Thank you for being a bridge teacher. Your efforts are key to spreading the joy, fellowship, and mental stimulation associated with playing this fascinating game. Following are my suggestions on how to use this book so that your students get the most out of your efforts. Many of these points will be obvious to more experienced teachers. However, I encourage all teachers to read this introduction in the hope that you may find a nugget of wisdom to add to your teaching practice.

Your preparation before class

Using duplicate boards, if available, make up copies of each bridge hand at the back of the chapter to be presented. If you have many tables of students - say more than three or four - you can save some preparation time by letting two tables share one set of hands (table 1 can be playing the first and second hands while table 2 is playing the third and fourth hands.) These hands can then be exchanged between the two tables to allow both tables to play all hands. Note there is a tradeoff here. Your efforts in answering questions about the hands as they are bid and played will be slightly more difficult if different hands are being played at different tables.

Although you have already read the entire book (I certainly hope so), review the material in the upcoming chapter paying great attention to the reasoning behind each of the guidelines. Students will have the best chance at remembering the guidelines or being able to reach an appropriate bidding or play decision when they understand the reasoning behind the guidelines.

Student preparation before class

Each student should have access to a copy of the book. Although some students learn better from oral presentation, all students learn better when oral presentation and reading of the material is combined. Strongly urge your students to read the material before the class. They will be better prepared for your presentation and have their questions ready for material that they may have found difficult or confusing.

The class

The book contains two logical sections. The first eight chapters contain the fundamental bidding guidelines which may be taught as a course by itself. The last of these chapters is a review of the key points covered in the first chapter. At this point all students should be starting to play bridge with others to give them more experience. The fun of playing bridge with others will be a positive reward for their efforts in your class. It might be helpful to have several class sessions of "supervised play" before going on to the remaining chapters. The last seven chapters cover more advanced topics such as Stayman, preempt bids, overcalls, strong 2 bids, and slam bidding. These seven chapters can be used as the basis for a separate class or as a continuation of the first.

Each chapter is designed to be presented as one lesson consisting of your presentation of the material, a break, and play of the hands at the end of the chapter. An ideal class will require roughly 2.5 hours spread roughly equally between your presentation and the play of the hands. But don't forget the essential break of five to ten minutes after your presentation. If the time available for your class is much less than this - let's say an hour - you should break each chapter into two sessions, one for your presentation and one for the reinforcing play of the hands. You could have your students do the play of the hands on their own any time before the next lesson. Ideally this would be done with 3 other students; of course they would not have the advantage of your presence to answer questions about the hands.

Many of my students have been people who have played bridge before and either needed a refresher or specifically wanted to learn modern bridge which they have heard so much about from their friends. However, there have also been several new students in the class as well. Since the explanation of the rationale behind the bridge guidelines will be new and extremely important for all of your students, I suggest that a class with all experienced players should be modified only by eliminating the first chapter which covers the most basic material.

Your presentation

The most important suggestion I have is to not read any of the material as you are presenting. If necessary, take the time to briefly review a point in the book and then turn to your class and speak to them in your own words, as you would your next door neighbor, about this important point. There are two reasons for doing this. Reading takes away eye contact with your students preventing you from seeing their reaction (understanding or confusion) and producing a more stilted delivery which is likely to put many of your students to sleep. Secondly, your students should have already read the material. This is your opportunity to convey to them the same points but using different words.

To assist you in your presentation, I have prepared an outline of the major points for each chapter. You can find these outlines and other potentially valuable materials in Lesson Plans.

The use of an easel will add greatly to the effectiveness of your presentation. Some of the more complex guidelines (particularly those describing bids at different point levels) scream out to be presented to the class in chart form. Additionally, I frequently find myself making up examples of hands or partial hands to better explain certain points. These hands or partial hands must be seen and not merely described to your students. If the use of an easel is not possible, refer your students to the appropriate chart or hand reference in their text which they should be instructed to bring with them to the class. You can also instruct a student at each table to construct a specific hand or partial hand at their table. The downside of this last approach is that much valuable class time is lost while the students find and lay out the desired cards.

The most common types of easels are paper flip charts and white boards. My preference is to use a white board easel so that I can easily present a hand and then modify it to show alternate situations. Black board easels are also available. However, white chalk on a black board is generally more difficult to see than a black marker on a white board. In any event, on your first day of class show up early and write some of our wisdom on your easel as you would do during the class. Now move to the most remote student seat and see if your writing can be easily read from that position. Adjust your writing until it passes this test.

Student play of the hands

All hands should be bid with all cards face up on the table as if each player were the dummy. I have several reasons for this using this approach. You will have different levels of students, but you want all students to successfully bid each hand. By bidding the hands with the cards face up, each player can suggest what the bid should be for their hand followed by a brief discussion about this bid with the other students. Students will have a much higher probability of reaching the desired bid and will learn from the discussion with their fellow students. Note that, unless you have only 1 table of students, you will not always be present to redirect the bidding should a student take a different direction from the intended. Note also that a bid (or card play) other than the intended is a teaching opportunity, not just a time to correct the student. Take the time to explain why the student might want to bid as they said but why another bid is more appropriate. When the bidding has been completed, that table should call for your review of their bidding. Confirm their bidding or utilize this teaching opportunity to get them to the desired contract.

The defense team should now pick up their hands and the appropriate person should lead. In the same manner as done for the bidding, the declarer should develop a plan in cooperation with the other students at the table. Once the plan has been established, the declarer should pick up his hand and play of the cards should proceed as usual.