[Sca-cooks] teaching at Pennsic

[Stefan li Rous]

Olwen commented:
 >>>>
Did you all know that this year they are changing the way classes are 
to be
held?  No pre-signup.  Just show up where the class will be held and 
wait in
line.  Instructors have to qualify how many they are willing to ave (and
have materials for that many), but unless there is a safety issue, they 
have
to open the class to auditors.  Of course, if I *do* do a class, I 
doubt I
would have to worry about over-crowding.
<<<<

I am not very happy about this change, but perhaps for reasons that 
don't affect others as much. Classes are one of the major activities I 
engage in at Pennsic. I didn't always like the past way of signing up 
for classes, because I often forgot to go by and register for the next 
day or I had a series of classes and couldn't get by the registration 
point until after the classes I wanted were full.

However, if I got to the signup point and found the class full, I could 
then choose another class or activity to fill that hour or two. Under 
this system you won't know that there are 40 people already there for a 
20 person class until you get there.  And I often (usually?) take 
several classes back to back. So if people start lining up fifteen 
minutes before the class starts it is going to be difficult to get 
there in time to get a spot. By the time you find out the class is 
overbooked, the other classes may likely have already started. Or if 
there is another class that you might have attended in a private camp, 
by the time you get there the class will have been going for awhile.

If you are a teacher, you had that registration sheet to know who was 
in line first. At one class at Gulf Wars that I taught, before they 
started organized, registered limits, I had set a class limit of 15 
people. I got there a little latter than I had planned to get there, 
about the time the class was supposed to start. There were 25 people 
already there. How was I supposed to decide who got in and who didn't? 
Unfortunately, my class is a very hands on class and I like to give my 
students as much individualized help as I can. I taught the class of 25 
plus students, but it would have been better with fewer students. That 
did encourage me to teach two sessions of the class in following years, 
though. :-)

So, I'm willing to see how well this works, but I certainly have my 
doubts. I liked the way Alys ran things and I wish I (or someone else) 
could take those ideas and run the classes at Gulf Wars. Those classes 
could be so greatly expanded. There are much fewer classes at Gulf Wars 
per participant than at Pennsic.

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****