Plugging On

 

draft of single end huck showing the warp and weft floats that will shift out of position to form holes in the cloth - hence lace - one warp and one weft float have been indicated in a different colour to highlight them

After several weeks of 'back of the brain' thinking, last night I began printing out the drafts I will be using in the SOS class on lace weaves.

I've only ever taught the topic 'live' where I can - in real time - get feedback from the students and ensure that they are understanding the theory/concepts.

It has been a challenge to think through all the years of teaching 'live' and remembering the 'sticking' points in the students ability to grasp the information in a meaningful way.

One of the definitions of a lace weave is that it is a cloth with a plain weave foundation having floats arranged such that the floats will move to areas of least resistance.  This shifting causes 'holes' to open in the cloth - hence 'lace'.

After trying a number of options (and using up a fair amount of ink in the process because I had to print the drafts out to see if the selected colours worked - and many of them didn't) I finally found a colour combination that I hope will be enough to stand out on camera.  And there will be a 'back up' on line because I will leave all the drafts for the crew to photograph and post on the SOS website for the reference of the students.

In the end I only got 5 useable drafts printed, but now that I've worked my way through the options and found the ones that seem to be working the best, the rest of the drafts should go without too many challenges.

I've been thinking a lot about learning and how we process information.  For a number of years there was the theory that different people process information in different ways.  Recently I've seen articles debunking this theory.  On the other hand, I have witnessed a classroom wherein some of the people understand concepts from a spoken explanation, some need to see the information in graphic format and some of them need to sit down at a loom and watch the threads move.  That seems to me to be pretty solid evidence that people do learn in different ways.

This theory was introduced to me early in my career and having the experience myself of learning 'better' some days one way, some days another, recognizing that all of the different ways were generally helpful, I have tried to incorporate various ways to show/explain how things work.

Presenting material in a video class presents challenges in how the information is portrayed/offered.  And as I work my way through the information, I try to remember to have different ways of explaining how a weave structure works, how to take someone through the process step by step, making sure that they understand.

And why I'm willing to hang around the SOS forums to answer questions and make sure people are understanding the concepts.

Teaching online isn't for everyone.  Learning online isn't for everyone.  But it is another arrow in our quiver of tools.  

And right now?  I am good with that.

Using the link above in the first paragraph should get you a discount on membership.  When you join SOS you get access to ALL of the offerings, not just mine - so far two video classes and as of Sept 7 four lectures with more to come.