Thread: The first class you ever taught-how was it?

Today I was asked to be the substitute teacher for a beginning/intermediate Cabaret style belly dance class. Believe it or not, this will be the first class I have ever taught. I am very nervous about it, but also strangely confident that I can do it. I have no idea if anyone will even show up, and I feel like I need to be prepared for anything. Got my extra veils, the iPod, a bunch of notes, my hip scarf and water. Eeeeeeeee

EDIT: Okay, did the class. *&^%$##!!!! I feel like I sucked, but I probably wasn't that bad. I had four students: one cute young thing who had never taken a belly dance class EVAR, one more young thing who was sweet and happy to do whatever I did, one gal who knew all ATS moves but having a hard time doing Egyptian stuff and was getting more and more frustrated and one nice older gal who seemed content to be on auto pilot because she already knew a bunch of moves.

Stuff I did well: Intro about myself, safety, basic position. Charm, smiles, encouragement, slowing stuff down, giving history of the dance, showing enthusiasm, shimmy tips, good warm up and passable cool down, giving students freedom to try things themselves.

Stuff I did that was at best mediocre: Sorting out for everyone what were advanced moves vs. basic. It turns out that things that I thought were basic enough were too complicated for half the class. To my credit, I guess I had a really difficult mix of people! I mean, a first timer vs. an experienced student. Oy.

Stuff I did that sucked: me trying to lead everyone through the fast drills sucked. I feel really embarrassed about this. I was soooo bad at it. I don't even know why I was so bad. I also had a complete brain fart trying to break down a hip circle that someone was curious about. I also had a hard time switching mental gears and finding songs on my iPod (like, I kept forgetting what I was looking for because I was so self-conscious of people waiting for me to find the right music. I also felt like I was relying a lot on talking about stuff rather than just dancing and showing people.

Conclusion: I think I can be a good teacher, but like performing am going to have to practice. I already asked if I could take teaching notes, or even get private lessons to learn how to teach. I might decide that I don't even know enough to teach. I might need to start out with complete and true beginners. I don't know! I cannot even fathom how someone can take up teaching after six months of dance. I've been an on/off student for over ten years and I still don't feel like I'm ready.

Please: I need validation, advice, your stories and words of wisdom. What was your first teaching gig like? Is there anyone out there who tried to teach and decided to say no? Thanks.

Scary! Exhillarating! And I tried to teach waaaay too much each class for the first term. Music fumbling, stuffing up leading the class - all sounds perfectly normal to me(still happens on occasion). Don't give up after one class. The learning curve is very steep when you start teaching (at least, I thought so), but there's so much about teaching that you can only learn on the job. Given that you've been able to critique what you did, it seems that you're just the sort of person that will learn and improve fast. Perhaps that's the biggest requirement of becoming a 'good' teacher.

My advice - make friends with other newbie teachers and share your experiences. Take an experienced teacher out for lunch and pick her brains (I did that. It was great). Bring along your plan for the term and ask her for feedback. And keep asking stuff on Bhuz. Oh, and ask for feedback from your students after a few weeks! They will appreciate being asked and you'll (a) know what to improve and (b) feel much better because of all the wonderful things they'll say about you (and the stuff you thought you sucked at but they didn't even notice).

My first classes were also as a sub. My former teacher's brother had died and she just couldn't teach for 2 nights.

The first evening there were 3 classes from beginners to int.-advanced. So I taught at least 4 hours...
I wasn't that bad I think - but like jewelbellydance I wanted to do much to much! I think I quite challenged the beginners. And I noticed how difficult it is to try and give feedback to everybody on a movement while keeping the others moving.
At the end I had a bad headache!
On the second evening there were only two classes and I allowed them and myself to take it much easier. No headache after this one...

MEISSOUN

Doing (or trying to do) too much seems to be pretty common. I think I did this too - and perhaps I still do. It's difficult to get the balance right between challenging people/keeping them interested and just freaking them out with too much "stuff".

My first teaching gig was as a sub for my old teacher. I hadn't been to her class for some time myself, but I used to go to her second level class. She asked me to teach her Beginners for one class, and I did. It freaked me RIGHT out. I tried to teach too much, I wasn't confident at all, and I just generally wasn't what they were used to. I was so downhearted by the end of the class, because when I asked people what they wanted to do or what they were having problems with, they wouldn't talk to me. When I looked out into their faces as we drilled, I couldn't tell if they were A) bored B) concentrating or C) furiously hating my guts. I was gutted - think I may have actually cried after that night! ,r:;

Now, with more teaching experience under my hipscarf I realise that this is just the way it is. With your own class who you've had for a while and built up a rapport with, THEN they'll talk to you about what they want/need. But a new class who doesn't know you, you need to just be dictatorial rather than diplomatic. And that look in the faec? It genuinely seems to be concentration, although it can look like boredom/frustration when you're overly sensitive to "OMG, what are they thinking, why aren't they talking to me, noooooooo!" ..l;,

I still don't feel *massively* comforatble with my teaching skills,, because I still feel I try to cram too much into the lesson. I'm also aware that I might not be as popular as some other funsters because I'm a bit hardcore on the old posture and proper movement, and I only use ME music in class. But, I figure there are classes for funsters and there are classes for dancers. I try to accommodate both, but I'm OK that my priorities lie with dancers, and I look to expand those teaching situations.

Hey, I just wanted to say I had the pleasure of directly comparing lots of teachers at lots of different stages, and wiggle, everyone was having fun in your class as well as getting a proper workout of their dance skills. I feel you have the balance of fun and technique just right.

Ha!

Sorry, just thinking about my first class makes me laugh.

I had co-taught and/or subbed for my mom's classes on many occasions by the time I started my own classes under my own name, but it didn't seem to help much!

I remember writing out every single thing I had planned for the lesson, just in case of a "brain fart" moment. I recently came across a lesson plan for one of these early-on classes and, although I don't remember exactly how it went, I believe the first two items were "welcome" and "take roll." How dynamic and exciting is that??? ..l;,

I'm sure I fumbled with my music and, even with my copious notes, somehow managed to forget where I was in my lesson plan.

I purposely planned "too much" for the class, so that in case we got through what I thought we'd get through and were in danger of standing and staring blankly at each other, there'd be something else to add; I still do this very thing, as I have found some groups of students are able to take on more in one lesson than other groups.

Teaching a class of really mixed levels is extremely difficult, even if you, shall we say, "know what you're doing," let alone taking over someone else's class without receiving any direction and having never taught before!

All in all, it seems you've definitely figured out where your "weak points" are and will be better prepared next time.

Subbing (well, starting with assisting) for your teacher is probably the best way to get a feel for teaching, just like going with your teacher to pro gigs is probably the best way to learn the ropes of pro dancing!

Good luck!

Deborah

ps: just noticed you asked if anyone tried to teach and then said no . . . although this did not happen to me (teaching adults is my favorite work; combine teaching with belly dancing? It doesn't get any better for me!), I don't think anyone should try something and then think he/she must continue if he/she finds it's not for him/her! We're allowed to try stuff and decide it's not our cup of tea!

I loooooooooovvvvvveeeee teaching. My first class wasn't a belly dance class, however, it was a class on non violent crisis intervention and prevention.

It's typically a 2 day course. I went over the material in about 2 hours. Didn't breathe once. Fell over and shook.

Of course I actually breathed, but I went over everything so fast that no one had the opportunity to learn anything. Fun.

6 years after that I apprenticed for 2 years under my first teacher, as her aid. Taught some of her classes when she couldn't make it, which wasn't like i was doing my own, I had her curriculum to work with and knew what the group would be doing. Plus they were used to me and we got through it with a lot of laughs.

I then took a group fitness instructor course. Taught my first aerobics class... um. went waaaayyyyyyy tooooooooo fast. luckily no one fell out of window at the speed we were doing grapevines!

Started teaching belly dance on my own. Guess what happened?

But, by this time I had learned something! Start with something that I was most comfortable with and get through that until I work out my nerves. So, we shimmy drill, a good 10 minutes of it (after a yoga, pilates based warm up) gets everyone's heartrate up, warms everything up nicely and builds a solid shimmy foundation AND calms me down enough I don't try to make everyone do a hip drop at warp speed.

One of the best things I read on teaching movement based classes. You need to prepare as you would for a performance, because that's what's going on. You are performing for your students and creating an environment where you can get past there pre-conceived notions and ideas about what they are going to do and not do, what their bodies are capable of and not, and whether they can internalize what you want them to.

I love teaching, too! When I'm teaching, I'm fully present, in the moment, with my students. My mind never wanders, I never wish I were somewhere else, if I'm looking at the clock it's just to gauge the pace, never because I want it to be over. I think those things are great indicators of 'right livelihood.'

I don't remember my very first class, but I'm sure I was nervous. I wish I'd had the presence of mind to give myself a thorough self-assessment afterward, as you've done here. Heck, it's never too late, I think I'll keep a little journal for a while and do this after each days' classes!

I also taught for the first time as a sub for my teacher at the time. But it wasn't long after that that I started teaching my first BD class through a park & rec.

In my day job, I was the trainer for my department (along with 50 other hats I wore), both in groups and on an individual basis, so teaching didn't come that difficult to me. I was very used to breaking things down into small and digestable chunks, having strategies for different types of students, dealing with participant frustration or inattentiveness, etc.

Lauren, you described how I feel about teaching too, to a T. I worried that when I started teaching 6 - 9 classes a week, I might lose some of my enthusiasm, but the opposite has actually been the case. I feel like I'm even more enthusiastic and immersed in the classes, now that I'm doing this full time.

Hi Kim!

Oooooooooo teaching how exciting!

PM'ing you for further details.. then we will chat... How about going out to lunch and discuss..?

Hugz

First sub class I found myself getting very short of breath due to trying to talk above music and dance and lead class all at once. I also ran around the room too much, adjusting people. I was in a full sweat; it was an hour and a half and only 10 minutes were warm up. I had about 8 students; mixed level class and I think that is difficult because there were very baby beginners (as in never took ANY dance class before in their life) to people who had been with teacher I was subbing for that day for five years. They all beamed at me at the conclusion of class but I was in a full dripping sweat!

Second class was much better; I learned to pace myself (well, duh) and not talk and dance at same time so much. In this class, which was advanced, I discovered the "challenger" - you know, the student who asks questions so convoluted that Einstein couldn't follow their train of thought, and I just smiled, held up my hand and said, "YES! Now, WATCH me again and see if it doesn't make more sense because I'm going to break it down into sections". I mean, I had NO clue what her question was except she just wasn't getting the step. There is such a thing as over-intellectualizing a dance step, I believe in learning to dance by dancing, even if I have to break down each little section if it is a tricky combo, which this wasn't.

One thing I love about subbing is that I can show them something different, maybe a new skill with veil or how to relax with zills to play better or even a different approach to a step I know they know. And, I let them ask as many questions as they want, just not all at the same time! They loved the "shimmy clinic - what goes up must go down" where I got them to sharpen up their 3/4's so they were going down on the downbeat. Also using fun music that is new for them, slow floor stretches to Kama Sutra theme and then aerobic standing warm ups and hip shimmies to BDSS Polynesian fusion piece that even had a bit of Saudi going on. Yes, subbing is a lot of fun.

I can hardly wait until my ankle is all better so I can start subbing again!

Originally Posted by Bellydancingcaroline

Hey, I just wanted to say I had the pleasure of directly comparing lots of teachers at lots of different stages, and wiggle, everyone was having fun in your class as well as getting a proper workout of their dance skills. I feel you have the balance of fun and technique just right.

Thank you for the pleasant sentiment. By chance, were you the delightful owner of a half teal/half black silk veil?

Originally Posted by casbahdance

I remember writing out every single thing I had planned for the lesson, just in case of a "brain fart" moment. I recently came across a lesson plan for one of these early-on classes and, although I don't remember exactly how it went, I believe the first two items were "welcome" and "take roll." How dynamic and exciting is that??? ..l;,

I'm sure I fumbled with my music and, even with my copious notes, somehow managed to forget where I was in my lesson plan.

I purposely planned "too much" for the class, so that in case we got through what I thought we'd get through and were in danger of standing and staring blankly at each other, there'd be something else to add; I still do this very thing, as I have found some groups of students are able to take on more in one lesson than other groups.

Teaching a class of really mixed levels is extremely difficult, even if you, shall we say, "know what you're doing," let alone taking over someone else's class without receiving any direction and having never taught before!

I wrote a bunch of notes too, with lists of what we could do and even a warmup guide in case I blanked out and forgot what to do. When I started getting a little nervous at some weird parts in the class I had to fight the urge to sneak peeks at my scrawled lesson plan. I thought, how cheesy and distracting if I'm reading from a notebook! So I tried my best to make myself stay focused and pull everything out of my brain. Sometimes it worked, other times I had some Swiss cheese moments. Oy vey!

Looking back a day later I do see that I took on a challenging task, considering how varied the levels of students were. I did end up running around a little bit. Quick: give them all something to do, and then run back to the sweet little beginner girl and help her! Ahhhhh! ..g.:

I thank you for your very compassionate response. So helpful! xoxo

I too was scared out of my wits the first time I taught a big class...before that, I'd never taught more than 3 or 4 other people at a time. And college-aged girls can be scary! Another thing that comes with time is mastering the "teacher voice" and being able to count out loud while dancing and explaining. But it gets better, I promise you that.

had a hard time switching mental gears and finding songs on my iPod

I'm a little "blank-out" prone sometimes, especially under that kind of girl-stare pressure; the best thing I did to counteract that, and your post reminded me of it, was to make lots of different playlists on my ipod. I have one general class playlist, one for each of the rhythms, one for warm-ups; this will really help you not have to scan your brain for that one perfect song, as you'll already have it there

good luck!

When you blank out and feel the class collective eyeballs on you, chat for a moment about the weather, a new costume, whatever. Usually, someone chimes in and then you can concentrate on your music, notes, etc...while they talk for a minute or two.

Most of all, don't be too hard on yourself. Learning to teach is very much a trial and error thing. I'm still learning after 22 years teaching middle school and nearly 10 teaching dance. Have a lesson plan, organize your music, and smile!