[Sca-cooks] Teaching in the SCA

[Liz Wilson]

While this does not relate to teaching Cooking Classes, it does relate to teaching
classes.

I wanted to comment
that the Barony of the Steppes here in the DFW area is holding King's College
outside at an RV park, with teaching under pavillions, on June 14. 2008.  The
autocrat for that event, Lady Viviana, was specifically looking for someone to
teach blacksmithing.  My husband and I are new to the SCA but he does
woodworking so he is teaching a beginning wood turning class on making
spindles.  While woodturning was period and we will have a handout about it,
he uses modern electric equipment as do most people as far as I know.  He
is a little nervous about teaching because he is at intermediate level, not
advanced, and he had shoulder surgery last year so he hasn't done a lot
of wood turning in the past year.  However, I signed him up to teach because
he''s an excellent teacher and I am trying to get him back into the wood
shop on a regular basis (I told him if he didn't start using all those great
woodworking tools in the garage I was going to start selling them on Ebay!)
I think it will be a great experience for him and hopefully for those taking
the classes, but if anyone has any teaching tips they would like to share,
please let me know.  I will look up Stefan's articles in the Florilegium.  I
don't want to make him MORE nervous, however.  I'll be helping with kid's
activities that day so other than doing a practice run with me at home,
I don't think I will actually be taking his class to make room for others.
Am I doing the right thing by getting him to teach even though he is not
advanced?  I figured most in our area probably did not have a lathe or
could not take a woodshop class from the fancy place in Addison, since
those cost $100 to $150 I believe, for a full day's instruction.  This is
a way for them to see and try woodturning without all the expense.
If they have the money and time they can always go on and do the
classes, buy the equipment, etc. but it's a big investment for a 
beginner, and one that I wouldn't want to make unless I had some
already demonstrated apptitude for it.

Christianna (aka Liz of Flower Mound)