I always assign something to study beforehand. That way there isn't so much as a pre-briefing, but a pre-reading. We can discuss anything they had trouble with or found interesting prior to actually beginning the lesson.
I find that when they actually do the reading there is a lot less confusion as to what we are doing and the questions are a lot more specific (So WAAS is correcting for atmospheric distortions to get a more accurate distance?), rather than vague questions about a broad subject (So GPS uses satellites?).
I find I can teach more effectively with the time we have that way. Saves the student a lot of cash if they do the studying.
:yeahthat: This is kind of how I go. The pre-brief covers:
1. Weather for the day. By pre-solo I have the student able to print all the weather reports listed in the PTS. We then discuss unusual weather patterns in the local area, or in the US since the weather here is normally the same every day. Look at unusual METARS/TAFS/PIREPS using the NOAA Java tool. Discuss possible weather problems with flights in other areas. This also prepares the pilot for the written.
2. Cover the study material for the day from the syllabus. This may be nothing more than going over the daily questions. In some cases, such as stalls/spins, it may involve a more in depth discussion or class. In some cases it may involve a trip to the hanger to look at an uncovered engine, or the aircraft maintenance logs.
3. Review the peformance charts and W&B for the day. Sometimes I may have the student add some cases of oil to see how the W&B turns out... sometimes they have to add oil to keep the aircraft in CG. sometimes in the summer we can not make it out of the short strip we flew into a few weeks ago.
4. Review the maneuvers for the day, and any debrief items from the last flight.
5. Post flight, debrief what went well, what went poorly. What they should think about before the next flight. What they should study for the next flight.
6. I then email them a copy of #5 and stick it in their folder for us to review during the next prebrief.