On Apr 6, 2009, at 18:46, Clay Blackwell wrote:
So, I'll go first.... and I'm going to limit myself to what I see as
the top three"sins" of student behavior.
... The social lacemaker who comes to a three day workshop, makes
lace for an hour each morning, and then holds forth in loud chit-chat
and laughter for the rest of each day... destroying any possibility
for others to concentrate.
Subcategory: the Strolling Troubadour. Makes lace for an hour (or so)
on the first day only. Spends the rest of her time strolling from one
pillow to the next, making comments on everyone else's progress (or
lack thereof) and offering advice. Usually, manages to time her
"intervention" for *just* the moment which requires your full
concentration, so that you're left with two options: 1) politely listen
to her nonsense and lose your own trail of thought or, 2) do your best
to ignore her (play deaf and dumb), which leaves you feeling like an
uncouth hick.
... The genius lacemaker who has done every craft known to man, and
insists she's a quick study, so doesn't need to have the
pre-requisites for the class... then insists on monopolizing the
teacher's time (or trying to...) at the expense of other students. An
even more offensive version of this is when the lacemaker goes home
and proclaims that this was the worst workshop she ever took!!
Subcategory: The Friend of the Teacher. Knows it all; when the teacher
comes around, engages the teacher in chit-chat, not related to the
workshop, showing off her international *social* contacts with every
famous lacemaker. The moment the teacher leaves her workstation, she
turns to you and asks: "now, how do you do this?" You had the
teacher's sole attention for 15 minutes and you didn't ask for help
with your problem (never mind that your chatter made it difficut for me
to concentrate)??? Well, no, you didn't want to look like an idiot in
front of the teacher; what *I* think of you doesn't matter...
My favorite workshops are when you can hear a pin hit the floor,
I don't mind the "3-S workshops", where you hear, mumbled under the
breath: "crossss, twisssst, crossss, twisssst. Yesssss!" Or even an
occasional "Oh, shhhh...!" thrown in for variety. But I'm not
interested in your niece's hysterectomy. Or, not during class. You
wanna tell me all about it, join me outside, while I'm *already*
wasting my time, smoking (7minutes, watch in hand).
--
Tamara P Duvall http://t-n-lace.net/
Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland)
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