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Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Dancing the day away with Zumba

Prior to the lesson by my fellow Teacher Candidate I had never danced in a Zumba class. I was very unclear as to what Zumba was and how the classroom was managed. Dan came into the classroom with a great amount of energy and got everyone excited to dance. This is key when working with students. Many males and some females may feel that they look silly or don't real;y feel like dancing. If we can show them that we are not afraid to dance and that it can be a lot of fun, then we will be much more likely to get them involved. I think that using dance as a warm-up for Zumba or any other activity for that mater is a great idea. It inspires the students to be active and to be creative. In previous classes we have done a dance circle where students must showcase their individual dance moves. This is great as no one feel left out and create a sorta of ice breaker going into an activity. I think one of the challenges that a teacher faces when teaching Zumba is music choice. You must find music that is both appropriate but also music that the students would be interested in dancing to. Dan used some traditional Zumba music and I feel that it fit the classroom atmosphere well. Another way you can get some new music is by asking your students what they would like to hear played in the class, provided that the music is appropriate. This makes the students feel like they are part of the classroom decisions. When Dan was teaching he faced the great challenge of having a blind student in the classroom. When you are teaching it is important that as the teacher you are ready to modify any activity for students with disabilities. Dan did a great job of announcing verbal cues so that the student could understand what needed to be done even though she could not see the demonstration. I think that also you must be able to effectively demonstrate the cues with out any verbal supplementation in the event that there is a student in your class who is deaf or ESL/ELP. Being able to do so will ensure that all students are learning and enjoying the activities. I want to commend my colleague Dan on a job well done and point out a few more good things that he did during his lesson. Dan did a great job choosing two students, one of each gender, to pinpoint. This is great as it allows other students to be able to see how the skill should be performed and also is a boost in confidence for the students who get to demonstrate. As teachers we need to constantly reflect on how we are doing and make adjustments as nessecary. I feel that this is where many teachers fall short. I will be sure to reflect not only on my own teaching but also those good teachers that I am privileged to observe. Below are some pictures of Dan teaching.

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