Teacher Guide 
Responsibilities and Requirements
Teaching Tips

All teachers are expected to approach the teaching process with a mix of teaching tools and strategies.  Different people learn best in different ways -- some are more visual, some more tactile, some more cognitive.   For each course, teachers are required to have a written set of instructions, as well as samples of the finished project.   If a project has several stages, teachers should have physical examples of each stage of the project.

The CBJA board has spent hours and hours discussing what makes a good teacher, and what makes a bad one.   We have tried to design a curriculum which takes away some pressures on the teacher, such as how a too-diverse a class in terms of skills becomes unmanageable.   Or when teachers try to teach too much information in one class because they fear this is their only "shot" at these students.  

From these discussions, some general tips for teaching emerged, and we share them with you:

1.  Keep it fun.  Your students must enjoy what they are doing.

2.  Have written instructions and a model to touch and display.

3.  Provide a detailed supplies list ahead of time.   However, also have extra supplies and tools on hand.

4.  Be mobile.

5.  Help students solve problems.

6.  Select projects, if possible, that can be completed.

7.  Don't expect perfection.

8.  This is not a competition.

9.  Praise your students.   Find something to compliment.

10.  Showing is better than telling.  Demonstrate the skill that you want them to do.

11.  Put something in their hands as soon as possible.

12.  When a student is having difficulty with a skill, show them an alternative, if possible.

13.  Encourage student discussion of each other's work.

14.  Point out where the skills in this class can be applied in other classes or situations.

15.  Provide insights to students about how to find additional supplies, books, instructions, materials and other resources, locally, nationally and on the internet.

All teachers are asked, at the beginning of their classes, to take attendance.

At the conclusion of each class, teachers are requested to ask their students for a course evaluation.   These may be handed to the teacher, or sent separately to CBJA.