Where you feel like you are most heard?

I’ve danced all my life and from the experience that I have acquired from dancing is indescribable. Around my freshmen year of high school, the owner of my dance studio took me aside and asked me a very serious question that should only be asked to those older than me. She asked, “Would you like to take the teacher training course to teach some children’s classes?” Immediately in my mind I was ecstatic and I couldn’t think of another word but YES! I’ve worked hard my entire life …….

Where do you feel most spoken to?

Being away from home, my relationship with my mother has only grown stronger. Of course every kid gets annoyed with their parents on a regular basis, but my mom is the person I go to to feel most spoken to. Don't get me wrong, I have friends who do not confide in their mothers as I do in mine, and then there are some who do not even tell their parents anything. Being seven hours away, I still tell her ninety-percent of the things that I’ve experience in Tallahassee so far which is a very broad conversation, but more specifically, she has helped me with everything in my life. She has sent me to college, dealt with my boy problems, and has most of all pointed me in the right direction in life. She will give it to me straight, no question, but she has had an impact on me that nobody in my life will ever have.

It’s complicated.

Speaking to my father. He listens to everything I have to say but never completely understands where I’m coming from, whereas my mother understands me completely. I have definitely taken one side over the other before, but my dad unfortunately doesn’t speak to me the way my mom does. He takes everything I say so seriously and gets right to the point. I have an amazing relationship with both my parents, but sometimes there’s only one person one can

Leaning toward:

Dance and how my experience with it has made me feel heard.

The Genre of Instructing

I have danced all my life and the experience that I have acquired from dancing all those years is indescribable. Growing up watching my fellow dancers eventually teach was exactly the goal I wanted to reach. Around my freshmen year of high school, the owner of my dance studio took me aside and asked me a very serious question that should only be asked to those older than me. She asked, “Would you like to take the teacher training course to teach some children’s classes?” Immediately in my mind I was ecstatic and I couldn’t think of another word but YES! The course must be taken over a two year period in the summer time. One week out of the Summer, I would learn the course for eight hours a day for five days, and the Summer after that, I would take it again with more advanced material. After this, I would be ready to teach. I passed with flying colors both times I took the test. The lowest grade a student could receive was an 85%, but I ended up getting every question right, not that that mattered, but it showed my teachers how persistent I was about teaching. I waited very patiently those two years and happily accepted my offer to teach a few dance classes. This was it. I was done with the course and I now had to do some research of my own.

When I started the course that first summer, I was given a four inch white binder with everything I needed to know inside. The majority of the time I studied from there, but I now had to go back and gather all the information I needed to know to plan a successful class, because I was officially done with the course. Within the binder were sections for each dance style. I went back into the binder after I finished the course and wrote a lesson plan for each dance style. I had no idea what age group, let alone what style of dance I was going to teach, but after a week, I was assigned a Jazz class for 4-5 year olds. I was completely prepared for this because I had already written a lesson plan for a Jazz class. Now, in my fifteen-year-old mind I thought this would be easy and I would stick to my lesson plan perfectly, but no. It didn’t cross my mind that maybe not every student would be capable of executing every stretch and move I wrote in the lesson plan. So, I kept the lesson plan and when I would go into my first class, I would take note of what my students were capable of and who I would have to work with on my own. Thank goodness I thought of this because the end result was exactly what I thought.

I remember the first class I ever taught on my own. There were five little girls in my class and when I walked in I suddenly became nervous. I never thought I would be nervous to teach something I had learned my entire life. A fifteen-year-old teaching her first dance class alone is definitely nerve-wracking. Don’t get me wrong, I was well prepared for this day, but there is truly nothing like standing in front of your class for the first time. I cooled off and figured I’d start with learning my student’s names. We did this exercise so now I knew how to refer to my students. And to think I was nervous, my students were terrified. Most of them had never danced before which is something I had also asked them, so that meant I was really working with beginner dancers. This, of course was perfect for me because I was able to see what they could do without any training and develop them into the dancers they could be. Two out of my three students had danced before, but the others had not at all. I went though my class with the lesson plan and all and whoever I saw was struggling, I would tell them to try their best and take their time. We had stretched, gone across the floor, and ended with a game for that day because it was only the first class.

After this, I went to the owner of my studio and sat down with her. She asked me how the class went and I said it was exciting but also frustrating. There are teachers in my studio who have demonstrators who teach alongside them. Not knowing I would need one, I happened to ask the owner if she knew of anyone who could demonstrate for me. Luckily she had somebody in mind which lifted the weight off my shoulders, because I would now be able to work longer with my students who hadn’t much experience. I clearly focused on two goals for this class. One: was to help my inexperienced dancers catch up to what my experienced dancers were able to do and two: to focus on practicing for the studio’s final performance and the end of the year. Every class in the studio has to learn a final dance that is at least two minutes long, from the two-year-olds to the eighteen-year-olds. I began teaching my class their final dance right before Winter break would begin. It was a process because now formations, windows, and staging would come into play. This was probably the hardest thing I had ever had to do with my students. All I wanted was to make sure that they would look amazing on stage, and they did!

Teaching these five girls will always be an experience I’ll remember and will learn from. Every class is different, but I couldn’t have asked for a better class. These little girls were the best listeners because all they needed was time and a teacher with patience. And I definitely would not have been able to successfully teach without that white binder and the lesson plans. I never thought these young girls would let me instruct and guide them, and with this, their progress throughout the year was astonishing. Watching these little girls do and learn exactly what I did at their age was so beautiful to witness, and guiding them in not only instruction, but in life, will be a lesson I will always teach my students.

Sami Lev

Professor Wenzel

2/8/17

The Genre of Instructing

I have danced all my life and the experience that I have acquired from dancing all those years is indescribable. Growing up watching my fellow dancers eventually teach was exactly the goal I wanted to reach. Around my freshmen year of high school, the owner of my dance studio took me aside and asked me a very serious question that should only be asked to those older than me. She asked, “Would you like to take the teacher training course to teach some children’s classes?” Immediately in my mind I was ecstatic and I couldn’t think of another word but YES! The course must be taken over a two year period in the summer time. One week out of the Summer, I would learn the course for eight hours a day for five days, and the Summer after that, I would take it again with more advanced material. After this, I would be ready to teach. I passed with flying colors both times I took the test. The lowest grade a student could receive was an 85%, but I ended up getting every question right, not that that mattered, but it showed my teachers how persistent I was about teaching. I waited very patiently those two years and happily accepted my offer to teach a few dance classes. This was it. I was done with the course and I now had to do some research of my own. When I started the course that first summer, I was given a four inch white binder with everything I needed to know inside. The majority of the time I studied from there, but I now had to go back and gather all the information I needed to know to plan a successful class, because I was officially done with the course. Within the binder were sections for each dance style. This helped my immensely not just with learning a dance style, but how to actually teach a wellstructured class to any age range. This binder was my savior and I relied on it because it held every important piece of dance information inside. I had never been more thankful to carry around a binder, which sounds weird, but if I needed absolutely anything it would be written inside one of the many chapters. When I knew I would start teaching soon after completing the course, I really read in depth what the binder could help me with when going into my first class. I went back into the binder after I finished the course and wrote a lesson plan for each dance style. I had no idea what age group, let alone what style of dance I was going to teach, but after a week, I was assigned a Jazz class for 4-5 year olds. I was completely prepared for this because I had already written a lesson plan for a Jazz class. Now, in my fifteen-year-old mind I thought this would be easy and I would stick to my lesson plan perfectly, but no. It didn’t cross my mind that maybe not every student would be capable of executing every stretch and move I wrote into the lesson plan. So, I kept the lesson plan and when I would go into my first class, I would take note of what my students were capable of and who I would have to work with on my own. Thank goodness I thought of this because the end result was exactly what I thought. I remember the first class I ever taught on my own. There were five little girls in my class and when I walked in I suddenly became nervous. I never thought I would be nervous to teach something I had learned my entire life. I did not have an expectations as to what would happen in that first class, so my fifteen-year-old self teaching her first dance class alone was definitely nerve-wracking. Don’t get me wrong, I was well prepared for this day, but there is truly nothing like standing in front of your class for the first time. I cooled off and figured I’d start with learning my student’s names. We did this exercise so now I knew how to refer to my students. And to think I was nervous, my students were terrified. Most of them had never danced before which is something I had also asked them, so that meant I was really working with beginner dancers. This, of course was perfect for me because I was able to see what they could do without any training and develop them into the dancers they could be. Two out of my five students had danced before, but the three had not at all. I went though my class and followed the lesson plan, and whoever I saw was struggling, I would tell them to try their best and take their time. We had stretched, gone across the floor, and ended with a game for that day because it was only the first class. I wanted my students to leave their first class less nervous than they were and much more excited than when they first entered the room. I truly do think I accomplished this, but now I started to overthink every little thing I did in class and how I could fix it for next class, as well as for the classes that would eventually lead up to the final performance. After this, I went to the owner of my studio and sat down with her. She asked me how the class went and I said it was exciting but also frustrating. There are teachers in my studio who have demonstrators who teach alongside them. Not knowing I would need one, I happened to ask the owner if she knew of anyone who could demonstrate for me. Luckily she had somebody in mind which lifted the weight off my shoulders, because I would now be able to work longer with my students who hadn’t much experience. I clearly focused on two goals for this class. One: was to help my inexperienced dancers catch up to what my experienced dancers were able to do and two: to focus on practicing for the studio’s final performance and the end of the year. Every class in the studio has to learn a final dance that is at least two minutes long, from the two-year-olds to the eighteen-year-olds. I began teaching my class their final dance right before Winter break would begin. It was a process because now formations, windows, and staging would come into play. This was probably the hardest thing I had ever had to do with my students. All I wanted was to make sure that they would look amazing on stage, and they did! Teaching these five girls will always be an experience I’ll remember and will learn from. Every class is different, but I couldn’t have asked for a better class. These little girls were the best listeners because all they needed was time and a teacher with patience. And I definitely would not have been able to successfully teach without that white binder and the lesson plans. I never thought these young girls would let me instruct and guide them, and with this, their progress throughout the year was astonishing. Watching these little girls do and learn exactly what I did at their age was so beautiful to witness, and guiding them in not only instruction, but in life, will be a lesson I will always teach my students.