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Skype Call with Christine Haynes

Lesson 13 from: How to Teach a Craft Class

Ashley Nickels

Skype Call with Christine Haynes

Lesson 13 from: How to Teach a Craft Class

Ashley Nickels

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Lesson Info

13. Skype Call with Christine Haynes

Lesson Info

Skype Call with Christine Haynes

We're going to have a special guest on skype and a lot of people know christine um christine haynes she's a los angeles based um so er and maker and we're going to bring her on and I'm going to give a more formalized introduction of her once we have her with us so she is there she is hi christine high actually how are you? Because how are you? I'm doing really well I've been watching out learning you're totally rocking it. Thanks. Thanks so before you start asking you questions I'm just going to get do a little intro that's okay. So christine well, first of all I met christine craft occasion like like a lot of people on and we have not only share ah love of sewing but we're also for michigan which is an awesome connection but this way have that midwestern thing going on. So christine is a los angeles based sewing author, teacher and pattern designer she has her own line of patter of sewing patterns and she has also written four books how to speak fluent selling which is my favorite tit...

le for a book ever shirts and dresses for the first time so are among others she teaches in person and online classes and s o christine can you start by telling us a little bit about how you got started both with teaching and with sewing? I would love to hear both of those things yeah, I'll try to make it it's a saying because those could be really long answers started selling when I was a little kid uh my mom was a really good sour it was the seventies and, you know, it was like handmade wardrobe lifestyle time on dh, so we had no money and she sold all of our clothes and I was always obsessed the fashion. So I was included and lino choosing the fabrics and going to the fabric store on dh. Then one day she taught me I was around ten, but it definitely didn't stick until I was around eighteen. When I left the house, I bought my first surge er and then it's like a drug for hours on, and then I couldn't stop from there, but I never ah considered it to be like us on income like the way I was going to make a living. I grow like an artsy community, and I knew that I was going toe pursue fine arts, but so it was just something I did for fun for myself away to just express what I wanted to express for my own wardrobe. S I went to art school that might be esa, not in fashion and not a pattern making, and then while I was in school in chicago, I went to the art institute of chicago a friend's started the renegade craft there. We just were waitresses together at a thai place on the north side of chicago, and she was like, I'm gonna start my own craft there, and I was, like, cool, also some skirts and just like, well, just just put him out and sell them, and I sold everything that I had, and that was really, like, well, that's interesting. I still didn't think of it as a way to make a living. So I, of course, spent all my money that I earned on everybody else's, crafts at the event, and, um, I eventually started with us. I think we can all relate to that has makers that was like, cool levels that are really cool. And then I started a ready to wear line, because it just sort of god, that inspiration going I mean, this is ready when everything was booming, like etsy was just starting and renegade had just started, and all of these things, like the handmade movement, was really kicking off that point s so I did really well, just making and selling finished things. And right when the economy was starting to tank, I got approached to write my first spoke from random house, they had seen an article I had written, and, ah, that all came together in a really natural way that I one hundred percent did not anticipate the book came out ah friend opened a sewing shop here in l a and I could not do ready to wear teach and do all of these things and I still had a full time travel time of course on and I could not do it all and so I gave up the ready to wear part and just started teaching and writing and then it all just went from there but that was definitely not the plan itjust it was sort of flowing with the of the economy I kind of have to roll with what is being dictated by the greater you know picture yeah thank you I love your I love your story about how spending all your money at their craft their great so obviously you are still teaching so there's something about teaching that you know you have you haven't gotten rid of that aspect of your of your business because and why I was like what is what is it about teaching that keeps you in it well I really love it it's for me it's definitely turning the light of all bond for new sewers and for intermediates hours I don't like teaching advance so it is as much because it's less they already know so much and there's something really satisfying about turning the light bob bomb at the beginning so it's something I really really enjoy doing like your past your passing on your passion to them and getting them inspired to do something that you love um and I I mostly I'm teaching people who have no intentions of doing this professionally so I really try to respect that this is something that they're doing in their free time after they spent all days being a lawyer or a doctor or an accountant and they need like a creative outlet and I really enjoyed sort of supplying that part of their lives so they're not just going home and being mindless in front of a television it's I just find it amazing that people to choose to do that with me so I really love that that's really that's really great way were talking about that earlier a little bit like how it's so fun to see a group of people come together especially in the evenings maybe after work and they just kind of like yes they love what they're doing but it's almost like it could be anything at the same time you know because they just love creating things um yeah it's really cool, eh? So I wanted to ask you oh sorry go ahead no I was just saying that in talking to people who want to be teachers I think that's a really super important aspect to remember is that this is your job and it's not their job and that they are there they're sacrificing their time and money to be there for pleasure so it shouldn't be work for them they should learn and it should be but they're working in that they're learning but this is not their job and this is my job to make this a fun like you know extracurricular activity in their life for them and so I never forget that they came after work like they worked ninety five or ninety six they fought l a traffic to get to my class and they probably haven't even really had a snack and they're tired and now I'm gonna like asked them to sew sixteen bus starts so you know, I have to always remember that it's important to get the task done but this is they're there for pleasure not for work this is my job at their job yeah thank you for that I think that's a really good thing for us all to keep in mind that you know we we can we can you know expect certain things out of our students but the reality is that you know they're they're tio they want to have a good time like they don't need to be a hike yelled at you know finish their project they will never have that idea so I wanted to ask you what was it like? They're like the very first time that you taught a class so in class so you went because you went from being a student like, you know, casual, you know, you like selling, and then you are a student, and then, you know, what was it like to be like that authority figure for the first time? Well, the interesting thing is, first one, I had actually never taken a sewing class before, I taught one ever, so I really wasn't sure what they needed from me. So when my friend opened up a sewing shop here in l a, I was, you know, she knew me, so I was really up front, like, I've never done this before, I've never taught anything to anyone ever got in any field, so she I had her and a friend come over to my apartment, and I, you know, taught them, which was super awkward because they're your friends, and they know you don't know what you're doing, but it's a good, dry run through, and they give you really criticism, and you you want that you actually really need that. You need your friends to tell you this was not clear at all. Oh, are you ran? You realize you run an hour long because you're just super over explaining something, so once I got that out of the way, I taught my first riel quote class, but it was still with two people that I was semi familiar when they were acquaintances. They were so they were friends of these two people, but they properly paid to be there and was just two people and it was really fun and really satisfying, but it was also completely terrifying because I really didn't know how to really teach a class and the first I would say the first year of teaching it was really terrifying because you the timing is so huge, especially when you're expected to leave with a completely finished thing on time because I teach mostly garment infection. So if your promise to leave at nine o'clock with address, you really want them to leave at nine o'clock with a dress or as a teacher, I feel like I've kind of failed my students if I can't achieve that goal. And there I actually have one brilliant horse star eight, which is at my first year eighteen I don't think I even told you this one actually will be new for you to like my first year of teaching, I taught address making class with ah, there were three or four girls in the class and it was one of the products from my book and I had never taught it before. And that's what's scary is when you you're teaching something new it's not the new techniques but a new project and you kind of have to make an educated guess at how long it's going to go and it like nine thirty when we were supposed to be done we were not at all close to being done and I proposed it to them I always want to be there for the students so I asked him like, you know, what do you guys want to do? Do you want to like reconvene next week even though we weren't planning on it or do we want to just keep going? And they were such trooper her stays or we want to keep going and they ran they all ran to like the coffee shop next door and that food and caffeine and came back and we saw it in almost one in the morning and finish those like so you basically undershot your timing by like three hours pilot how I limit and they were totally amazing, but I knew right then that I needed a whole another class I shouldn't for this dress yeah, but that's such a good story because sometimes you just don't know you don't know and you have to be humble and you have to be, you know, honest about it to be like you guys, I think I totally screwed up and it's nine thirty wait, we're halfway done which obviously you khun do in certain venues and you can't and others right, you know, like a craft occasion for example you get booted out of that room I'm like, you know, you have a line of people waiting to come in for the next class here like actually we can't stay you experience that with me I got that first day it is a perfect example I've taught that drops a million times I've taught at craft cation a million times but that first day did not go exactly as it should have gone and we started the next day with me giving a bit of a lecture like we are going to finish this if it's the last thing we dio and everyone worked so hard and we finished but it was stressful for me because I was nervous that you guys weren't having fun because that's the goal is to have a good time and I was afraid you weren't having fun because we were rushed so well I assure you that we had a great time and sometimes you know there's a difference between being like really bossy and pushing and being like come on guys, we could do this so I just I uh I just really want to make sure everyone had a good time and left with the finnish thing, but I advice to new teachers, you know cushion that time assume that the students going to need almost twice as much time for every step that you need because it's ah it's the first time they're doing it it's a hundred time you're doing it but it's the first time they're doing it and it's going to take them further, you know more time to comprehend it and then actually do it and everything takes much longer than you think it's going to take this is what I've learned for star yeah that's a really that's a really good point. Okay, so christine, what do you have in terms of advice for somebody who has never taught their craft and in terms of finding places to teach? What do you think that it's actually really hard? And I it's interesting timing your class because I suddenly find myself in this position again? You know, this already in the audience might not know this, but the main venue I teach out in los angeles closing at the end of october. So the place I've been teaching for five years is closing, which as a freelancer basically that that's the equivalency of losing your biggest client, so if you're a paper printer, you know you print for whomever and like you have one main company that you do all the printing for that company and that company closes, what do you do them like your main client is suddenly gone s o I actually sort of finding myself in this position all of a sudden, which I hadn't been in many years. It's it's the honest truth is that it's really challenging to find venues to teach in? I would say more so for sewing and quilting, then for other crafts, because we need space, we need table space, we need electricity that can handle irons can't tell you how many fuses I've blown in joints, but don't have the power to handle sewing machines and iron s o, if you guys were teaching things that are smaller, like handcrafts, hand sewing paper, that sort of stuff you're you have a much better shot at finding places than people who are sewing on machines. Um, I think I listened earlier, I think all of your suggestions were great, and they were actually a few that I hadn't even thought about that they were on the the little live chapping on the sign, I was like, oh, that's a good adjustment online community. Yeah, everyone's made great suggestions. I've had this fortune of being at a established place for a long time, and now I'm in the boat with everybody else trust it's sort of figuring out where to go from this point, so I really empathize with that challenge, yeah yeah, and I would say that if you have a passion and a purpose you will see that space will emerge you know, like I didn't really do believe that because you know, these classes need to get taught like christine your classes need to get taught so you're gonna teach him yeah, I want t j that's no question it's a matter of finding the venue? Yeah, it's hard, so I wouldn't open up to some questions before I ask any more questions. You guys here in our studio audience have any questions for christine she's? Like has a wealth of knowledge about teaching over while come on because you also you teaching? You've taught utah the this shop in l a but you also teach at conferences and you teach it retreats, so I have a lot of right. So do you guys have any questions for for christine holly? Only because I think that pacing and timing is so you learned that everything I think crafters in general because you're doing it cause you do lose time and that's what makes it so fun? So everybody's got blinders on, but so when you're doing a new class, do you actually do a run through? Now that you've learned in that left indeed you run through before you're going to try and teach a new class to see how her legs yeah, if I'm if I'm teaching unlikely teaching a garment and so in order to feel comfortable teaching the garment I need toe have made it two to three times for me to feel comfortable I know some teachers who feel like they could just run through the one time and then they feel like they can teach it, but I need to feel like the whole point of someone taking a classroom use that I'm the quote expert at this thing, so if it's my pattern, I am an expert at it because I designed it I drafted it, I know it inside and out, but I love teaching the other independent pattern companies as well, and I didn't draft those patterns and I'm not quite as familiar with them, so I run through the entire project like two to three times I will literally make the whole thing like the dress, the top the skirt from beginning to end the entire time like three two to three times and then I will make notes as I go like, this is a point for a demonstration just like actually just like actually was suggesting here's where I would demo here's where I should pause and then demo again and you know, this is what I'm gonna do different from their instructions and I will write out the whole thing and then from there that dictates how many hours the class should be or how many weeks for selling sometimes it's, you know, two three hour sessions or three three hour sessions as opposed to just a one time class, but that's how I know how to time a class and how to even propose an amount of time for a classes to run through it two three times yeah, and for something that's like, maybe not give your doing someone had the creepy flowers project so let's say, you know you're you know how to make one flower, maybe, but that's different than asking a group of ten to make a whole bouquet of flowers so that's a perfect example where I would just invite all your friends over and you all just do it and see how long it actually takes them to do it because that's different than making something like a dress from beginning to end. That has a very clear beginning in a very clear ending because maybe if someone makes three flowers, they're satisfied even though you want them to make ten you know, but maybe they're happy with three and everyone's pace is going to be a little different, but I would back anything I would run through with a group people just to see because it's less of a beginning and end project and more about like quantity really good times he'll like cash in on favors that your friend though you you know and it's fun you know you have to come over because it is very different exactly exactly you know paul it's always I totally agree with christine on that you got to just get your friends involved uh yeah yeah cathy you have a question yeah. You mentioned that workshop or the classes well, first of all someone told me once that I said what's the difference between a class in a workshop and they said it classes like a three hour event the workshop is a full day and I don't know if that's true or not but I'll call it a class if it's three hours so your classes are in the evening typically or how do you decide where to put that on the calendar is like I've done saturday mornings that are way more popular than a thursday evening or the friday evening better I never know where to put the date you know where to put it on the calendar well to be totally honest it's kind of a crap shoot and it depends on the time of year but it's honestly true like you khun you can put the same class I have put like let's take my emory dress it's one of my most popular dress patterns I have taught it and lots of scenarios I've taught it it's a four three hour session class so I have done it, I'm doing it coming up where I'm doing it for consecutive wednesday evenings that's great if the person works not that far from where I'm holding the house because they need to be there and ready to go at six. Thirty. So in los angeles, if you work in santa monica, you are never going to make it to the class because it's going to take you like you might have to leave work early, baby. I've also taught that same exact project as a weekend workshop where it's like we start saturday morning we so we have a lunch break, we keep sewing, we pause the next morning. Please come back sunday morning and we do the same thing. Those our company, the way that those actually go down are so totally different because let's say on the second wednesday night, someone's a little bit behind, they have a week to catch up. They have homework time. I could get that person a little bit caught up there is the road buffer time on a weekend situation that much more fast, pace and it's much more stressful for me, for them to actually finish on time, but the point about how to get people there, I have heard both from my students, where they say, oh, you know, I can't really make it after work and then I hear some people say you know they don't have a nine to five job and they work on the weekends and they can never make it to a weekend workshops so the honest truth is that you're going to get just a dead opposite crowd and you're going to get people to both it's just some one is going to work for one group in once and going to work for another group and the time of year is huge too so just forget holding classes in july and august just forget it okay because everyone's on vacation and they can't do three weeks in a row they can it's just not going to happen on dh anything between like obviously thanksgiving is not a good time I am and anything after like the second weekend of december's shot pretty much until new year so the actual calendar time is as important as the day of the week as well yeah that's a really good point thank you although I would say that summer time is a great time to get it on the kid market just just serving that out there yeah yeah no I don't actually want kids right right yeah yeah there's no there's a lot of there's a lot of cash flow in that in that department just for those of you who want to jump out there and try that they're stoked to give you your kids for a week so if you teach kids summer is awesome yeah, but I don't actually teach kids so that's not really relevant to me but if that is relevant to you that's true his camp time off sometimes of years is really a good thing to keep in mind yeah, so I want to ask our online audiences there are there questions for christine? There are questions grave scene so sandra glover clark and calista ok have the same question and that's I've always taught their facilities that did all the registration and paid me, but they're now they're interested in rent how to rent a space and doing all the registration themselves. So germany advice about that running their own space yeah that's hard if you're going to rent a space you have taken on the liability in a lot of ways so you fronted the money to actually rent this space you will definitely need your own insurance because you're doing it completely on your own you will potentially need to rent the tables and chairs and what not and then you have to hold people sign up to not just recouped because then you've broken even you need actually make money on this event so that is actually much, much bigger risk financially to do it that way not saying you shouldn't do that but you should be really aware of how those air different because they're really, really different and that is really successful for a lot of people, some of the suggestions that we're coming up on the thing we're like, you know, the local library and stuff like that, those places might be really affordable and maybe even free and then the liability is much lower and maybe they wouldn't make you have your own insurance, especially if you're doing things that aren't risky. I mean, we're using scissors and a time machine so people hurt themselves sometimes and you don't want to be liable for them having to go to the emergency room just don't put yourself in that situation. So that's the kind of thing I've actually never rented a venue one hundred percent on my own because first I haven't had tio, but that is potentially in my future now that my main places closing and those are all of the things I'm thinking about and I'm a big fan of writing things down, so get a bunch of your friends together and write down like, what am I not thinking about what do I need? You know, like, do I need fixtures? Do I need sign? Inge, do I need? If you're going to do the registration yourself, then how are they going to register? Do you have an e commerce site where they can already register for that event and there's a lot of stuff that goes with that it's not just a simple is like, you know I'm just going to run that space and that's going to happen it's just doesn't happen that way you really really have a lot to think about where if you approaches store or someone who's already established then they've done allow the work for you that's why they take a cut that's the whole deal, the trade office they have the insurance they have the air conditioning they have of the tables they have all of that stuff and you have to provide everything else which isn't not a small amount but it's not the actual facilities it's already provided yeah, that was an awesome question and awesome and thank you really good I know so there are a couple other questions and I think we're going to cover that them ahead in the class but for christine since we have a way liberty right laura has a question how do you deal with a person who really needs and wants a lot of help? They can't advance what everyone else is being held back and you feel like they're sucking away the time for all the others time in class that, uh that is hard and it will you will have that in every class um it depends on how difficult the situation is is it just that there lagging behind on there they're trying their hardest and maybe their skill isn't quite where it should be in that case I don't let them lag too far behind but if they're working hard at a pace that's comfortable for them I tend to let them stay there a slot of their only like maybe two steps behind if you have to sort of pre thing when you're planning out your class like where would be a good paws and catch up time and what tutorials do you need everyone at at the same time so if I'm doing a certain kind of demonstration and in doing that demonstration I'm going to utilize all of my sample stuff therefore I can't do it again because I've sewn and cut it therefore it's done that I need everyone to be at that place at that time and so usually the more advanced people are pretty cool with like pausing and I say that to them like you know I hope you guys are cool if you want to go get a coffee give so and so like ten fifteen minutes just catch up even if then there only one step behind they're less stressed out I always check in with that person like I do not want them to feel stressed like just keep going you're doing good you don't give them positive affirmation like just keep going it's cool that you're behind you don't want them to mess up. I just want to keep them moving forward if it's a different situation where there's just a more difficult student and there just sucking your time and I try to be try to get them to empathize with me and my other students so it's not a one on one class we're all here is a group we're all in this together and if you need to pause and go get a coffee because you're ahead um then that's what needs to happen like I'm not I'm not really willing to move too far ahead or keep people too far behind I want there to be a general pak where everyone's living together it creates a lot of camaraderie between the students tio if they're all like oh yeah so you know they're looking at each other's work and they're checking in with each other if they're all the different places you kind of lose that element of the group especially by the end you want them all the finish together and then there's a really exciting moment you know where we're all done together yeah yeah I totally agree with that christine I feel like there's something about being transparent and your you know your hope is that your students are are also going to be understanding you know if you're like look like I like to keep us all on pace just like what you said like if they if they don't really I hear you say that and get on board then you know that's a whole other issue but your hope is that they will yeah, I really just try to get them to understand my situation like I don't want you know the people who are lagging behind to feel stressed out and maybe everyone's at the same place in just that person and so super far ahead then I get try to get them to understand that you're ahead that's totally cool but this isn't just you and me this is there's eight other people here and we're all in this together and we're all moving ahead together I sometimes we'll give you know, one little stuff like well, you could finish that scene while they're all doing this other thing, but I definitely put a stop at a certain point we're like, ok, you're not moving further ahead um sometimes students just don't care or listen to me and justify it and just keep going and sometimes they make mistakes because of it and then they learned that they probably should not have moved. Yeah, and I like that the suggestion is like, oh, you can go get a coffee or go go take a little break yes, such a great way of being like you don't actually need to move forward now so yeah, just till yeah that's great along those lines alison had a question because we're talking about having camaraderie in good time in class and how do you limit the socialize er's from disrupting or derailing your class like a chatty cathy expected to repeat everything because she's too busy talking with her neighbor? Yeah, actually that comes up all the time I'm going to come up a lot more than you think and again it's that balance where I want them to have a good time I you know, I'm there for work they're here for fun so at least for sewing there's a there's a period where we're all you know, cutting and getting ready and they don't need me to keep talking at that point, so in my personal kraft I kind of let them get all that chatting out during the cutting part like get to know each other, I realize you're from the same state you have kids in the same school, whatever it is you're going to like chitchat about that's cool and then when it's time to get working, I definitely like get them working if I find that the conversations getting just to chitty chatty than without actually calling anyone out specifically, I just trying to keep talking about the class like, hey, don't forget to finish your seymour let's press that scene where whatever like, just to remind them oh yeah, we're still in class the one part that you don't anticipate but does actually happen is when the topic comes up, that really should not be discussed amongst people that don't know each other, like religion and politics, and this has actually happened in class, and I've had this same class a few times like, you know what? That's really not a topic for sewing class like let's, maybe shelf that and you guys want to talk about that later over a drink that's up to you guys, but it's really not appropriate for the group to talk about? I've had students contact me after the fact like that was not a comfortable conversation, and I'm there to have fun and it's a good reminder like not everyone agrees with your opinions and you're there to do something specific, and you should try to keep it at that topic. Yeah, yeah, that's a that's a really that's really uncomfortable for you, and I'm glad that my, oh, I'm glad you shared that, because I think it's so I think in my experience with teaching younger, like teens and kids, it's a little easier to kind of, you know, be like there's, a no gossip rule in this sewing room, so anything that sounds like gossip needs to be checked at the door because that's, what I used to get with with the teams that's all they would start gossiping and I would say if you're talking about somebody who's not in the room we're not going to do that because you know we're not going to exclude it exclude people but I think what the adults it's a little more challenging it gets harder an election time yeah kind of like I mean it seems like it wouldn't come up but it actually really doubt where someone just assumes everyone in the room is a democrat or everyone in the room is a republican and they start saying stuff and someone isn't saying something in their quiet in the corner and they're feeling uncomfortable and um you just you feel that you and your goal is like you said before it's about the students right? So if somebody is feeling uncomfortable then you know it is your job to try to make that person feel more comfortable and that feels good but one is feeling really uncomfortable that it's not a success to me like they all need to be having a good time, you know? Yeah it's you can't really ignore the group like you have to really pay attention and just sort of check in emotionally with everybody are they ok? Are they exactly like this is a topic we really should squash pro yes I love it I'm going to take a few for more from our our audience kathy so that the thing that I had the hardest time getting used to was when they were all completely quiet oh then you feel like, oh, this they're just not having any fun you're just concentrating I guess but that's that's very awkward but then they're very happy at the end I mean, they had a good time but I think I have to get used to them just being intensely on involved in their project yeah it's going to depend on the group sorry go ahead, christine. You know, sometimes you feel like the tap dancing monkey in the corner like hey, are we having a good time? Is everyone still having fun and you hope that they kind of think that's funny, but I I wanted to say I know you're going to talk about it again later, but I am not an extrovert and that was a topic I know you touched on that you're gonna come back to there are times when you just have to get outside of yourself and if that moment is like that when it's just everyone's crickets and they're just focused and they're not smiling and they're not chatting, you just have to put yourself aside for the moment and just try to say something that's fun and hey and, you know, just being extroverted for those thirty seconds and then let it go because I'm really not I'm a super quiet person I work alone at home all day every day and then suddenly you're in a classroom situation and you have to chat, chat, chat, chat and it's you just have to keep everyone's level up whether that's natural for you are not yeah that's a great point I don't do ever used music to in you're like oh god always has a video out again you know don't play like death metal or something I mean like something that everyone's going to like you know would you be surprised like something will come on and people were like I hate that song or um actually this is a great example I recently taught at I can stitch a lot in michigan that castle fabrics held it was such an awesome time and I had the pleasure of teaching with at one of my absolute best friends alexey a bag who's from green be patterns as well as cotton steel fabrics on the other two teachers I knew but we had never talked together which is ray hoax dropped from made by ray and carol a posh who does pattern making and she's written books and stuff so we there's four different teachers and we had like twenty five women and we're it just open selling for a lot of the time and it was dead silent there was no music and alexis and I were like oh my god there needs to be something happening and so she whipped out her phone and we looked at each other and we were like, what would everyone like? I mean there's all ages all people from all over the world some from canada is just like are all over the states and a couple from canada and she put on the um I can't leave I'm mentioning this but she put on the yacht rock channel do you know what it likes moves sons from the seventies and eighties so before we knew it like then even planet like everyone was singing along like holla notes like all right, we all like those like ok, the music genre to cover all ages that was way all it was stalled in the stalled for those oh, it was a throwback for like, under homeland yeah, you want if you're not going with music on it's painful but you do have to find that happy sweets but yeah, ok, that is excellent advice. Um awesome. So maybe we'll take another question from oh, we have lost her oh no no no we have your audio never mind. Maybe we'll take one more question from online and then severe it milo had a question can you hear us? I can hear you great is it a bad idea for students to help each other on occasion so that I I I hear a student asking a fellow student a question about what I demonstrated I immediately go over because I want to make sure that they're hearing the information correctly so I love that they're interacting on dh that there's that friendship being formed but if I hear it happening, I instantly go over to just make sure not toe squash the person from explaining it but just to make sure like they're explaining it correctly and just say and I usually just say like, did you get that like, what did they like that everyone's cool everyone knows what we're supposed to dio um so it's fine a cz long as the information is right, so I definitely listen and if I may hearing something that I need to go over and character of jump in, I definitely dio yeah, well, I just want to say thank you so much for taking time to talk with us, and I know that our students have appreciated hearing your your insight on teaching and me as well and it's always a pleasure to talk to you. So thank you, thank you so much for asking me to be you're live guests and to all of the people watching like, don't be afraid of teaching your craft like you're going to total your just your totally going to mass up so you should just just get over that from the beginning that the same thing I tell my students I start every class with like, hey, guess what, you're all going to screw up today. Awesome let's just all get rid of that like intense pressure from the beginning on dh. You know, just if you're feeling awkward or whatever for things were feeling that great just remind your students that you're a human being and you're doing your best and we're just here for fun. No, one's life is on the line. You're making paper flowers or pajama pants or whatever it's supposed to be a good time and usually they're really empathetic with you from the get go because they know you're doing your best and yeah, don't don't be afraid just do it. Yeah, thank you so much for oh, it has been our pleasure, christine. Thank you. And thank you from everybody here. Yeah, they talk to you soon. Oh, I, um, isn't she the best? Okay. So here's all of her information in case anybody's wondering where to find christine. And if you don't follow her on instagram, you should she's always very interesting and post interesting stuff.

Class Materials

Bonus Materials with RSVP

Lesson Plan Sample Technique
Lesson Plan Sample Template
Lesson Plan Sample Project Based

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Class Workbook

Ratings and Reviews

Claude Aimée Villeneuve
 

This was a very good class, well prepared and packed with such useful information! I've been teaching various arts and craft classes for over 10 years now and did it sort of instinctively. Ashley gave me the tools I needed to refine my classes and prepare really good classes outlines and how to find venues to teach and pitch my classes. That was awesome and I plan to watch it again and again because there is so much in it! This was a first class presentation! Thank you Ashley! Claude Aimée Villeneuve, Visual artist and teacher

a Creativelive Student
 

I'm not even half way thru the online videos and want to recommend this class to anyone who just needs that extra boost to start their own classes! I like the fact that Ashley suggests that we think from a student perspective to help us to better plan. This class covers many things I have heard before BUT in greater detail. When I hear the 'WHY' of doing things, I'm more likely to follow thru. These videos explain many 'WHYs' (There are many informative sites/classes for this topic but not many people give you 'this is WHY' it should be done this way) Ashley gives the "WHY' and the 'HOW to'. If you want to teach and are mostly ready to teach, take this class and all the gaps will be filled in and you will be ready to go forth and teach your craft!

Barbara Schiffman
 

Great class -- watched live (most of it) and purchased for ongoing review. I've taught many things, including some crafts (decorating gourds, collage, making your own tarot-collages) but I gained new insights, ideas and confidence from Ashley's advice, the students questions and input, and the panel! I recommend this for anyone who wants to teach a class -- craft oriented, personal development, or anything else!

Student Work

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