Musical Theater

I have a student who is legally blind. She wears really thick glasses and can see, but not well. As you can imagine, she's not the most graceful dancer and is kind of awkward in general. But, she's a good kid and never lets her handicap get in the way. I don't think the other girls in her class know that she's legally blind.

The week after April vacation, she came into class and told me that she choreographed a dance over the break. She wanted to show the class. I feel so horrible for saying this, but it was awful! I didn't recognize a single dance step. I don't know what she was doing besides twirling around with her eyes closed. And the song was about six minutes long! But, I applauded her for her efforts and thanked her for sharing.

This past Tuesday, she brought in another CD. She made up another dance. This one wasn't as bad. It wasn't good, but I at least recognized a few of the attempted movements. I think it's safe to say this kid is never turning pro, but at least she loves dance, right?

Yesterday, I saw this kid in a new light. I took my class into the other studio to watch a little bit of the musical theater class production. Part of their show features songs from Annie. This kid can sing. I completely enjoyed her performance and wanted to see more. I was impressed. I could also tell from my students' reactions that they were surprised as well. Lesson learned by all.

Frustration

I have a student (we'll call her Kerri) who attends a vocational high school. They have this competition where they test their skills against other schools. The winner of the state competition goes on to nationals in Kansas City. Kerri decided to run for an elected position in KC and won. Apparently, this is a big deal and looks great on college applications.

Turns out, the national skill competition is the same week as the recital. This would mean that she would miss all the rehearsals on stage. There is one recital on Friday night and another Saturday afternoon at 1pm. Her flight back home comes in at noon.

About a month ago, when Kerri found out that she won the elected position, she was trying to fly home on a Friday night so she'd be able to make at least one of the recitals. Turns out, one of the chaperones also wanted to come home early. Perfect.

Yesterday, Kerri tells me that the chaperone changed her mind so she would no longer be able to make the early flight. She's back on the flight that gets in at noon. By the time she gets to the stage, she's going to miss most of the show. Who knows when she'll get there?

So now, I have to change all the dances that she's in so that there are no empty spots. Arrgh! With only three weeks until the show.

I hate stubborn teenagers

In the routine for the 'advanced' jazz class, 6 of them partner up (into 3 groups) and one of the partners flips the other partner around (like a backflip, only sideways). 2 out of the 3 groups have the move down perfectly. With the 3rd group, it seems like one of them is always absent. They alternate being out. I think this group has practiced this flip maybe two classes out of the whole year (I'm telling you, they're never in class).


Yesterday, the entire class was there. MIRACLE!!! I can count on one hand how many times all year that the entire class was there at the same time. I have two girls that are graduating from high school in that class. The rest of them are juniors, plus a couple younger ones.

One of the girls in the above mentioned 3rd group, is a senior. She told me in the beginning of class that this would be her last class. Next week is her prom. The following week is her boyfriend's prom. The week after that is her graduation. Then it's recital week. Super. The most clueless kid in the class will remain clueless. Then all the other students start chiming in. 'I'm going to miss next week for prom too.' 'My brother is graduating so I won't be here that week either.'

Back to the original flipping problem. I told group 3 to practice that move since they weren't going to be in class anymore. This was their last chance to practice the trick. The girl that does the flipping (we'll call her Susie), informs me that she's not able to pick her partner up to flip her. She's making all these excuses that don't make any sense whatsoever. I ask one of the other groups to go help them. This move is not difficult at all, but it looks impressive. Susie flips her partner over once. It's messy. I give a correction. I assume they'll continue to practice the flip while I direct my attention to the rest of the class who don't flip.

When I look over again, they're standing around talking. I ask them to show me their progress. Susie says 'Last time I did this I threw out my back. I can't do it.' Really? You're seventeen. I tell her some things to do so that she won't hurt her back and turn my attention again to the rest of the class. I look over again. They're standing there with their arms crossed. Susie says 'I'm not going to hurt my back again. I'm not doing it.' I told her she's going to look silly when her group is just standing there while the other groups are flipping around. She said she'd rather look silly. I was so mad. I said 'Fine. Look silly.' Her partner was angry. I could see it in her face. That was it. I let them look dumb.

Facebook

I have mixed feelings on whether I want to be friends with students on facebook. On one hand, I find it helpful in communicating quickly with them if need be and keeping up with technology, etc. On the other hand, I really don't want all these kids knowing my personal life, and really it often becomes a hassle seeing things they post too. Their parents should really pay more attention to their children's activities (but that's a whole other can of worms). Okay, with that said, here are the events from yesterday.

From 5-7pm, I teach a middle school class. Most of them are in 8th grade. Some are freshmen. Some are a little younger. One of the 8th grade teachers in their academic school has her students make a scrapbook every year. Every year, I get a handful of students asking me to write them a letter for their scrapbook. Okay, no big deal. Yesterday, two of those eighth graders brought in their cameras so they could add pictures to their scrapbook too. Normally, I would have thought this was fine.

But, back in February, when the advanced class was trying on their costumes, someone took a picture of them posing and put it on facebook. Oh, the horror! I know! Well, the director saw the picture and decided there would be no more pictures posted online unless the teacher/director posts them. She said she's trying to avoid a potential problem.

I informed the picture takers of this rule. After they were done with my class, they went into ballet and complained to Miss Plie' about the rule. She told them it was their right to post pictures on their facebook. I informed Miss Plie' of the director's decision. She said it was stupid and told them to go ahead a post the pictures. Argh. I know this is going to come back to me and I'm going to have to hear it.

Lazy Kids

You know that saying 'When the cat's away, the mice will play'?

Yesterday, the director didn't come in to the studio. From 7-9pm, I teach the younger high school class. This class is supposed to be the second most advanced class. Ha. As soon as they realized the boss lady wasn't coming in, they immediately turned into sloths. It was like pulling teeth to get them to focus and do anything. We did finally finish their dance, but they were being so obnoxious and whiny about it. 'I don't like how the music ends.' 'This is too fast.' 'She's bumping into me.' 'Can't we do this instead?' Really? Ugh.

Follow Up to last post

I got an email back from Miss Plie'. She would like us both to sit down with the student to talk with her. She's also noticed a big change in the girl's attitude.

Then I got an email from the director. She thinks it's best if we do nothing. She said to continue keeping an eye on the kid. I have a gut feeling this is the wrong decision.

Laxatives?

Unfortunately, not every conversation with a student is a funny one.

About a month ago, the ballet teacher (we'll call her Miss Plie') at the dance school approached me in the staff room to ask my opinion regarding a particular student. The student is a sophomore in high school. Miss Plie' had suspicions that the student is bulimic. She said the student asked to go to the bathroom, was there a while & came back complaining about stomach issues.

After her ballet class, the student comes into my room for jazz & tap. While I'm taking attendance, the students in the class usually tell me something about what's going on in their lives.

I've taught this kid for a few years now & I've heard from her a few times that she's doing the newest fad diet with her mother. This kid is not overweight. She's short (less than 5 feet) & has very muscular legs. I figured if she's dieting under her mother's supervision, then I'm not going to worry too much.

Yesterday, she was outside the classroom & she knocked over her drink. One of the other students asked what she was drinking & she replied tea. Then she said to me, 'when I was making this drink, I accidentally grabbed the tea with a laxative in it'. I asked her to drink water instead. We have a water cooler in the lobby. She said she likes the taste of the tea better than water.

I just sent an email to the director & the ballet teacher regarding my concerns for this student. I'll keep you posted.

Cookies

Last week, a student came into class w/ a little yellow card she made herself. It said something like 'In honor of teacher appreciation week, I wanted to thank you for being a great teacher.' Aww, that was nice. Then she said 'I made it yellow because that's your favorite color'. Double awww. Jokingly, I read it out loud to the rest of the class, hoping they'd get the hint & do the same. Instead, one kid said 'You should have seen what she did for her teachers at school. One of them got a plant & the others got cookies'.

Her mom makes the best chocolate chip cookies. They are soooo thick, chewy & delicous. I look forward to the recital every year just for these cookies. So then, the poor girl got embarassed. She turned bright red & started blubbering about how her mom only let her make 2 dozen & she brought them for her teachers at school. She promised to make me some next week. I told her the card was great, thanked her again for it & continued with the class.

Well, yesterday, the cookie kid comes in with a nicely wrapped package of cookies for me, tied with a yellow bow.

Conversations with my Students

If only I started this years ago, I'd have enough material for a novel by now.


Yesterday, I was teaching jazz to a group of junior and senior high school students. While they were practicing their dance, I yelled out a correction to 'Lift your sternum'. One girl stopped dancing, stared at me for a while, then bursts out laughing. She came over to me and whispered, 'I thought you said scrotum'.


Ironically, on Tuesday, I had an interesting conversation with the above mentioned student's younger sister. She's in 8th grade. Knowing that middle school students are often uncomfortable with their bodies, I chose to refer to boobs as 'the girls'. This usually makes the class laugh & they don't feel as awkward about whatever it is that I'm talking about. So anyway, I was trying to describe how I wanted the class to place their arm. I wanted the right arm to be bent at the elbow & reaching across the body with the wrist flexed. To sum that direction up quickly, I said 'frame the girls'. I didn't invent the phrase. Teachers have said the same thing to me a million times. I get it. It works. So, this student asks me 'Why do you call them girls? Why don't you just call them breasts or ta-tas or something? What if they want to be boys?' My response, 'Why would they be boys?'. She said 'I don't know'. I walked away.