Thread: Tips for teaching in a drop-in format? Please & Thx!

I've been teaching for almost 10 years and have always taught my classes in sessions, where each week builds off the next. I'm about to switch to a mixed levels (beg/adv beg level) drop-in format. This wouldn't be my first choice but for a number of reasons (like 99% financial due to waning enrollment & market saturation ), it's the route I'm going. I did a couple of forum searches but couldn't find any threads with this topic specifically but link me please if you know where to find them.
Otherwise, I'd love any tips for teaching drop-in classes w/mostly beginner students. I just can't wrap my head around it w/out feeling like I have to start over every week!
** I do have "students with less than 6 months of study are encouraged to take a minimum of 10 consecutive weeks of classes before switching to drop in" in my class info. But can't really reinforce that, otherwise I wouldn't be teaching drop-ins in the first place.
** And even though it's drop-in, my inclination is to teach in an 8-12 week "session" and remind/announce that classes & skills *will* build on one another
BUT class still needs to balance fun & informative each week doesn't it? With drops ins?
Tell me what you know or recommend!

Originally Posted by Jessani

I'm about to switch to a mixed levels (beg/adv beg level) drop-in format.

Otherwise, I'd love any tips for teaching drop-in classes w/mostly beginner students.

One idea is to start every week with a review of what you covered the previous week. Most teachers do that anyway, since even people who were there the prior week might have forgotten everything you taught the prior week, especially if they didn't practice.

A "belly dance for exercise" format might work. Think of how exercise DVD's work - they introduce the first move, drill it, add the next move, drill it, make a combination of the two, drill the combo, add something new, drill it, take it from the top and drill, etc. That way, each week can be self-contained.

In between drill segments, such as every 10 minutes or so, incorporate a section where you do follow-the-bouncing butt dance using those moves and they follow you. As people are drilling, you can go around the room and fix errors.

At the end of class, include a 5-minute freestyle improvisation segment. Spend several weeks in a row using the same combinations, then gradually start adding in something new while retiring something old, so that by the end of the second month you've replaced all the combinations that were in the first night of class.

I typically have an eventual choreography in mind, so the combinations I teach are the ones used in the choreo, and I lead up to the point where suddenly they are startled to learn they know the whole choreo. I don't promise they'll learn one, though. It's my little secret. And I don't try to align it with an 8-week cycle. I just steadily build in that direction, and we get there when we get there. That way I don't put pressure on myself to rush them into it.

If you have a night in which the only attendees are the faithful ones who have been coming every week, you can reward their regular attendance by spending the entire class on new material, and move the class forward at a faster rate than you would when there are drop-ins there. I've been known to do totally different stuff from what they're used to, such as spending an evening on floor work technique, or maybe a folkloric style.

With the above approach, you can spend half the class on upbeat, fast moves such as hip drops, shimmies, etc. and the other half on slower fluid moves such as hip circles, figure 8's, etc.

Kudos to you for being innovative and working to accommodate the local demand. Shira has great suggestions. I recall taking seminars with Leila Gamal, her warm-ups were actually moves included in her class format. Each and every movement was part of big picture.

Although initially your new format will be a bit of a challenge for you I think it will keep everything fresh and interesting for the students. I have heard many students state they become bored having to continuously repeat the same movements - adnaseum. In this economy it is best to cater to the local dancers' preferences.

I do a drop in mixed-level class in January when most people are on holiday. Not sure if I could do it year long but what I do is:

Basics revision drill - something everyone needs to go over. Those with less experience I sometimes teach while the others concentrate on perfect technique. Then I have bunch of extensions for different levels.

Look at a rhythm; use it for zills or combos - or both

One type of shimmy - with extension - and change it each week

One travelling step - ditto - with extensions and change

One weight change combination

Thumbnail folklore - a move, a zill pattern, costume - something or introduction to a prop.

Round it off with dancing - improv, creating a choreography, follow the bouncing butt etc

Shira! Shira! SHIRA! Awesome as always. Now, I just have to take your format and add my own music
I use pretty much that same layout for my "session"-style class format, so I think some of it will be a paradigm shift for me-- I tend to drill & kill in my classes. I'm very focused on physiology and scaffolding technique (think you have to crawl before you can walk, before you can run). I'm one of the anatomy-phsyiology style teachers with a long and still active ballet background. I probably have to find a middle ground that balances good movement/musicality with drills that are educational but lighter.
how about zills? I always teach them because I think they help improve musicality but in a 1 hour drop in, I feel like that might mean too much review each week and may just be frustrating/intimidating for brand new people. How would/do folks manage that?

Kashmir,
Do you do that all in 1 hour? Is your review combined with your warm-up? About how much time to you spend on each segment? I over-talk for sure when I introduce new concepts.
Anyone, thoughts on how I can front load information without over loading?

Lots of great advice here already so I'll just keep mine short and sweet -

In my drills segment, I instruct experienced students to add layers, while keeping the newbies working the basics.

I teach my choreo in chunks, so that I can start from scratch each week. But at the end of each class, I quickly review and then run the entire choreo with the new part added. I let the newbies know that this is something we have been working on and they should just "follow along."

I give really, really basic variations of most combos so that even a first timer can usually follow along. When I teach the combo, I'll call it level 1, level 2, etc. So, I'll teach it at it's most basic level first, and then say "if you are feeling comfortable here and would like a bigger challenge, you can do this...." and then "if you still want a challenge, do this". I encourage everyone to try all levels, and then encourage them to stick with the level they feel comfortable at. This is how I was taught to teach to a mixed level yoga class, and it translates well into bellydance, I think.

Originally Posted by Jessani

Kashmir,
Do you do that all in 1 hour? Is your review combined with your warm-up? About how much time to you spend on each segment? I over-talk for sure when I introduce new concepts.
Anyone, thoughts on how I can front load information without over loading?

I have 75 minute classes. I do zills and/or simple travelling steps for the warm-up then expand it with drills. I think it works though because it isn't the format for the whole year. For a month or so people can stay on the boil and get tasters of things we might follow up later in the year in more depth.

I've had bad experiences in drop-in choreography classes, so I'm not a big fan of them. If you're going to do drop ins, I'd rather the class be focused on things that stand alone like drilling, short combos, improv, or focusing on a different musical aspect or person every week. It's just too chaotic to try to do a linear topic with nonlinear attendance.

One thing I will suggest is if you're going to review every class, cap the amount of time you'll spend on it. Say that fresh material is going to start at the 25-minute mark or whatever, and stick to your schedule. If you don't, it is very easy to get off track and spend the whole class reviewing what Jane missed last week, and what Betty missed two weeks ago, and what Ellen missed the week before Betty was absent....

Just my .02, but I quit taking drop-ins because I was tired of the repetition. I wanted more content. Building on previous things is good, as you offer new material while reinforcing those previous concepts.

But it might help if you poll your students and ask what they're looking for in the class--in-depth learning, fun with the girls, some general exercise, etc. You won't be able to please all students all the time in a multi-level drop-in class, but you can do your best to address what the majority is looking for.

All of those ideas are pretty good. I've done a choreography class as well and really regretted it. With everyone coming and going as they please, you never actually get anywhere with the dance. If you keep having issues with this, sometimes I have a back-up lesson plan. So if I have regular dancers, we can work on more advanced technique (or choreography), or if you have mixed level or newbies then you have a plan that's challenging but not overwhelming as well. Hope that helps :)

I teach a weekly drop-in-only class and I actually love it! My students are always changing so my lessons are never the same. This keeps me on my toes and always needing to be flexible. I will come in with an idea and have a group of people who just don;t fit my lesson plan, so I throw it out the window and improvise. I've been teaching this class for years, so I'm pretty good with creating the lesson to fit who I have.

I try to organize my class into a category or theme, such as "circles" or "pops" or "shimmy" or "veil" etc. Most of the people I get are beginners and they may come once a month or come for thee weeks and then I won't see them for four months. So by categorizing my lessons I can teach a full hour class with drills and combinations that I know I won't repeat. There are countless ways to organize belly dance movements so chances of you running out of categories are slim...

Format:
1. Always start with basic posture
2. Warm up. If you have students who know basic belly dance do isolations here. You can use this time to chit chat about belly dance history or take general questions.
3. Introduce your "theme" for the evening and go into breakdowns
4. Drill Section
5. Review all the moves taught in class with a short combo
6. Cool down and stretch
7. *optional* Sometimes I get requests from new students to the dance if I could do a very short dance so they can see what it all looks like in the end. I will do this while they finnish stretching.

Drop-in can be challenging, but very rewarding. I love knowing that a group of women who never met before and never danced together before can, in one hour, become a group of friends and dance enthusiast.