Great news! I Just received a call from Michael's and I am going to become thier new WMI starting next month!! YAY! I have my orientation tomorrow and I am so very excited.
I am also very nervous. This is all so new to me and I really want to become a success. I have read stories of how bad thier instructors were/ are, and I definitely dont want to fall into that category. Do any of you have any great pointers and/ or advice?

Thanks for listening

Congratulations!!!!

Congratulations . I don't have any advice though.

You love cake decorating, right? Then you'll be a success, share your stories, pictures and why you got into cake decorating.

Use everything Wilton and what the instructor has, the students have to have also.

Congratulations. I've been teaching for about 7 years and I still love it. Also, join the Yahoo WMI group.

Congratulations!!! Just have fun!

I don't think that WMI's or Michaels WMI's are bad in general. I think there are just bad apples out there, and like with everything else we hear more of the negative than the postive. How many people out here have had great WMI's??

As a Michaels' WMI I love my job. I enjoy it and my students, but I don't think it is a job for just anyone. You have to be someone that can follow directions even when you aren't being watched and someone that likes Wilton's products and believe in the classes.

There is a great Yahoo Egroup that if just for WMI's. I'll hunt the address up or maybe Selina will pop up in this thread.

Go into class wanting to have fun and share the craft with your students. They will pick up on that and it will make a better class for all involved. Good luck with it and any time you have a question feel free to PM me.

Congratulations! For your first few classes, you will be nervous - it's only natural. But as you go through your classes, you will find it gets easier because you are getting more comfortable with it. Being a good WMI, Michael's or otherwise, depends on the person.

I have been a WMI for several years now and still love it today.

I've tried and tried to become a WMI and never got a response to the application I sent into Wilton?

I've taken all 4 of the Wilton classes and told all of the instructors that taught me that I was VERY interested in becoming one.

On all of my paperwork I checked the box that stated I would like to become an instructor every time and still nothing??

I'm still very interested to this day!! Does anyone have any suggestions??

Did you actually fill out an application on the Wilton website? If you haven't try that. I haven't been able to be hired either...but one of the managers of wilton did call me and talk to me about my interest. They are really great to work with!

you'll want to fill out the wilton online paperwork about every 6 months. also wilton will not contact you unless there is a need for a wmi in your area. You can go to the wilton website and search instructors needed and it will list those areas. also for all new wmi, pm me your email address and i will get you into the wmi only message board.
Selina

Congrats!

In what area of town will you be teaching?

no. 1 .. is just be yourself.. the students can see right thru you if you aren,t.. you will be nervous at first.. then it will ge good. i have taught for 4 years. at michaels. and a technical school here.. study what wilton sends you.. know what you are talking about.. don,t skip things in the lesson.. just because you don,t like to do them. i,ve had students that came from other teachers.. and they said the teacher .. if she didn,t like something.. she wouldn,t teach it.. i mean even the g/p rose in lesson 3.. that and fondant is what that course is mostly about.. ha! go figure. i wish you all good luck.. hth

Awww, we are on opposite ends of the city! If you ever need anything, feel free to PM me. I've been a WMI for 12 years now and teach on average 5 - 7 classes per week.

There's a bit of a learning curve at first while you are trying to get used to dealing with students, dealing with the store and staff, dealing with the paperwork, and figuring out your best method of teaching. After the first few months, it really becomes quite fun.

Best of luck!!

Congrats! I just started teaching my first Wilton class at Michaels this month. I was nervous for the first class, especially since all the focus is on me and not on them. Class 2 went better, but everyone had troubles with their icing! I'm excited and am looking forward to more classes!!

Good luck!

I was a WMI until the end of October and just turned my store over to one of my students because my life was so crazy. I miss it but will be filling in on a part-time basis.

ABSOLUTELY, make sure you teach everything in the book, the way the book tells you. You owe it to your students to teach them. I tell them how I use the technique above and beyond the way the book shows. Just be open and honest with them on how to decorate cakes. I always start by telling them why I love teaching and decorating so much and how long I have been doing it. I share pictures and invite them to share pictures as well.

The hardest part for me is that all people don't learn the same way and some nights I would stay awake thinking how to teach things different. Don't be uptight, they are nervous and uptight enough for both of you. Teach them do it a certain way and adjust for the individual(some poeple just can't make their brains work that way) but you have to teach them the correct way and make sure they can make a nice finished product.

Be honest as well, if you don't know how to do something give them this website and the wilton website so that they can do their own research and research the answer to give them the next week.

I also, ALWAYS give my cell phone number (my friend calls it the Angie Hotline) to my students and tell them don't hesitate to call me and that there is no reason to get upset this is supposed to be fun (you should remember this too).

I am sure you will be great!

Can someone list the support site for the wilton instructors please? I would so appreciate being able to visit it. Thanks everyone!
evelyn

Congrats! I loved my WMI instructors!

I will say that years ago when I lived in Houston, I applied through Wilton to be a WMI. When it asked what level I had trained to and when I put in I had taken all the Wilton classes and that it was 15 years prior, but that I owned my own cake biz for many years and wanted to supplement my income by becoming a WMI...they told me to take the classes AGAIN and then reapply! Ticked me off actually, they didn't request to see any of my work at all, just sent an email telling me to take the classes again. So I figured unless you just recently took all their classes they weren't interested in you teaching for them. I felt like they just wanted more money from me. Can't understand why they wouldn't want a seasoned professional who uses their methods rather than a newbie graduate to teach. Just found it very odd.

They wanted you to take the classes again because the program has changed a great deal from 15 years ago.

And maybe because they want to make sure that as an WMI you will be more familiar with/and be teaching the "Wilton Way" instead of your own methods you may have used in your cake business.

You got an orientation? LOL. I've been teaching for months now and I didn't get anything. I just got the books and the dvd's. And other than that - I just kind of learned the paperwork on my own.

But that will be nice for you! Good luck!

I know it depends on the location, but what are your averege class sizes? I was told by the Manager at Michaels that the average for that store is about 13!!! WOW

Do you prefer teaching small or larger classes (aside from the pay)?

Personally, I prefer smaller classes, but my classes max out at 15 students and registration usually closes a week before the class begins. My daytime classes aren't so huge (5 - 10 on average) but the nighttime classes are crazy busy. There are usually 1 or 2 people waiting at the classroom door to see if someone no-showed on the first night of class so they can take their place. Thankfully I have a large classroom!