bidding in the 21st century intro

7/28/2019 Bidding in the 21st Century Intro

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INTRODUCTION

The Role of the Teacher

The Role of the Student

Teaching the Bidding in the 21st Century Course

TheBidding in the 21st Century Course

Lesson Plans


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Bidding in the 21st Century 2

INTRODUCTION

The Bidding in the 21st Century course is an eight-week introduction to bridge. Its importantto remember that in this basic course what we leave out is more important than what we include. A

ninth, bonus chapter on the Stayman Convention is included. The teacher can include this materialand extend the course one week or have the students read it on their own.

The purpose o an introductory bridge course is to give the students a chance to experience whatthe game is all about and to enjoy the experience. During the eight or nine weeks, there will beopportunities to play, talk, observe, discover, draw conclusions, laugh and develop ways o thinkingabout the game. This is not the time to give students our personal ideas about how to play. Its a time

or simplicity.

The basic bridge course is almost extinct. We all know stories o students who joined what theythought was an introductory course and dropped out a ter one or two lessons because the materialwas over their heads. Teaching manuals state that the most common error teachers make is to impart

too much in ormation. As bridge teachers, we must recognize this need to keep things simple or our students and ollow through.

While we might agree that simplicity is necessary, it takes courage to practice what we preach.Since most o us are active in the real world o bridge, the world o duplicate bridge clubs and du-

plicate bridge tournaments, its di cult to remember those days when we were rst learning thegame. Also, knowing how tough it is or a newcomer to break into duplicate, we might think thatits a good idea to begin preparing students or these experiences rom the beginning. There ore,despite our good intentions to keep it simple, we can easily nd ourselves tempted to present bridgeconcepts too di cult or the beginning level player.

Our basic bridge course is in competition with other leisure activities. We have to make our course

user- riendly or risk losing our customers to other pursuits. Students must leave the bridge class lled with the excitement o the game, enthused about having made new riends and ascinated with the

possibilities o bridge. We must ocus on the needs o these people enrolled in our basic courses and remember that they are bridge students and not bridge players.

Tools of the TradeFor best results, it is essential that you have the ollowing equipment:

The Bidding in the 21st Century teacher manual (which you have i you are reading this);

A Bidding in the 21st Century student textbook or every student;

Duplicate boards and cards or a deck o Bidding in the 21st Century E-Z Deal cards or eachtable o students.

Your class will run more smoothly, i you also have table guidecards, name tags and pencils.


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Introduction 3

THE ROLE OF THE TEACHER

Patient, knowledgeable, dedicated these are words that come to mind when describing a teacher.Aristotles de nition painted a picture o the teacher and student working together: The teacher is a

midwi e at the birth o an idea. Through the ages, great educational thinkers have o ered the same piece o advice that at rst seems like a paradox: you cant teach anyone anything the studentshave to teach themselves.

How can this philosophy be translated into a working relationship between teacher and student?Taken to the extreme, it would seem that, as teachers, we should stay home and hope the students

pick up the game themselves. However, students do need the teacher not so much to provide theacts as to provide an environment in which the students can teach themselves.

Being RightLets look at typical teacher-student interactions. We could view learning as a process in whichthe student memorizes the right answers as provided by the teacher. Un ortunately, an emphasis on

right answers inhibits the open approach to learning that the student needs to become an independentlearner. But how can we teach i we dont eel that, as teachers, we must always provide the rightanswers?

Suppose we have just nished presenting the rules or opening the bidding, and a student picksup this hand and bids 1 :

We could display an air o patience and calm endurance. We could even learn to build up our tolerance level over a period o time and not show our disappointment,internalizing our annoyance. However, this attitude wont be good or the students

or the teacher in the long run.A better approach is to get involved in the learning process. Rather than viewing such an answer

as wrong we taught the lesson but the student didnt learn anything we can consider what thestudent learned in order to choose hearts over diamonds or clubs. The student did realize the valueo high cards. That is positive and we should comment on it:

You are on the right track high cards are important, but long suits areeven more important when deciding where to play the hand, although itsnot easy to see this at rst. Id like you to try opening the bidding with your longest suit and see how this works out or you.

The student will usually agree with our suggestion. I the student doesnt seem convinced, wemight suggest that the student set up another hand containing three spades and three hearts to goopposite the students hand and randomly deal out the other two hands. The student plays the hand with the longer but weaker suit as trump, and then plays with the shorter but stronger suit as trump.The student observes the results and ends up teaching himsel , under your guidance.

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Sometimes a student will suggest that were mistaken in what were teaching. Most classes containa mixture o absolute beginners and more experienced players. Those who have some knowledge o the game may ask questions that are either too ar ahead o the topic or are not relevant. Sometimesthe manner in which these questions are asked will seem almost hostile. Suppose we are developingthe idea o the takeout double being orcing, and a student interrupts with:

Thats not right! I my partner makes a takeout double and my right-hand opponent bids, then I can pass. The takeout double is not orcing.

We might be tempted to eel that we should gently put this student down, but we can turn theinterruption around and deal with it in a positive manner. The student already knows somethingabout the game but is still interested enough in learning more to attend our class; thats good. The

point that the student has made is relevant, and you were going to include it later in the lesson. Wecould comment:

Thanks or mentioning that. Youre ahead o us, but the point is worthremembering. Lets put it on the board and well come to it later.

Heres another case. A ter our or ve lessons, a student who seemed to be ollowing the lessonswell gives a value o 1 high-card point to a king. The student ends up undervaluing a hand and landsin the wrong contract. I our aim is to have the students give right answers, this may be exasperating.A ter our weeks, one o our better students doesnt know the value o a king!

This type o lapse is not unusual. Under the tension o assimilating new in ormation, the amiliar can be orgotten temporarily. We see this even in the greatest o players. While in the midst o mak-ing a di cult play, anyone might overlook a simple play or the moment. In the above example, weremind the student that the king is worth 3 points. There will be a quick agreement and a continuationo the task at hand. No one is to blame. We have passed on the appropriate in ormation; the studentis still assimilating it.

The key is to be genuine. When a student asks a question that seems to interrupt the smooth fowo what we have planned, we may eel annoyed. Maybe we eel like giving up when a student orgetsa simple, basic act like the number o points given to a high card. These are common human eel-ings, but they should make us examine our motives closely. Teaching isnt a pro ession or everyone.I we have a passion or and nd security in right answers, teaching may not be or us.

Setting the Stage for ExperimentationSuppose we want to introduce students to the idea that, a ter a 1NT opening bid, responder either

passes or bids a ve-card or longer suit at the two level with 0 to 7 total points. We could present thisas a rule or memorization. I we want to help the student become an independent learner, however,we might try something like this:

Id like to present an idea or your consideration. Make up a 1NT open-ing bid. Turn the hand over and put it ace down in ront o North. Nowconstruct Souths hand. It has six o the smallest spades you have le t, threesmall hearts, three small diamonds and one small club. Randomly deal theremaining cards out to East and West.


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Introduction 5

When asked what they would respond to a 1NT opening bid with Souths hand, most studentswill enthusiastically say that they would pass. You now carry on with:

Lets experiment. Play the hand in 1NT with North as declarer. Then playit again in a contract o 2 with South as declarer. When you nish, welltalk about what happened.

It might seem like weve spent a great deal o class time when we could have told the studentsthe rule in a ew seconds. However, they can always read the rules later in the text. They have a much

better chance o understanding and remembering them i they have experienced the logical bases o the rules. More important, our role as teacher is better used to provide situations where the studentcan be involved in the learning process.

As teachers, we have to be astute about when to set up experiments. To try to show the studentsthe reasons or opening the bidding in one way rather than another would be di cult. We would haveto discuss rebids. Yet we have to move rom the known to the unknown. To show why we open the

bidding, an unknown, in terms o the rebid, another unknown, would be con using to the students.Sometimes we have to say:

I suggest you ollow these rules or opening the bidding. When you havemore experience with the game, the reasons behind the rules will be easier to understand.

For the student to be able to teach himsel , the teacher has to set up the right conditions. Fillingthe students with unquestioned in ormation isnt the answer, nor is withdrawing rom the learning

process. The teacher must skill ully set up experiments that are meaning ul to the student. The teacher must develop a sixth sense to know when to move to the next concept.

The Teacher as an EntertainerThe teacher o a basic bridge course is in the eld o entertainment.Suppose the topic is rebids by responder. The urther we move away rom the rst lesson, the more

chance the lessons will become tedious. We might eel the pressure o the volume o in ormationwe have to impart in this lesson. How can we make the lesson more entertaining and create a littledrama? Be ore class we could write the ollowing words on a paper: WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHEREand WHY. We could then print WHAT on a card and place it in an envelope, Academy Award-style.Enlist the help o a student be ore the class. Start the class something like this:

The responder asks two key questions when deciding on a rebid. They both begin with the same word. Many words have vied or the honor. The

nominations are: WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE and WHY (display the paper). And now the envelope please (the student presents the envelope).The winner is WHAT! Yes, the responder asks What level? and Whatdenomination? to help determine a rebid.

We have set up a light introduction and can continue the lesson showing the award winner atwork. For example, we might ollow the introduction with a ew simple examples:


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Opener Responder

1 1 1NT

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WHAT level? Game. Opener has 13 points and you have 15 total points (13 HCP + 2 points or your length in spades)..

WHAT strain? Opener has at least two spades to rebid 1NT. Rebid 4 .

Suddenly the students are involved and eager to see how WHAT is used.

Heres another example o introducing drama. Suppose we are teaching the lesson on the takeoutdouble and responses. Bring in a page o the newspaper that o ers two- or-one sales, put it on the

board and proceed:

We all love a bargain. Look at these two- or-one sales. Bridge players lovea bargain, too. As a matter o act, there is a bargain in the bidding that isa three or one. Here it is!

Hold up a sign saying The double three or one! Then show the students a hand like the one below and ask which suit they would bid when their right-hand opponent opens 1 .

This example is unrealistic because the cards are exactly the same, but its dra-matic. What do you bid when three suits are the same? The students want to bid all three o the suits at once, and now we can give them the good news that theycan do so with the simple word, double.

Humor is another key to running an entertaining bridge class. Our jokes, as Easley Blackwood said so many times, have to be on ourselves. We cant add to the morale o the class by telling storiesabout students even other students. Timing is important. The joke has to be quick and add to the

progression o the lesson, not take away rom it. I we are aware o what is happening in the classroom,we can tell whether our humor is working. The only way to get better is to practice.

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Introduction 7

ReinforcementLearning is exciting, but it can be accompanied by uneasiness. The teacher can make the learn-

ing process much more enjoyable and e ective or the student with positive rein orcement. It used to be ashionable to rely on browbeating to make students learn. Studies have shown that positiverein orcement is much more e ective, but this isnt as easy as it sounds. Our choice o words can

rein orce positively or negatively. Sometimes in an e ort to be supportive, we all into traps. Onecommon mistake is using a word too o ten:

Teacher: What would you open this hand?

Student: 1NT.

Teacher: Good. Why did you choose 1NT?

Student: The hand is balanced.

Teacher: Good.

Student: And it has 17 points.

Teacher: Good.

In our attempt to be pleasant, our voices can become patronizing. We can make the student eellike we are treating the student as a child. Most o the time were working with adults, and our man-ner has to refect this.

Timing is an important part o giving positive rein orcement. I we were teaching a child to ride a bike,we might tell that child how terri c it is when the child starts to pedal independently. A ter this skill has

been mastered, it would be insulting to give the same rein orce ment every time we saw the child ride downthe driveway. It requires skill, practice and talent to know when new learning is taking place. Good teachers seem to sense intuitively how to work in partnership with students. This talent, however, is

o ten more the result o hard work and the desire to be a better teacher than rom a natural gi t.Positive rein orcement is relative. What works with one student may not work with another. We

have to get to know the other person. We need to think about what that person likes and not whatwe like. This is an art that can be practiced or a li etime. World-class bridge players say there is somuch to the game that, even though they play thousands o hands, they are continually learning. Thesame can be said or the art o teaching.

Keep the ollowing guidelines in mind when considering rein orcement:

Avoid using the same words. Develop a nod or a smile and move the lessonalong. Good, well-done and terrifc are tiresome words i used excessively.

Talk in an adult voice. The enthusiasm has to be translated in a way appropriate to your audience.

Develop your timing o positive rein orcement so that it takes place whenthe student is mastering a new concept.

Observe the students in order to know what works. Simply remembering their names can be the best rein orcement or some students.


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A skill ul teacher can show the students how to give themselves positive rein orcement. Bridgestudents have to be shown how to congratulate themselves when they eel they have done something

positive. There is a story about a man who was constantly criticizing himsel during his gol game.He took his good shots as a matter o course and elt depressed and angry with his poor shots. Hedecided to change his attitude. Every time he made a good shot, he told himsel , Well done, Je !

He took his poor shots as a matter o course. His game improved immensely.

Perfect Isnt Possible Per ect Isnt Possible, one o the slogans in The One Minute Teacher (Johnson and Johnson), is

an important notion to consider. The idea is expressed over and over again: nothing is per ect; i something can go wrong, it will go wrong. Remedies or this act o li e are countless: i you aregiven a lemon, make lemonade; consider the glass hal - ull, not hal -empty.

The most important actor in the success o a basic bridge class is the teacher. We encounter problems: the room is locked and no one seems to have a key; there are no card tables; the material

has a typing error; our class is in the science lab and it smells like rotten eggs; our class is in theGrade One classroom and the chairs are very small; we have a very obnoxious student; the studenttextbooks didnt arrive on time. None o these problems is as great as our attitude toward them.

THE ROLE OF THE STUDENT

I we watch a group o students learning to play bridge, we may notice that many o them sit back rom the table and use their lap as a plat orm on which to shu fe through their notes whenever it is their turn to do something. Others constantly turn to the teacher and almost apologetically say,I dont know what to do with this hand. They hang back, almost paralyzed with ear o ailure,a raid to bid or play a card until they have the right answer. Students are convinced that there is oneanswer and the teacher has it. The teacher becomes the nal authority, o ten rein orcing this throughthe correction o the students mistakes.

The Final Authority I the teacher is not the nal authority, who is? The truth is that there is no nal authority. The

students must learn to teach themselves using the teacher as a valuable resource. Galileo stated hisidea o the role o the student:

We cannot teach another person anything. We can only help him to dis-cover or himsel . And that is what teaching is about helping others todiscover or themselves worthwhile things they might not have otherwisediscovered.


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Introduction 9

The students most important resource is themselves. Other resources are ellow students, theteacher, the text, magazines and the daily newspaper column. We must avoid classes where the stu-dents are told not to talk to one another or ear o sharing their ignorance and are told that the onlyrelevant material comes rom the teacher and the text. The student must be encouraged to experiment,observe and draw conclusions. The student must be encouraged to have the courage to be wrong and

to consider mistakes as part o the learning process.

The Nature of LearningWhat happens when a student is learning? Carlos Castaneda in The Teachings o Don Juan has

an interesting view o learning:

He slowly begins to learn bit by bit at rst, then in big chunks. And histhoughts soon clash. What he learns is never what he pictured, or imagined,and so he begins to be a raid. Learning is never what one expects. Everystep o learning is a new task, and the ear the man is experiencing begins

to mount mercilessly, unyielding. His purpose has become a battle eld.The learner is vulnerable, and the teacher can create an environment that gives the student the

reedom and the desire to learn.

Student InvolvementHow do we get the student involved in the learning process? Consider the rst lesson. At the

very beginning, the students are experimenting. One player shu fes the cards and deals them. Thestudents sort their hands into suits and are ready to take tricks.

They will be ull o questions: What should I lead? What card do I play a ter the lead is made,a small card or a big one? This isnt the time to answer those questions. Remind the student that the

purpose o the rst exercise is to learn to ollow suit, to learn to discard i one cant ollow suit, todetermine who won the trick and to determine who leads a ter the rst trick. When the deal is over,give the students a chance to increase their powers o observation by asking a ew questions: Did anyone have a low card that took a trick? How did this happen? Did anyone have a high card thatdidnt win a trick? Why was this?

You have set the stage or a change in the role o the student. The classroom has become a labo-ratory, and the student is experimenting, observing and drawing conclusions. The teacher is a catalyst,synthesizing the conclusions into key points: tricks are won both by high cards and by low cards inlong suits.

Here is an exercise to introduce the concept o bidding. Students describe their hand to their partner without using numbers or names o speci c cards.


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The conversation might be the ollowing:

North: I like hearts.

South: I dont like hearts but I have a lot o spades.

North: I dont like spades but I have diamonds.

South: I like diamonds better than hearts but I really like spades.

North: Could we settle on diamonds?

A ter each partnership has agreed on the trump suit, they predict the number o tricks they willtake with that suit as trump. The partnership predicting the higher number o tricks plays the contractand names the trump suit. A ter the deal is played, the players show each other their cards (they have

played them out duplicate-style) and see i they picked the best combined suit. Typical commentsare: When you said you really liked spades, I thought you had more. How many cards do I haveto have in a suit to say I like it?

Students are communicating with each other. They are becoming com ortable listening to answersand opinions not just rom the teacher but rom each other. They are becoming tolerant and curious.They are making riends and talking to one another, which is the reason many o them came in the

rst place. The teacher is working with them, and they are using what they know and what they havediscovered or themselves.

AttitudeIt is important that the students develop an appropriate attitude toward learning the game. I have

seen people who are intelligent, con dent and competent in their daily pro ession start to shake whencon ronted with 13 cards. The teacher doesnt help their con dence with well-meaning remarks suchas: You dont want to lead that card. Let me show you how you could make the contract.

The whole learning process depends on making the student com ortable, and com ort doesntcome rom memorizing rules. Com ort comes rom an attitude o willingness to experiment and observe, an attitude that accepts uncertainty, an attitude that doesnt ear making mistakes. Whenworking with beginners, we must encourage them at every opportunity, listen to everything they haveto say and learn with them.

The attitude we want beginning players to have toward the game is best summed up by somecomments made by the late Don Oakie, a top-ranking player and a ormer president o the ACBL:

I think we should consider what potential pupils really want. I think they

are similar to me when I was just a youngster and somebody gave us sometennis racquets and a couple o balls. The racquets had strings that wereloose and the balls didnt have much bounce. But we could hardly wait toget down to the high school and bat those balls back and orth. We had awonder ul time doing it. We didnt know anything about the game, or orm,or what it takes to be a good player. All we knew was that we had a racquetin our hand and a net, and we could bat the balls back and orth, and it wasa lot o un.


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Introduction 11

When people want to take up a new recreation, they want to have un. Theywant to be doing something, and its not necessary that they do it with skillor good orm. All that is necessary or them to enjoy themselves is or themto play the game. The un is in the doing.

TEACHING THEBIDDING IN THE 21ST CENTURY COURSE

Volumes have been written about the game o bridge. We are teaching a basic course, lasting 16hours (eight two-hour lessons) or 18 hours (nine two-hour lessons). All we can hope to do is introducegeneral concepts with as ew exceptions as possible. We dont have to learn the in eld fy rule whenstarting to play baseball or how to put topspin on the ball when learning to play tennis. Yet we nd it di cult to avoid giving beginning bridge players so many rules and exceptions that they quickly

become rustrat ed.

Time, a Scarce Commodity People seldom have enough time to do everything they want to do, so simplicity becomes very

important. People want quick results and the resulting boost to morale. This can be achieved byconcentrating our e orts on the 20% o activities that generate 80% o the results.

How can we adopt this principle in teaching bridge? By reducing the complexity o bidding and playto the minimum necessary to achieve reasonable results most o the time. O course, taking a game astheoretically complex as bridge and reducing it to a ew simple elements isnt easy. Simplicity meansthat whenever we have a choice, we choose the method that presents the ewest exceptions.

The lessons are two hours long. Generally the rst hour ocuses on the bidding theory while thesecond hour puts it into practice through the play. We should always plan to stop a ter two hours

this is about the maximum length o time that most people can concentrate be ore starting to eeloverwhelmed by the material. Students who want to continue to play are certainly ree to do so. But

or those who have had enough, we must provide a nishing point to the session, reviewing what has been covered and leaving them eager to return or the next lesson.

I we havent covered all o the material in the lesson, we mustnt panic. It isnt the quantity o the material but the quality that is important. We shouldnt try to rush things through. Instead, wemake compromises skipping over the ner details, leaving exercises or homework, telling thestudents they can read more details in the text. However, we do want to cover the undamentals ineach lesson and we should review our timing so we can do better next time. Which section took toolong? What might be the reasons or this?

Following the rst lesson, which consists mainly o play exercises, the lessons start to all intoa regular pattern:


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Introduction to the bidding concepts ...................................10 minutes

Exercises on the bidding concepts ......................................45 minutes

Break .................................................................................... 5 minutes

Introduction to the play concepts ........................................10 minutes

Play o pre-dealt deals .........................................................45 minutes

Review.................................................................................. 5 minutes

While we dont want the schedule to be too rigorous, by planning the segments ahead o time,we can see i we are alling behind at a particular point. Its especially important to leave su cienttime or the play portion.

How can we keep to these times? The introduction to the bidding concepts is an overview. Thisisnt the time or us to present orally all o the material. The student can read about the details in thetext. The general concept to be introduced and the method or introducing it are outlined in each o the lesson plans.

Divide the 45 minutes allotted to the exercises on the bidding concepts so there is time or everyexercise. I there are ve exercises, then take about nine minutes per exercise; i there are sevenexercises, take a little less than seven minutes per exercise.

The introduction to the play concepts is also an overview. The concept and method or introducingit are outlined in the lesson plan.

Other than in the rst lesson, there are our pre-dealt deals as the last our exercises o each les-son. The ocus is on putting the bidding theory into practice and, on most deals, incorporating the

play concept that has just been explained. The discussion on the bidding should take only a coupleo minutes. I we are running behind, we could tell the students exactly how the bidding should go.

There is usually only one new play concept per deal, so the discussion should take only threeor our minutes be ore the deal is actually played. Point the de enders and the declarer in the rightdirection and then let them go at it.

We can control the amount o time we use when presenting a lesson concept. What do we do i there are a ew tables o students who take a long time to nish an exercise? Consider the situation.A ter ve minutes o the rst play exercise in lesson one, only six tricks have been played at onetable. The other tables are waiting or the next exercise. We might say:

I you havent nished the exercise, turn the rest o your cards over. Youcan take part in the discussion. Did anyone have a low card that took a trick?

How did this happen? Did anyone have a high card that didnt take a trick?Tell me about it.

Include the table that didnt nish in the discussion ollowing the exercise. Watch or them too er a contribution so they dont eel le t out.

We cant a ord to hold up the rest o the class to wait or a slow table some students would literally take hal an hour on a simple exercise. Slow tables will pick up the pace when they see thatthe class goes on. We are trying to please the majority o our students while keeping an eye on thosewho are either too quick or too slow. We want to make our students com ortable without letting asmall group take over the class.


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Introduction 13

Keep It SimpleLets consider hand valuation. When students start o by playing a ew hands whist-style to get

a eel or the cards, they have no di culty recognizing that tricks are won not only by high cards butalso by low cards in long suits. They can see that, to value the hand, there are two components avalue or high cards and a value or length.

This method has several advantages compared to counting points or short suits.

First, the student can readily understand where both components o the valuationcome rom. Its di cult to understand why short suits are valuable they may bea liability in notrump.

Second, there is no ambiguity with honors in short suits. Is a singleton king worth5 points (3 points or the high card and 2 or length), 4 points (subtract 1 point or the singleton honor), 3 points (choose the higher o the high-card point value and the short-suit value), or 2 points (choose the lower o the high-card point value and the short-suit value)?

Another example is the many exceptions we could mention with the opening bid o 1NT. Wecould open 1NT with a ve-card minor suit, but not with a ve-card major suit. We could open witha balanced hand as long as there is no worthless doubleton. We could open with 16 points, but 15i there is a ve-card suit. In a basic course, we want to limit the need or exceptions as much as

possible. Open 1NT with a balanced hand and 15 to 17 high card points. This brings the parametersor notrump into the mainstream or notrump bidding. Even though we want to keep things simple,

we recognize we have a responsibility to provide modern bridge theory to our students. The wish tokeep things simple may at times have to give way in order to keep things accurate.

Connecting InformationSimplicity comes with as ew exceptions as possible. It also comes rom connecting in ormationand emphasizing general concepts. Too many unconnected rules and acts create con usion. For example, when the student knows that each player has a role and that the opener is the describer and the responder is the captain, it simpli es the bidding. When we emphasize the general idea that thecaptain asks What Level? and What Strain? to decide on the response to an opening bid o 1NT,it becomes much easier than memorizing a chart o all possible responses.

Mnemonic AidsWe can simpli y the material by using mnemonic aids. For example, we can help the student

understand the bidding messages through the use o the tra c light. As with a normal tra c light,red stands or stop (signo ), yellow stands or proceed with caution (invitational), and green stands

or go ( orcing). I we assign a color to each bid, the students will soon get the message.

The irony is that keeping the material simple is di cult or a teacher. Nevertheless, its the onlyway to keep the students in a basic course coming to class. Its worth our time and e ort.

The most exciting display o a hand, or the basic student, is the actual cards. It doesnt take longto have the students construct a hand in the middle o the table, dummy-style. This works much better

or the basic student than writing the hand on a chalkboard.


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The MaterialThe material provided to the student or each lesson is divided into two sections, the student text

and the student activity workshop.

The student text is not meant to be read during the lesson. Its or re erence when the lesson is over.We, however, should be amiliar with the material be orehand. The lesson plans outline the conceptsto be covered in each lesson. I we are uncertain about any points, we can read the appropriate topicand examples in the text. For most lessons, the student text is divided into our parts:

Bidding Theory: The bidding theory that the students need or a basic course. There are ewexceptions, and the material is kept as simple as possible.

Guidelines for Play: A basic idea on play that is high lighted in the pre-dealt deals that are played in the work shop.

Summary: A quick re erence to the points covered in the lesson. This is a good place to

direct the students i they have orgotten a con cept.The Finer Points: This part expands on some o the bidding concepts and answers some o the

questions that the more experienced students will raise.

The student workshop contains the exercises that are discussed in the class. The lesson plan ex- plains how the teacher introduces and conducts them. The teacher, by guiding the student throughthe workshop material, gives the student a chance to be involved in the learning process. The rst

ew exercises develop the bidding, and the last ew exercises develop the play. To save time, thereare some bidding exercises where the teacher can re er the students to the text to help complete the

exercise instead o calling out the cards or multiple hands

The Play of the HandThere are three kinds o deals we can give our students pre-dealt, semi-pre-dealt and randomly

dealt.

Pre-dealt deals are the most e ective and are used in the Bidding in the 21st Century course because one point at a time can be intro duced. There are two pre-dealt deals in the rst lesson and

our in each lesson a ter that. Usually there wont be time in class or semi-pre-dealt and randomlydealt deals. However, there is a place or these deals i time permits.

Here is an example o how to make up a semi-pre-dealt deal to use i the class is moving alongquickly in Lesson 3 (Responses to 1NT Opening Bids).

Have the students make up a hand that would open the bidding 1NT. A ter having them randomlydeal the other three hands, have the students bid. They can either play a ter the auction or just look at all our hands to determine i a reasonable contract was reached.


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Introduction 15

This provides us with some control. All students will open 1NT and their partners will choosean appropriate response, which is the theme o the lesson.

On the randomly dealt deals, the students shu fe and deal the cards. We have to be care ul howwe use these deals. Our lesson can be un olding delicately and then a randomly dealt deal can leaveour students with a eeling o rustration rather than con dence as they are about to leave.

Watching students play semi-pre-dealt deals and randomly dealt deals puts us to the test. Wellsee nesses not taken, suits blocked, winners being discarded. Well see leads away rom an ace intrump contracts. We might eel that we cant let this happen! Nevertheless, we have to give the stu-dents a chance to get the experience they need to be ready to understand how to improve their play.There are ar too many points to address in these deals to even start. We might try making generalcomments:

Thats interesting. Well be talking about how to solve the problem youencountered in one o our upcoming lessons. I liked the way you started by

playing the trump suit rst. You had the right idea.

E-Z Deal CardsThe E-Z Deal Cards complete the connection between the teacher manual and the student text.

Each o the ACBL beginning bridge texts has a set o E-Z Deal Cards.

The cards are coded to allow the deals in the Group Activities section or each o the eight les-sons o the Bidding in the 21st Century course to be dealt at the table by the students. There are twoexercises with play deals in Lesson 1 and our play deals in each o the remaining eight lessons.With one deck o E-Z Deal Cards per table and a brie explanation by the teacher, the deals can be

produced as they are needed. There will no longer be a need to carry heavy duplicate boards to classor to pre-duplicate the play deals. (Note: Some teachers do nd it help ul to pre-duplicate the twodeals used in the rst lesson and to teach the students how to deal the E-Z cards in Lesson 2.)

The easiest way to teach the students to use the E-Z Deal Cards is to have the our players at thetable each take a portion o the cards. Tell them which deal you want them to produce. (The lessonnumbers run down the side o each card and the deal numbers are across the top.) Have the studentsdistribute the cards in ront o themselves, placing the cards in piles corresponding to N-E-W-S.

NEWS is easy to remember. The students then give all o the cards in the N piles to North, theE piles to East, etc. Some teachers have ound it help ul to get a super enlargement o a card (tryKinkos or CopyMax) to show the class while explaining how to read the coding.


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THEBIDDING IN THE 21ST CENTURY COURSE LESSON PLANS

Lesson 1 di ers rom the others in that the students start right o playing and there is virtuallyno introduc tion. The lesson plans or this lesson are covered in more detail because this is the lessonthat will set the tone or the rest o the course. As the lessons progress, they all into a regular patternto which both the teacher and the students will become accustomed.

Structure of the Lesson PlansEach lesson plan is divided into the ollowing sections:

General Concepts: This is or us to review be ore the start o each lesson. The main idea o the lesson is stated briefy

under the headings o bidding and play o the hand. The speci c details o each lesson are covered in the student text, to which we can re er i any o the concepts are unclear.

General Introduction: In the rst 10 minutes o the class, prior to the rst exercise, the teacher presents an overview o

the main ideas to be covered. This can be considered a warm-up. It sets the stage or the rest o thelesson. Its teacher-directed. The class works as a unit rather than in groups.

Exercises on Bidding: The rst group o exercises in the workshop material covers the bidding theory to be discussed.

About 45 minutes is spent doing the exercises. In the lesson plan, each exercise is broken into our parts:

Introduction

Instructions

Follow-up

Conclusion

Each exercise is done in ve to 10 minutes. The Introduction is usually a sentence or two by theteacher. Sometimes the teacher has the students construct a sample hand on the table and uses it todemonstrate the point being made.

The Instructions are then given by the teacher, and the students work in their groups (usuallyeach table). The best discussions seem to occur when one o the participants in each group is madethe chairperson. Students can take turns. North could start with this role ollowed by East, Southand West. The chairperson can report the ndings o the group to the class, or the group can pick aseparate spokesperson or the group. Sometimes the teacher can take the group through the exercise,asking the questions posed and getting the answers rom the students. This moves the class along i time is becoming a actor.


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Introduction 17

In the lesson plans, the instructions under Follow-up are o ten Discuss the exercise. Have eachgroup take a turn reporting to the whole class. Have di erent groups start, because sometimes theanswer will be given and all o the other groups agree, so there is no need to hear rom each group.

The di erence between the ollow-up and the Conclusion is that the teacher uses the conclusionto pull all o the in ormation together and make sure the signi cant points have been made and un-derstood.

A saying about teaching goes: Tell the students what you are going to tell them, and then tellthem what you have told them. In the introduction o the exercise, we describe the theme o the ex-ercise. In the instructions, the students are told what they are to do. The ollow-up gives the studentsa chance to tell the class the conclusions they have reached. During the conclusion, the in ormationis synthe sized, usually by the teacher.

Exercises on Play: The lesson plans or the exercises on the play are divided into two sections:

1. General theme o the our hands2. Notes on each hand

The rst 10 minutes o the play section present the theme that the play o the hand will ollow.

The lesson plan suggests how the theme can be presented.

The actual pre-dealt deals are handled in the ollowing manner:

1. Students take the hands out o the board and turn them ace up on the table, sorted into suits,dummy-style ( i.e. , so that it looks as though there is a dummy in ront o each player).

2. The teacher leads a discussion based on the questions outlined in the bidding section in

the workshop material or the particular deal. The students dont use their texts or thissection o the lesson. All o their attention is ocused on the actual hands. The biddingshouldnt be dealt with in too much depth, since the emphasis is on the play. The studentswill go through the bidding again when they actually play. However, the students mustreach the appropriate contract otherwise the point o the deal may get lost. I time isrunning short, the teacher can tell the students, by way o review, exactly how the auctionshould go.

3. The questions on the play ound in the workshop material guide the students to see how thetheme o the lesson is developed. The teacher need not go through the play trick by trick,since the students will play the deal shortly. However, the teacher should ensure that theappropriate opening lead will be made and that declarer will be thinking along the rightgeneral line.

4. The students are now told to pick up the hands, bid and play. We should avoid making anycomments during the bidding and play, giving the students ull opportunity to make mis-takes. However, we should observe the key actions so we can bring up appropriate pointsat the end. (The students o ten are unable to remember exactly what happened during the

play.)


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5. Right rom the start, the students are taught to play duplicate-style (keeping their cards inront o them). As groups nish playing, have them reconstruct the hands dummy-style on

the table. Then they can discuss the deal urther while other tables are nishing up. I thedeal has gone well at all tables, we can move on to the next deal as soon as the last table

nishes. I the deal hasnt gone smoothly, we can discuss it as time permits be ore moving

on. This may be necessary initially but, as the students con dence and experience grow,they can handle most o the postmortems themselves.

It may seem that this is not challenging enough or the students. A ter all, they look at the hand rst, discuss it and only then pick it up and play it. However, beginning students rarely remember

the hand, even a ter it has just been discussed. The main advantage o discussing the theme ahead o time is that all our players at the table become involved. Most o the deals are designed so that thestudent doesnt make the contract without ollowing the suggested line o play. The de enders are ableto watch and see i the declarer ollows the plan. We also want to build up the students con dencewhen playing, and giving them every chance or success is the best way to do this.

I we think our class is nding this method too easy, we can try discussing all our hands at once

and even have the students play them in a di erent order a ter the discussion.For homework each student can look at and answer all o the questions in the workshop material

on the pre-dealt deals. This gives the students another opportunity to get value out o each deal evenwhen they arent declarer.

The deals are arranged so that the declarer is North then East, South and West. Each player gets a chance to be the declarer.

Adjusting the Material: These lesson plans have been used success ully by thousands o teachers since the mid-eight-

ies. The material provides the course ramework or teachers to build upon. From this ramework,the teacher can add bidding treatments that are common in their geographic area. In addition, someteachers may want to be more thorough in certain areas and make the course 10 weeks in length (or longer). Basically, the course ramework can and should be adapted to meet the needs o teachersand their students.

bidding in the 21st century intro

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