Dear Tanglers,

after my book came out in Juli I decided I had to change my course program so that people would learn new things in the class and not repeat what’s in the bok. I also gave my very first advanced class last weekend and tried a completely new teaching method.

As I told you in a previous post, at our meeting of European Zentangle Teachers (CZTs) we learned quite a lot of interesting new stuff. Among other things, CZT Lesley Roberts from England told us about her method of teaching Zentangle which differs quite a bit from what Rick and Maria taught us. It somehow sounded interesting, so I thought I’d give it a try.

Instead of tangling at a board in the front of the room, Lesley suggested showing all the new tangles in advance and then handing out the step-outs to the patterns. The students then had a choice of whether they wanted to try the new patterns or use old ones. This gave them more choices and more freedom. I also have more time to walk around and help. And the nice bonus: I get to sit down here and there and tangle myself (and the students can observe).

So wow! I actually tangled my first two tiles in ages! The students got to tangle way more peacefully and with more… well, ZEN. And the usual fatigue at the end of a six hour class was nowhere to be found.

So take a look at the wonderful works of art the students created! Enjoy!