Teach with the best! www.HamInstructor.com • 800-669

Teach with the best!
Ham Instructor Newsletter – Fall, 2015
Where’s Gordo Going to Be??
Here’s a schedule of Amateur Radio events where Gordo will be making presentations in 2016. If you’re in the
neighborhood, stop by and say hello. Or plan on attending one of his Ham Instructor Academy presentations or
Instructor Forums. Click on the links to learn more about each hamfest.
anuary 21, Quartfest, Quartzsite, AZ
J
Instructor’s Forum
February 12, Hamcation®, Orlando, FL
Ham Instructor Academy
April 29, ARRL Nevada State Convention, Las Vegas, NV
Ham Instructor Academy
May 13-15, ARRL Rocky Mountain Division Convention,
Keystone, CO Instructor’s Forum
May 20-22, Hamvention, Dayton, OH
Visit our W5YI booth introducing the new 2016-20
Extra Class study materials
June 10-11, Ham-Com, Irving, TX
Ham Instructor Academy and our W5YI booth with the
new Extra Class study materials
August 20-21, Huntsville Hamfest, Huntsville, AL
Ham Instructor Academy
1,000+ Gordo / W5YI Ham
Instructors and Counting!!
Wow! Since Gordo began presenting his Ham Instructor
Academy classes a couple of years ago, the number of
hams who are now registered on our HamInstructor.com
website has now gone over the 1,000 mark!
“My goal in creating the Ham Instructor Academy
program was to teach the teachers,” Gordo explains.
“I wanted to share my teaching approach, classroom
demos, and promotion ideas to help instructors improve
their classes for teaching success.”
In the past couple of months, more than 170 teaching
hams have attended Gordo’s Ham Instructor Academy
seminars in Boxboro, MA, Pacificon in San Ramon, CA,
and the ARRL Arizona State Convention in Kingman, AZ.
And you can see the effort being put into this program
by looking at Gordo’s schedule on the top of this page.
“All I can say is THANKS TO ALL OF YOU for teaching
ham radio! Continue to do more in your classrooms
than simply teaching to the test. Using ham gear, and
following my suggested demos
(Continued on page 2)
Navigating Our
New Website
You Ain’t Registered ‘til You’re Registered!
With apologies to the late, great Yogi Berra, we understand that
there is some confusion about how to become a fully-registered
Ham Instructor on our HamInstructor.com website.
If you signed up at one of Gordo’s Ham Instructor Academy presentations, or completed a paper registration form at a hamfest,
your information from the paper form has been entered into the
website database. And you should have received a Welcome email from the site.
But you aren’t fully registered yet, because you need to visit the
website and create a password for yourself. It’s easy to do:
1. Visit haminstructor.com and click on the “Instructor Login”
button in the red navigation bar.
2. Next, click on the “Need your password reset?” button.
3. Enter your e-mail address and the site will send you a link so
that you can create your own password.
Once you have your password, you can go back on the site and
login, which will give you full access to all of the resources of
HamInstructor.com.
www.HamInstructor.com • 800-669-9594
1
Resources for You!
Tell your students to
order their books
directly from w5yi
for free Study aids
Once you’re fully registered on haminstructor.com with
your own password, you have complete access to all of
our FREE resources. These include the following:
✓ Power Point presentations keyed to Gordo’s
books for Tech, General, and Extra
✓ Student Pre-Study Homework on PDF that you
can distribute to get everyone in class working
through their books.
✓ Instructor Guides for each of Gordo’s books to
help you better organize your classroom presentations.
✓ An archive of all past issues of our Ham Instructor
Newsletter
✓ Post Classes on our searchable website database
to help students find your classes.
And here’s one more very valuable FREE resource for
you and your students:
Yes, Gordo comes with the book! He is student and
instructor accessible at 714-549-5000! And you can
arrange to have Gordo visit your classroom via Skype,
or by radio hook-up to speak to your students live-time.
No other publication can offer the author and his phone
number, coming with the book!
Element Credit for
Prior Licenses
Recent rule changes by the FCC make it possible
for hams whose licenses have expired to regain their
privileges simply by taking and passing the Element
2 Technician Class written exam. This rule applies to
those with expired General, Advanced, and Extra Class
licenses beyond the two-year grace period. In order to
take advantages of this, the applicant must show proof
of holding an expired license If they do not have a copy
of their old license, one resource to help verify their former status is to e-mail call sign historian Pete Varounis,
NL7XM, at twelveVDC@aol.com.
So, if an old-timer shows up for class, ask him if he
used to have a license. You might be able to help him
get his old Extra Class privileges back with just an Element 2 exam!
I’ve heard from many instructors that they prefer to have
their students buy their Gordon West study materials
direct from W5YI Group. So here’s a new way for your
students to get their study manuals and their free study
aides:
tudents can order their books by calling The W5YI
S
Group at 800-669-9594. When ordering, they
should tell the customer service rep that they are
registered for your class and would like to receive
their additional study aides.
➤ Students also can order their books on-line by visiting the W5YI Group web store at www.w5yi.org.
When completing their on-line order, they should
note in the “comments” box that they are registered
for a Gordo class and would like their additional
study materials.
➤
In either case, your students will receive the pre-study
homework for their level of class (Tech, General, or Extra), a W5YI / Kenwood band chart designed by Gordo,
and any additional manufacturer materials we may have
on hand.
If you prefer, you can continue to buy your classroom
books from W5YI in bulk to earn your Instructor discounts. The more your order, the deeper your discounts. And, if you are a repeat W5YI customer ordering additional books for your class, we will honor the
same discount you earned on your initial order. Finally,
if you have books left over, you can return them for full
credit, provided they are in new condition.
So I urge you to help support our free Ham Instructor program by buying your books and other materials
through W5YI. Your support of our program in this way
makes it possible for us to continue helping you teach
successful ham classes!
1,000+ New Gordo/W5YI Ham Instructors and Counting!! (Continued from page 1)
in the Instructor Guide, encourages your students to
become active hams on the air,” he notes.
Gordo also encourages one more step in the ham class
process – an after-exam session. “Bring in local club
members to help students learn what it takes to get on
the air, with live demos. Make SURE your students understand that they will need a local club member to help
program their new radio, with the right software and programming cables, with the student’s local repeater and
simplex channels,” he says. “This gets your students
ON THE AIR, joining their local club and local repeater,
and takes all YOUR hard work in getting them
through the class with test passing on into
the REAL world of ham radio. That’s getting
your successful students ON THE AIR!”
Ham Instructor Newsletter – Fall, 2015
www.HamInstructor.com • 800-669-9594
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THIS STUFF REALLY WORKS!
Converting to Gordo Classroom Study Materials
If you’re teaching approach is like that of your old college professor who has been teaching the same English course
for 25 years, all from his notes written in 1990, well you’re comfortable with what you’re doing. And maybe you’re
doing your students a disservice.
“
So maybe it’s time to teach an old dog new tricks! The following is from one of Gordo’s recent Ham Instructor Academy graduates:
“
I made the switch from “other materials” to the Gordon West Technician Class book for our beginner
classes. I used his free Instructor Guide to plan the classroom sessions, plus the free Power Point to
help keep the students focused on the topic at hand.
We actually gained students over the course of the 8 week classes, rather than losing them because
the other materials were difficult to follow.
Don’t mention my name – I’m in the “other materials” back yard – but what a pleasure making the
switch, and now teaching from Gordo’s book, and having him join us via Skype the week before the
testing session when 100% of our students passed!
Study with the best!
License Study Materials by
technician class
Technician Class book
for the 2014-2018 entry
level exam! Gordo
reorganizes the Q&A
into logical topic groups
for easy learning! Key
words are highlighted
in his explanations to
help you understand the
material for test success.
Web addresses for
more than 125 helpful,
educational sites.
Includes On The Air CD
demonstrating Tech privileges.
GWTM-14 $21.95
Tech Book & Software Package
Gordo’s book with W5YI software for Windows
allows you to study at your computer and take
practice exams. Explanations from Gordo’s book
are on the software to reinforce your learning.
Includes free Part 97 Rule Book. NCS-14 $29.95
Tech Audio Course on CD
Welcome to Gordo’s classroom! Technician audio
theory course recorded by Gordo talks you through
the Element 2 question pool. Follows the order of
GWTW-14 $29.95
his book. On 4 audio CDs.
N EW !
general class
General Class book
extra class
Extra Class book
Upgrade to the HF bands
with Gordo & W5YI!
Gordo’s manual for
2015-2019 reorganizes
all the questions into
logical topic groups
for easier learning. His
explanations include
highlighted key words to
help you remember the
material for test success.
Companion CD is full
of great operating tips!
GWGM-15 $24.95
Go to the top with
Gordo! 2012-2016 book
includes all Element 4
Q&A reorganized into
logical topic groups.
Gordo’s fun, educational
explanations with
highlighted keywords,
and great memory tricks
for those tough theory
questions! Wait ‘til you
meet “Eli the Ice Man!”
GWEM-12 $24.95
Extra Book & Software Package
General Book & Software Package
Study at your computer and take practice exams
as the W5YI Windows software scores your
results and highlights areas that need further study.
Includes explanations from Gordo’s book. Free
ECS-12 $39.95
Part 97 Rule Book.
General Audio Course on CD
Extra Class Theory Course recorded by Gordo
talks you through the difficult Element 4 theory to
help you understand the material and get you ready
for your upgrade to the top. On 6 audio CDs.
Study at your computer and take practice exams.
Windows software includes explanations from
Gordo’s book, scores your results and highlights
areas that need further study. Includes free Part 97
GUS-15 $34.95
Rule Book.
General Theory Course recorded by Gordo is full
of the sounds that bring ham radio to life! He talks
you through the Element 3 theory to help you
understand the material and get you ready for your
upcoming exam. On 4 audio CDs. GWGW-15 $29.95
Extra Audio Course on CD
GWEW-12 $39.95
W5YI Software on Windows-compatible CD-ROM.
Order today from W5YI: 800-669-9594 or on-line: www.w5yi.org
The W5YI Group P.O. Box 200065 Arlington, TX 76006-0065
When ordering, mention this ad for a free gift.
Ham Instructor Newsletter – Fall, 2015
www.HamInstructor.com • 800-669-9594
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