That’s Not How So & So Teaches By Teri Greer You need to have broad shoulders to do this. It doesn’t matter if you are teaching on land or in a pool, class participants have their favorite instructor, and if you are not it, they make it loud and clear. I’ll never forget the first class I ever taught. I was 17 years old and working at a YWCA as a lifeguard and swim instructor. As I was lifeguarding, I would watch one of the instructors teach an aquatic exercise class. I thought that looked like a great gig, so I asked my supervisor how does one become an aquatic exercise instructor. Next thing I knew, a class became available and I was asked to lead it. No training. No certification. No experience other than watching the other instructor. To be completely honest, I don’t believe I had ever even taken a water exercise class before. (Man! What were they thinking?!) The morning of my first class, I stood on the pool deck and with ridiculous confidence, introduced myself and announced I would be their new instructor. I got immediate feedback, even before the class had even begun. “Where’s Shelly?” “Why weren’t we told Shelly wasn’t going to be here?” “I would’ve quit my membership if I would’ve known Shelly wasn’t going to be teaching!” How I found the gump- tion to continue and not run crying and screaming from the pool deck, I’ll never know. But I ended up teaching that same class for about six years. I loved it! And guess what? I became their new favorite instructor. A year or so later, I was asked to teach at a wellness center. I said, “Sure!” After all, I really enjoyed teaching. Sadly, I did not get the same results. Oh, it started out almost iden- tically. But this group never warmed up to me. I couldn’t 36 | Akwa | December 2017 / January 2018 understand. I taught the same way at both places. The aquatic supervisor at the new place tried everything to help make it better. After two years, I walked away from that facility. Fast forward about 15 years. Believe it or not, I went back to work at that same wellness center. I worked the front desk and in the sales office and I eventually started earning cer- tifications. I became an AFAA certified personal trainer and an AEA certified aquatic instructor. I told myself that I was getting the AEA certification “just so I had it”, not because I ever wanted to teach in that pool again. I started partic- ipating in some of the water classes that they offered. The thought crossed my mind several times, “I could do this.” And sometimes I’d even think to myself, “I could do better than this.” Eventually it ate at me enough, that I went to the aquatic supervisor and asked if they needed another instruc- tor. They did. Why would I go back to teaching in that pool? I really enjoyed teaching in the pool, and I missed it. I just had a fear of the participants not enjoying the class. I told myself if it didn’t go well, I’d step back from teaching in the pool. When I first took over the class, it had, on average, about 4 participants. I’m happy to report, within a few short months, I had it up to 12-16 on average. That’s been quite a few years ago, and it is still going strong! So, what changed? One thing that changed was I got certi- fied. But, ultimately, it was jumping in, doing classes, and listening to others that made the difference. I asked myself, “What do I want from an instructor?” I learned to open myself up to the participants. I made sure I was friendly, energetic
