I believe that this will qualify for a cake disaster and a general topic at the same time...but since I think it is more of a disaster than anything else....I'll put it here.....

I just came home from my first Wilton Course I class and boyyyyyyy am I soooooo disapointed. I knew more than this lady. This was of course (and just my luck) her first class that she was allowed to teach. I sat there the whole time and didn't say a word for fear of making her look like and idiot in front of the class. She didn't explain hardly anything and what she did explain she soooo missed out on a lot of things. Some of the basics (or at least I think are basics) she couldn't do. She kept saying "We'll just pretend that it's like the book." ARE YOU SERIOUS!?!?! She couldn't even fold a parchment triangle. To make matters worse, she kept using my supplies to show people what they looked like!!!!!! HELLOOOOO!!! Can I smell a refund please?!?! I'm only doing this so I can be "Certified Wilton" way when I go full blown for my business if someone asks about it. I feel awful for the other members of the class because they don't know what they are missing. I talked to her after class and she said that I looked bored and that she was sorry. I said that it wasn't her fault, I was a bakery intern for 4 years, and explained why I am taking the class. I told her that I really just wanted Course III as I will be doing a wedding cake soon (Some serious Cake topper help topic in the forums in case you want a good laugh). Her reply..."I've never done a wedding cake or a stacked or teired thingy cake." WHAHAHAHAHHTTTT!!!! I was mortified. I then asked her if I could modify some stuff and work ahead a little, if she would mind. She said go ahead if I wanted. I asked are we done then....and thank the Lord she said yes because I was about to explode with frustration.....Anybody else have problems like this?!?!?! ARRRRRRRGGGGG......I now have 11 more weeks with this knows-nothing woman....The class is taught at Michaels. I asked her how she became a Wilton instructor. Her response was that her teacher thought she did an excellent job on everything. EXCELLENT MY BUTT!!!! A MONKEY COULD DO IT BETTER!!!!! Thanks for the venting my CC friends. I just have no idea how I am going to make it through all of this....

Please be patient with the Wilton Instructor. If she is new, like you said, then she is nervous enough as it is. You don't have to be a master decorator in order to teach Wilton classes, you just have to be able to do the skills that are taught in the book, and they are not always going to turn out as well as the ones in the book because the instructors have to work with other peoples icing which isnt always the greatest consistency -and in front of a crowd who is judging their every move.

For an experienced decorator to sit in on a Course 1 beginner class and assume that they know more than the teacher is the same as sitting in on a kindergarten class and assuming that the teacher is an idiot because she just teaches easy stuff.

In your case though it sounds like maybe you do know more than your instructor and she is filling a position because there was no one more experienced to do it. Perhaps when you finish all of your classes you could help her teach there.

Ive seen this same situation many times where a student who is already well above the skill level of the class takes the class anyway and harshly judges the teacher the entire class. Be fair to her it is her job to teach the Wilton way and no body elses way and remember that everyone else in the class are beginners and are eager to learn from her. Dont take away from them.

Please dont try to make your instructor look like an idiot. Believe me it will not reflect very nicely on you.

Relax and have fun in class! In 11 more weeks youll have your 3 certificates and itll be all over with.

I hope your instructor isn't a member here...........might hurt her feelings.

You're right, this is a DISASTER! I'll be honest--no one will ever ask you if you're "Wilton Certified"--actually, if you ask at Wilton, they'll tell you that no one is "certified". They don't even want their instructors to use that term. The average person wouldn't even know to ask. Heck, at this point, you can say that you took some "Wilton Classes" and even a prospective employer probably wouldn't delve any further.

After I finished III about 18 months ago, my instructor (who, by the way, was fabulous) asked me to think about becoming an instructor. There was an opening at a nearby Michael's and she was "sure" I could handle it. I was very flattered, but I knew that I had a lot more learning to do and I declined.

Since then, I've gone on to take several classes in Chicago at Wilton. Although there was some repetition from the I,II,III classes, the elaboration on those themes has taken me well beyond what I learned in those introductory classes. I just finished the Master's class and my work has improved 250%. My roses are consistent and I can make a bead border without points on them! Had I not seen "real" professionals doing this every day for 2 weeks, I would never have "gotten it". Just having questions answered and problems solved was worth the investment of both time and money.

This may be drastic advice, but I wouldn't waste my time and money going to weeks of classes with this woman. I'd save my money--and time-- go to Chicago, and take the Masters. While you're there, you can take an intro to fondant and an intro to gumpaste and in 2 weeks time you'll be light years ahead of your current teacher. You can hit the ground running for any business you want to start.

If this isn't realistic at the moment, I'd suggest just buying the I,II,III books from the Wilton section at Michaels and teaching yourself--sounds like a better investment and a lot more fun.

Just my .02
Rae

That's similar to my firstinstructor I had for Course too I am so glad she quit this new instructor is teaching us so much more!!!!! When our instructor was teaching us how to do things like the bow she also kept saying " You get the idea" Our new instructor for Course 2 had to teach us the rose all over again!!!!!!!!!!!No wonder we couldn't get them right although I still can't!!! Our new instructor is great!!!!