John-
I'm trying to understand what you're saying...You have the students buoyant in the shallow end...as in face down on the surface?
Tom
Here is what I do in CW 1.
1. We suit up and I have them operate all th BCD controls.
2. They inflate their BCDs and lay forward on the surface for a while, getting the feel of breathing while floating.
3. We talk about how they feel.
4. I have them do it again, this time swimming around the shallow end while breathing off their regs.
5. I have them continue swimming, slowly letting out air as they feel comfortable. Eventually they are swimming around neutrally buoyant, half way between the surface and the bottom.
6. We talk about that.
7. I introduce and explain the first skills (clearing reg/ reg recovery).
8. We drop under the surface and assume a position roughly 45 degrees. Their fin tips are touching, and their knees might be slightly touching--I don't make a big deal out of it--the key is that they are in something like a fin pivot position, with their bodies buoyant and reasonably near a swimming position. I am the same mode. I demo the skills, and they do them. The regulator recovery skills are ridiculously easy in this position. When they start to sweep, the regulator falls over the shoulder immediately. When they use the reach method, the hose is right next to the ear. Contrast that with what you may have seen while kneeling. The regulators and hoses are not in a natural diving position, and it is much, much harder to find them
The rest of the skill work continues in that fashion. Mask clearing is also much more natural--there is a reason to raise your head as you do it, which is not true while kneeling. Alternate air also looks like the real thing.