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The Day of the Class: Before the Students Arrive

Lesson 18 from: How to Teach a Craft Class

Ashley Nickels

The Day of the Class: Before the Students Arrive

Lesson 18 from: How to Teach a Craft Class

Ashley Nickels

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Lesson Info

18. The Day of the Class: Before the Students Arrive

Lesson Info

The Day of the Class: Before the Students Arrive

I'm assuming because you guys are good students that everybody did their homework kind yes ok that's ok I'm not going to call anybody out um so I just wantedto go quickly over what we've already covered in this class because we've been so we've learned so much that is going to take us up into our actual class, right? So we've talked um about establishing our expertise we decided like, what am I good at? What is it that I'm going to teach right? We talked about venues and that was one of my favorite parts about that segment was the chat room was really full of ideas of venues and that is a really great resource and a lot of people also joined the online teacher's lounge andi I've already seen discussions about venues so that's wonderful we talked about the lesson objective which I thought was a really good, really good way of starting to think about our class pitches and our proposals right a lot of us took our lesson objectives and then we use that too, you know, right our proposal on ...

our class pitch on dh then we actually wrote out a lot of us did this for homework we wrote out an actual lesson plan either a project based or a technique based class right and then we talked about the importance of preparation, practice, practice, practice okay and a little bit later on this morning we're going we're going to get a chance to share our proposals are pitches with this great panel that's going that's going to be coming up so we're going to talk now about what to do on the day of the class so we've gotten everything ready we've planned our lesson well first of all we've we've gotten a class to teach right that's the first step right establishing where you going to teach so you've got that planned he's you know you've got it arrange you've got your great venue now what to do on the day of the class ok, so the first thing I want you guys to think of think about is when you get to the space okay, so you're going to want to make sure you get there early you want to get there early so you can set everything up really important to make sure and if you're if you're if you're at a venue that's let's say a shop that's been open all day some of these things you won't have to worry about but if you are going out and if you found your own space for example you want to make sure that all the lights are working that all the plugs are working okay is especially important for us who use sewing machines right? You want to make sure that all the plugs are working? I think we would remember from yesterday, christine haynes was talking about blowing fuses and things like that, right? So these are important factors just to make sure you've got everything in working order. You want to make sure that each student has a place to set, okay, especially important if you are doing a big project that requires space. Okay, you want to make sure that there is enough space and, you know, think about yourself as a student in the class you're going to enjoy, you know, you don't want to be cramped doing here doing your work. We're thinking about our students experience more than anything else, ok? Or radios the room according to your style, okay, there's, nothing wrong with moving the tables around were moving the chairs around when you arrive in a space, okay? And I would invite everybody to do that because you wanted to be comfortable for you, because then that will make your students more comfortable, and and I'm going to show you a little bit later on, um, a suggestion for how to arrange your your classroom. If you have kids, let so you're not, you don't have a kit for purchase, go ahead and set out to kit at the place, okay, you couldn't this is a time for you to really show off and like, you know, if you're really if you're really big on you know you have it all perfectly plant perfectly packaged, you know, put it there maybe even have a name tag sitting on top this is all up to you and your personal style okay it's a really good chance to do that and imagine if you were a student entering that class you would think how great everything is already laid there laid out for me okay? It already invites kind of a sense of calm for your students and then I always like to have a class list and you should also get one of those unless of course it's like a situation where people are signing up last minute and you're not really sure who's who is actually in your class but have a classless so you know who you're expecting you can start sort of start to get an idea of the names of the people in your class and then of course if you're going to use name tax would have those ready, your student walks in and you introduce yourself maybe if you're not busy setting up you say fill out your name back and then continue okay, is there anything I left off of this list? Anything that you also want to make sure of that that maybe I missed he says the curriculum for the day good point having your lesson plan printed out and ready to have have on hand that's a really good reminder all right, well, you could always come back and tell me if I've left anything else up oh, I have forgot one if you're going to have a demo station I would consider setting that up in advance okay and what I mean by a demo station we could talk about that also later even if you're just using a table at the front of the room a lot of a lot of rooms air set up where the teacher has a space for example in a sewing classroom there might be a table of the front of the room for my sewing machine and that's going to be my demo station so just make sure I have that set up kathy gift bag around the floor I mean, just something I found in expensive for trash everybody has something to put their scraps that is such a good idea. Yeah or even just those brown paper bags you know, full them over for little. I know that in sewing classrooms a lot of quilters always bring their own but it's mostly for like the thread scraps, you know, but they'll tape it to the side of the table to just put their scraps in that also works for trash I guess this might fit in her arrangement of the room but stations where the messy and keep the messy paint type area. Yeah, you know, yeah, we're going to talk about that. And when we talk about introducing the class, I can make sure you have real clear, clear guidelines for messi, the messy stuff. Great. Kathy, you had a question. Well, you kind of what you were talking about, the messes, putting down tablecloths, or, like, I just, who will have a role of kraft paper that I taped down if they're going to splatter something that's, a great reminder for when we set up demos. Yeah, keeping in mind that you are not necessarily in your own space, right? So you want to make sure you respect and, you know, make it is easy to clean up a cz possible by putting down papers and things like that. That's. A really good point.

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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