Monday, September 22, 2008

Action Satisfaction-AKA-Breakdancing

This week I taught break dancing in class. I wish I could do it over again. Here's how I would do it if I could:
Start with a short video of breakdancers, maybe 20 seconds. (purpose: sheer enjoyment).
Ask them to look for common things about all the people in the video (i.e.,-what were they wearing, moves, footwork, etc.) and replay the video.
Discuss observations, write them on the board.
Talk about toprock.
If time allows, show the "liquid" dancing guy.
Talk about downrock.
Teach the 6-step.
(In class, Jason volunteered to try it up front. When he got it down, I should have had him help Tara, the next volunteer. That way it would have been an L/T moment where he was the learner, but progressed to the teacher. We could have then gone out into a bigger area and split up into pairs so that everyone could help teach their partner. If needed, Jason and Tara could have acted as TA's for me to help everyone get it right.)
If there is still time, watch the competition video to give inspiration to continue learning on their own.
That would have been a much better lesson than what I had planned. It's always easier to see what could be better once you've taught it.

No comments: