When are you ready to teach?

[Thor]

I want to thank you all for your personal viewpoints to this question.
It gave me a lot of questions to ask myself that I had not thought of, and helped with my decision.
This forum rocks.
Thor

[Joy]

If everyone waited until they were "perfect" in their skill and carving knowledge.....there wouldn't be any teachers! If your class descriptions is "Master Carver" then you had better live up to the billing. But if your class is "Beginning Carving with emphasis on Wood Spirits (or whatever)" then all you need is enthusiam, patience, ability to demonstrate and some examples of what you have done. Yes, you may teach some "wrong techniques", but if you impart an enthusiam for carving and learning your students will benefit. Yes, they would benefit more if you were perfect....but......

And don't spend the first hour on safety and sharpening. Yes, they are the most important things....but to a student the most important thing is "doing". Cover the safety, but tell them you will cover sharpening when they understand the need after struggling with dull tools.

A former chemistry teacher's two cents.

[mark yundt]

I need a real job,,one where I won't have time to mull things over so much.But I'll throw out an observation about a recent encounter I had,,not sure if it directly applies to teaching,,but looking toward someone who should know and provide information on something you're interested in.I called a real estate agent about some other projects I'm interested in.Within the first minute of our conversation I knew he was new at this,though he was able to answer my preliminary questions,,and as is my usual style,,I already basically knew the answers.Hey,, it's a feeling out process,,and a game.Anyway,I met with him,,and though he basically knows his way around real estate I wasn't totally confident in his ability to work with me on what I want to accomplish.I was right in my assessment of his tenure as an agent,,6 months,,and yes ,, he has all the licenses and degrees,,,,BUT,,,,He didn't have ,nor display the confidence I am used to.Yes ,,he is new to this,,to some it wouldn't matter,,whatever he knows is probably more than me,or at least has ready access to information I want,but his lack of "knowledge" and "experience" and "confidence" or air about him gave me a lack of confidence in what I want ,expect and deserve and what he can provide.Maybe being new and trying to establish himself he will as most newbies overcompensate and do a fine job,,,but that doubt,,that sense of lets see what he's made of,,,,is there.As I said,,,on the surface all is in place,,,but his lack of experience and depth knowledge leads me to believe this might not be as fruitfull as I hope.To a "newbie" in real estate (or carving)it might not even make a blip on the radar because of those missing qualities,,it could also lead those same beginners down a path that with a bit of foresight they should not tread.Sure ,, in carving it's only a block of wood,,but in some things the stakes are higher.But the point is,,who is qualified to lead at such an important juncture.Then again,,I just might take carving too seriously as well.

[falconer]

Mark, you have to take it seriously it's what you do for a living!! A good teacher/instructor will do the same thing!! The prep work alone is enough to make a person tired. I think a good teacher is a good leader as well, someone who's squared away knows how to convey instructions in a way that makes the student want to learn everything and can see the end result in there mind before they get there. For those that have never taught or led a class, it's hard for them to understand it's a responsibility.