Last night, 5 of my student teams from the last 3 sessions of C.L.A.S.S. did their formal skills evaluation for the BA Level. They were a self-selected group, and of the 5, one team, Deb and Zorg Frank, passed the evaluation, with Honors. At that moment in time, I was feeling terrible, and thinking I was not a good instructor and had somehow failed my students. In retrospect, after some time to process, and some input from students, and a half a night’s sleep, I have a better outlook!
After my initial distress about several students not passing the Canine Life And Social Skills BA Level Assessment, I have had some time to reflect. I think that it’s a great curriculum and a great assessment tool. I think it actually does require mastery of true public access skills, unlike any of the other assessments available for pet/family dogs. I really appreciate that it requires independent assessment from a qualified Evaluator (thanks again, Susan!) And I think my students did a great job. After all, this is what assessment is about, finding the points where you need work. If everyone passed, every time, the assessment would hold no value. Like any formalized competition (even ones in which you must meet criteria, not compete against other teams), if the criteria are so low that all teams meet them, it’s not much of a challenge, and doesn’t show much about the work you’ve put in, or your skills mastery.
I also am proud to have been among the early adopters of the program, and I think I’ve learned some valuable information about things to tweak in class, and ways to adjust class practice to prepare human students better for testing situations, and have their dogs rock solid for the little details that make all the difference.
Teaching classes is alway a learning experience for me, possibly even more than for my students. I thank them for the opportunity to learn from them and their dogs, and I hope I get the opportunity to work with all of them again. I hope that my skills continue to improve, as theirs have done.
I am excited to continue offering the C.L.A.S.S. series, and look forward to great success for all of my student teams in the future!