I am not a teacher, but am a faithful member of our (teaching) guild. Since I've been a member, I have observed that most members don't have much time from one week to the next to spend with their lace, but our weekly meetings give them two hours of "protected" time - away from the phone, the children, the housework, etc., and they can concentrate on their lace in the company of others who enjoy it as much - AND with a teacher at hand to help solve problems.
Our guild has a mix of new lacemakers (who make up the majority of our regular attendees) and members who have been making lace for quite a few years. I think that the social aspect of informal gatherings like ours can be detrimental to the purpose. Unfortunately, it is not at all uncommon for the chatter to be distracting and not at all related to lace. This makes it harder for the teacher AND for the students, and it makes it nearly impossible for someone who is working on a difficult piece to concentrate. I find myself maintaining a separate pillow just for guild meetings - and it has practice bits on it, which don't require too much concentration. But I know that some members of our group have just given up and stay at home to make lace. >From time to time we have discussed this at business meetings, and gentle reminders are given, but it has not had a lasting effect. Have others found ways to solve this problem? Clay > It can be > disheartening as a teacher, as I feel they are learning very little, but > most seem to enjoy the social side, and sign up each term. > I would be interested to see if other teachers have noticed this trend. > > Christine (Spring-like Oxford) - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
