For instructors: how you choose among students

[Dragonfly934]

Dance instructors, if you have more than one student who wants to dance the same multi-dance at a competition in the same age category, how do you choose? Is it first-come first-serve? Or who is the better dancer? Who has been with you the longest? Who is more hard-working? Who has more money? Or do you try to be fair and split up the events as evenly as possible?

 

[nikkitta]

in my experience, it's been $$$$

 

[sbrnsmith]

in my experience, it's been $$$$

Agree...dollars....

 

[Cal]

My Pro divides it up as evenly as possible (now, whether some of his students thinks it's fair or not might be another story.)

 

[fascination]

from what I have seen, it was seniority with my first pro...with my second it has always aligned such that the person with the most seniority and money and talent has always been the same person when there was an issue so it has not yet been an issue...my guess however with this one would be that it would come down to talent

 

[tangotime]

I assigned them their entries by adjusting someones age category.

"You wanna be a B? Well I already got a B... so you are gonna be a C (because that is what you are anyway!)

 

[Hedwaite]

Rock, paper, scissors.

 

[fascination]

A teacher can also split the championship and the scholarship between two students of the same age and same proficiency.

For me it was never about who spent the most money, but about how it made the most sense for everyone involved. Basically I just figured out who was going and if two of them overlapped I assigned them their entries by adjusting someones age category. "You wanna be a B? Well I already got a B... so you are gonna be a C (because that is what you are anyway!) But between A B C and Senior, there really shouldn't be a problem.

yep...when I was newest and in same category as someone else, because i was about 5 years younger I had to dance A....it didn't go terribly well all of the time and I regret my having my best A2 years ...but that is life....i always felt it was fair even if it didn't work to my advantage and I would expect the same courtesy now that I am at the top of the age group....one.more.year....

 

[Wannabee]

My pro does it very similarly to what Larinda described. If students going to a particular comp are in the same age group, level, etc., they will take turns dancing down in age for multi-dance events. And much to my surprise, it doesn't happen as often as I would have thought.

This seems as fair as any other approach and to my knowledge, none of the students have had a big problem with it.

 

[danceronice]

Generally it's first-come first-served, though up until this year it hasn't been much of an issue (I was the only Bronze A.) However, now I may wind up dancing down if there's a conflict. I do also have the slight advantage of being flexible in style-if there's a huge conflict I can dance another style.

 

[nikkitta]

The "taking turns" solution might work if the students in question both compete at the same frequency and have similar budgets. However, given a student who competes often and all over the country, versus another who can compete only a few times at more local comps, well...
one guess who gets left out.

 

[DanceMentor]

I know one pro that just has Open A, B and C, and the students are expected to come to the studio 4 times per week and compete nearly every comp. Then they are told that if they are not able to maintain this arrangement, there are other students waiting to take their place. Sounds pretty tough.

 

[Cal]

The "taking turns" solution might work if the students in question both compete at the same frequency and have similar budgets. However, given a student who competes often and all over the country, versus another who can compete only a few times at more local comps, well...
one guess who gets left out.

In the case of my Pro, he's often given the local opportunity to the student who couldn't travel, on the basis that the often/all-over student would be able to dance an ample number of scholarships/championships elsewhere. Several students (including me) have been on both sides of that scenario over the years, and it's worked out OK.

 

[3wishes]

My pro has alway done the "first come, first served" basis,,and as several of us are in the same age group, he then follows up with procedure that Larinda has already posted.
And if someone cancels, the next in line is offered the "cancelled" entries and a change in "age groups" if there was an overlap. I actually like this way of doing things.

 

[Cal]

For those who use the "first come, first served" system, how early does your pro start taking "reservations"? I can think of a couple of students who would nab their spots at certain competitions for the next several years ahead.