Help! I am teaching a class

[uvawyo]

The art teacher in the local school conned me into volunteering to teach a day of whittling, grades 7 thru 12. This will be the extemely near sighted leading the blind as I am a self taught carver and have only been at it about a year.

I plan to lecture each class on safety first and how easy it is to cut yourself every one will wear gloves

Then with the 7th and 8th graders we will do some sweet potato carving as described in last summers issue of WCI and do a "sweet potato spirit"

I am in the process of making a study stick of the 5 minute wizard and if I have enough time i will make a study stick of Gene's flat plane face.

With the high school we will carve in cottonwood bark and make either a wood spirit or a spoon (since Mothers Day is fast approaching) or a combination there of. Glendo school is very small the total 7th and 8th grade is 8 students and the high school art classes are just 2 or 3 kids'
The classes are 2 hours long and i have the time to return for another day or even two.

I whittled a coupla cotton wood bark spoons and they are pretty (I will post them soon) and cottonwood bark is plentyful and relatively easy to carve.

Any suggestions or advise that any of you would like to give me on this undertaking would be very much appreciated.

[Mitchell]

You have a good start with the Safety aspect.

My thoughts:

Since most have never held a carving utensil, you should show them how to hold a knife... for paring cuts and push cuts.

Emphasis should be placed on stop cuts and also on not trying to be too aggressive (leads to accidents).

Also, look at the "similar threads" box below for links to previous disscussions on teaching....

[ks_woodcarver]

Thats great! The past couple of years I had a 4H carving group that met twice a month and several boy and girl scout troops that I've worked with. It would be nice to have a couple of adults to help with eight kids. If you have time it is nice to take a 3/4 x 3/4 x 6 to 8 inch practice stick for them to practice the cuts and for you to observe that they are working safely. If your budget allows Grainger Supply sells a kevlar sheet metal and glass handling glove, that are about $8.00 +- a pair and they are reversable. These are very similar to the yellow gloves with the dots that are sold at the carving shows. The are cut resistant but we did have one youth in the 4H that managed to cut through one, they are not stab resistant. I had made up a tutorial book that I hand out to the intro carving class, the subject is a boot by I'd be happy to email the MS Word file to you if you want to take a look. One thing I have done is to carve a step by step progression and I have painted my demo blank so that it is easier for them to see the cuts I am making. As the others have said you have to stress safety and keep them from bunching up. One of the biggest problems I had was to get them to put down the knives when they were talking, moving their hair or getting close to their face. I've had the best luck setting the tables up in a U shape and not start talking or demonstating until they set there knives down.
Good Luck, Mark

[sbirkes]

For me a good instructor is a person that can point out and fix a student's mistakes without the student feeling that the teacher did the work. (Can I show you another way to do a nose/eye/mouth?) Requires carving ability and people skills.

Good Luck.

[Ron Davidson]

Hey watch it!! How about the blind leading the sighted. The things I could teach the sighted!

[Lightningbolt]

Safety is always the best place to start a carving class and especially so with kids. You will be working with the same age group of kids that I do on a daily basis in woodshop class, then usually an afternoon of informal woodcarving. I've never used the sweet potato idea but it looks like a good route to go. I work mainly with young teenagers and I get them right into using the knives on wood with no prior carving experience.
I usually start them out with a simple relief project such as carving their name in a piece of soft wood. I'll sketch out the name in bubble letters then I'll demonstrate on one of the letters how to move away the wood from around it in "layers" using mainly the stop cut, then the push cut and repeat until it's the depth they want. It's a pretty easy concept to comprehend for any new wanna-be carver and I always have success with a simple relief carving and success is very important with a kids first carving experience. Good teachers will always ensure success so think simple.

For a second project I would recommend having them carve a spoon. A spoon will present a little more challenge while at the same time introduce them to one of the simpler projects for carving "in the round" AND my kids always get a kick out of trying to eat their next meal with it... just don't get any better than that. Basswood would be great but I usually just gather up the big poplar limbs that fall around these parts, split them in half on the bandsaw and cut out all kinds of rough-out spoon blanks. The handle of the rough-out will be of many different designs including hearts, crosses, circles with holes, and twisted handles of every imaginable direction. If the wood is somewhat hard, and dry poplar can get that way, then I will start to loosen the wood in the spoons bowl before class with my reciprocating power carver. With that said I must say that spoons can really capture the imagination of a kid and coaching them on the carving is always fun.

No matter what the carving project is I will always have several of the same completed so that the kids can get a good visual and also have a reference to study while I'm helping another student. Sequential carving models and study sticks are always a good idea.

Gosh, above all else have a great time and have fun with the kids. If you're excited about carving and passionate about sharing, then your time will be very gratifying. Good luck and I'm sure you'll do fine!

[JimSawyer]

You might want to talk to TomH about using the 5 minute wizard. They're simple enough with not too many steps, and they will give the kids a sense of accompishment. (A very imortant first experience).
Keep us posted on your class as it goes. Sounds interesting.

[BRIAN D]

Herb, Congratulations! As Dave said, look forward to having some fun, "Make a Plan" then & lay it out, "Prepare all your Supply's" then work the plan. When you get to the end of the day, it will be well worth it! And there's lots of help here, as you can tell by the responce.
P.S. The initial " PANIC " is normal!
As the "Good Lord says, time to GROW"

[chuckbolton]

herb, my hats off to you- tho i think we get more out of this kind of thing that we put into it-- the sense of accomplishment seen on the students face-or the appreciation of a single parent -- or any number of other things-
the down side that i see to a spoon -- is its going to require more tools than a knife. the potato or the wizard can be done with only a knife--
i do a few sessions at a local private summer camp-- and we do it with 3 tools per student- a knife, a v-tool and a gouge. the school bought a few different sizes on the v-tools and gouges and the students share. in 3 years ive had 4 sets of parents contact me for further information about how to continue the classes for the students-- i refered them on to local clubs. but i still get a xmas card from one of the first students -- and hes competing in his local area.

on rereading what you've written-- let me say-- i think you have a great plan- it will evolve as you progress-- and when u do the next group-- it will likely change,

good luck -- have fun

[uvawyo]

Wow! I have lots of good advise here and i want to thank you all for it and I will be taking your suggestions

Ron. I was aware that you were blind hen i wrote that phrase and i assure you no offense was intended I once had a boss, mentor and very fgood buddy who was blind and i have the utmost respect for the functioning sightless
Dave, Mark, Steve and Mitchell you have all mentiond things that i hadn't thought of and those things are added to my notes
Jim, I have made a study stick with the 5 minute wizard and do plan to use it
Dave, I also favor a spoon, particul.arly since I carved a cottonwood barkspoon and see how pretty it is. The teacher is pushing the wizard, but she hasn't seen a spoon yet
Agin thank you all