Instructors - your HONEST opinion - how can they improve?

Hi Everyone,

Another thread has prompted me to post this – being a salsa instructor myself, I’m always interested in people’s opinions of them in general. I’m always looking to improve my lessons and the experience that I’m giving my students and I always ask them for feedback and to come to me if they have any problems. BUT having been in this position myself I know that this is not always possible – and that some people are too shy / embarrassed / don’t want to cause offence so are reluctant to comment. So this is where you come in.

I hope you don’t mind but I’d like to use you guys to get opinions, in general, on instructors – what do you like, what don’t you like, what do you wish they would do, what do you wish they wouldn’t do, what do you want to get out of a class / club, what are your reasons for taking salsa lessons – and how can the instructor help you to achieve these reasons, how could an instructor make the experience better for you, etc etc.

We’ve all been there – I know for a fact that there are salsa instructors who I’ve absolutely loved – and others who I can’t stand for various reasons – personality, teaching style, ego etc. At the time I probably wouldn’t have said anything – but hopefully since I’m putting this in a general context rather than asking you to comment on specific teachers I’m hoping that this will make it easier for you to comment. I would like you to be as complete and honest in your responses as possible (I don’t think any of my students are on here, but if you are feel free to be as honest as you like!!)

I hope that at least the fact that I care about the experience being a good one for my students and that they actually take something away from the classes, in terms of having a fun time (after all salsa over and above anything else is supposed to be enjoyable!) as well as being able to remember and re-create the moves when they head out on the dance floor, sets me apart from someone who is motivated solely by money or personal prestige, but I also know that you never stop learning – and that the only thing that will really make me a good instructor is to never stop seeking to improve myself for my students.

Any advice / opinions / suggestions that you guys can offer me here would be greatly appreciated, by myself and I’m sure by extension my students in time!!

Hugs

Claire xx

and will u pay us $$ for advice?

I will pay anyone who gives me advice the same amount that I get paid for posting my advice on the forums... :wink: :lol:

let me re-phrase then..

will u pay for useful advice? 8)

LOL! j/k

Who said the advice had to be useful? :wink:

My speciality is useless information...although you appear to have already gathered that... :lol:

false!.. u must have me confused with one of my other personalities

Damn...so near and yet so far... :lol:

Back on topic:
first requirement besides knowing your stuff is being genuinly interested in your student's progress.
but simply by posting this question you've proven you meet that requirement. :wink:

Thanks Yola - much appreciated

i don't know about help, but i know what i dislike about some lessons i do

i like an instructor who acknowledges that the women have paid for these lessons as much as the men and so are deserving of some guidance, too.

Many lessons tend to be only teaching the man a new move, omitting the footwork for the ladies, tips that might make the turn easier, say, ... and also, mysteriously, omitting exactly how men should LEAD each move clearly and unambiguously.

and my other gripe is that it tends to be men who teach and they teach from a man's point of view. How's about giving us help on spins, turns, etc rather than just 'moves' for the men to memorise?

The bits of a move that are tricky for a man to execute tend to be repeated and practised in the lesson a few times but stuff that is tricky for the lady?
[Instructor] "ok and then it's just a double spin for the lady, ok? ...right, next bit is......" hold on rewind, can we practice that double spin a few times before moving on? hello?


things I consider vital in a lesson:

counting through each beat (not 123, 123, 123, 123 as i have seen in one lesson yikes!) and giving clear instructions as to what happens on those crucial 3 and 4 beats where the signal has to be clear for the lady.

breaking down the footwork on tricky moves for men AND women

caring about how much your students are learning and progressing, which includes talking to the instructor of the level above to find out what your students need to know before moving up and perhaps arranging with this instructor when to move students up and so they adjust their level to accommodate these newcomers.

as well as telling us what to do, also give clear indications of what NOT to do. I found SuperMario's advice of "guys, don't do this... and when i say "don't do this" i mean DON'T Do it, ok? to be helpful in breaking common mistakes people are oblivious they might be making.

if you see a one or two people in the group who cannot even do the rudimentary elements you're choosing to teach (e.g. cannot even do a cross body lead for an intermediate lesson) don't be afraid to move them to improvers, rather than slow up the WHOLE group for these newbies.

Praise as well as correct. Knowing what you did right is a source of learning, too.

just some of my ideas.... i am sure others can add to the list

Hi Cookie,

Thanks for this - I'm very pleased to say that most of what you cover off here I already attempt to do in my classes anyway - having been a follower myself I have a great empathy for followers, both the lack of attention in the lessons and their need to understand the leads and that the leads are being adequately learnt by the leads in order to produce good dancers for them to dance with!!

The other thing I try and do to make it more interesting for the ladies is to give styling tips as I go through, so on the simple moves (for them) they have something that they can work ok too...

Thanks so much for your input

What I have seen is that some people dance fairly well and think "In the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king!" Then they advertise themselves as teachers and the poor students don't know he sucks. :roll:

In order to be a teacher you must know the material thoroughly and be able to transmit it. You must know teaching methodology, what diferrent styles of teaching are better with different students. Verbal, visual, kinesthetic?

One thing I see lacking most often is an understanding of rudimentary musical theory. You need to know about measures, phrases, downbeat, identifying the "1", how the "clave" hits fall on the 8 beat phrase, and such.

Often a teacher will not mention any numbered beats on breaking down a step. They'll dance it and then explain the step in terms of "step, slide, point, touch, back..." they have no idea what beat they're on. :? Others use the numbers incorrectly. They may say on the "8" while it's really on the "and".

The other day I saw a guy give a free lesson in a club (how could he charge?). He dances breaking on the 2 and he was using a timing CD calling out 1-2-3, 5-6-7! :shock:

So in order to break or step on the 2 he was explaining the basic as slightly closing with the right foot on 1, break on the 2 with left, rock back to right on 3... This is NY on 2 Eddie Torres style (Break on 2 but step on 1-2-3,5-6-7)and he doesn't know it. That's not what the teacher dances, he breaks on 2 stepping 2-3-4,6-7-8 as he did when demonstrating the step to music. Later when demonstrating turns with music he was on 3!

This sort of thing mortifies me. Because I see that clearly given my music bacground, but people look at him as the teacher and me a beginner. So how dare I suggest he is "wrong"? Of course, when it comes to music theory and ear for it - I'm ahead of him.

Someone may be a wonderful dancer and win competitions but that doesn't make him a good teacher.

Well that's it for now.

Hi Ivan,

Thanks for your insight - much appreciated. I know exactly what you mean - even a good dancer might not necessarily be a good teacher, but a mediocre dancer definately won't be!!

Luckily for me my background is in music - I was a musician before I was a dancer, I used to sing semi-pro and was the in-house vocal trainer at the studio I used to manage. I think that having a sound musical understanding and an in built musical counter helps so much!

In my opinion, you need to understand that different people learn in different ways - look at the class and if someone isn't getting it explain it in a different way so that they might grasp it too. Luckily for me as I dance as a lead and a follower when I teach a class I (as long time and situation allows) I rotate the women to ensure that they have got it and to give them pointerst to make it easier for them, but I also then rotate myself round the guys as a follower to ensure that they are leading it correctly and to give them pointers on leading it better. Sometimes you actually have to show the leads what is required by doing it to them, so that they can FEEL what tension / pressure / lead is necessary as sometimes showing / explaining just isn't enough. If after some time people still are not getting it then I will ask them to come and find me after the lesson so that I can go through it with them 1 on 1 so that I can find the way of teaching them that they will understand and grasp - just so that I don't hold the class up for everyone else.

As far as counting goes - I always start with counting the beats out for the class and only when we get to the end might I switch to calling the steps (in rhythm of the beats) to remind them of the elements of the routine while they are trying to commit it to memory!!

I agree - even as a teacher it is very difficult to criticise someone else's style or method of teaching and tell them that they are 'wrong' even if you can see mistakes that they are making - which is why I posted this here so that people have a chance to explain their frustrations, opinions ans suggestions so that I at least can try and improve myself

Luckily I have a good friend who is one of my students and he is brutally honest with me - if he thinks I was crap he would tell me - if he thinks I did ok but would like to see changes he would tell me - and if I did well he would tell me too...I was just after a wider opinion of instructors in general so I might learn from others' mistakes

I have a great instructor. Been dancing since 7 months. I'll tell you what I like and dislike in group lessons:

Like:
- he loves his job and makes dancing so much fun
- he loves teaching and has lots of patience
- he's dedicated to the lesson
- he makes the environment comfortable (e.g trading partners while practising (since i have no partner))

Could be improved:
- when the level of the people isn't the same, the class can get boring (probably frustrating to the ones behind).
- it would be nice to know the syllabus of the level (i'm a bit academic)
- doesn't compliment enough. Even if I'm not that good, I would like to be critized in a constructive way. What do I need to improve, what I'm good at, etc.

I've started taking some private lessons with him now, so I'll see how that goes.
I think loving your job is the most important thing, cause that will be conveyed to your students.

This is great - thank you so much for your feedback Shooshoo