Meet Beth Cline of a local Seattle wellness studio, 5Focus. I actually met her at the South Lake Union Block Party here in our neighborhood and was fascinated about what they did in terms of their yoga instruction in Seattle and their business combination of a wellness studio and a cafe. She quickly joined TeachStreet after we met and has been using it to try to get more folks to the studio. She mentions that there’s much to be done, but looking forward to utilizing TeachStreet more and more.

Featured Teacher Interview: 5Focus with Beth Cline

Joseph Sunga: What do you like about TeachStreet?
Beth Cline: I like the fact that studios and teachers like us can easily put up classes and connect with eager students in the community.

JS: What do you like about teaching?
BC: It’s really about sharing the knowledge with others and helping them find that “aha!” moment. Providing students the knowledge they need in a mindful manner is what I try to do. Teaching is all about growth, I grow as a teacher while my students grow in their discipline.

JS: How are you different from other yoga teachers?
BC: It’s not just a yoga studio. We try to address the whole body through fitness training, private sessions, physical therapy, wellness education, and nutrition classes. Our studio has different practices like ChiWalking and ChiRunning, which incorporate elements of Tai Chi.

We started as Cafe Mae initially, and have expanded from there. The combination makes us really unique. We also open our space for events, which include classes and workshops related to what we do here at 5Focus.

Beth ChiWalking with one of her students

JS: If you had 1 meeting with 1 student, what would you teach them?
BC: I’d teach that 1 student good posture. Proper posture is the foundation here at 5Focus. It’s important to learn good posture since it’s the basis of a lot of the programs we have here like ChiWalking/Running and  Kinesis instruction.

JS: What advice do you have for students on TeachStreet?
BC: Find something you love to do and do it - whether it’s exercise or something else. Although, I’ve always felt that exercise is a gift to your body.

JS: What advice do you have for teachers on TeachStreet?
BC: Strive to be the best at what you do, it’s as simple as that. While you are teaching, understand that you are still a student and will always learn from the teaching you do. I know I do.

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Meet Miss Tess. Do you want to learn piano, improve your vocals, and create music compositions? Now you can at a class with Miss Tess. All of her students are also able to compose their own music compositions and possibly have a chance to record them in a professional studio. Tess stumbled upon TeachStreet when she was looking for other avenues to get more students. Previously she was getting students from Seattle Girls Choir, but she didn’t want to rely on that fully — so when she found TeachStreet, it was definitely being at the right place at the right time.  Since she has joined, she’s already gotten 9 new students from TeachStreet, and is looking forward to getting more.

Featured Teacher Interview: Miss Tess

Joseph Sunga: What do you like about TeachStreet?
Miss Tess: It’s super important to me that there is a place where I can show myself as an individual rather than as part of a school or piano studio. It provides teachers like myself to show what I have to offer. Also, it’s also great that we’re able to communicate and talk with the people at TeachStreet.

JS: What do you like about teaching?
MT: I knew I wanted to teach since I was 16 years old. It’s always great to deal with special and wonderful children that are awake creatively. Providing them with the tools to believe in themselves, while being able to create something is amazing. The process of learning and seeing student grow is something I enjoy.

JS: How are you different from other piano tutors?
MT: Students are able to not only learn piano, but they are able to learn to create and compose their own compositions. By teaching them, piano, voice and music theory, they’re able to put that all together. Also, students are able to get a mentor in me when dealing with music. A lot of my emphasis is with young children, so it’s great to become their mentor and help guide them musically while they’re young.

Miss Tess coaching an original composition at a recording session

JS: If you had 1 meeting with 1 student, what would you teach them?
MT: I would somehow implant a strong sense of confidence through some form of median, whether it’s learning piano, learning voice, or learning music composition. I feel it’s really important for student to learn this, especially when they are young.

JS: What advice do you have for students on TeachStreet?
MT: Know what you’re looking for and try to find something that fits you.

JS: What advice do you have for teachers on TeachStreet?
MT: Be real on the site, and definitely get reviews for yourself and start using the TeachStreet Craigslist tool. I’ve already gotten 9 students in the past 3 months from using TeachStreet and the Craigslist tool, so it is definitely helpful.

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It’s a toy shop and a woodworking shop that helps folks feel empowered. The Giving Tree, located in South Lake Union, uses the art of toy making to help provide a sense of purpose for various people in the community. It’s a heartfelt cause supported by their strong group of volunteers coming from different backgrounds from senior citizens, former or current homeless individuals, to youth or adults from the community. Being that they’re a couple blocks away from our offices, we decided to stop by and get a first hand look by speaking with Clare Cronkleton, who runs the shop, and Senior Woodworker, John Webster.

How does the Giving Tree help?

There always is a sense of joy revolving around the Giving Tree and that may be primarily because of the handcrafted toys surrounding the shop. The joy also stems from their very simple goal — to provide folks with a place to learn a trade to give volunteers a renewed sense of purpose.

Salar with Clare Cronkleton of The Giving Tree

With 25 volunteers helping at the shop through the week, they cover a lot of ground with selling, painting or finishing the toys, and even creating the handcrafted toys. The opportunity to be a part of the Giving Tree is opened to everyone, “Anybody can come by and leave their past behind, but I tell each person to remember why they want to volunteer,” mentions Clare. “We like to see ourselves as more of a reminder that good things are happening in the community.”

Clare mentions that they really encourage learning in their community, and that’s a huge reason why they’re a part of the Seattle Free School, where classes are completely free. They’ve opened their shop to the community who want to use their space to teach arts & craft classes or hold community discussions.  They’ve also held workshops for beginning teachers who want to be more involved with the Seattle Free School.

Learning your Purpose at the Giving Tree

The Giving Tree is changing lives. Senior Woodworker, John Webster, mentions “I’ve always had a connection to wood working and the Giving Tree helped me follow through with it,” but he never pursued that curiosity.

John Webster working his magic with a toy car

After joining the military, working at soup kitchens and volunteering at St Martin’s de Porres – an overnight shelter, he got the opportunity to join the Giving Tree and John couldn’t be happier. “Being able to use and play with these machines gave me the chance to live out what I wanted to do,” John proudly mentions. John is one of the Giving Tree’s mangy success stories. With some great experience under his belt, John is now considering opening up his own shop.

John has also been a recognizable fixture for the shop since he sits and crafts his toys right in front of the store window. With his Santa-like beard, he’s definitely an approachable figure which lends well to his favorite part of his days, “Interacting with people passing by and inviting them in to the shop to explain what we’re doing,” he happily mentions. That’s a testament that he feels accomplished each day that ends at the Giving Tree, and one huge reason why he’s been there for over 10 years.

John explaining his love for wood working and the machines at the shop

The real reason why the Giving Tree exists is because of people like John, Clare and the volunteers who keep coming to help this shop run the way it has for the last 19 years. If you would like to help get involved, visit The Giving Tree’s website for more information. It’s really more than just building toys, they try to help build up lives.

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What happens when you get a room filled of dedicated music teachers at the local piano store in Seattle? You get the monthly meetings of Seattle Music Teachers Association (SMTA). We were luckily enough to get invited by Jeffrey Pettijohn, to share the importance of being online for local teachers who want to get more students at the October meeting earlier this week. It was great to see music teachers getting a better understanding of what we do here at TeachStreet, and having it really resonate. We were also able to connect with local friends like local piano teacher, Anita Manuel, who’s been with us since the beginning.

Photo courtesy of woodleywonderworks

These SMTA meetings are structured to provide music teachers in the community with networking opportunities, music resources and tools to help music teachers. The meeting we were a part of revolved around online resources to get more students and a presentation by Dorothy Fahlman, an accomplished piano teacher, about improving and livening up music classes, both great information for local music teachers. The SMTA really does a great job to help their teachers and give them the opportunities to be more successful in what they do.

If you’re a music teacher in the community, I’d strongly suggest you take a look at a Music Teacher Association in your community, they definitely have a lot of great resources for you to take advantage of. Here are a list of Music Teacher Associations in your local neighborhoods:

Washington:

• Seattle Music Teacher Association
• Snohomish County Music Teacher’s Association
• WSMTA - Eastside Chapter
• Click here for more local chapters

Oregon:

• OMTA - Portland District
• OMTA - Eugene District
• OMTA - Linn Benton District
• Click here for more local chapters

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Meet Linda Womack. I had chance to chat with her about encaustic painting, also known as hot wax painting.  Along with being a busy teacher, she’s also written a book, Embracing Encaustic: Learning to Paint with Beeswax. Linda is a dynamic art teacher who tries to keep her classes open to having fun and making mistakes, or “happy accidents”. She’s already gotten at least 2 students from TeachStreet since she’s joined in mid-August, and is looking forward to more.

Featured Teacher Interview: Linda Womack

Joseph Sunga: What do you like about TeachStreet?
Linda Womack: I like the fact that the site is easy to use, and it provides me with an online presence. Another great thing is when I put the effort to update my profile by adding photos and getting reviews, you get rewarded. After doing the work, you can get more awareness on TeachStreet.

JS: What do you like about teaching?
LW: Its great when people try a new type of painting like Encaustic painting. Sharing it with other people, it also forces me to learn new things. I get questions like “What happens if I do this?” where I respond, “Lets try it!” I always learn new things when I teach.

JS: How are you different from other art teachers?
LW: I teach Encaustic painting, which is such an unusual medium that people are naturally curious about it. I stand out from other encaustic painting teachers due to my experience and the recognition I’ve received for the book I wrote on the subject this year.   I also teach smaller classes, which is big difference in experience a student has.  Although I don’t teach individually or privately, since it’s important to learn from other.  The students seem to love it, they’re always laughing in the studio.

JS: If you had 1 meeting with 1 student, what would you teach them?
LW: I’d teach them the basics of encaustic painting. Working with wax is very forgiving; if you don’t like something you can scrape it off and try again. It’s also very versatile so you can paint, collage, sculpt and pair it with other mediums for your own unique look. In class, my goal is to teach the basics in one day so my students can have all the skills they need to experiment and learn even more as they practice.

JS: What advice do you have for students on TeachStreet?
LW: Search, search, search! There is a lot out there to learn, so definitely search for anything because you’ll never know what you’ll find.

JS: What advice do you have for teachers on TeachStreet?
LW: Put up photographs immediately, art teachers especially. Show them your work. Also, get reviews for your classes as soon as possible since that helps you a lot to get recognized.

If you would like to be featured on our blog, please send me an email (joseph@teachstreet.com) or comment below and I will provide you with the steps to do so.

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Meet Jorge Vera. Jorge is a native Spanish tutor out of Capitol Hill in Seattle. He heard about TeachStreet at a Seattle Mariners game several months ago from one of his students.  Since then he had already received 4 students from TeachStreet, and 2 of those students were from using the TeachStreet Craigslist tool. Jorge has had the joy of teaching Spanish since he was living in Peru, where he spent his weekends teaching folks Spanish in his neighborhood.  While living in Seattle, he’s had some of his greatest times teaching Spanish to students who are eager to learn the language.

Featured Teacher Interview: Jorge Vera

Joseph Sunga: What do you like about TeachStreet?
Jorge Vera: I really have a lot of faith in TeachStreet, and I am convinced that it will be great in the future. The fact that a student and teacher can directly connect with each other is great, and that’s what TeachStreet is all about.

JS: What do you like about teaching?
JV: When I was in Peru, I was an Industrial Engineer from Monday to Friday and I taught Spanish during the weekends. I really think my passion was teaching Spanish and that’s why I did it during my free time. It’s the best way to meet new people, and learn quickly about new things whether it is culture or politics.

Jorge Vera tutoring one of his Spanish students

JS: How are you different from other Spanish tutors?
JV: I’m a native Spanish speaker and I study hard to teach Spanish to my students. It’s about putting the effort to work with each student and making each session different. Everyone is different and it really depends on what each student wants. I also feel that learning Spanish in conversations is much better than in a classroom with other students. And it seems like all my students have been very happy with my one-on-one style of teaching.

JS: If you had 1 meeting with 1 student, what would you teach them?
JV: I would teach them about Latin American culture…in Spanish, of course.

JS: What advice do you have for students on TeachStreet?
JV: Students should definitely compare teachers. Compare what they learn in a structured class to a class dealing with real-life conversations, especially when learning a foreign language.

JS: What advice do you have for teachers on TeachStreet?
JV: A lot of teachers charge a lot for their classes, especially when teaching languages. They should really charge less. Teachers should also be very consistent in what they do, have strong dedication, and really love what they do. Also, if you want to get more awareness, definitely get reviews since those are very important. It pretty much proves you’re good at what you do.

If you would like to be featured on our blog, please send me an email (joseph@teachstreet.com) or comment below and I will provide you with the steps to do so.

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Meet Sharon Hanson. She’s a local yoga teacher in the Portland area who’s busy teaching at five different locations in the local neighborhoods. Sharon has a ton of passion for yoga and loves passing on the information and yoga techniques she has learned to the next generation. She’s currently using TeachStreet as her homepage to display a lot of her classes and get her name out there online, and she’s looking forward to getting more and more students in her classes.

Featured Teacher Interview: Sharon Hanson

Joseph Sunga: What do you like about TeachStreet?
Sharon Hanson: TeachStreet has been very user-friendly and easily accessible. It’s great that we can add a profile and easily advertise our classes online.

JS: What do you like about teaching?
SH: I’ve been teaching for 12 years. It was an evolution really. In yoga, I felt I needed to pass on information I’ve learned to the next generation. I really enjoy teaching yoga — it’s more of a passion.  I teach at several different places: Hawthorne Wellness Center, Blue Sky Wellness, River Place Athletic Club, Portland Rock Gym, and Boeing (on-site).

Sharon Hanson teaching yoga at a studio

JS: How are you different from other yoga instructors?
SH: I’m a little edgy! I don’t teach a watered-down yoga, its definitely less westernized. I try to focus on breathing, the spirit, and meditation. A lot of my students say its very challenging at first.  And I admit, it can be hard for some people, but everyone gets a sense of gratification afterwords.

Yoga is a microcosm of life. I’m somewhat of a life coach where I try to move people into change. And some of that change is shown in Yoga Fusion, where it combines aspects of different yoga practices, pilates, and chi gong. My classes are really geared to the students.

JS: If you had 1 meeting with 1 student, what would you teach them?
SH: I would teach my students to be comfortable with their breath by focusing on efficiency and doing it correctly. If you could learn one thing, breathing would be it since its a huge part of yoga.

JS: What advice do you have for students on TeachStreet?
SH: Sample different teachers and find the teacher that is right for you. Also, consider teachers that are close to you. I try to reduce my “carbon footprint” in the world, and would hope students won’t drive long distances to just learn yoga when there’s a class a couple blocks away.

JS: What advice do you have for teachers on TeachStreet?
SH: This isn’t hard, but start requesting reviews and posting photos. These are easy things to do. Don’t forget to also tell your friends and family about TeachStreet since it’s really a great resource for everyone to learn something new.

If you would like to be featured on our blog, please send me an email (joseph@teachstreet.com) or comment below and I will provide you with the steps to do so.

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There seems to be a blossoming knitting community in both Portland and Seattle, and we wanted to share it with you.  It has really been a growing sensation and it’s actually National Knitting Week in the United Kingdom.  Knitting is definitely another type of art form and a trade a person can learn.  You can learn to knit a bonnet, or even something as advanced as a tote bag or even clothing for dogs!  We spoke with two folks from the knitting community, Cheri Clark from The Naked Sheep and Rose from Gossamer Fiber Arts and Crafts to get a better idea of what they love about teaching, why people should knit, and any advice they have for the community of knitters.

The love of teaching
From speaking to both Cheri and Rose, there was an underlying message of why they love teaching folks in their community. They both expressed the love of sharing knowledge with others — “We love it, sharing knitting with others and having this social activity where we other can learn a new skill,” mentions Cheri.  And it’s not all about just learning something, “It’s really about passing on this knowledge to the next generation,” Rose expresses.  From their voices, you can hear the excitement and gratification they have in teaching.

Cheri Clark knitting at The Naked Sheep

Why knit?
Knitting is all about being part of the community and learning something new. There are a lot of opportunities to do so in an area near you.  At The Naked Sheep, they have opportunities for folks to learn knitting in between classes on their couches they have in their shop.  Cheri mentions, “”Knitting is about being part of the community, and we try our best to provide the community with knowledge. We’re Portland’s fun and friendly knitting shop.”  And to attest to this, Gossamer also provides community projects and events since they’re more than a knitting shop — they’re also trying to teach people about embroidery, arts and craft, etc.

Coral Reef Community Project at Gossamer Fiber Arts and Crafts

Advice for knitters
“Make what makes you happy, do what you enjoy. If you want to make wash cloths, then do that — if you want to make more difficult things, do that,” states Rose from Gossamer which attests to the fact that people should do what they love in all aspects of their lives.  And as Cheri mentions, which can span more than just knitting itself, “Just keep learning and stick with it, no pun intended.”

Do you have any thoughts, stories, or events that are happening in knitting community? Please let us know — we love hearing from the community! If you want to learn knitting yourself or just want to check it out, the following are folks who teach knitting in your area.

Knitting Classes in Seattle

• Knitting Instruction at Stitches
• Beginning Knitting Lessons at Tricoter
• Beginning Machine Knitting at The Knitting School

Knitting Classes in Portland

• Easy Baby Sweater at The Naked Sheep
• Children/Adult Knitting at Gossamer Fiber Arts and Crafts
• Knitting Spring Lace Hats at Yarn Garden
• Knit for Fun - All About Yarn

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We’re bringing back TeachStreet 101 again since the folks who came over last week benefited a lot.  The next one is going to be at Motore Coffee on Wednesday (10/15) between 10am-2pm.  Please feel free to come by, grab a coffee or something to eat (they have delicious sandwiches!) and learn more about how to juice up your TeachStreet profile. Make sure you RSVP to the meet up.

If you can’t stop by, check out some of the TeachStreet 101 Video Tutorials we’ve put together for you:

• Learn to add photos to your profile
• Learn to get started and add classes
• Boost your profile and request reviews
  

Meetup Event Details:
TeachStreet 101
Motore Coffee - 1904 9th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101 (map)
October 15, 2008 - 10am-2pm

Look forward to seeing you all there, and if you have any questions contact me at joseph@teachstreet.com or leave a comment. Cheers!

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If there was one thing you can do on TeachStreet, as a teacher, to help boost your profile, requesting reviews from your past students would be it. We try to provide our community with a lot of information about classes and teachers, so having testimonials from past students definitely help the cause.

Once you get a couple great reviews under your belt, you will instantly get more recognized in the TeachStreet community depending on how competitive your category is.  You’ll get higher placement in search results and you have the opportunity to become a “Featured Teacher” or “Top Teacher” for your category (ie. Pottery Community), as well. Here’s a quick video of how to request reviews from past students:

TeachStreet 101 - Requesting Reviews from TeachStreet on Vimeo.

Check out these great examples of TeachStreeters who have received reviews from students:

• Chris Lewis Tennis
• Visionary Dance Productions
• Jorge Vera

Here are some quick and easy steps to request reviews from your past students:

1. Sign in to TeachStreet: teachstreet.com/account/login
2. Click the “Request Review” button
3. Type in email addresses of your students
4. (Optional) Personalize the “Subject” and “Message”
5. Click the orange “Send” button and you should be good to go!

Hopefully this was helpful, please let me know if you have any further questions or comments. You can contact me at joseph@teachstreet.com.

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