This is the fifth installment in a series where I share my experience taking the teacher training course offered by Suzette Hammond of Being Tea. The start of the new year derailed my tea teacher learning a bit. My husband contracted COVID (he’s fine now), so it was a tumultuous couple of weeks. Thankfully Suzette was very flexible and offered to bump graduation up by a month to allow me to catch up.
Module 5: The Love of Logistics
This module focused on the personal and operational logistics that go into teaching a class. I found myself hitting the panic button a bit as I assessed my teaware collection for the pre-course writing assignment. My tea drinking is almost always solo, so I only have one or two of everything. Everything is a bit too mismatched or precious to work well in group classes besides a few cupping sets.
There are so many factors to consider when determining which classes we can agree to teach. What kind of environments do I want to teach in? Am I willing to travel? How far? It was a huge help to take a deeper look at what my own needs are. I tend to be a people pleaser, so I will sometimes agree to something even if I don’t feel super comfortable. That will most definitely lead to burnout, so I think setting my boundaries can only set me up for success in the future.
Logistics is the “how” of making a tea experience come to life. Almost all of it happens behind the scenes – your students will largely never know the effort that goes into a class or training. That is with deep intention, because operations should not distract from the learning.
Suzette Hammond
Thinking critically about the equipment we purchase for classes is super important. The workbook had helpful suggested equipment lists and tips on how to adjust classes as needed. Suzette also offered great insights on this during our person Zoom session. Getting to see pictures and videos from real classes she has taught really helped me visualize how teaching a class of my own would go.
The group session with the Being Tea Teacher Training cohort is something that I ways look forward to. It means a lot to have a supportive and safe space to share with others on the same journey. This month’s session was an open discussion where we discussed concepts from the modules, questions we have, and things we are all struggling with.
There are just 2 more modules left in this course. I can’t believe that I am already that far along! I’ll need to teach a Tea 101 class for the group within 2 months of completing the 7th module. My capstone project (a class on a tea topic) needs to be within 4 months. My head is swimming with ideas for both, but I’ll need to be focused soon. That time will be here before I know it.