Diseases

I'm really starting to see some progress in students' understanding of basic dance elements.  The cross-curricular elements are never a problem - they seem to grasp those easily and are able to apply them to the activities and explorations we do during class.  We used Positive and Negative Space, Shapes, and Spatial Relationships today to explore the differences between infectious and non-infectious diseases.  They are really exhibiting some amazing and creative shapes!  That was exciting to see.

There was a high school intern with the class today which turned out to be really distracting.  I kept having to pull back attention from entire groups of students who were gathered around her, talking to her or playing with her necklace or other interactions that were taking them away from the class.  It made me realize the importance of maintaining the somewhat tricky balance between being an authority figure and kind and understanding figure.  Sometimes, teachers just want to be their students' "friend."  While this can be fun for the students, I think it ends up hindering them in the long run.  In that position, a teacher can't push for progression as much, can't discipline or manage when they need to and can't be a trusted mentor.  It was frustrating for me as a teacher to fight for their attention, but at the same time feel like I couldn't do much to reduce the distractions.  I just had to deal with it and move on.  It was definitely an interesting situation.  On the other hand, the intern did help me with the class by dancing and helping her group really create a nice piece.  It was the most "dancing movement" I've seen in their creative pieces next.  It made me think on how I approach the Create/Perform sections of my lessons.  Maybe, if I demonstrate what a dance I would create could look like, they would understand better when I ask them to dance in the middle of their dances, rather than just make a beginning shape, move a little bit, then find an ending shape.  It might help them see how to make their dances more substantial and meaty.  

Mrs. Findlay was a valuable help today; she answered questions at the end about what she was seeing in the performances and why it made them interesting.  Her encouragement and feedback really validates the experience for the students.  Mrs. Findlay is going to begin teaching sections of the lessons so that once I finish this ArtsBridge program, she'll be ready to teach her own creative dance classes!  I'm excited to see her in action. :)          

Favorite Moments:

• There is a new girl in the class who has some special needs.  Today was her first dance class with me.  While she seemed a little lost at times during the lesson and was sometimes reluctant to participate, she had a wonderful partner who kept encouraging her.  I was so proud of the student she was working with for being patient and helping her.  At the end of class, this little girl asked, "Can we do it again?!"  Don't worry, I'm coming back next week!
• We discovered today that it is possible to work together and create shapes and movement without necessarily touching each other (this was in connection to non-infectious diseases.  We can still work together and have fun together without being worried about catching a non-communicable disease.)  At the end of class, I asked the students to talk about other places in the world that we see shapes that connect without touching or things working together by sharing negative space.  A little boy was literally so excited about his answer that he was bouncing up and down and whispering, "this is a good one!"  His answer?  A flock of birds flying and moving together in the air, making shapes without touching each other.  Holla!  They totally got it. :)