Teaching in ....Community Centers?

[Fushia]

Hi there, I'm sorry if this question was already asked..I couldn't find it in search. I've been wanting to teach for awhile now with my dance partner. I was wondering how and where I should go about renting a space?

If anyone can also give me advice about the things I have to consider before going into it? (do I have to get a training certificate, liscence or anything?) A community center in my area has meeting rooms and gyms for rent. Do you think it's ok to rent those places to teach a small class?

I mean, do I have to register as a business? Will the community center even allow me to use it for dance classes?

Also, I've been thinking about the forms of payment to accept. Which ones should I stay away from?

I know that's a lot of questions...but I'd appreciate it so much if someone would give me some advice. I think I would make a great teacher one day (I have no teaching experience at the moment unfortunately).

[elljay]

Community centers, in my experience, generally don't rent spaces to teachers, they hire teachers and pay them hourly, or work out a percentage split on revenue with the teacher. Of course, things may be different in your area. But, in the event that you do rent a space, you will need to consider insurance, which is very important.

Never having taught a class before isn't really a detriment to teaching (every teacher has a "first class they ever taught") bu.... I highly, highly recommend getting some training specifically for teaching. Depending on where you are in Canada, there are quite a few teachers who offer teacher training courses, and I think you will find this really helpful in your teaching. Also, you will be more marketable to community centers and more appealing to students if you can cite some certification on your resume/bio. You may also want to consider fitness certification, first aid certification, or anything else that will add to you knowledge about how people acquire movement skills and how the body works.

If you are at a community center, chances are they will look after registration and taking payments from students, so you wouldn't have to worry about that.

You will probably need to talk to a Tax advisor or financial advisor as to weather or not you will need to register as a business. Registering a business is expensive and takes a while but may be worth it for you , it all depends.

Hope that helps!

[ravenadesigns]

I agree with Elljay, go after some training. Also - see if you can be a substitute for another teacher in the area. I was a substitute for almost 2 years before I took on a teaching gig. During that time, I took a lot of workshops and got my Suhaila level 1 certification.

Teaching is a whole different beast and is not for everyone.

As for renting space, many community centers will not allow you to rent a space for a large amount of students. I would discuss this with the community center director. That way, you can be sure that you are following the rules and not trying to teach a class where a teacher and class has already been established. I have seen it happen!

Talk with an advisor about the best solution for you. Along with all the items you listed, you also need to think about advertising ($$).

Payment method can be tough. I worked as a substitute in a private studio and I can tell you that the director of the studio spent half of her time tracking down ladies that did NOT pay. To avoid the "drop in and not paying" crowd, you may want to charge a session fee (8 weeks for $$). Along with that comes rules of payment. for example, if someone has to miss class, what is the make-up policy? If you cancel class, what is the make-up policy? etc.

So much to think about. For this reason, I now teach in a community center, as an employee. They handle all the insurance, advertising, payments, and rules. At some point in my life, I might be willing to strike out on my own. Until then, I like someone else doing the job :-)

[jewelbellydance]

If you're new to teaching, it can be much easier to leave the admin to others for a while while you just concentrate on learning how to teach - it is likely to be a steep learning curve. Also, it's likely you will have to prove you have insurance to be able to hire anywhere yourself, and this can be a prohibitive cost when you start up.

But if you do want to hire your own space and run things yourself...

- Community centres can be good because you may be able to advertise the class in their own brochures, which are often distributed widely. You should also budget for additional paid advertising, such as fliers/in the local paper.
- Insurance is likely to be a necessity. The centre may have an arrangement where you can pay a fee each week to come under theirs.
- Think out all your booking policies and procedures beforehand so you're not making it up as you go. Document them and distrubute them to students. Check other dancers' websites for eg's. Here's mine: Jewel Bellydance - Belly dance classes melbourne Australia ::: classes
- Don't rely on casual attendees turning up every class - ensure you have a minimum number of students prepayed for the term within the first few weeks, or you may need to cancel the class. My experience - only 50% of people who 'book' but don't prepay will actually turn up on the night.
- If possible, create a way for prepayment outside of class. Assuming you can't take credit card, provide a cheque mailing address or direct deposit details. NB: these need several days to turn up in your bank statement, so no good as a last minute payment option.
- Personally, I'm happy to accept cheques, even though there's a risk they won't clear. Even in the worst case scenario that the cheque bounces and the student never returns, I've only lost one class payment, as they can't continue unless they pay the class fees plus cheque bounce fee. But always get their contact details (incl. phone numbers).
Cont...

[jewelbellydance]

...continuing...
- Don't let any student join the class without paying or checking off on your roll. I also insist they fill in an enrolment form which includes a liability waiver. Tell people to arrive 10 mins early on their first class to sort this out, and you should get there super-early to have all the admin stuff set up. Be as organised and as streamlined as possible. Better yet, rope in an assistant so you can concentrate on teaching.
- Try to get an email address on the enrolment form so you can keep absent students up-to-date with class info (and set up mailing lists on your email program).
- Re training courses: any training you can do will help you feel more confident as a teacher, so is a great idea. If you don't do teacher training, at least try to attend some beginner classes again yourself, and observe how things are taught - what do you like? What could the teacher do better? Think about how to break down and explain each move, plus different types of class activities. Use varying teaching methods, as everyone learns differently (eg: technical breakdown of moves; just following along while you dance; mini-routines; fun free-dance or partnering activities)

It may seem onerous, but it's not impossible! Sometimes it takes time to set up a sustainable class situation and get all your admin procedures right, so don't be deterred if it doesn't work perfectly straight off.

[Fushia]

thanks for the great advices! there are a couple of community centers that I know...and they already have dance classes in there schedule. I think it would be great if they could hire me to teach there. I agree that I should leave the admin stuff to them for now.

My question is, how do I approach them about teaching there? or more like how do I let them know I want to offer belly dance classes? They have a general telephone number, general email address (eg.info@communitcenter), and location address.

I don't feel like email will work because the last place I emailed didn't respond. I'm thinking of giving them a call..so if they ARE interested, we could set up an appointment or something...

If I drop by, I risk that nobody is willing to see me...or the right person to talk to is not available. I have no idea....so what would you do? (I also worry if I just go and drop off a business card, it might be neglected and no one will see it. eg. sitting in a drawer)

Do I call them?
Email them?
or visit them?

Thanks again for helping me! It's so great to hear from experienced dancers/teachers. I will definitely take a teacher training course the next chance I get!!!

[jewelbellydance]

My question is, how do I approach them about teaching there? or more like how do I let them know I want to offer belly dance classes? They have a general telephone number, general email address (eg.info@communitcenter), and location address.

You might have to try multiple methods to get across your enthusiasm, and to get them to respond. My suggestion would be:

1) Call and find out who would be the appropriate person to put a proposal to. At this point, you could say you're interested in offering bellydance, and sound out their likely reaction. But if they don't sound too excited at first, don't take it as a definite no.

2) Send/drop in a written proposal - what you want to offer, why you think it's a good fit for their community centre (and the positives it offers the community), plus a brief synopsis of your experience/skills. Two pages at the most, no waffling. It's a good exercise to write this up before you make any approach, because it'll really help you know what to say if you're suddenly talking to the decision-maker. Send with a cover letter that says you'll call to see what they think in a few days.

3) Call and follow up. If they say no, ask why, and whether they may be interested further down the track. Try to speak to the key decision maker. And if they say, "Our program is currently full but we may be interested next term" put it in your diary to chase them up then.

I think it is always good to meet the decision-maker in person, or at least talk on the phone, because people want to know and trust who they're hiring, and that personal contact is still the preferred way to achieve that.

[Fushia]

Hi Jewelbellydance, I will definitely take your advice and prepare a proposal. Thanks so much. I guess I will call them first and see if I can speak to the person directly. But after I speak with them on the phone, is there any point in sending in a proposal?

[jewelbellydance]

Hi Jewelbellydance, I will definitely take your advice and prepare a proposal. Thanks so much. I guess I will call them first and see if I can speak to the person directly. But after I speak with them on the phone, is there any point in sending in a proposal?

I guess that depends upon whether you get to speak to the key decision maker and whether you get the chance to say all you need to say. I like to have a proposal prepared for a few reasons:

- I'm shy about cold-calling and am much better at writing up documents. I like to just get the appropriate contact name in the first instance, send it in and then call - it gives me an opening ("Did you receive my proposal? What did you think?")

- The exercise of writing the proposal helps me know exactly what I want to say - succinctly! Plus I can re-use it to approach other venues.

- It gives people time to think about your proposal, rather than forcing a decision on-the-spot. Extra good for busy people who oversee a whole program.

- It gives them something to file away for future reference, so even if they say no now, they may get back to you at a later date.

Of course, my way is not the only way ,or even perhaps the best way for you. It depends on what you feel comfortable with. When I was a novice teacher with very little experience, I used proposals to successfully land quite a few jobs. So I at least know this way can work.

[CFerhat]

Hi Fushia,
For the community centers that already have dance classes, get online or get a brochure and check out what they are offering and when. That will help give you ideas on how to pitch your classes. Also, go to the centers and ask for a tour - that will give you a chance to scope out the facilities and the folks that frequent that center. For example, at the center I belong to, logically enough it's mostly retirees in the morning, student-types in the late afternoon and evening, and then working folks from 4:30 p.m. on.