As teachers, it really all begins and end with us! If a student, or even worse an entire class is not listening, not learning, not growing or not getting better, then the cold hard truth is that we may be missing something. This self evaluation is the key to improving as a teacher. There are some classes that I have taught that when the year ends I feel that for whatever reason I just did not connect with the class. Hey, after twenty one years I am not about to tell you that ever class I have taught has been a huge success. Sometimes I realized late in the year that the class was just not learning as much as I thought they were. It is easy to chalk it up to that particular class just being the problem class goodness knows we have all had some of those!! However, upon further review, I have concluded that I may have missed the target.

The best way to avoid this problem is to keep a track record of what is going on with your classes. A running diary, if you will, that will remind you what has been happening from week to week and month to month. If there is one student that is pulling the class down make a move to rectify the situation sooner rather than later. Sometimes, when the time comes to create choreography for the year end show I have sold the class short. They could have done much more than I gave them credit for. At other times I have overestimated what they were capable of. In either circumstance the end result is not very impressive. To help with this over the years I have used this chart and running diary to help me stay on track with each class. I recommend you do the same, especially if you teach several classes a week, as I know many of you do. I recommend that you create a simple check list with a grade system that you can include in your class diary. This way each month you can see what level each class is and where the problems may be. We all know which classes are the problems but this is a way to determine where the problem lies.

Here is a sample list of issues that may be affecting your class.

Attendance. Even if you do attendance I recommend that you give the class a grade. If you have a lot of students that are constantly missing you may not have captured their attention fully. Is someone constantly coming in late? If so, try to find out why and how it can be fixed.

Behavior. If you are constantly reprimanding a particular class then you may have lost control. If you know this and have been tracking it, you may need to sit down and go over the guidelines of what is expected of the students in the class.

Improvement. Have a list of technique that you have taught and check to see that your students have understood it. If not, you may need to try another approach to a step or steps. How are their listening skills? You may need to reconnect with them in some way.

Rapport. How are you connecting overall with the students? Do you have a problem group? If so, what can you do about it? If you can fix the problem, the students will be with you and be willing to follow your lead.

Overall Grade. This is just to let you know which group is doing best and to find a way to implement what you are doing with them for the class with the worst grade. By using this system I have found that I am able to keep the classes in line and have a better overall experience with my students. By doing it this way, the class that I may have had trouble with early in the season I now love and have fun with. When your students are happy they will be much more receptive to learning and this in turn will make you, as a teacher, feel much more satisfied.