A New Student

After picking up a new student from a different instructor, it would be important to determine exactly where he or she is in their training.  I would look through her folder to see what lesson she's on to determine how far she is, supposedly, in her training.  I would look for any repeated lessons to determine what she may have had difficulty on as well as the instructor's notes.  Using her folder I could determine what she should know so far.  I could then talk to her old instructor, asking where she is, what she excels at and where her problems are, and how she learns best.  I'd also ask her old instructor if he had any problems teaching her, if she portrayed any hazardous attitudes that I should look out for.  I'd ask for a basic background on the student so that I may know better how to relate to her.  I'll then talk to the student to figure out where she thinks she is and how that compares to her folder and what her instructor thought.  I'd ask where she was in her training, what maneuvers she was comfortable with and which she needed work on, and what she thought her weakest area was. I'd quiz her a little bit on some basic things she should know and then I'd move on with the next lesson in her folder.  I wouldn't want to hold her up while determining that her old instructor didn't miss anything, so I would get back into flying and quiz her about her knowledge while doing this.  Transition time is a great time to go over material without wasting time on the ground.