My first experience assisting with a course as a DMT, KM the OWSI, 5 students at LSD. Specific feedback/lessons learned from the weekend:

• Focus on the other students. The point of having a DM(T) in the class is that the instructor is free to work 1:1 with students, knowing that the rest of the class is supervised and safe, and for another pair of eyes to be checking their air. It is natural I think to pay attention to the same thing the instructor is, but this is the “student mindset” that I should be beyond by now.
• Don’t teach. If a student is struggling with a particular skill or a piece of kit, it is again natural to try to demonstrate it. But that is the instructor’s job, not least because they have far more experience correcting common problems, and they need to know firsthand how each student is progressing.
• The paperwork is important. The various forms are legal documents, make sure they are filled in legibly (a real problem for me!) and accurately.

It was fascinating too to see how much I’d forgotten (or that just didn’t sink in, with so much new stuff to learn) from my own OW in 2008, e.g. SORTED, STELLA procedures. That is I think a large part of being a good diver: having the basic stuff as taught on the OW course absolutely perfected, before worrying about anything fancy.

All in all, a good start to the internship part of the DM course I think.