ACA Instructor Tools

Here is where ACA Instructors, Trainers and Educators will find tools to use for teaching.

As part of my duties as ACA Coastal Kayak Committee East Coast Vice Chair, I am to organize, manage and make available to ACA certified Instructors, the Instructor tools we use to make our job of teaching kayaking easier. How I've decided to do this is to add this web page so Instructors can keep abreast of what's available.

Listed below are a number of files and a brief description of what each one is about. Because I have limited space on my web site and because I am making them available only to ACA certified instructors, you will have to email me to get them.

I am listing the file names, a brief description and a minimum instructor level that the file would be appropriatel for. (An I denotes Instructor and may be useful for any instructor or higher, IT denotes Instructor Trainer). Before I issue some of them, I may have to verify your current status as an instructor so...

If you are interested in any of them, just write or email me with the following information:

Name of the file

Your ACA number

ACA Instructor Certification Level:

Mailing or email address:

Mail to: Ray Killen, 358 Rt. 679 Chatsworth Road, Egg Harbor City, NJ 08215 or Email: kayakillen@aol.com

If you are an ACA Instructror interested in receiving ACA news that I occasionally send out, please send me your email address and I will put it in the system.

AVAILABLE FILES

(for Instructors, Trainers and Educators - [I] denotes Instructor, [IT] denotes Instructor Trainer)

[ I ] Main Points for Coastal Kayak Skills. (MS Word Document) - This has key points of many kayak skills in condensed bullet form. Suitable for copying, laminating and taking on the water with you to make sure you cover all the main points.

[ I ] Kayak Strokes Check Sheet - (MS Word Document) - As it's name implies you can dissect a stroke and check off all it's components. Given to me by Bob Foote

[ I ] Stroke Components - (MS Word Document) - Lists the components of many strokes and the most common problem with them. Written by John Lull

[ I ] Book and Video References (MS Word Document) - This is a list I have made of various books and videos to reference both Euro and Traditional style paddling. It will be an ongoing process.

[ I ] Instructor Certification Requirements (MS Word Document) - Lists the various requirement of the different levels of certifications. by the CKC - clarified by John Lull

[ I ] Skills instructors are expected to teach and perform (MS Word Document) - A table listing what instructors should teach/perform at different levels of certification.

[ I ] ACA Coastal Flow Diagram (PDF) A coastal kayak flow diagram which progresses from beginner, to Instructor, to Instructor Trainer, to Instructor Trainer Educator.

(for Instructor Trainers and Educators)

[ IT ] IDW Questionnaire (MS Word Document) - A sheet for to send to potential IC's to fill out to give you an idea of where they stand. Should be revised as needed to suit your requirements. Given to me by John Lull.

[ IT ] Sea Kayak Evaluation Pack (MS Word Document) - This is for IT's to use when evaluating IC's during the IDW/ICE. Given to me by Bob Foote

[ IT ] IC Evaluation Form (MS Excel File) - This is an excel program which I use. At the end of each day I enter in the information for each candidate. By the end of the IDW or ICE all I have to do is print it out and use it in the debriefing. I will also print a copy for the student if they wish. That way they know what they did well at and where they need work. One advantage of keeping this file on your computer is if you need to refer to it in the future. Instead of looking through all individual evaluation sheets stuffed in back of the closet, you can view them quickly on the computer. I save it with a name such as "092201 IDW" using the date and the course for reference.

[ IT ] Waterproof IC Evaluation Form (MS Excel File) - This works with the above. It is an excel sheet which I copy on waterproof paper and write with a waterproof pen (works absolutely great) while on water. I can't trust to memory and it's difficult to use regular pen and paper. I rate the on water skills with 1-4 next to the skill along with comments. I then transfer it to the above form on my computer when we get back to home base.

[ IT ] Technical Knowledge Exam and associated files (MS Word Document) - This was modified from Matthew's Levin's well done 100 question exam. (I field tested it and it worked out well to get an idea of a candidates general knowledge). I subsequently distilled it down to 60 questions (15 for each of 4 areas: Navigation, Boat Handling, Marine Environment, Safety and Rescue) and eliminated some of the more ambiguous questions. (The IC's and I had some interesting, lively discussions over those). The associated files are an answer sheet, and an answer mark up sheet so the students don't ruin the actual test (saves paper). I also give a separate navigation exam during the ICE