What is a good method to make sure that the material is being adequately covered in a small class?
I am fortunate in my training that I haven't just learned from one instructor, but have studied under at least a dozen different instructors at different times. There are two approaches that I saw, and my approach was born out of a combination.
1) The Rigid Lesson Plan
Most martial arts have a logical progression: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced. Often times, classes will be divided up according to these progressions, making for more manageable selections for teaching, but this is not always the case.
The rigid lesson plan is a syllabus of all the techniques you're approved to teach from beginning to end. Generally, this is determined by the school, but if you're on your own, it's your responsibility. In the Bujinkan for instance, we have the Ten Chi Jin Ryaku no Maki, which details all the techniques that should be known by the time you reach shodan.
With your syllabus in hand, start at the beginning. Practice each technique for as long as it merits (you need to decide this based on class performance, but generally between 15 and 30 minutes per technique is good for a 2 hour class). You're not going to make it through the spectrum each class, so don't bother trying. Make it as far as you make it, then place a marker in your book. Next class, you pick up at that point and move forward.
Eventually, you will get through everything. If a student has never seen the pre-requisite for a technique, then it's sink-or-swim time. Expect them to try, not to succeed. When the pre-requisite technique comes around again, they'll learn it.
- Pros: Everything get's taught in a relatively predictable sequence.
- Cons: Classes can get boring for more advanced students.
2.) Teach What You Want, When You Want
My first Bujinkan instructor took the route that he would teach us what he wanted when he wanted. We would sink-or-swim each class. The key here is that you're teaching what you're passionate about, and you know what you're looking for with your students. In small classes, this is great because you adapt what you're teaching based on their skill levels, then each time you look at them practicing, you focus on one aspect: perhaps foot movement, or perhaps their angles... Then you tell them what you think: "Very good" or just shake your head. They may never know where they stand with you, but they sure as hell will work hard for the "very good"s.
You need to not just be wandering around while you teach this way, though. You have to participate. Pick a student and practice with them when you train in two-person techniques. If you're performing kata or poomsae, then pull it apart with them and show them when and where it works.
You have to know your students for this to work. If you don't, focus on the ones you do know until you know them all. Encourage the newbies by taking time to ask if they understand. You don't have to necessarily explain, but demonstrate the technique again when they don't. Force them to struggle and they will be excellent.
- Pros: In the long run, those that stick with the art will be far more adaptable than those with the rigid lesson plan.
- Cons: Short term, you may see that a lot of students don't like not knowing where they stand, and may quit.
3.) My way
I have a full lesson plan that I make available to my students if they want it. Every technique that I teach is described in detail. If I'm teaching mostly newbies, I teach the fundamentals and expand them how I feel like at that moment. If I'm teaching more advanced students, I may teach a class based solely around a principle (nagare [flow], or control, or angles), but I always give them a reference to go back to. If I'm showing flow, I may demonstrate the full technique form of oni kudaki before doing it very small with adaptations of body movement.
This is about knowing how you're comfortable teaching. You have to be confident in your students abilities, and if you're not you have something to fall back upon (the syllabus).
- Pros: Classes aren't boring because they're not predictable.
- Cons: Visitors (especially lower-level) hate this and think you're doing it wrong since you're not doing it the way they've been doing it, and may turn some of your students off to you as well.
No matter what teaching style you may choose, you're always making trade-offs. There's no perfect system, and no everyone will learn the same way. Ultimately, you have to do what you're comfortable with and make sure that you're confident in your abilities to teach the material effectively with minimal interruption. Less interruption means more practice.