Missed a few days on the blog...busy busy here! Day 5 and 6 on the IDC went really well. The classroom presentations are fine as long as you are prepared. Takes me back to Barclays and running workshops...this topic floats my boat a lot more though! But the bits I am enjoying the most are the presentations in the pool and ocean. I'm getting really good scores, I think because I am enjoying it so much. Can't wait to actually start teaching now. We had a day off...

Day 4...classroom presentations! Not really relishing the idea of standing up in front of everyone but it's a key part of the instructor job so role play it is. We started the morning with a lecture on marine resource management which was really interesting and we now have tonnes of material to share with our students about the reef and ecology. Then it was time to prepare our presentations. Padi have a very strict way of structuring lessons so as long as you i...

Day 3 of the course went really well! I was a little nervous in the morning because we had to do our first confined water presentation. This involved explaining and demonstrating a skill underwater using the other candidates as pretend students. My scenario was 'Out of air' something I have practised many times so I was feeling quite confident. Being watched always increases the pressure but I managed to hold my nerve and get a good score. In the afternoon we h...

I made it through the physics lecture! The prep I have been doing for the past week or so must have helped because I understood everything and even managed to pass the surprise exam we had in the afternoon...get in! I've still got some facts and figures to memorise and to get my head around the effect of the weight of seawater :/ But I think I'll get there. The pool session yesterday was also really good. I'm enjoying being the student again and picking up som...

Day 1 of the IDC went well! We started with an orientation, looking through the schedule and then had a lecture on Padi General Standards and Procedures. Some really useful tips from the course director Mark about how to structure an Open Water course and reminders about Dive Master responsibilities. We had some homework about this which most of us completed during the two hour lunch break (bonus!) The afternoon was a bit more technical, brushing up on decompre...