Hmmmm......
Some things that are important to me in no particular order...
1. Never be afraid to admit you cocked something up or were just plain wrong. I think most students have quite well developed bullsh** meters. Trying to cover up an error just makes one seem foolish. Admitting the error makes you seem less 'godlike' & more approachable > leads to a more relaxed student > better performance
2. Give the student the opportunity to critise & suggest ways to improve her or his performance BEFORE you give your feedback. I think it's important for the budding pilot to develop the ability to self-observe, judge & correct. Even ask them to observe yourself if you like but don't be defensive about what they say, perhaps even offer your own critique of yourself.
3. Be flexible in how you teach a manoeuvre. What works with one student may not be appropriate with another. Also different methods at different points in a particular student's development may be better. eg. When I 1st teach landing, I get the student to fly level along the runway before reducing power. Once the flight path is stabilised then I get them to reduce power relatively slowly while maintaining the height above the runway, then try to 'glide' to the end of the runway, then the touchdown, then the rollout. In some cases I control throttle initially while they focus on the pitch/roll/yaw control (even that task load can be separated into constituents & offloaded where necessary). As their skills & judgement improve, and they have more capacity for more simultaneous tasks, then reducing power as the roundout is commenced becomes appropriate.
4. The above example also illustrates another point: break up sequences into as many small parts as needed so that the student's available capacity matches the task. It's incredibly easy to exceed their available processing capacity. Don't forget to add the tasks back in as they improve.
5. Talk to other instructors. We all have ways of doing things. The more you have available filed away in your 'teaching toolbox' the better you can respond to the individual student.
6. Don't display any bad habits yourself. Be damned consistent in how you execute tasks, manoeuvres, responsibilities etc.
7. Stop poor student flying technique early. The later you try to stop it, the more it will have become ingrained and the more difficult it will be to stop it. It's easier to teach the correct method from the start than to allow an incorrect method & then have to replace it with the right one. Old habits seem to have the tendency of re-surfacing time after time.
8. Control the learning environment as much as possible to focus on the task at hand eg handle radio or the aircraft while the student navigates or whatever. Also think of cabin comfort, weather effects on the efficacy of the lesson etc. Personally I loathe early AM starts, but strongly recommend them to my students in the early part of their training (to about 1st solo-ish). Thereafter I look for more unsettle conditions. Turbulence & poor vis. can really hamper the rate of skill development in the early stages.
9. Don't be afraid to re-demo something. After all you are trying to give them a model on which to base their own control inputs. Conversely, remember they are the ones who need the practice - you already know how to fly.
10. Enjoy yourself. It's a great feeling to see someone pass the various milestones and develop into a competent pilot as a result of your assistance.
My $0.02 worth...
PS: Wear sunscreen
[This message has been edited by Tinstaafl (edited 24 June 1999).]