Krista, no pronouncing wllmgrrngr. I went back and checked my profile and did not realize you can have a user name and a different option on what name you wanted to display so now my posts will show up as William. Wllmgrrngr is first and last name without vowels. Something I can remember…lol.
Thank you for posting this! I’ve been teaching for less than a year, and have trying to figure out the best way to connect with different students. I’ve been making a huge effort at learning names, but this can be hard when you have 6-7 classes with different people in each class (and 3-30 students in each class)… at least at the beginning. I will succeed!
There are also so many different personalities in class. When I make jokes, some people laugh, some give a grin, and others just stare at me. Although the stares don’t bother me that much (I have a tough skin), it makes me wonder what they are thinking and how I can connect with them the best.
Thank you for the tip of getting off of the bike during the cool down. I have yet to get off the bike, because I either can’t figure out the best time to, I forget, or I feel awkward. I’ll start with the cool down and go from there!
Another great, thought-provoking post Krista.
Assuming we could contact ‘Invisible Emily’, I would respond much like Chuck. Apologize and invite her back. I might also go so far as to ask her how she likes to be acknowledged and encouraged. You know, some of us like being verbally acknowledged in class, others prefer a little head nod or smile.
Along those lines, have any of you had a member actually ask you to NOT acknowledge them in class? I have. Peter has been taking my classes for over 12 years (oddly enough, not cycle classes). His progress was amazing and I would often encourage him verbally in class. He was easy to remember, as this was back in the day when I was teaching many ‘housewife classes’ as John likes to call them, so Peter was often the only man in the class. When he was just starting out and getting back into fitness, he wanted to remain anonymous. NOW he loves being the center of attention 🙂
My point is…we have a catch 22…welcoming everyone, but not embarrassing anyone either. Sometimes the ‘Emily’s or Edward’s’ hiding in the back row are actually hiding. Meeting and greeting, without calling attention to them is the only answer I think.
I am enjoying reading your comments. Fantastic thoughts. Chuck, I think the only thing I’d add to your response to her would be an honest explanation of “my side” of that ride. But I have to say, if I ever realized that a person who had never done cycling before had come into my class and left without a aingle one-on-one interaction with me, then I have failed. This usually comes from assumptions I’ve made. “You walked right in and set yourself up like a pro. Plus, you had a look that said, ‘I’ve got this, and I don’t want to be bothered.’ I took advantage of that since I had another new person that was requiring my attention before class began. I apologize for not coming over to meet you.”
So then, yes there is the flip side. Thanks Amy for spoiling next week’s letter– just kidding! I have never had anyone tell me after the fact that they did not want to be called out. However, I have seen faces that told me I’d gone too far or had embarrassed them, so I backed off and made amends after the fact. (Note: get permission before announcing birthdays!)