How I Became a Driving Instructor Back in 2007 I was working part time as a limousine driver, and my boss also owned a driving school. After about a year he started asking me, “So when are you going to teach Driver’s Ed?” I just shrugged it off and said, “I don’t know.” A few months would go by and he’d ask again, “So you going to teach Driver’s Ed or what?” “Don’t know – maybe.” A few months later he’d ask again. I finally said, “If you really want me to teach, then I’ll teach.” So he sent me to school to get certified and the rest is history.
I started teaching Driver’s Ed in 2009, at first just on the road in the car. That’s when I really started paying attention to what I was doing when I was driving. I knew how to drive, but what was I looking at when I drove?
After teaching in the car for a few months, my boss said, “I have good news for you. Next week you’re going to teach your first Driver’s Ed class – about 25 students.” I had never taught a class before and it was a little overwhelming at first!
When I started teaching in the classroom, that’s when I started taking pictures. I’m a visual learner, so for me it’s easier to teach visually. I find most of my students are visual learners as well. The pictures really come in handy to explain things in the classroom, and also in the car when my students don’t fully understand what I’m asking them to do. For example, while they’re driving or doing maneuvers like uphill or downhill parking, three point turns, parallel parking or backing up in a straight line.
Over a five year period I have taken a lot of pictures, and use them every day when teaching in the car or in the classroom. My students liked them so much I decided to put them into a book. It has taken me five years to finish Teaching New Drivers to Drive. My students are always saying that the Driver’s Ed book tells them what they need to do, but not how to do it. I wrote this book to help students of all ages understand what it is they need to do in order to drive safely.
I have taught thousands of students who needed to get their Massachusetts licenses, from 16 to 73 years of age, from Massachusetts and other countries like India, Russia, Germany, Scotland, Turkey, Spain, Iran, and the UK. I even taught two deaf students how to drive. That’s when my book really came in handy. I would let them read what I wrote with the pictures so they could see what I wanted them to do, along with the help of a sign language interpreter. I also used flash cards that I made to hold up in front of them to see what they needed to do next. Examples of these were stop sign ahead, take next right turn, pull over, back up, three point turn, parallel park, etc. The RMV examiner also used the cards to give them their road test.
Like the thousands of students who have come through my classes, I hope this book helps drivers of all ages become safer drivers.