Teaching Crochet - Be Prepared!

In the words of the Scouts, 'Be Prepared'. 

This week saw my third session teaching my beginners crochet class and it really made me realise how important it is to be prepared for just about anything that might happen in your class.

As a very teacher, with over 8 years experience teaching children and adults, I know only too well the need to be prepared for just about any eventuality that may occur. Obviously, you can't be prepared for everything - you'd spend hours planning if you did - but it helps if you can think on your feet and improvise as required. For example, this week I left my new set of stitch markers, bought especially for the session, on the coffee table at home so we had to improvise with bits of coloured yarn!

There are, however, a few things you can be prepared for:

1) The High Fliers
In any group of students, there will be a wide range of abilities. There will be those who need a bit more support and those who whizz through the planned task in half an hour with over an hour of the class.left! To keep this group engaged, you need to plan extension tasks. This task will vary depending on your lesson; if you are teaching granny squares then have a few patterns for different motifs available for students to try, if it's changing colour then set students the challenge of changing colour.using the stitches they know. 

2) The Inquisitive
I love students who ask questions - it is a sign that they want to learn more! If your subject knowledge is good, then you should be able t.answer most questions that you're.asked.
But what if you can't?
Do not panic! Be honest! Do not try to make up an answer! Nobody knows everything about everything and it is perfectly acceptable to say I don't know. You can offer to find out the answer by the next session or set your students the challenge of finding out for themselves. Point them in the direction of books or.websites that might be able to help or, if it's  a practical question, ask them to try something out and see what happens. 

3) The Forgetful
There will always be times when students attend and forget their.hooks, scissors and yarn. It's always good to have spare few of everything that you and your students might need just in case they forget or, if you are providing materials for your workshops, in case something breaks or doesn't work. When I'm teaching crochet, I always have a range of hooks in different sizes and yarn of different weights to help with getting the right tension and being able to see the stitches.

It is never possible to be prepared for everything, but thinking ahead can save you a lot of stress and help to ensure that you and your.students have a great workshop.