teaching tip
Teaching Tip: How To Explain
One thing I’ve learned in my 24 years of teaching dance is that not everyone hears a correction or explanation the same way. As an instructor, you are trying to give students that “aha” moment, and it can be a challenge. In order to be effective, you need to come up with a variety of ways of saying the same thing. Just because it makes sense to you doesn’t mean it will ring true for everyone else.
I was thinking about this in class last night when I was teaching. I had instructors who would always say the exact same thing. “Pull up–like there is a string attached to the top of your head” or “tuck your bottom under” – and I don’t think they made a lot of sense to me. When I pulled up under those directions, I became stiff and held my breath. When I “tucked my bottom” I would respectively hunch my shoulders forward.
This isn’t to say that these corrections are wrong–I understand the meaning now–but at the time I didn’t understand how to make my body obey. If the teachers would have given several different explanations, it may have saved me some time.
You never know what a student will respond best to, so the more ways you can communicate what you are trying to say, the better. It will challenge your mind as a teacher, and it will help students have a larger framework to draw from as they try to master technique. Make it part of your lesson plan time–you won’t regret it.
Teaching Tip: When Students Are Late
Being late to dance class is actually kind of a big deal. Since warm-up exercises are designed to help the dancer’s muscles (and tendons/ligaments) prepare for the demands of class, late students should know what you expect of them when they arrive in the classroom so that they are not risking injury.
How you handle being tardy is up to you. Perhaps you just tell the student to do some plies and tendus before joining the class if it isn’t too far into the barre. If the student is more than a few minutes late, many teachers ask that they just sit and watch the class instead of trying to catch up.
If you have students who are late on a regular basis, it may be helpful to speak with the parents. As for deciding on make-up classes, it’s really a matter of what you are comfortable with. Do students just lose that class if they are too late to join? Or can they come to another class and substitute it for the one they miss? The important thing is to have a policy that you consistently enforce so that everyone gets the same treatement.
What are your rules? How do you handle a student coming late to class? I’d love to hear what various teachers are doing out there…
Teaching Tip: Don’t Do It Wrong
This may be a hard tip to employ, but it is a smart one. Don’t demonstrate how to do anything the wrong way in dance class. Even though this can be a great way to get the message across to students, the fact is, you can injure yourself. Proper technique is designed in part to help you stay safe. It’s based on biomechanical principles, and when you alter them, bad things can happen.
As teachers, we are often guilty of not warming up properly, or not taking enough classes ourselves. This is another reason to avoid demonstrating things the wrong way. If you aren’t in tip top shape–injury can be a lot more likely.
You can verbalize the incorrect form, but stick to showing your students the right way to do things. It’s a lot safer.
Teaching Tip: Motivation Vs. Instruction
I love enthusiastic teachers–they motivate students to learn, and they bring energy to the classroom. Many times I have been forced to be in class with a teacher that was less than inspiring, and it isn’t exactly an enjoyable feeling.
Even so–I have still been able to learn from those teachers.
There is a fundamental difference between being able to motivate students and being able to instruct them. These are two very different things–and some teachers can make the mistake of not realizing that.
Being able to instruct a student means that you can break down the step or combination for them in a way that helps them to learn it. Being able to motivate them means that they will want to do it–and perhaps even get excited about it.
Ideally, it’s nice to be able to do both, but instruction is at the heart of teaching. Especially if you are new to the craft, be sure to focus on making sure you can relay information to your students. As you become more comfortable with that portion of the job, you can work on inspiring them!
Teaching Tip: Beating Burnout
If you are feeling burnt out and wonder if your dance students are able to tell…guess what? They already know.
Chances are good that by the time you are feeling fried, you have been teaching on auto-pilot for a while already. Students are the first to notice. What is the best remedy? It’s different for everyone, but here are some simple things you can try to shake off the blahs:
+ Take a class. Mine some ideas from another teacher. It’s ok. You’ll put your own stamp on them. It’s good to get new perspectives and we can all learn from each other. This is a great way to find new things to do in class.
+ Take a break. Get a substitute and go to the movies for the day. Sometimes just clearing your head is all that is needed to refresh yourself. This can be especially true if you teach multiple classes. It’s hard to give your all when you are constantly going.
Teaching Tip: Adult Ballet Class
If you are new to teaching adult ballet, there are a few things you may want to consider. Teaching adults is not the same as teaching kids–there are a different set of concerns, and they are often coming to class for different reasons. Here are a few things to keep in mind that can help get you started off on the right foot (sorry for the bad pun!):
+ Ask about injuries. This is a very important thing. Many adults will have some type of physical issue that can limit them in certain ways when it comes to taking ballet class. I have a student with a hip replacement, one with a bad ankle and one with a bad back. You absolutely must know about these things ahead of time. Don’t try to play doctor–ask your student to check with their physician about what they can and can’t do in ballet class–and remember to follow up so that you are aware…
4Teaching Tip: Don’t Just Correct…Repair!
It’s all about solutions.
If you give a student an “empty” correction it isn’t useful. You have to somehow describe–in a way that they can understand–how not to repeat the mistake. Corrections come with solutions that can be applied will make someone a better dancer. Those that don’t will just erode a student’s self-esteem and make them feel frustrated.
Try to show the student the right way of doing the step, rather than just pointing out what they did wrong. Then break it down verbally for them if possible as well. The more feedback you can give them, the better the chance they will understand how to correct the problem!
Teaching Tip: Accentuate The Positive
From time to time on 4dancers we will offer a “teaching tip”. These short pieces strive to be practical and are designed to be put to use right away. We hope that you will find some useful ideas in this section. Today’s tip deals with giving corrections during class.
Correcting a student can be a touchy thing, but there are ways to go about it gently. Starting out with a compliment can help frame things so that a student is more receptive to hearing them. This works especially well with sensitive students. If you can stress something they are doing well, then correct the behavior you want to change, it can make a difference. This is such a tiny thing, but it works!
