Taching Guideline

[Badshah Mamun]

THE OVERVIEW

Keep in mind the big picture.  In preparing for a class we tend to get caught up in the smaller details of the steps and patterns, focusing on the how and forgetting the why, so teachers often find they've finished the class without addressing the larger picture.  What is the essential quality or attraction of a particular dance?  Who dances it, and why?  In what way is the dance fun?  (Too many teachers are so serious about improving their class that they end up marginalizing fun.)  Why is this dance significant?

The other half of the big picture is your students' motivation for being there.  What do they want to get out of the experience?  Why are they taking your class?  How is this dance relevant to their lives?
See your class from their perspective, to meet their needs.

I know you could answer those questions when you stop to think about it, but I've found that if you think through these questions immediately before a class, you'll notice a remarkable improvement in the success of that class.

Why does this work?  Because if you review these basics and ideals to yourself right before your class, then all of your spontaneous ad-libbed comments will tend to point toward the big picture, and help shape it.  This cognitive approach to teaching supplements the linear approach (your lesson plan) in important ways.  This pre-class mental review is like putting surgical instruments out on a tray before an operation.  If the questions above are freshly reviewed in your mind, the answers will more readily occur to you during your teaching.