What Particularly impresses you about Teachers ?

[johnthehappyguy]

I was impressed with Russell Saxby's fun class on Sunday at the Beach Ballroom weekend.

I particularly admired how Russell taught the routine standing on the "left side of the stage with the demo on the right "

(in the usual way),

Then he taught each bit standing on the "right side of the stage with the demo on the left"

Everyone changed places on the floor as well and so there was not the problem of having your back to the teacher.

I have written this very clumsily, although Russell was very slick in action.


What PARTICULARLY impresses you about a teacher ?


John:nice:

[timbp]

I particularly admired how Russell taught the routine standing on the "left side of the stage with the demo on the right "

(in the usual way),

Then he taught each bit standing on the "right side of the stage with the demo on the left"

??

It's standard here for teacher's to teach a move from the direction that allows the class to watch the teachers.
And if a move requires leaders looiking one way and followers the ohter, then the move is taught both ways.

I find it hard to believe this is unusual enough to be mentioned as a feature of a good teacher.

[Yliander]

??

It's standard here for teacher's to teach a move from the direction that allows the class to watch the teachers.
And if a move requires leaders looiking one way and followers the ohter, then the move is taught both ways.

I find it hard to believe this is unusual enough to be mentioned as a feature of a good teacher.some teachers manage this better than others - both in the UK & Aus

[Lory]

A Teacher who.....

Starts on time

Is humorous but not the point of distracting from the lesson

Manages to engage the class and keep their attention from waning at all times.

Is articulate, concise and to the point.... NO WAFFLING

FINISHES on time

Is available for questions after the lesson for a short period

And notices and dances with the newby's....

impresses me:worthy:

[Daisy Chain]

Yes to everything that Lory said plus


Teaches moves that are leadable in freestyle.

Daisy

(An Easily Led Little FLower)

[Chef]

I very much agree with what Lory said above but would like to include the following.

What particularly impresses me is when I come across a teaching partnership. Let me explain further. What I mostly see is one teacher and one demo on the stage. The teacher does the talking and the demo is largely mute. What I mean by a teaching partnership is where both leader and follower have pretty much the same amount to say as each other, each teacher showing the responsibilities of one side of a dance partnership and how what you do impacts on the ability of the other person to do what they need to do.

Most of my experience has been that the bulk of the instruction has been directed at the leaders and that initially gave me the feeling that as long as the guy gets his lead right then the woman has no choice but to do what you intended. I now know this not to be true. When a move goes wrong I now feel it is a failure of the connection and that the connection can fail in many ways and in many places somewhere between the leaders brain and the followers body. Sometimes the connection fails at both ends at the same time, often with hilarious results.

My favourite equally balanced teaching partnerships are, Nigel and Nina, Amir and Kate, Cat and Lee (WCS), Cat and Paul (WCS) and Andy and Rena (ariels and lindy). I am sure that there are many others but these are the ones I know about and like.

My partner and I have come to feel that only by understanding what we each need from the other and what our responsibilities to each other are do we begin to dance as a partnership rather than just as an all dominant leader and passive follower.

[Daisy Chain]

What particularly impresses me is when I come across a teaching partnership.


Talking about demos. There's nothing worse than watching a gorgeous young female demo stepping through the moves with a sullen look on her face.

I like to see a demo who appears to be enjoying her role and who injects some style for us ladies to copy.

Anyone else remember Kim from Bowdon about 10 years ago? She was a real inspiration. :respect: I copied her slavishly until I was confident enough to develop my own style.

Daisy

(A Stylish Little Flower)

[tsh]

I think the thing I remember most about teachers is if they are able to describe/teach details clearly, and are able to keep the amount of detail to a minimum. Too much detail means people loose interest, insufficient detail makes it harder to make the class work. Very few teachers seem able to pass on a few little tricks at the right level and in a way which is easy to use.

Another thing (which only works in small classes) is teachers who rotate through a class to demonstrate how a move feels when it is done correctly or to identify individual faults. Some teachers seem comfortable doing this, others seem only able to teach with their demo - even when the class size and moves being taught would allow rotation.

Sean

[Allez-Cat]

NO WAFFLING

I'll go along with that - but especially without any infantile/lavatorial humour.


where both leader and follower have pretty much the same amount to say as each other

I came across this in Wellington (NZ) a couple of years back, and it was very, very impressive - reaching both (student) leader and follower quite effectively. Ain't seen it happen in this neck of the woods at all.

[David Bailey]

What PARTICULARLY impresses you about a teacher ?John:nice:
Depends on the contxt (and the dance) really.

A Ceroc / MJ teacher has a particular set of contraints - they're on stage, with a mike and a demo, and there's only so much "teaching" they can do. Of course, some are much better than others, but it's a fairly well-defined situation.

However, in that situation, I like good class management, clarity, humour, attempts to put style tips in, and attempts to interact with the class or gain feedback from them. I also like enthusiasm for the post-class "work the room" bit of the job - Mike Ellard and Simon Borland are very good at this sort of thing in the London areas.

Outside of that situation, I like a teacher who can solve my problems - someone who can explain and demonstrate things simply and clearly, in such a way that I both know what I'm doing wrong, and know how I can fix it.

[Gadget]

See "Mark of a good Teacher" (http://www.cerocscotland.com/forum/showthread.php?p=120265#post120265) from my syg; I don't think my opinions have changed since then. :flower:

[MartinHarper]

I don't see that having a teacher who can dance on both the left side and the right side of the stage is really a mark of excellence. Even in modern jive.

[Piglet]

Perhaps its not really a mark of excellence - but have you ever noticed the amount of people who get confused because they've learned a move in one direction but when they join it onto the move that comes before they end up facing the opposite way?

I know that this has confused me in the past when both following and leading - I think I'm getting better, but sometimes I wonder if the teacher has realised that this causes some problems for some learners. (Apparently men are much better at this spatial awareness thing, but I can say I've met at least a couple that it has caught out - obviously have a female brain :rolleyes: )

[spindr]

Perhaps its not really a mark of excellence - but have you ever noticed the amount of people who get confused because they've learned a move in one direction but when they join it onto the move that comes before they end up facing the opposite way?
The reason is because you learn the dance relative to the room -- rather than relative to your start position. A good teacher that worried about this would make sure that you dance the routine facing a variety of directions.

Anyway, a good teacher should be able to explain *why* they have made particular choices about their dancing -- and integrate technique, style and moves in to a single lesson :)

SpinDr

[Lynn]

Much of the above, but key for me is a teacher who can adjust their method, style or content in response to the needs of the class. I.e. not delivering a set patter, but assessing the level, shared understanding of terms and language used, seek to get feedback on how people are finding the moves or technique etc etc. Clearly not possible in the big weekender classes of hundreds and works better in smaller groups.

This could be because my own teaching style is rather interactive, I never just give a straight 'lecture', I always seek to check understanding as I go along, build on existing knowledge etc, so I would deliver the same material to different groups in very different ways.

And of course I always prefer teachers who teach technique rather than just moves.