Still thinking of how I got started teaching dance to my students with Autism… I was asked how to structure a class or lesson. But for the first year-and-a-half, the structure of my classes for the autistic students was totally different from my other lessons for kindergarten through 5th graders. I mostly alternated structured activities [...]
Entries Tagged as 'getting started'
Getting acquainted: students with Autism
March 30th, 2011 · 2 Comments · Autism
Not much time, but I must reply to a comment left on my blog… “I will be teaching a dance class for children with Autism starting next week. There will be 6 kids ages 6-10. Honestly, I have been attempting to plan the first class, but unsure where to start. Some children are fairly high [...]
It’s early yet…
September 15th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Uncategorized
This year we have 3 fifth-grade classrooms instead of 2. Two of them share a space, while the 3rd is located between the two 4th grade classrooms. Among 5th graders, anticipation about their end-of-year choreography (that’s June of 2011!) is so high that they arrived to dance class on the first day last week, worried [...]
Lesson Plan: Setting parameters to get started
October 13th, 2009 · 3 Comments · Lesson Plans
Grades: 1st-5th grades Teaching points: The dance classroom has standards: Make good decisions. Show respect. Solve problems. [These are school-wide standards.] Targets: Understand & practice the nitty gritty: standards, routines & procedures for dance class; Get moving! Context: Just now it’s no longer the first week of school, but the first week of school comes [...]
Tags:behavior·getting started·intermediate·lesson plans·management·primary·teaching
New year, new challenge: learning about autism
September 17th, 2009 · 6 Comments · Autism, Uncategorized
Perhaps related to economic pressures, our student numbers jumped from 320 to 380 this September. Sixteen of our new students belong to two self-contained classrooms & are diagnosed as severely impacted by Autism Spectrum Disorders. I’m learning quickly & first-hand what that means, since I provide 30 minutes of instruction for 8 of the children [...]
Translating Writers Workshop
August 31st, 2009 · No Comments · Uncategorized
Pedagogy changes constantly. When I was a 5th-6th grade classroom teacher for a few years (15 years ago), the writing pedagogy sweeping through schools was characterized by 6 traits (content, voice, organization, word choice, fluency & conventions). I was trained in teaching the traits & scoring writing samples using rubrics built on them. Nowadays, however, [...]
Tags:choreography·curriculum integration·getting started·obstacles·PD·teaching·thinking skills
Life comes back to the classroom
August 31st, 2009 · No Comments · Uncategorized
The first traces: Barely begun, but a whole different state of mind compared with two and a half months ago.
Tags:getting started·space
A new year
August 30th, 2009 · No Comments · 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
Classroom management: space vs. energy
April 16th, 2009 · No Comments · 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
Mid-year: What have we learned, and where do we go from here?
March 8th, 2009 · 2 Comments · Uncategorized
From September through December, we danced. January was music and percussion month. This last Friday, we finished a month of theatre (2 sessions of 2 weeks each). Having played with, discussed, mastered?, explored, and pursued theatre vocabulary and skills, we’ll return to dancing tomorrow. First & second graders have now developed skills of observation, sensory [...]
Tags:getting started·intermediate·management·primary·students·teaching