• Continue healing from a partial knee replacement.  My knee’s doing beautifully, with range of motion returning, but my energy’s not its normal self yet.
• Integrate structures & concepts from the Readers Workshop.  I started using this material last year, following a week of professional development on Writers Workshop.  Specific things I’m trying to integrate: a focus on the student as developing artist, clear teaching points, mini-lessons with abundant time for independent work, use of mentor videos & texts…
• Reorient myself around a new class schedule.  Last year’s schedule-from-hell is no more (can you hear the fireworks?).  This year I’ll be teaching 1st-5th graders for 60 minutes every other day instead of 30 minutes every day.  Having taught in the public schools for 16 years now, I haven’t had the indulgence of a 60-minute session in about 20 years!  Could be a challenge to plan the right amount & flow of material for awhile…
• Enjoy my last few days of vacation, while getting ready for what’s to come…

It’s a beautiful day & I’ve already worked for awhile on Goals 1-3, so I’m ready for Goal 4.  On the way out into the sunshine, I’ll stop at the thrift store & get some plain white shirts — for 5th grade girls who spend all their time in dance class trying to keep their bellies covered by tugging at their short tops & low-cut jeans!  Maybe I’ll even get some belts for the boys, who have to keep their hands on their sagging pants all the time!

Happy transitioning!

So far, so good, I’m doin’ fine!

…it’d be most appropriate for the 4th & 5th graders… but the boys probably won’t dig the skirt idea too much, so I need a boy-version of swishy clothing, hopefully with one-size-fits-all for both boys & girls.  Then I’ll need 32 of them in order to supply a whole class.  And I’ll need a lesson plan of course, but that’s the easy part…  or better still, a whole unit integrating dance, geographic directions, magnetic north, and play!

Play:  A wonderful book I’m reading:  Research asserts, once again, that dance is beneficial to learning, because it has so many elements of play!

I doubt I’ll find funding for a class-set of North Skirts, but I’ll definitely be carrying the heart of Stuart Brown’s book Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul into my lesson-planning.

• Moment of agony #1 was physical therapy session #1, when it came time to bend my knee. What was a piece of cake before surgery was a real wake-up call after!
• Moment of agony #2 lasted about 6 hours. That was on the night between Day 1 & Day 2 after surgery, when I was being switched from IV to oral painkillers. They turned off the nerve block (SO effective!) at midnight, in order to get my leg ready for my (3rd) physical therapy session at 7:45 am, but the Oxycodone didn’t kick in.  Before that, on the pain scale of 1-10, I ‘d been cruising along at 2-4, and then suddenly the numbers 6&7&8 seemed far more descriptive. That was a long, can’t-stop-thrashing, how-many-minutes-are-there-in-an-hour, OMG night. When it came time for my 5:30 dose, I suggested we change medication, which the nurse did, but not at full dose.  Lesson for the future:  Ask “Is this the largest dose I can have?!”
• Moment of agony #3 was the physical therapy session I endured before the new painkiller had time to take effect.

But the pain calmed by late in the afternoon on Day 2, and I passed all the tests: walking across the room and down the hall with the walker, climbing 4 steps to simulate the front steps at home, climbing in and out of their pretend vehicle, and depositing enough pee in a cup.

It’s been a busy time since… who knew it would take all day & then some to heal? No, I mean I knew it would take weeks-and-maybe-months to heal, but I thought I’d be doing some other things at the same time! Perhaps it’s too soon to tell, but Day 1 of being home has been plenty tasking.  I’ve…

• eaten at regular intervals (nope, didnt’ cook, just ate),
• traveled from bed to bathroom to bed to couch to table several times over,
• sorted my pills,
• done my physical therapy regime twice,
• wrapped my leg in Glad wrap & taken a shower,
• put on my tight socks (couldn’t have done it alone — boy, do I have great support!),
• iced my knee,
• taken several serious naps, &
• read the newspaper.

The best news?  That so far every time I do my physical therapy it’s easier & better. Very motivating!  But I have to go now — I’m late for my next nap.

Trying to maintain the left knee I came with has been a 7-year, downward spiral including:

• arthroscopic surgery (yuck)
• physical therapy (of course)
• an unloader brace (yuck, yuck)
• cortisone (whee!… and then darn!)
• cranial sacral osteopathy (yes!)
• accupuncture (good for the short term & many other ailments, but my benefits ran out)
• Gyrotonics (conscientiously seeking the parts that benefit my body)
• swimming (oh yes!  weightless!)
• bicycle-riding (also not weightbearing)
• glucosamin-chondroitin (eh)
• anti-inflammatories (oh yeah)
• unfortunate compensatory outcomes in my lower back, right shoulder & left neck & arm (yuck to the nth)
• an inversion table 2-3x a week (to help the compensatory outcomes in the lower back)
• daily hot tub & jets (first thing out of bed, to help me get up the stairs)
• did I forget anything? oh yes… Pilates, Bartenieff fundamentals & a bit of Feldenkrais
• oh, and a modified lifestyle (minimal gardening & walking, no hiking, no level changes or jumps, kid-demonstrators in class)

And all the time I’ve been figuring my future held a new knee…

Well, it’s time!  What I would wish for on a grand scale, of course, is to able to do everything I ever did before, including tap dance! But that’s not going to happen.  What I really hope for is to recover things I’ve given up: walking, some light dancing & pain-free sleep.  That would be a new beginning.  Stay tuned — I should know in a couple months.  And if you’re facing similar issues, feel free to comment or chat — I think the knee party could do with a little more conviviality.

Margret Dietz: A Dancer’s Legacy, by Elizabeth Freeman, Marie Nickell, and Linda Lee Soderstrom, follows Margret’s time under her mentor Mary Wigman… her passion for justice as a survivor of World War II… her years teaching in higher education at the University of Illiinois, University of California, DePauw University, and University of Minnesota, with stops along the way at the American Dance Festival and Connecticut College… her final years of building her own studio & company in Minneapolis.  Her story is interesting, the story of any artist, finding a way to pursue passion throughout a lifetime.

But Margret was a teacher, and this is a book to inspire any teacher.  Her classes were performances, but not just for her.  Within the course of a class, Margret swept & coaxed & nudged & transformed her students from wherever they started to the soaring level of fully committed dancers. A Dancer’s Legacy succeeds best in its descriptions of Margret’s teaching style, and it’s invaluable as a signpost pointing the way to good teaching. I’m glad to be reminded so vividly why I teach dance. It’s all been coming back to me this summer, reading Margret Dietz: A Dancer’s Legacy.

Back to June of 1972. Having just graduated from college, I was working as a summer intern in Washington, D.C. when news came of Margret’s death — so early, so young, as she was finally working with her own company. I finished the summer & returned to Minneapolis to capture what I could of Margret’s influence from those who’d worked most closely with her, among others whose lives changed directions when they met her.

I love summer reading …what more could I ask than a return to where I came from & a reminder of why I’m here? But I think this is summer reading for others too, even if meeting Margret for the first time. The photographs are fabulous, and the descriptions of excellent teaching work for any subject, where you can arrive as a novice & experience the joy of success.

Thanks to my sister, for finding the book & bringing it to me!

Coming from a modern background, when I first started teaching in the public school setting, I had the kids work in mixed-gender groups. Almost every time, the mixed gender groups would split into two single-gender groups & create complementary [or sometimes just simultaneous] choreography. Over the years I’ve gravitated toward having the intermediate kids (4th & 5th grade) self-select their groups — and, with a few exceptions, they self-select single-gender groups.

Recently, my 2nd graders performed a series of partner dances, and their teacher paired them for performance. She put Charlize & Jacob together, and their reflections remind me once again that boys & girls dance differently! Neither the audience nor I were aware of this little drama during the performance…

When we performed, I felt bad because of Jacob being fast and hard!!!!!! I learned how to be come (calm) not CRAZY!!! But I wish I wasn’t with a CRAZY!!! Partner! I just want a come (calm) partner! JACOB was so CRRAYYZZYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When we performed, I felt so exited I gragd Charlize to the front of the stage. I learned when you dance it doesn’t mater if it isn’t perfect you just have to be good, dance, and have fun.

Note to self, a reminder: Boys & girls who choose to dance together do a great job, but don’t force it!

watch?v=7lrUZKPtJP8

Another year ends...

Although my space is clean & clear,
I’m still processing the end of year…

For many years I’ve gone directly from the close of school to teaching an intensive graduate course on “Learning through Movement.”  It’s made for a grueling transition to summer vacation, but it’s always given me a chance to take a long view on my work by spending 2 weeks on my soapbox, in support of dance education.

Last year, the university responded to the down economy by canceling summer electives, so I did my year-end processing by leaving immediately for New York City to present at the NDEO Conference.

This year, summer vacation is really here ~~ no teaching, no travel til later… unstructured time with nothing but a list of “to-do’s.”

But still the urge to process the year gone by.  So I’ll continue looking at the kids’ reflections.  … to enjoy them & mine them for developmental changes that occur from kindergarten to 5th grade, as well as for insights about teaching.  I’ve already highlighted kindergarten & 1st grade…

2nd graders danced a medley of cultural dances for the end-of-year performance:

Yakyu ken, a dance about baseball from Japan that has a lot in common with Tanko Bushi & the variations of it that are performed at Obon,
Brown Jug Polka, or Heel ‘n’ Toe Polka, a circle dance with partners from Australia,
and Sasha! from Russia.

And here’s what 2nd graders had to say (let your mouse hover to see if it’s a boy or girl responding):

When we performed, I felt nervous and ecxited at the same time. My stomach was doing flipflops. I learned don’t be nervous. Forget about the crowd and just do what you are supposed to be doing. and you will do a great job.

When we performed, I felt nervous because my mom and my little sister was stairing at me. I learned that you don’t have to be afraid to dance while the audience watch you dance. you can be shy some time but not every time. dancing is really really fun.

When we performed, I felt surprised of how many people I had to perform so many people. I learned that you don’t have to be shy to perform and you have to brave also you got to dance with all you potent energy also you can do different and awesome moves.

We did the “Baseball” dance, “Brown Jug Polka,” and “Sasha!” for our friends and families. When I was danceing in front of the friends me and Flora were haveing fun too on stage and we laugt to much and when I see my grandpa and my uncle and my baby cusin Steven I was haveing more fun and just made them in jonie it and when I was danceing in front of my famally and my famailly friend I was realy scrad and. But it was fun anyway so It wasn’t scary to more and I realy injoyit when my teacher show me the dance I dance it was realy realy fun I realy like it so much this is all I have to say. And one more thing my teacher is the best and she teach us everything we need to do and I just like it so much and the performis is so fun and I am realy enjoy it when I was dancing in front of my family and in front of my friend.

When we performed, I felt fhy, happy, and it was so amazing. I learned that my dad and my mom saw me dance my dad and mom said to me that was amazing.

When we performed, I felt happy and shy scared. I learned that it’s hard to go up stage, and permore to eyerone in the school looking waiting for you to performe. My parents said you did a great job.

It was real fun. I lots of fun with my partner and I fell imprest of my self. I liked what I did. I was realy happy of what I did about my self. I felt kind of shy.

We did the “Baseball” dance, “Brown Jug Polka,” and “Sasha!” for our friends and families. I was kind of shy but when it was the middle of the dance I wasn’t shy anymore because no one laughed and me and Khaleea were adding some tricks to dance when we were doing the Parade. My mom was videoing me and my mom said go Malyun go you rock!

I find it interesting that kids expressed similar thoughts, regardless of the different sentence-starters I gave them — they talk about their feelings, their partners & who was in the audience…