Nature Sites and Teacher Talk

I like nature quite a bit as you might have noticed and this is an amazing colour wheel

Several years ago in the old Welcome Mat Anne -Marie asked what people wanted from teachers in rug class as she began her teaching career.
Here is a letter I wrote to her and I'm surprised learn I still feel the same today.

Things I look for in rug class:
an interesting conceptual theme when signing up
an investigation of the teacher, what is their work like, my main thrust is ... do the student's work clone theirs ? If so this is not a good class for me.

An exceptional introductory letter- one that outlines class direction, asks me what I expect from class, provides several avenues for communication, tells me what the teacher expects and hopes for in class, maybe daily discussions, show and tell items on the topic, asks for a brief history of my hooking experience and self, when I work best ( am I a morning person, do I have health considerations ?)

During class I want:
• a daily class outline and a routine
• well researched and written material to reinforce and expand on what I'm taught
• to be taught something.... anything
• to have time to talk among ourselves sharing stories
• to see the teacher twice a day individually for 5 minutes
• to have a comprehensive direction for all parts of my rug when I go home
• to not have tension in the class
• to have the teacher work to the highest level rather than the lowest and to expect students are clever , clever widgets ( as they really are - amazingly so )
• to be respected as an adult student
• to have laughs and encouragement
• to have freedom to grow beyond teacher expectations
• PERMISSION to be all I can be

Things I don't need in class:
• to have the teacher hide their lack of knowledge - not being able to say , I don't know, let's find out.
• to be taught nothing
• to be regaled with stories of teacher's exploits only- no teaching really just having an experience of being in the person's presence so you can say , I had that teacher. The cult of the personality. Being treated like rock star groupies.
• to have restrictions on possibilities
• being told, you can't do that
• to remain unchallenged
• to be taught something in the same way everyone teaches it
• be ignored for whatever excuse ( there is no excuse for this )
• to hear complaints about other students

As a teacher here is what I wish for from students:
• talk to me about your desires for your project a lot, the more I know what you really want the better able I am to deliver it. I'm am the Fed Ex of info, put your order in.
• try not to talk when I'm talking too often
• open yourself up to other ways of doing things
• opening yourself up to the wealth that is your fellow hooker at the table
• let's give it a try attitude

Ways I can improve as a teacher:
• give people more time to noodle and talk
• create comprehensive visual aids that demonstrate what I want to show ( no more looking all over for them) create slideshows on computer to facilitate this on topics I revisit like colour.
• make more rugs to show what I mean
• create more fun ways to show examples of ideas, ie- if I'm doing a class about faces have the class see what kind of face they can draw with three lines to demonstrate how our brains fill in detail they know should be there thus illustrating you don't need to show it all in your rug.

Do you ever think about how you would like things in your dream hooking class ?