 Let's
Go Back To School....
Are you new to African
violets?
Maybe you have one plant on your windowsill.
Or do you have several hundred plants and judge AV shows?
Every person reading this will have a different level of experience.
Some feel very confident in all areas of the AV hobby and have show ribbons
to prove they can grow beautiful plants. Others feel real fear when
faced with a pot of babies that need separating into individual pots.
African
Violet School!
This
AV School will be based upon the motto "Discovering
Endless Enjoyment in African Violets".
We hope to provide encouragement to the shy, confidence to the uncertain,
and surprises for the jaded. The lessons will cover 'old things for
new growers' and 'new things for old growers'.
It will not matter if you have one violet or hundreds. Maybe you
enjoy 'letting them do their own thing'. Or you may 'train' and 'prune'
your plants on a rigid schedule. The one thing EVERY African violet
grower has in common with other AV growers is that he or she gets much
enjoyment from these small plants. This school will focus on 'enjoyment'
while stimulating everyone to 'think' and discover.
The most unusual thing about this school is that YOU will be the professor
for this course! Research and reading material will be provided
to stimulate your mind. Homework and hands-on activities will provide
opportunity to practice and experiment. But it is up to YOU what
grade your work will earn!
Will you be a professor who encourages new ideas and rewards hard work?
Or will you let yourself sleep through class and hand in incomplete homework?
Of course, you may find yourself in a situation where you do not have time
to do all the work in this school. PLEASE read all the material.
Print the lessons. Make note of the homework questions, and think
about the answers --- as you are driving to work, or drifting off to sleep.
Read and study the homework submitted by other students. You will
find the time well spent.
How to participate:
There
are two ways to participate in this school. You can be a full-time
enrolled student or an observer.
(1) If you sign in to the Roll
Call for AV School Students on The
Violet Voice, you will be able to submit homework and share your experiences
with other students. You will also be able to ask questions, suggest
new lesson topics, and contribute articles to be part of future lessons.
(2) You may simply read along with the full time students.
You are not required to 'sign up' to read the lessons.
Even for 'enrolled' students, no homework assignments are REQUIRED!
You will not be 'expelled' if you are unable to complete every assignment.
If you begin and then are unable to finish under our schedule, you are
welcome to submit your assignments at a later time, or not at all.
PLEASE
READ LESSON ONE before you decide this course is 'too complicated'
or 'too simple'! Visit the Schedule page
for links to Lesson One.
 What
is AV School:
This AV School will consist of 5 lessons. Each lesson will contain
several reading assignments. Next, there will be two sections;
one for beginners and one for advanced growers. Each section will
contain reference material and one or two homework assignments. You
will be given two or three weeks to complete the reading and homework assignments.
There will be several quizzes and a final test. Any student sending
us a completed Progress Report will receive a diploma.
All
students are reminded that not only are you acting as your own guide
through this AV School, you are also teaching other students! By
submitting your homework, you are giving other AV growers, newbies or oldies,
wonderful examples to learn from.
Mistakes and accidents are as valuable as success and perfection!
A beginner too shy to speak up about a problem may find an answer in your
description of a mistake you made. It is very reassuring to realize
other people have the same questions as yourself! A story of success
may encourage someone to keep trying or provide inspiration for an advanced
grower to write an article or begin an experiment. |
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