Ready to teach – online!!
What a week – this will be a short post! I’ve been working all week doing videos, creating new handouts, messing with tech, buying more stuff to teach online with. All this for me is brand new. I needed to repackage and rethink everything to make teaching a success online.
I only have paid tech help in my world so this has been a wild journey. Every time I think I’m ready, I’ll round a hairpin turn to discover another issue I need to figure out. Some of this has been fun, exploring and reasoning my way through. The wonderful part has been the generous response of other quilt teachers like me, willing to share their newfound knowledge. Quilters ARE the best!
Now I have tangible reasons to get excited about online teaching! My virtual Trunk Show is fabulous with lots of detail shots of my work. And much of it has been scanned with a high quality art scanner – the details are amazing!
Teaching online is an entirely different beast. I had to figure out how to show exactly what I’m doing, how to help students show their work, how to create a sense of community in the virtual classroom. Well I have ideas for all of that and it will be tested beginning today with my first virtual lecture and Friday with my first online live class. Yippee!
I did quilt up some new samples:
In the midst of all that work, it was fun to wake up and realize that my To Do List for the day was to quilt my samples.
So I’m ready for the Block Party Quilters Club of Sammamish, WA:
I can’t decide whether I want to change my background. In the background there is a fabulous ice dye from Susan Purney Mark. I have a tension rod holding it in between the sides of my bookcase.
Whatever I hang there has to be right at 40″. I imagine as I teach more online I will up my game. And oh, by the way, there is a “tidy up my appearance” button in Zoom and it is deployed in this photo. I wish it could follow me in real life.
I feel like I’m going out on the field for the first time of the season, and I kinda am. With self-cut hair and disgraceful nails – oh how COVID-chic! This is the start of a new chapter, let’s roll!
I noticed this on the back of my door as I left my studio:
So many lanyards from so many shows and events, so many good memories. Is this the relic of a bygone era?
P. S. – I promise I’ll have lots more to write about next week. In the meantime I’m linking up with Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday.
Go you Jenny. I am
Doing this online thing for my first workshop with a guild. Are you using a platform like teachable?
I’m on zoom, seems easy enough. I am just doing live classes, no on demand…yet. How about you?
you’ll be great! i have no doubt.
Wow, thank you Wendy! It’s nice to get a vote of confidence!
I love how clear your high quality art scanning is. Do you do this yourself?
No. RCP in Michigan. It’s stunning, you have never seen photography as good as a high end digital art scan. All color is dead. on. perfect and the detail is down to the tiniest stitch. Expensive because you have to ship. http://www.rcpscanning.com/ mention my name just for grins, they like to know where referrals come from. I heard of them through SAQA.
Kuddos for undertaking this new way of teaching. I can still recall the huge learning curve it was for the 12 of us who purchased & learned how to use digital projectors together. Then the next step, adding a camera for live demos in workshops….a positive esp. for my beading classes. Well deserved praises to you and a big sigh of relief that I’m now retired from teaching!
Thank you so much! You may not remember but waaaay back early century I hired you for the Folsom QUilt and Fiber Guild and you used a projector in class and it was awesome! You were an early adapter and it was years before it became common. You were a fabulous teacher!
Good luck with this new adventure in teaching, Jenny!
Thank you!
You didn’t ask….but I’m a fan of backs that are monochromatic with just a touch of movement. I’m pathetic but I have a habit of wandering about the background rather listening to the person. Good luck..you’ll be fabulous…I’m sure!!
OH we are birds of a feather! I love pretty backs as much as their fronts. I have a hard time sitting still while a zoom meeting is going on and I tend to walk also.
Oh good for you! I have only briefly thought about teaching on-line. It just seems like it would be way to frustrating.
Well Angela, you are right – it is frustrating! You have to teach differently, have different handouts and ways of presenting. Interacting is difficult. I will figure it out though!
Sounds like you are ready. Teaching online is a real challenge. I think a lot of people don’t understand how difficult it is to get it all together. I wanted to make sure my students had both videos and pdfs, so it’s extra work than setting up a live class. You will do great. Enjoy.
Boy you are right on that one Lynda! It’s like creating a whole new course!