One of the best instructors I ever employed was Manny Ceh, a jovial German (isn’t that an oxymoron like “awfully good” or “pretty ugly”?)
Manny was spherical with a round face and a sparkling eye. He would always greet his pupils, male or female, with a huge bear hug.
One day I heard a hell of a racket in the PPL lecture hall. The place normally had an almost library-like ambiance, so I stuck my head in to see what was going on.
There was chaos. The tables had been moved against the walls. The chairs were scattered all over the place, so were the twenty odd pupes. Some were sitting on the floor, others were on their hands and knees, while the remainder were offering words of advice and encouragement. In the middle of the room was Manny, elevated above the crowd, sitting on a chair on top of a table.
It quickly became apparent that Manny was the ATC and some of the pupes were aircraft. Marks on the floor were TMAs and FIR boundaries.
Some pupes wanted taxi clearance, others were ready for takeoff, and others were giving position reports. Everyone was having huge fun.
That, dear parishioners, was the best lecture I have ever seen.
Remember the rule:
• Tell me and I will forget
• Show me and I will remember
• Involve me and I will understand.
Manny had them involved up to their gills.
Learning to Lecture
And now I must tell you the most extraordinary thing: surely teaching, lecturing, training or whatever you want to call it, must be just about the