Class tonight was good. Brad was primary instructor. After warmup, we did kihon, then moved into kata. He divided us into upper and lower ranks, the upper ranks working on Basai, the lower ranks working on Heian Shodan. I really appreciate that approach as I think that overall, the beginners in this class tend to be tossed directly into the fire and tend to be dragged along with the more experienced students.
Granted, with the rather open format of the class (martial arts taught at a fitness gym), it is difficult to group beginners, intermediate, and experts because literally everyone started at a different time. That said, once a student has tested for their first time, they are at that point pidgeon holed into a rank, at which point it because much easier to divide up.
I hope that I will one day achieve my shodan rank (first black belt rank) and be allowed to instruct the class. At that time I will try to integrate some of my own training experiences and strategies, hopefully to the betterment of the class.