NOTES TO INSTRUCTORS

Firstly, and most importantly, The Sustainable Living Arts School would like to thank you for contributing your experience and skills to others. This is a vitally important step in creating change – the students get to meet someone who uses these skills easily and well. Here are some tips to help pass on your info smoothly:

• Students have shown a true appreciation for the warmth and good humour, as well as the thorough knowledge, of our Instructors, so please relax with your group and have fun.
• The goal is for relaxed but eager learning amidst a well structured timetable and lesson plan. Please be on time for your classes, and have hand-outs or samples ready beforehand. Be early for your class if there is set up to be done, and please let me know early if you need an assistant!
• If you would like assistance with photocopying or access to a computer, we can help! Just give us lots of warning.
• We are happy to work with you on lesson plans. Please feel free to discuss ideas and how they can be incorporated into a class.
• We are running into the problem of instructors creating one lesson plan for advertising and then teaching a different class. Please stick with your advertised plan! People may have come a long way to learn this specific topic.
• Please let us know early what materials you will be using and space you will require, and we can chose an appropriate space for your class. You may want to visit beforehand and chose some sites to work with.
• Outdoor workshops that provide a lasting benefit to Edible Landscapes (such as irrigation systems, benches and lean-tos) are obviously appreciated! Costs for materials can be subsidized.
• Students love involvement – if they can heft a hoe, smell a plant, clean a seed or make a poultice, they learn better than just seeing and hearing. Please try to incorporate the senses into your class. We are happy to offer examples from other lesson if you are stuck on how to do this.
• We request that instructors begin classes with a gentle warning to stay on paths and to respect plants and tools. We also request that instructors stay firmly with their timetable so the next class is not pushed late, and that important breaks for water and “freshening” are adequately long.
• Please check with other instructors before joining their classes, and please respect that they come with their own experience and path and may not require your input!
• If you would like to offer free or subsidized seats in your classes, please discuss this with me beforehand – there may still be costs involved and I will likely request $7 of the $25 student charge.
• Please send a short bio and ASAP to info@ediblelandscapes.ca for posting on our site.
  

The Edible Landscapes property is available as a venue for your own programs at minimal charge, and offers a range of environments and plantings – native herbs and plants, edible landscape, winter garden, permaculture, Chinese and Western medicine plants and more. There is a small outdoor meeting room, deck with large picnic table and indoor space available.

CLASS SIZE

A class size of 10 provides adequate financial remuneration for the instructor and still gives students individual time to ask questions, makes it easier to provide tools to all, and provides the physical space for all to huddle around a plant or project. Some classes may lend themselves to more students, and the Sustainable Living Arts School is open to discussion on larger or smaller classes.

GETTING PAID FOR YOUR WORK

After student numbers are totaled, a $7 charge per student is subtracted for costs (advertising, printing and administration, garden prep) and there may be student discounts, and the remainder is available to the instructor. This is almost always ready immediately after the class. It is never more than 48 hours after completion of the class. Generally, instructors earn between $120 - $150 per (1.5-2 hour) class. There is a $175 cap on payments per class. We encourage instructors to help with advertising their class to improve size.