Comments on: Cooking class report card: Let’s call it a B-

By: Janet Majure

Janet Majure — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:40:00 +0000

Thanks, Sylvie and Joanne. You make me feel better–and as though I definitely need more practice. I just finished reading My Life in France, and even the indomitable Mme. Child seems to have suffered at least a few bumps in her teaching efforts. I’ll let you know whether I give it another shot.

By: Joanne

Joanne — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:53:50 +0000

Sorry this comment is so late, but better late than never…?

Teaching anything requires practice. So, if you only did each class topic once, you need to repeat the experience several times (refining things each time) before you can conclude whether or not it really was a success or not!

I know that sounds weird, but every new technique, concept, idea–you need to have real practice in pulling it off before you can evaluate whether or not the students got the info.

That said, the meat class sounds like a much more reasonable goal for a “one class” format. Have you considered teaching novice cooks one meal? (spaghetti with meat sauce, maybe?) I think there’s an endless supply of people who need your skills out there, if you decide you like this!

By: Sylvie

Sylvie — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:53:09 +0000

In 2 hours, one can only teach so much to people who are new to cooking. As you know, practice and repetition are keys.

Teaching cooking classes is indeed work (I know, I do it on a regular basis). Between developing the curriculum, preparing the hand-outs, shopping, prepping (sometime cooking something ahead of time so you can show the finished product since there won’t be time in the class to cook it to the end), teaching the class and cleaning up afterwards, it’s a lot more than the 2 or 4 hours then the class itself takes. Teaching does take a lot out of you, so it’s important to be “fresh” and in the right frame of mind. I always feel exhausted after a class (mine last 4 hours), but also exhilarated when I feel that a student “gets it”.

So you have to take all of that into account when pricing – and if you have no fun – or not enough fun – , why indeed do it?

(but it takes several classes to get fully comfortable with the pace of how you ought to teach and how to interact with the students)

By: Janet Majure

Janet Majure — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:31:08 +0000

Thanks, Susan. I’d definitely need to work on the entertainment aspect! I wouldn’t say I didn’t enjoy it, but I was sufficiently anxious that I wouldn’t call it fun. I’m sure it would get more fun with practice. I did get paid, though not wads of money! I’ll ponder some more. I think I might do better, too, if I did it some afternoon rather than starting at 7 p.m.

By: Susan G.

Susan G. — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:19:09 +0000

I agree that beginning cooking just has to be more than one class. Heck, just teaching someone to use a knife correctly (without severing a digit) takes some time.

And you are so right about teaching as entertainment. Bob & his friend Tim used to teach scout leaders about demos for a webelos science badge. It turned into the “Bob & Tim Show”. They were asked to teach it repeatedly and even had the same people taking it just for fun. But it was a couple of classes before they really got it down and eventually they got tired of it (both with ADD personalities!)

So maybe it’s worth doing again because you’ve already sort of figured out what works & doesn’t. On the other hand, if you didn’t enjoy it, then what’s the point? Unless you are getting paid wads of money or you are teaching starving children how to make gruel for the good of the world, then the heck with it! Life’s too short to voluntarily do obligations that you have a choice not to do!