Teaching...with preparation

Be yourself

You may remember that my word for 2012 is "preparation." (I wrote: "I want to become a better teacher in 2012. Yes, I'm a good teacher now, and I do get lots of wonderful, positive feedback. But I want to be better. I want to step it up, really give my students their time and money's worth. I want to be more prepared. To be prepared for my classes, to have more hand-outs, more of a structure ( but still with lots of room for creative play!) to really think through each step of the process. Good solid preparation is what I plan to be physically doing for each and every one of my classes and workshops.") And in that blog post, I asked you, dear readers, what you think makes a great teacher and boy, did you respond ~295 really excellent, thoughtful comments. I've complied those comments, as a reminder to myself, and I want to share them with you.

Teachers:
Be warm and genuine, with a smile and laughter. Be yourself, inspire, be sincere, be generous with your time, praise, and honesty. Be engaged with the class the whole time. Love what you’re teaching and pass on the excitement, enthusiasm and passion. Have a sense of humor, to laugh at your mistakes, and help student laugh at theirs. Answer questions like it’s the first time you’ve ever been asked. Be a good listener. Be inclusive. Encourage and motivate. Be patient.

Teachers: laugh at your mistakes

Handouts: 
Start with detailed, accurate class descriptions and materials list in advance. Accurate and short supply list and use the whole list in class. Have great, complete, precise, detailed handouts with illustrations, solid resources and suppliers (include brands/substitutions) so student can refer to handout months later and complete the unfinished project. Include tips, books, and websites. Handouts can last forever, make it the best. Workshop evaluations at the end of class.

Make sure everyone can see the demo 

Student feelings:
Students may not remember what they were taught, but how they were treated. Recognize students as individuals. Give them one-on-one time with the teacher. Make connections with your students, show interest in them, admiration for their ideas.
Treat each student with respect, kindness and equality. Help every student feel successful. Try and remove  the fear, and help each student step out of their comfort zone. Tell students exactly what they need to change in order to improve with delicacy and encouragement to ensure student stays motivated. Enable student to learn. 

Nurture the creativity already present in each student and validate what they do.
Midwife the process rather than product. Encourage student interpretation of the lesson
Allow students to work with their own styles. Never assume your student knows what you mean. Meet the students at their level and encourage them to move them to the next level.

Demo techniques clearly and simply

Teaching:

State agenda and show clear organization. Know the subject inside and out. Have a supportive attitude, with knowledge and competence. Teach it all, hold nothing back. Share your successes and failures. 
Make sure everyone can see demo. Teach techniques in multiple ways: kinesthetic, auditory and visual, Demo techniques clearly and simply. Teach just one or two techniques at a time. Do a demo multiple times. Adapt and redeliver what you teach to each student. Encourage inquisitiveness. 
Explain how activities build on one another…”you’ll use this later in the day..you have 15 minutes to do this.” 
Have plenty of visual examples, and image or actual finished project. Focus on process rather than project. Have extra supplies for the forgetful. Have supplies to use in class 
Be truthful to the student. Don’t tell them it looks great when it doesn’t. Give immediate feedback to the student. 
Try and control the chatty cathy types, so they don’t disrupt the rest of the students 
Have space and time to stretch and breathe. 
Encourage participation and interaction among students 
Time to DO THE ART. Finish or come close to finishing project during class time. 
How techniques apply to other projects. Expand student boundaries. At end of class: describe the next steps. Show and tell. Closure.  

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Thanks everyone for your feedback on this important subject. Now I'm off to stitch all this great advice on a sampler. ( I'm joking about the stitching part.) Here's a link to my teaching schedule, hopefully I'll be able to take to heart and put in action all your wonderful advice.