Common Teaching Pitfalls

[DanceMentor]

One that I have heard is that most new teachers tend to try to teach too much too fast. What are some other pitfalls that new teachers should be careful about?

(I have been teaching 12 years, but always feel I have more to learn)

 

[Another Elizabeth]

Your students' problems are not always the same as the ones you are working on now, or the ones that you were working on when you were at their level!

 

[quixotedlm]

in the context of intermediate and above classes...

-- Not recognizing the shy but skilled student on and off the classroom.
-- Constructing a leader centric agenda for the class
-- teching shine sequences that are particularly well suited to the teachers body/motion/style but seldom has the chance of looking good on anyone else
-- form over substance. focussing more on patterns and less on technique.
-- allowing students who are not interested in technique to register for advanced classes.
-- bad mix of students in class - esp. imbalance of lead and followers, or mismatched abilities of leads and followers.

 

[latingal]

One thing I really appreciate in my experienced pro-am teachers, they have many ways of explaining the same thing - and are willing to keep trying them (and inventing new ways of explaining the same thing) until they find that explanation that "turns the lightbulb on" for me!

Also, new teachers may not have had the time to develop a systematic method of teaching basic technique for beginners (kind of related to what you mentioned in the original post for this thread).

 

[waltzgirl]

Address quality of movement early on--in suitable doses. I see newbies who walk across the ballroom just fine suddenly look like Frankenstein doing a box step. But I see instructors have them repeat and repeat the pattern without addressing that. Of course, they grow out of it over time (but somehow never before they've asked me to dance at a social!), but I think a greater awareness of the body above the ankles from the beginning would help a lot of people.

 

[dancedevine]

Address quality of movement early on--in suitable doses. I see newbies who walk across the ballroom just fine suddenly look like Frankenstein doing a box step. But I see instructors have them repeat and repeat the pattern without addressing that. Of course, they grow out of it over time (but somehow never before they've asked me to dance at a social!), but I think a greater awareness of the body above the ankles from the beginning would help a lot of people.

Great insights here! I'm teaching newbies and find myself struggling with my class time options:

Do I address the obvious posture and body mechanic issues which would not be entirely fun for the students. I could spend our entire class time just correcting body alignment from a standing position and still have material to cover for several more sessions. I have one student who is terribly insecure and responded to my initial efforts to offer corrections in a defensive matter.

(This has been an interesting teaching challenge for me. I finally discovered through much personal experimentation, trial and error that I had to find his strengths, address those and talk about how we would work together to really showcase his 'amazing capabilities to his dance partners...i became a spin doctor...translations below

"show the world what a dashing young man you are by lifting and extending the head/neck" corrected the{eyes glued to floor, unsupported core and frame}...

{arms hyperextended and locked in a way that made female partners avoid dancing with him} was corrected when I asked him to "place your very sturdy and strong arms into a secure, yet adaptable frame so your partenr may enjoy your solid, yet accomodating frame"

{feet stomp and clomp in mindless Frankenstein style crushing all within their path} improved through

let's move like the music as we dance...make our tangible feet into the light quarter and eigth notes by walking or moving lightly over the soft clouds.)

or

do I teach them some very easy basic patterns to get them moving to music and start developing some confidence?

And floorcraft and ettiquette....how do I fit all these into our already limited timeframe?

Do I want them to be picture perfect extensions of my detailed attention to the finer points of dance (like the model lifetime dancer) or do I want them to have a positive experience that leaves them hungry for additional dance study and participation throughout their lifetime?

Despite my careful outlines and planning, I often struggle with this three way tug-of-war within my own teaching space. So for any of my less than perfect dance students out there...whose posture may leave room for improvement...I say that we worked on the essentials as much as we could...but we just couldn't do it all in that short amount of time...but at least...here is another person dancing! Thank goodness, despite and because of any imperfection, this new dancer brings life into our world of dance, this new dancer brings enthusiasm and vitality to dance and is a joy for me to have as a former, current, future student.

I'd rather dance and share a song with a newbie or 'baby dancer' than dance alone on an empty floor.

 

[Aieee]

This is a good thread! Can we expand it to include tips for non-teachers trying to introduce friends to different dances (informal, basic teaching)?

 

[tangotime]

Frankenstein -- I think you mean the monster-- he was the doctor - common mistake ( altho he probably looked as bad ! )

 

[dancedevine]

always learning

To dance mentor...I am relieved to know that there are still teachers out there who indeed are still learning. I would love to have a tribe of teachers such as these nearby so I could just be a student and learn, learn, learn to dance, dance, dance!:banana:

 

[fascination]

a really good teacher...or someone with the potential to be...will practice alone, will study their own body mechanics...will think of many analogies for various concepts...will focus on the fundamentals...my 2 cents...

 

[Twilight_Elena]

Here are my problems as a newbie teacher:
Saying too much or too little. I have no idea how much of a dance a student can take, or how much I should insist on technique.
Many times, I find myself unable to manage my 45 minutes correctly and end up with a spare ten minutes that I have no idea what to do with.
I look at the mirrors all the time. But that's just me. Depending on many things, I either can't stand to look at them or can't stop.
While I have tons of information in my head, I'm not sure sometimes whether it's time for some tech details or not. I'm not sure if they're for beginners, intermediates or advanced Bronze students. I feel like there's a continuity gap in my head between teaching toe-heel or follow-through footwork, and teaching correct hip settling by use of abs or pushing from the supporting leg. 99% of the time I try to deal with the fundamentals, but sometimes I wonder if MY fundamentals are THEIR fundamentals.

T_E

 

[fascination]

I think a good principle for whether of not teaching an element of technique is sorth it or not to a newb social group has alot to do with whether or not you see that there is a problem that could be made easier by knowlege of some element of technique that is missing...otherwise, I agree, it's a slippery slope from what I have seen ....and I do not envy you one bit....

 

[Al Gisnered]

One that I have heard is that most new teachers tend to try to teach too much too fast. What are some other pitfalls that new teachers should be careful about?

(I have been teaching 12 years, but always feel I have more to learn)

Off the top of my head, for the teacher of newBs:

Floorcraft and ettiquette. Line of dance in traveling dances, where to do spot work in traveling dances, lack of right of way in all dances, apologies given and accepted, that kind of thing. I don't think it can be emphasized too much.

Neglecting preceeds and follows. One of the biggest hurdles a newB has, particularly the leader, is getting into it and out of a figure. Not just in the traveling dances either. I see beginners doing endless Rumba basics and the intense look on their faces seems to echo their trying to remember "What comes next?".

 

[DancinAnne]

Off the top of my head, for the teacher of newBs:

Floorcraft and ettiquette. Line of dance in traveling dances, where to do spot work in traveling dances, lack of right of way in all dances, apologies given and accepted, that kind of thing. I don't think it can be emphasized too much.

Neglecting preceeds and follows. One of the biggest hurdles a newB has, particularly the leader, is getting into it and out of a figure. Not just in the traveling dances either. I see beginners doing endless Rumba basics and the intense look on their faces seems to echo their trying to remember "What comes next?".

Oh gosh, I know that look! In fact, when I lead (not often enough to be adept), I prolly have that look on my face!

 

[Al Gisnered]

Here are my problems as a newbie teacher:
Saying too much or too little. I have no idea how much of a dance a student can take, or how much I should insist on technique.

I think you need always to insist on technique -- but sometimes insist on it as something for the future. Work on it, but not get bogged down by it if there are more immediate issues that need to be taken care of.

Many times, I find myself unable to manage my 45 minutes correctly and end up with a spare ten minutes that I have no idea what to do with.

The best teachers I've had in any subject with practical application have always tried to end class with review and practice.

While I have tons of information in my head, I'm not sure sometimes whether it's time for some tech details or not. I'm not sure if they're for beginners, intermediates or advanced Bronze students. I feel like there's a continuity gap in my head between teaching toe-heel or follow-through footwork, and teaching correct hip settling by use of abs or pushing from the supporting leg. 99% of the time I try to deal with the fundamentals, but sometimes I wonder if MY fundamentals are THEIR fundamentals.

Won't your fundamentals eventually become their fundamentals? As I say above, you might as well introduce the concepts, at least. Perhaps as a goal, not for immediate, perfect, application. And don't let it to become overwhelming. Keep emphasizing that the process of learning to dance is, in itself, fun and rewarding.