MEET SOME OF BOISE'S NEWEST LCI'S!
Over the weekend of June 7 - 9, Nina, Christa, and I had the privilege of taking the League of American Bicyclists LCI Certification Seminar. The three of us are now League Certified Instructors, and we join Jimmy and Yann as the crew of BBP team members who are LCI certified.
League Certified Instructors are qualified to teach the League’s curriculum of Smart Cycling courses in the community. From the League:
“Their goal is to help people feel more secure about getting on a bike, to create a mindset that bikes are treated as a vehicle, and to ensure that people on bikes know how to ride safely and legally. LCIs are members of the League and have completed an intense and comprehensive 3-day seminar training. Our certified instructors are active within the bicycling community and are covered by the League’s liability insurance.”
EMILY’S TAKEAWAYS
I learned so much from our instructor Jamie Gaskill, who traveled from Fort Collins to teach us. Jamie is the creator of the League’s Bicycle Friendly Driver curriculum. I also felt honored to learn alongside my new friends and other bicycle-minded community leaders. We completed our coursework both on the road and in the classroom at The Cycle Learning Center. Our course was facilitated by Lisa Brady, the Director of Safe Routes to School; and it was made possible for the three of us at BBP to attend because Jimmy believes in the power of the curriculum and what it can do for our community.
Thanks to the seminar, I am a much more aware and empowered bicycle commuter. I truly understand that the safest way for me to ride is as if I am the driver of a vehicle. I am so excited to continue to build relationships with my co-graduates from TVCA, Safe Routes to School, and The Cycle Learning Center. I can’t wait to work with Nina and Christa to bring the Smart Cycling curriculum to our members and to this community. We can truly customize the available curriculum to bring you what you want, and need, to learn. My goal for next year is to bring the League’s Bicycle Friendly Driver curriculum to Boise!
Please feel free to reach out to me if you have questions about the course of what I learned!
CHRISTA’S TAKEAWAYS
In the Smart Cycling class we took as a staff a couple months ago I learned all sorts of confidence-building information about my rights and responsibilities as a cyclist. In the LCI Seminar last weekend I learned all sorts of confidence-building insights about teaching. Here are just a few things I want to make sure I remember before I teach my next lesson or class:
Am I engaging all learning styles, those who learn auditorily, visually, and kinesthetically? Kinesthetic learners are often overlooked!
Our brains are the least efficient organ--it gets tiring to use it! I.e, take breaks!
Asking “what questions do you have” can be more inviting than asking “what are your questions?”
Use your audience; if someone is an expert, ask them if they are willing to demonstrate while you continue teaching. This frees your focus and allows for expert demonstration.
Teaching will always be more engaging when the teacher loves her subject. In order to love something I must know it. So, I must first make sure I understand what I am teaching, and then understand why I am--why am I passionate about it, and how can I share that excitement with my students?
NINA’S TAKEAWAYS
My experience at the LCI Seminar was one for the books! First, the weekend is intense. The rest of the group we were in were rockstars, ranging from BSU students and professors to BBP members to Safe Routes employees, and I couldn’t have wanted a better crew to be picking at all my teaching flaws. Between three days, we did ~20 hours of classroom practice, test rides and parking lot drills. This weekend focused less on the curriculum, and more so on our ability to teach it which meant a lot of critiquing one another, all the time.
Em mentioned our instructor, Jamie, and I’d like to bring it back to how great learning from her was and to hear about her experiences in Fort Collins at their Bicycle Specialist. Not only did she start the Neighborhood Driver Program, but she also implemented their Bicycle Ambassador Program, which I immediately fell in love with. From the website, their mission is to
“We train people of all ages and abilities to become ambassadors of safe cycling. Afterwards, they work to reduce the number of motor vehicle/bicycle/pedestrian crashes in our community by increasing knowledge and awareness about how to ride and share roads and trails safely.”
From their training, Ambassadors are confident and able to educate others in Fort Collins to better their bicycling safety. I think of it as word of mouth advocacy, and in regards to safe bicycling habits and commuting tools, I think it is a great strategy for improving our bicycle community. In Boise, I see it being incredibly beneficial for newcomers and new riders in the valley that don’t know our unique laws, like the Idaho Stop!
I also can’t wait to see what sort of Member Classes we can create from this curriculum, and provide more commuting classes for you all. Our gears are definitely grinding with ideas!
I think all three of us came out incredibly inspired, and look forward to the different projects and programs we can now implement as official LCIs!