Behind the Wheel in Our Moving Classroom

Now that students across Montgomery and Bucks Counties are settled into their school classrooms, many of them are scheduling time in our “car classroom.” When you think about a classroom, you probably get a pretty clear mental image of what you might find in any school today. But if you expand your idea to include anywhere that learning happens intentionally and by design, my Safe Driving Coach cars fit the definition!

In last month’s blog, I talked about how our students are applying what they learn in driving lessons to the rest of their life circumstances. When we are in that classroom environment, students get focused subject matter instruction that will serve them for a lifetime. It’s truly on the same level as the math and communication skills they will carry forward from high school.

The Age-Old School Question: How Will I Use This in Life?

It borders on cliché, but almost every high school student at some point asks the question, “When will I ever use this in real life?”

Whether it’s algebra, the periodic table of elements, diagramming a sentence, or backing into a parking space, every teaching subject has a purpose. In most cases, the instruction has multiple purposes.

For example, learning math is important because someday these kids are going to have to figure out how to pay bills based on their take-home pay. But learning math is about so much more than calculating sums and differences. Math teaches students how to approach a problem by determining what information is needed, what is known and not known, and what method will deliver the desired answer. Math is essential for basic problem-solving, whether the problem involves numbers or not.

Safe driving skills are also multi-purpose. Let’s take the example of backing into a parking space. Many teen drivers try to avoid tackling this learning process entirely by just saying that they never plan to back into a spot, ever in their lives. As much as I know, they hope that’s true, but the fact is that there are times when it just has to be done. Practicing and mastering the skill makes it far less intimidating, and many drivers can become quite comfortable backing in as a regular habit.

What are the other purposes behind teaching this skill? Well, backing up a car for any reason is the ultimate real-world application of situational awareness and spatial relations. When backing up a car, you have to know where it is in relation to everything around it, both fixed and moving. 

Is anything in the way? 

Is there room to maneuver? 

Could anything or anyone start moving into the path? 

Will the car fit where I’m trying to place it? 

When driving, students learn to really evaluate these questions and internalize the process of determining what is possible, they can apply the same cognitive skills to many other situations. 

Can I maneuver this couch up these steps and through that door?

Can my friend and I both get closer to the stage at this concert?

Is the person following behind me too close for my personal safety?

Is that car about to back up where I’m pushing this shopping cart?

Knowing what is going on around us in the world is a practical skill that too many young people are woefully missing. As I have mentioned in several previous blogs, today’s teens have had far less exposure to the real-world classroom of trial and error. It just so happens that sitting behind the wheel of a 2-ton machine is the place where many of them are starting to learn it. We are going to make sure they learn it effectively.

Making Our Classroom a Great Place to Learn

My team and I take our role as classroom instructors very seriously. The skills our students learn are what they are going to be using for a lifetime of driving. And we will be sharing the road with them! We are committed to setting up an environment that is conducive to learning for every lesson. We come prepared for class, and we set student expectations from the very first meeting.

We recently updated our Safe Driving Coach fleet, so we now have 3 Honda Civic hybrids as classrooms. We keep our cars clean and maintained so that every student and their parents know that we offer a reliable and professional driving experience. Our coaches have all been through extensive training to ensure our students learn defensive driving skills that will serve them for all their years behind the wheel.

In our classroom on wheels, we take the time to personalize our instruction methods. The benefit of our one on one sessions is that we can adjust every lesson to teach in the way our students learn best. Whether we are helping an overthinking high-achiever calm down or applying commentary driving for a teen driver with learning challenges, we make sure students learn these concepts in a way they can apply them as independent drivers. 

Ready Your Classroom for Teaching Safe Driving Skills

As a parent, you will be welcoming your teen into the driving classroom as well. Think about the learning environment your car presents. Remember, your teen has a lot of new information to grasp. If your car is full of distractions, it will be much harder for them to learn. Those distractions might be inhibiting your own safe driving skills, as well. Remove trash, extra gadgets, clutter, and other obstructions so that your teen driver can focus on the car alone. It might be helpful to turn off your Bluetooth connections for lessons so that your phone isn’t making extra noise or pulling your teen’s attention from the road. When you get in the car for driving practice, put your own mind into that coaching mode so that you can talk to your teen in the most productive way.

If you have a teen getting ready to learn to drive, and you realize that there are too many things you haven’t thought about yet, take a look at The Parent’s Survival Guide for New Teen Drivers. My course will help you prepare your behind the wheel classroom for optimal learning. If you want to enhance your teen’s learning experience, come to us for Safe Driving Lessons. Our coaches are teaching professionals who are excited to impart the knowledge of safe driving skills to teen drivers. What teens learn with Safe Driving Coach can be applied to a lifetime of safe driving experience.