With an expanded student population this year, my schedule is pretty crazy — 40 classes per week with 5 different plans per day. Also new is that I serve two self-contained classes of autistic students. Given no previous experience with autism, I’m reading up on it, but I’m also doing a fair amount of learning-on-the-run, […]
Entries Tagged as 'chaos'
Learning about dance & autism, or what to do when you don’t know what to do
October 29th, 2009 · 3 Comments · Autism, Uncategorized
Time — urgent vs. sustained
September 27th, 2009 · 7 Comments · Uncategorized
I’ve had the opportunity to be thinking about time lately, both quantitatively & qualitatively — an opportunity that’s arisen from a drastic cut in the quantity of my instructional time this year. Not surprisingly, I perceive this cut to be affecting the quality of instruction. To cut to the quick, and at the risk of […]
A new year
August 30th, 2009 · Comments Off · Uncategorized
As the start of a new school year approaches, it looms large. I write lists to clear my brain. Then I have lists, as well as an overloaded brain. Most ominous among my thoughts is “What am I going to teach and how?” In the largest sense. How am I going to organize everything I […]
Tags:chaos·curriculum·curriculum integration·getting started·obstacles·problems·teaching
Training the audience
June 17th, 2009 · 2 Comments · Uncategorized
Audience norms are really different, depending on the event. Golf: total silence for the swing. Ballet: silence with applause following fantastic turns and jumps. Modern: silence, even following fantastic turns and jumps. Baseball: general conversation, cell phones & folks hawking food, but don’t disturb your neighbor during a play, and be ready to cheer wildly […]
Guest voice: Post-performance blues
June 13th, 2009 · Comments Off · Guest Voices
It’s been my hope & intention that this blog might be a means for myself and others to converse with each other from our isolated locations as dance educators. All for the purpose of sharing ideas, anxieties, questions, solutions, hopes, and humor as we hone our skills for the daily diet of dance we serve. […]
Tags:audience·chaos·culture·curriculum integration·obstacles·parents·performance·problems
Performance: Kids & costumes & sound, oh my!
June 7th, 2009 · 6 Comments · Uncategorized
The silence resounding on this blog since the last entry reflects in reverse the noisy mantra that took over my brain and all spare moments of my life the past few weeks, accelerating toward and recovering from performance. Like the shrill chant of “lions & tigers & bears” in The Wizard of Oz, the details […]
Tags:chaos·choreography·curriculum integration·intermediate·logistics·management·obstacles·performance·primary
Classroom management: space vs. energy
April 16th, 2009 · Comments Off · Uncategorized
Spring break may still be on my mind, but it ends quickly. Immediately following spring break, we start choreographing dances for the End-of-Year Performance. The assessments I did before spring break fulfill State requirements and provide data for evaluation of my own performance. But the End-of-Year Performance is for parents, the staff, and especially the […]
Tags:behavior·chaos·choreography·curriculum integration·getting started·management·obstacles·performance·primary·students·teaching
Daily challenges to classroom management
October 29th, 2008 · Comments Off · Uncategorized
Ten minutes into my first class on Monday morning this week (5th grade), Rasheedah let out a bloodcurdling scream. I stopped class to see whether we needed 911. We didn’t. No one had touched her, but apparently, during an exploration of strength and stomping, she thought Cammie was chasing her and reacted as if a […]
Time: another essential ingredient
October 21st, 2008 · Comments Off · Uncategorized
Imagine a perfect schedule for teaching. I have one. Every student in the school takes dance, kindergarten through 5th grade (except one, but that’s another story). I get to know them as they grow, and they accept dance (and me), almost like air. When new students come in, as they always do, they’re swept along […]
Tags:chaos·curriculum·schedule·teaching·time