Like a Smiling Headless Chicken
Written by Joshua Steely on the week of July 20th, 2026
I admire Elementary school art teachers… tremendously. Recently, because I spent over 8 hours preparing for a single 60-minute class, and that one hour drained a whole day's worth of energy. The ability to repeat that hour back-to-back three, five, or even six times a day is well beyond my capacity. I would have to start drinking caffeine to even make it through two.
If you haven't caught on yet, I taught a CRATE workshop this week at a senior center. Of the 20 participants that registered, 25 showed up. And I, like a typical Elementary school art teacher, had no help to instruct all 25. I hadn't even taught this age group before. I'd received some advice, but I was not confident in what to expect.
Luckily though, I'm a pretty thorough over-preparer for things like this. So I had plenty of materials to make 25 Bottleflies, as long as they didn't all have to cut them at the same time.
What I didn't quite have was the bandwidth to help 25 people at the same time. Three people tried to help me out by quitting, either because they weren't happy with how their project was turning out, or they hadn't known what they were actually signing up for (or showing up for) in the first place. But even then, 22 people is a lot for 1 person to try and help at the same time.
It was definitely a learning experience! One that deserves thorough evaluation and reflection. The following are a few of the systems which I either successfully implemented, or would like to implement in future workshops. They would do a great deal to make me less like a headless chicken, and more like a prepared adult.
Worms
"The early bird gets the worm," is how the saying goes. But that's assuming there are worms.
15 minutes before the workshop was scheduled to start, I already had a table full of ready participants. But I had no worms to give them! So for future workshops, I need to bring worms.
Now obviously, I don't mean actual worms. I mean "something for the early arrivals to do before the main instruction". These "worms" need to be simple but engaging, require little instruction or cleanup, use few materials, and allow for me to keep greeting arrivals. Do I have any ideas for worms right now? Not yet. But I'll schedule a brainstorming session to develop some in the coming weeks. They wouldn't necessarily have to be precisely tied to the project participants will make, but I'd like the worms to at least be somewhat relevant.
The early arrivals also showed me how early I need to be set up, which is 15 minutes before the starting time. And the actual starting time is five minutes after the written starting time, because of stragglers. But they're ready to start doing something, so they need the worms!
Smile
When in doubt: smile.
A ready smile can save you from a whole lot of backlash, if used appropriately. Genuine smiles go a long way in making a stranger comfortable. When approaching a participant to instruct or advise, it should always be with a smile to reaffirm that your intentions are not critical.
If you laugh, it needs to lack judgement. Laughs need to be with a participant, never at a participant. If they don't know you, they'll try and find out who you are by your face. If your face is in a frown, or a perpetual worried crinkle, then they won't know that your intentions are for them to have fun! To enjoy themselves!
Outline your Intentions
I certainly did not have the time to exercise small talk with 20+ people simultaneously, but one of them commented, "You'd better tell us about yourself. We want to get to know you, we want to know your intentions!" and I felt bad for not introducing myself more. And I had intended to give an introduction, but I got caught up in the speed of things as the tables overfilled and we had to set up new ones.
To fix this, I need to develop some sort of quick, but thorough, introduction for instructors to give to the participants. Mainly so that the participants can start to trust the instructor, even if only for a short while. If they know nothing about who is teaching them, they may be more skeptical and hesitant to receive the instruction.
This "outline" should also provide the intentions for the workshop itself: what are the vague steps you can tell them ahead of time? the overview of the project they'll be tackling? If you give them some sort of reference for what will be happening, then they won't be as quick to skip steps or leave early (which both happened in my Bottlefly workshop, since I hadn't presented an outline).
Table by Table
To be blunt: this audience had some trouble hearing. So instead of addressing the whole room, I went around to different tables one at a time to share the next steps. 3 tables would have been more manageable than the 4 I ping-ponged between, for sure.
I think going table by table is one effective way to instruct, especially with hearing issues. I remember my school days when that's how the art teachers would monitor: table by table. With that method, you can also see which individual members of the group need specific help, which you wouldn't be able to tell as easily while addressing the whole room.
Splitting a group up into four tables would be perfect for two instructors. They could each have two tables to manage, and give much more personalized instruction.
Exit Tickets
When participants thought they were done, they just got up and left. However, some of them didn't even know I had more steps for them! Or a game that didn't get played!
This is why I need the Outline of Intentions, or something of the sort that is printed out as a short list for them to reference, to see how far along in the workshops we are. The final thing on this outline should be an "exit ticket" that can include things like:
a photo of their final product
a feedback survey (with photo release)
any testimonials about their experience
Without this structure, there was no good point for me to try and address the whole room about feedback surveys. (I was bummed they went unused).
Better Organization
Organization systems are hard to plan for, but obvious once you're in it. You know what you need once you don't have it.
Tackle boxes. That's what I need, but on a massive scale. Things you can set down on a table, open, and then it's already all spread out and organized for you. It's a lot harder when you have to pull things out of a large crate and spread them across a random sink's countertop. You don't know where things are, and it loses precious time.
I need to organize the materials in a more quickly accessible manner. I'm talking, 3d-printed scissor holders that fit nicely in a crate, and better containers for coloring supplies. Otherwise, they'll only grab what's on top, instead of what they actually want to use.
This list of systems is definitely a work in progress. I will be adding more to it as I recognize the need for more–
and there is definitely a need.
