Teaching a Class

When I was asked to conduct and teach an earring workshop for our town's Art in the Snow weekend, I was very pleased but also nervous. I teach kids in my day job, but adults are far more intimidating to me. I wanted everyone to feel they got their moneys worth and walk away with a nice pair of earrings no matter what their experience with jewelry making was. I decided on a simple wire wrap design with a choice of stones. I provided my hand crafted ear wires and headpins.

earrings by Kristen Varian from BeadSwede Studios

I had sample earrings for design inspiration and showed several techniques for wire wrapping. I was so impressed with the finished earrings, I wish I took pictures! Here's some things that contributed to a great class experience:

• have good light. The first spot I planned on setting up was in the back of a wine shop but it turned out the overhead lights didn't work. I moved to the front of the shop next to a large display window. It worked because it was a bright sunny day but it might have been difficult to see what we were doing if it was cloudy out.
• be organized. I put all the stones in plastic bags and labeled them so it was easier to choose. Each person got a "kit" with ear wires and wrapping wire.
• make a lesson plan. It's easy to forget something so I had notes to look at while I was teaching.
• do a demo. I brought my butane micro torch and did a demo on how to make your own ear wires and head pins. It was a small thing but everyone seemed very interested!
• bring gift packaging. I only wrapped one pair of earrings but she was very appreciative.
• have a hand out. I printed up a tutorial to hand out at the end of the class.

• Here are some things I could have done better:
• Make sure you have enough room. I brought a fold up table from home and although it worked out fine, if I had any last minute registrants, it would have been very tight.
• Hand out business cards or web addresses. You don't have to sell yourself but someone might be interested in what else you have to sell.
• bring extra lighting!!
• don't wait until the last minute to get ready for your class. OK, I admit one of the reasons I was so organized is because we had a snow day (I work in a school) the day before the class which gave me lots of leisurely time to get ready.
• music would have nice!

• All in all this was a good experience that I would do again!