Monday, 13 May 2013
Literature Review 2.
Online Blog Post- What makes a good teacher, Sheri Leblanc (2010)
I came across a Blog post on the internet about what makes a good dance teacher. The blog is of a former dancer called Sheri Leblanc. She is a retired ballet/ballroom dancer who choreographs and also teachers and owns her own studio. She lists in her blog that being a dancer teacher can enable you to work in many types of jobs, from teaching in schools, becoming a choreographer to eventually opening up you're own business. Sheri says that ' A well-rounded dance instructor will know how to teach several different styles of dance' I think this is a very good statement as if you can incorporate a variety of dance styles into you're class, the children will benefit from this. Also if there are parents sending their children of to a new dance class they will feel comfortable and confident leaving them with someone who is very experienced.
It is important to keep up to date with the choreography that you teach the students.
'The dance teacher is responsible for creating and teaching choreography to the dancers, staying current on the newest moves and styles being taught and will advise and guide the dancers in putting the steps they’ve learned together into proper dance formation'
This shows how important it is to be prepared for you're classes. You must keep up to date with the new styles that are around and current music.
Sheri has a number of bullet points that she regards as be important if you are a dance teacher,
As a dance teacher, you should:
* have good practical ability in dance and music
* have an understanding of health and safety to prevent injury
* have an interest in teaching children and adults of all abilities
* have patience and good communication skills
* be able to support and encourage others to succeed
* be observant and pay attention to detail
* feel able to control a group of pupils and have confidence to maintain order within the class
* have the ability to run a business, if self-employed.
I think these points are very useful. Having an interest to teach children and adults of all abilities is essential. For me,training at such a prestigious college were everybody in my school were at an excellent standard means that I may expect that when teaching my own students. This will not always be the case. Depending on the type of school, some children may only be taking classes as a hobby and therefore will not have the potential to becoming a professional dancer so their standard and understanding to picking things up and learning routines will not be high. As a teacher it is your duty to work with different levels of children and understand how they will progress at different stages.
Having an understanding to prevent injury and health and safety is imperative. Every venue that you teach in should be checked each time before any class to ensure that no risk can be harmed and it is your job as a teacher to stop the children from doing things that may cause them harm. This leads to how important it is to have patience and the ability to control a group of pupils. You need to be firm and confident with the students and if at any point the class gets out of hand you should be able to control the situation immediately.
Sheri Leblanc's blog was a helpful and interesting read that was short and to the point.
References.
Online, http://reflectionsinverse.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/what-makes-good-dance-teacher.html
Saturday, 4 May 2013
Literature Review 1.
' Dance teaching methods and curriculum design- Gayle Kassing, Danielle.M.Jay'
I have been reading this very helpful book online about dance teaching. There was an extract in there talking specifically about new dance teachers and how important it is for them to set there rules from day one.
In just the first paragraph a strong statement is made,
' Effective teaching depends on a teachers ability to organise and manage the dance class'
I feel this is an important point as being a teacher involves a lot of preparation before the class has even began. To have an effect on the children/ students, the way the class is planned out and handled during the time of the lesson will result in it being successful or not.
The extract explains that a positive atmosphere should be given in the class and that appropriate feedback is given to students. I agree with this, as if the teacher is being very negative or bringing his/her problems they might be having outside of the class into the room, then this will have a massive effect on the children. Also giving the correct type of feedback is imperative as you don't want to discourage a child with constant negative comments but if you praise them all the time they are never going to have any room for improvement.
The author states that as the teacher of a dance class it is you that 'sets the freedom for the class. '
I think this is a fantastic statement as from the moment you first take a class you have made an impression and the children have made a judgment on what they can do in the class.
' It is easier to set boundaries in advance than trying to in-corporate or adjust them later. '
As a new teacher it is essential to be strong and firm with the class from the beginning rather than trying to be their best friends and then wonder why they wont listen to you and having no control over them at all.
Another extract from the book explains how your the way you speak to you're students can have an effect on their reactions.
' Does your volume and tone encourage or frighten students? Think before you speak. What you say and how you say it set the tone of your class. '
I feel that this is a really important point that author has made. Generally, I am a very loud person. People often tell me to stop shouting. (even though I think I am not) In some situations in a class this would be a positive point that I was loud and energetic, it would be encouraging for the students and would keep them alert but sometimes I have to remember to tone my loud voice down. At times it can be very intimidating to a child if you are screaming around the room, especially if the child was new to the class or a shy person. I believe as a teacher it is your duty to asses the atmosphere in the class and choose carefully the tone of your voice.
I find many extracts from the book very helpful to read as I am starting out as dance teacher. At times in the book I find that the author repeats her self about the same topics which I don't think is needed if the subject has already been touched upon, but generally there is a lot of great information.
I look forward to developing my knowledge further using the help of other pieces of literature and research from my Inquiry.
References.
Online:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=bTm-W4oX0HgC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
Pages 72 and 75.
I have been reading this very helpful book online about dance teaching. There was an extract in there talking specifically about new dance teachers and how important it is for them to set there rules from day one.
In just the first paragraph a strong statement is made,
' Effective teaching depends on a teachers ability to organise and manage the dance class'
I feel this is an important point as being a teacher involves a lot of preparation before the class has even began. To have an effect on the children/ students, the way the class is planned out and handled during the time of the lesson will result in it being successful or not.
The extract explains that a positive atmosphere should be given in the class and that appropriate feedback is given to students. I agree with this, as if the teacher is being very negative or bringing his/her problems they might be having outside of the class into the room, then this will have a massive effect on the children. Also giving the correct type of feedback is imperative as you don't want to discourage a child with constant negative comments but if you praise them all the time they are never going to have any room for improvement.
The author states that as the teacher of a dance class it is you that 'sets the freedom for the class. '
I think this is a fantastic statement as from the moment you first take a class you have made an impression and the children have made a judgment on what they can do in the class.
' It is easier to set boundaries in advance than trying to in-corporate or adjust them later. '
As a new teacher it is essential to be strong and firm with the class from the beginning rather than trying to be their best friends and then wonder why they wont listen to you and having no control over them at all.
Another extract from the book explains how your the way you speak to you're students can have an effect on their reactions.
' Does your volume and tone encourage or frighten students? Think before you speak. What you say and how you say it set the tone of your class. '
I feel that this is a really important point that author has made. Generally, I am a very loud person. People often tell me to stop shouting. (even though I think I am not) In some situations in a class this would be a positive point that I was loud and energetic, it would be encouraging for the students and would keep them alert but sometimes I have to remember to tone my loud voice down. At times it can be very intimidating to a child if you are screaming around the room, especially if the child was new to the class or a shy person. I believe as a teacher it is your duty to asses the atmosphere in the class and choose carefully the tone of your voice.
I find many extracts from the book very helpful to read as I am starting out as dance teacher. At times in the book I find that the author repeats her self about the same topics which I don't think is needed if the subject has already been touched upon, but generally there is a lot of great information.
I look forward to developing my knowledge further using the help of other pieces of literature and research from my Inquiry.
References.
Online:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=bTm-W4oX0HgC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
Pages 72 and 75.
Monday, 29 April 2013
6B-Pilot interview.
I found this tool very helpful as it was one-to-one based. Although unlike in the focus group there were many different opinions and in the interview only the one voice, sometimes this can be more beneficial. I think it depends entirely on who you use for the inquiry but if someone was quite shy and didn't like speaking out in large groups it would be a better idea to interview this person alone to hear there answers, as they may be more open and honest in that environment.
I think like any of the tools you are going to be using, it is important to plan what you want to gain from what you are doing, (survey, observation interview etc. ) With the interview although I had a set of questions I wanted to ask, as long as I made sure I got them questions answered I did not mind at all that the interview at some points went slightly of track. In fact, as long as you have the time and the person you are interviewing does too, I think it is a good thing as more answers and further research could be discovered. Although I only had time to interview one person for my pilot interview, I believe that interviewing at least 3 people would be more beneficial to get a range of answers that you can then analyse.
As long as the interviewee was ok with a recording device being present I would like to record the interview next time as I found it hard to write down everything they were saying.
I think like any of the tools you are going to be using, it is important to plan what you want to gain from what you are doing, (survey, observation interview etc. ) With the interview although I had a set of questions I wanted to ask, as long as I made sure I got them questions answered I did not mind at all that the interview at some points went slightly of track. In fact, as long as you have the time and the person you are interviewing does too, I think it is a good thing as more answers and further research could be discovered. Although I only had time to interview one person for my pilot interview, I believe that interviewing at least 3 people would be more beneficial to get a range of answers that you can then analyse.
As long as the interviewee was ok with a recording device being present I would like to record the interview next time as I found it hard to write down everything they were saying.
6B-Observations
Observing for my Inquiry I feel is going to be extremely beneficial. As I am new to teaching, I am very enthusiastic in watching as many classes as possible. I believe the best way to learn something is to see it with your own eyes. Actually, before even seeing I believe doing, but this is definitely the second best thing and something you must do before you can have a go at it yourself.
I have recently started working for a drama/dance school and as part of my training to work for the company I had to observe many classes which has come in very handy for my inquiry. As a new teacher I feel like there is so much to take in but I also imagine for any teacher who may take a step back and observe a class every once in while would be extremely helpful.
I also have been into a dance school were I have taught before and observed some of these classes. It is interesting to watch a class you have once taught from a different view.
Although I feel you can learn an awful lot from observing there can also be a downfall that there is a lot of information be taken in all at once. I will need to select carefully the information that I choose to use.
It is also imperative to consider the ethics here as I will be observing children under the age of 18. I already had to speak with the head of the school and get permission to observe the classes before hand. Something I didn't do but understand I must in my actual inquiry is to get permission of each child's parent/guardian.
In my recent observations I have been talking a pad and pen and noting everything down, sometimes I am trying to write so many notes my handwriting can become un-readable and I might have missed events in the class I should have seen because my head was down at the piece of paper. I think a good idea to help over come this problem would be to also video record some of the classes I will observe.
Observations for me are going to be a key point in my Inquiry but can take up a lot of time having to observe many different classes/different teaches etc and then reflecting on the event afterwards so this is something I will have to consider when planning my time. Also getting back parent consent forms! I will need to give these out way in advance to ensure I have them back before trying to watch the class.
I have recently started working for a drama/dance school and as part of my training to work for the company I had to observe many classes which has come in very handy for my inquiry. As a new teacher I feel like there is so much to take in but I also imagine for any teacher who may take a step back and observe a class every once in while would be extremely helpful.
I also have been into a dance school were I have taught before and observed some of these classes. It is interesting to watch a class you have once taught from a different view.
Although I feel you can learn an awful lot from observing there can also be a downfall that there is a lot of information be taken in all at once. I will need to select carefully the information that I choose to use.
It is also imperative to consider the ethics here as I will be observing children under the age of 18. I already had to speak with the head of the school and get permission to observe the classes before hand. Something I didn't do but understand I must in my actual inquiry is to get permission of each child's parent/guardian.
In my recent observations I have been talking a pad and pen and noting everything down, sometimes I am trying to write so many notes my handwriting can become un-readable and I might have missed events in the class I should have seen because my head was down at the piece of paper. I think a good idea to help over come this problem would be to also video record some of the classes I will observe.
Observations for me are going to be a key point in my Inquiry but can take up a lot of time having to observe many different classes/different teaches etc and then reflecting on the event afterwards so this is something I will have to consider when planning my time. Also getting back parent consent forms! I will need to give these out way in advance to ensure I have them back before trying to watch the class.
6B- Focus Groups
I got together with a group of friends who all teach or have taught before.
It was great to be surrounded by a group of people all with the same interests and willing to share there thoughts and opinions.
I found that within the focus group everybody really bounced of each others conversations. When an idea was brought up to be discussed, once one person started to speak, everyone else got involved and really got into it. Everyone was really honest with what they were saying and I think that was because they felt comfortable and confident because there were other voices around them joining in, agreeing/ disagreeing. This obviously had a major negative point as well because there were times when there was too many people speaking at the same time which made it harder to hear what people were saying and to get an answer to the question being asked.
It would be quite difficult to record this sort of event as it is very easy for people to talk over one another, so although I wouldn't want people to think they were back at school, I think it would be important that they put there hands up before speaking to avoid a collision of conversation's.
If I could get a group of people together all at the same time like I did for my pilot focus group that would be great but I already had one person un able to make it, letting me know just a day before the meeting. This is understandable as work came up that she could not turn down but I think I would consider the time that I choose to undertake the meeting more carefully next time and plan in advance. If this happened in the real Inquiry and it was more than the one person un-able to attend this would be a big problem.
The focus group is a great way to collect qualitative data, and I will certainly consider using this tool in my inquiry.
It was great to be surrounded by a group of people all with the same interests and willing to share there thoughts and opinions.
I found that within the focus group everybody really bounced of each others conversations. When an idea was brought up to be discussed, once one person started to speak, everyone else got involved and really got into it. Everyone was really honest with what they were saying and I think that was because they felt comfortable and confident because there were other voices around them joining in, agreeing/ disagreeing. This obviously had a major negative point as well because there were times when there was too many people speaking at the same time which made it harder to hear what people were saying and to get an answer to the question being asked.
It would be quite difficult to record this sort of event as it is very easy for people to talk over one another, so although I wouldn't want people to think they were back at school, I think it would be important that they put there hands up before speaking to avoid a collision of conversation's.
If I could get a group of people together all at the same time like I did for my pilot focus group that would be great but I already had one person un able to make it, letting me know just a day before the meeting. This is understandable as work came up that she could not turn down but I think I would consider the time that I choose to undertake the meeting more carefully next time and plan in advance. If this happened in the real Inquiry and it was more than the one person un-able to attend this would be a big problem.
The focus group is a great way to collect qualitative data, and I will certainly consider using this tool in my inquiry.
Thursday, 11 April 2013
6B- Pilot Survey
Like I said in my previous blog, I had already made a survey a while ago. I noticed that everybody in my SIG groups had been using the online survey creator, ' Survey Monkey' . I had completed a few peoples surveys before I made my own and most of them seemed very straight forward and easy to answer. They also gave me an idea of the sort off questions I should and maybe shouldn't ask when making my own survey.
I think Survey Monkey is a great way to make a survey as it explains very well how to put the survey together, gives you a variety of ways to choose you would like the questions to be answered (for example, multiple choose, yes/no etc.) and also analyses all the results for you. One of the cons of Survey Monkey is that without upgrading (to where you are required to pay), you can only ask 10 questions. Now, this could be a problem as you might want to ask more than just 10 questions so maybe you would want to think about upgrading for the actual inquiry although something to think about is surveys shouldn't really be too long as people will not take there time to complete if there is pages and pages of questions so depending on how in depth you want to go with the survey, having a limit of questions could actually be a good thing.
I found discussing with members of my SIG group that the surveys that were more to the point and simple questions were the ones that we actually completed. Some surveys asked far too many in depth questions and with just one look at I didn't even bother to complete the survey because it required too much time that I didn't have. The survey needs to be user friendly but still a good length with valuable questions In order to provide you with the correct data.
When Melanie Brown was completing my survey she said that one of the questions that only allowed for one answer needed to be changed. The question was, ' What do you think is more important in a teacher? ' and the answers were Qualifications or Experience. Mel believed both were important and I can see now that my answer box should have been different to just being able to choose one answer.
The good things about Surveys are they are quick and easy ways for people to get involved and you can analyse and see certain patterns emerging. Although sending a survey to someone to complete doesn't always guarantee you a response. Talking to Hannah Stewart, and she also mentions this on her blog, was that she come across a journal discussing the difference between online and paper surveys. I hadn't thought about this until Hannah brought it up but its really interesting. With a paper survey you probably have more chance of receiving a completed survey back if you hand it to them as they will complete it straight away were as online you have to pester people more. Also if you send a group message out to people asking to complete your survey I think many of them will ignore it. I experienced this when I posted a notice on a Facebook group, about 2 people responded, were as when I emailed them directly asking them to take some time to complete my survey I got a lot more responses.
One other thing I am going to think about is who I aim my survey towards. The pilot survey I made was to be completed by students, reflecting on there past experiences from teachers they have been taught by but I think making a survey to be completed by teachers as well would also be very beneficial as it is coming from a different side.
Overall I like the idea of a survey as if enough people take part in completing it you can gather a lot of information.
I think Survey Monkey is a great way to make a survey as it explains very well how to put the survey together, gives you a variety of ways to choose you would like the questions to be answered (for example, multiple choose, yes/no etc.) and also analyses all the results for you. One of the cons of Survey Monkey is that without upgrading (to where you are required to pay), you can only ask 10 questions. Now, this could be a problem as you might want to ask more than just 10 questions so maybe you would want to think about upgrading for the actual inquiry although something to think about is surveys shouldn't really be too long as people will not take there time to complete if there is pages and pages of questions so depending on how in depth you want to go with the survey, having a limit of questions could actually be a good thing.
I found discussing with members of my SIG group that the surveys that were more to the point and simple questions were the ones that we actually completed. Some surveys asked far too many in depth questions and with just one look at I didn't even bother to complete the survey because it required too much time that I didn't have. The survey needs to be user friendly but still a good length with valuable questions In order to provide you with the correct data.
When Melanie Brown was completing my survey she said that one of the questions that only allowed for one answer needed to be changed. The question was, ' What do you think is more important in a teacher? ' and the answers were Qualifications or Experience. Mel believed both were important and I can see now that my answer box should have been different to just being able to choose one answer.
The good things about Surveys are they are quick and easy ways for people to get involved and you can analyse and see certain patterns emerging. Although sending a survey to someone to complete doesn't always guarantee you a response. Talking to Hannah Stewart, and she also mentions this on her blog, was that she come across a journal discussing the difference between online and paper surveys. I hadn't thought about this until Hannah brought it up but its really interesting. With a paper survey you probably have more chance of receiving a completed survey back if you hand it to them as they will complete it straight away were as online you have to pester people more. Also if you send a group message out to people asking to complete your survey I think many of them will ignore it. I experienced this when I posted a notice on a Facebook group, about 2 people responded, were as when I emailed them directly asking them to take some time to complete my survey I got a lot more responses.
One other thing I am going to think about is who I aim my survey towards. The pilot survey I made was to be completed by students, reflecting on there past experiences from teachers they have been taught by but I think making a survey to be completed by teachers as well would also be very beneficial as it is coming from a different side.
Overall I like the idea of a survey as if enough people take part in completing it you can gather a lot of information.
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