Let's face it, the road to success is always under construction. I think back to when we first started teaching full time when we bought our studio 29 years ago. Things were very different then. How you gave corrections and how they were received has changed dramatically. If we were teaching like we did back then, we would be getting nowhere fast.
Teachers, in general, need to be pliable and I am not talking about your flexibility! I think that it is important to be willing to change your approach in the way you teach different levels. Now techniques and styles have also changed a lot over the years but there are some true and tried methods of teaching that just need to be readjusted to fit todays thinking and learning mode.
I love the challenge of change and I hope you do as well. How boring would it be to still be teaching the same old way and giving the same old corrections. I don't know about you, but when I am giving the same correction to a student or trying to fix a certain part of the choreography over and over again I am just about ready to lose my mind! Then I think to myself… "Hey Steve, change it up!" If it is not working why keep on trying? Sometimes the best correction we can give is to ourselves and to take a step back and see why the student isn't getting it. Maybe we need to change the way we are giving the correction. Yes, I know you may be thinking that it is up to the students to listen and apply the correction and you are right. But the ultimate goal here is to fix what is not working and it may mean that you need to take a different approach to get the desired result.
It may be that you need to give yourself a slight adjustment. Don't get down on yourself or think that you have "lost it" just because you have a class or student that is giving you push back. Self-evaluation can be challenging sometimes but make it a fun exercise instead of some dreaded self-destruction deal. Look we can all get better. We expect it from our students so why should the teacher be any different?
Something to think about:
The late astronaut James Irwin said: "You might think that going to the moon was the most scientific project ever but they literally threw us in the direction of the moon. We had to adjust our course every ten minutes and landed only fifty feet inside the 500-mile radius of our target. On that mission every change no matter how small was critical and essential to the success."
As the saying goes, "There is nothing more permanent than change!"
So many people want to change the world but nobody wants to change themselves
If you want a better result from your students, I recommend you try something different in your class. Maybe change up your warmup, barre or center work. Maybe your music is stale or you just do something unexpected and see how your class reacts to it. And when you do, my guess is some will love it and others may give you push back. And the reason why? I would bet that those students don't like change much either!
Almost everyone is in favor of progress, it's the change they don't like. Face it, change really is here to stay. Most people become willing to change not because they see the light but because they feel the heat.
Great ideas and teaching methods still need change, adaptation and modification in order to prosper and succeed. Don't throw away everything you know just give it a makeover.
Everything old is new again!
There are very few "NEW" things being done. They are an adaptation on something that has already been done before but someone found a way to put their own style or uniqueness to it. I would bet you have done the same yourself I know I have at least a thousand times!
That is one of the reasons why we created Dance Teacher Web, to help you to see a new take on things you may have been doing for years. But you see how someone else teaches it and how they break it down. I recommend that you take time and explore all of the videos we have even in styles and genres that you may not even teach. Why? Because sometimes the simplest things get our creative juices flowing with ideas on how to do what we are doing better.
Did you know?
That the great car inventor Henry Ford forgot to put a reverse gear in his first automobile. Could you imagine a car with no ability to back up? Few knew of his oversight because he changed it once he realized his mistake. Today the name FORD is still one that everyone associates with that first car.
Success and growth are unlikely if you always do things the way you've always done them. When you stop changing, you stop growing!
