Teaching Tips

[jaci]

ok who's got them......

I want to hold a very basic beginers class and am not sure where to start...
I have looked at the list from ISGB! GREAT START!!!!

I'm wondering if you let the students dictate on how much to do... do you try to get an agenda done, and if so what are the "must do's" on that list. What is concidered beginer vs intermediate class material... when do you stop???? what do you charge??? what do you supply???? I have serched this forum and others finding not much and was suprised. I have had a lot of intrest recently in holding a class at a local art studio, and have started to work things out!! Please help me out!!!

:idea: :cool: :-P

~jaci
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[Beckah]

The worst lampworking class that I've taken, the instructor had absolutely no plan or idea for what he wanted to cover material-wise. In my other lampworking class, the instructor would have 3 or 4 demos planned for the start of the class (it was a 3 hour once per week class for 6 weeks). Each demo would go back over the basics of making a bead (putting glass on a mandrel, making good shapes, good ends, etc) then she would branch out into various techniques. For example, she'd cover stringer -- making it and then she'd demo 3 or 4 different ways to use stringer on a bead. After the demos (about 20 minutes of the 3 hour class), she'd let everyone turn on the torch and we were free to work with the demo material or any other ideas that we had and she would be on hand to help with individual questions or problems. Oh, the first week of class, the lecture was about an hour rather than 20 minutes, as she covered an extensive handout of safety information, some technical information about oxygen and propane, COE, etc.

What I particularly liked about her teaching style is that she would observe quietly while a student worked through a problem but she wouldn't jump right in to resolve it. She'd wait for the student to either ask for help or if they were looking frustrated, she'd ask, "do you want help?" She never was rigid about any method for doing something -- she always said, "this is the way I do it, but someone else might do it this way...". Or she might even offer two or three different ways in her demos to accomplish something like puckered ends. My first beads were awful, but she was positive saying that she thought that they looked sculptural. I said that I liked sculpture, so the next week she did her sculputure demos which, if I remember correctly, were a fish, a ladybug and a turtle. So she was open to covering the material that interested her students but she still had a structure to her class -- demo, individual work with individual help, clean-up. Each of the sets of demo's covered a discrete set of skills -- shaping, stringer, sculpture -- and she'd taught the workshops enough that she could easily do a set of demos that addressed the particular questions that came up.

She had tried to do a one-day workshop in addition to the 6-week once a week class and she dropped the one-day workshop because she felt that beginning students were too overwhelmed with more than 3 hours of instruction and that 6-weeks gave the students a solid beginning.

In addition to the class fee ($75 -- this class was taught at her studio through the local community education), she charged a $70 materials fee. All the materials were communal -- meaning that when we arrived for class, we'd pick our rods, frits, etc from a large stash of materials. We could change our choices at any time during the evening but at the end of the night, we put all unused materials back in the proper storage spots. The only thing we kept was our beads which we cleaned the next week before class began.

[Just Nancy]

The glass classes I teach have hand outs for them to read at home when they forget. I also have a set idea of what is going to be taught and what is going to be done when.

I discuss everything at the start of class. Safety, a discription of the process, and then I show the steps as clearly as possible. Then I prepare to repeat my self as I walk past each person because they are so excited they don't listen. My classes are several nights and I start the next week by reminding them of safety and the steps they will be using.

My classes aren't lampworking and I try to answer all questions asked. I find people come back when they are confident I know my stuff. If they think I'm king of holding out wanting them to take another class they just get frustrated.

Probably doesn't help but maybe it is a start.

[jaci]

do you have pre class reading? or just go week by week???
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[artglass104]

In our teachings we have found that having your agenda together, discuss it at the beginning of the class with an open discussion with the class to see where the students fit into your agenda works best. You can then tailor it to your students. It helps not being rigid in your ways. We've taught classes with 2 to 8 people and have found that once the projects are established by the class that the students work at their own pace learning the new techniques amongst themselves by watching each other as they progress. We walk from student to student emphisizing safety first and showing techniques in finishing their projects. Again, having fun while doing the class is a very important facet of teaching and having the students return for more. When the students find their techniques working, it will turn into a never ending learning process.

[lavendar420]

I teach a fairly structured 3 hour intro class, $99 for a 3 hour session. Its at a public studio & the idea is to get them to come back & rent torch time, so I don't go into studio set up much, other than pointing out the components used in the studio & safety stuff. I always cover the same stuff: how the torch works, how glass in the flame works & how to make a bead, basic tool use & some decorative effects. The amount of time spent on each varies widely based on the student's abilities, prior experience, and interest. I've had elderly ladies who've never worked with any kind of tools or crafts, let alone torch, with poor depth perception... and I've taught a guy who worked as a plumber until retirement & was an insta-master. I often have only 1 student so its easy to customize the class to that student's needs. My goals are generally for the student to have fun, learn how to play with glass in the flame, and (hopefully) to be able to make a simple bead well.

[Just Nancy]

Pre class reading, no. Not that I can think of. But again, mine isn't lampworking. Not sure what I'd have them read. I do mostly discuss as I said and I too try to tailor what I can to each student or the class. I do suggest resources from week to week, but find it usually applies to specific students and rarely the whole class. In other words this person wants to venture off and try something. Maybe I'm not really covering it in class. If they are the only one I'll discuss it and tell them where else they can learn more. Then next week if they still have questions we'll go over it as we have time.

Also I feel it is important to learn to look with a helpful eye. My students often ask what can be improved, or what I think of their project. I try very hard to point out positives to balance the negatives.

[jaci]

you girls are SO helpful!!! THANK YOU!!!!
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[EchoTantuli]

I also have had quite a few people want me to teach them to make beads. I live in the middle of nowhere so there arent really any umbrellas to work under for insurance like a school or something. What do people do for insurance who teach out of thier studios? There is a huge risk for someone to get hurt, if they aren't paying attention. Seems like alot to watch for a teacher, we had six in my first class...enough to give someone a break down!
Just Wondering...Echo:-k

[jaci]

studio insurance will cover that....or waiver.....
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