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Advancing Students With Special Needs Through Movement

March 9, 2016 by 4dancers

dance-971082_640

by Janet Rothwell

This past semester I had the opportunity to teach a high school dance class to students with special needs. From this experience, I have learned the value of movement to all bodies and seen the positive changes that can occur for students because of the opportunity to move. Dance educators need to be empowered to teach all kinds of minds and bodies that we might come across, and all too often this population can easily be left out of the dance field.

Working alongside special needs teachers, I created a structure that supports multiple behavior issues, adheres to NCAS, and offers students opportunities to practice social and emotional skill-building, such as staying on task, showing respect and care for peers, and more. Creative problem solving activities that foster accomplishments and growth in confidence and competency help to create an environment of respect and student engagement.

My personal creativity has been challenged and fulfilled through working with these students. My students have a wide range of physical disabilities from wheelchair-bound, to walking with assistance, to slight physical limitations. They also have a wide range of intellectual disabilities, ranging from low functioning autism to slight cognitive impairments. Their unique needs push my skills in new and enlightening ways. I learned how to craft an effect movement lesson so that each student is engaged the whole time and few behaviors arise. I kept activities short and varied to maintain student focus in the class. Freeze dance with creative shapes in the body was a great way to introduce levels while transitioning to a new activity. Lessons included the use of Laban efforts, creative choreography projects and props. Some examples of props used are spots on the floor so students know where their place is in the space, and creating an obstacle course with hula-hoops, ribbon sticks, and plastic cones.

whiteboard-accessories-69155_640Every day I wrote the order of class on the whiteboard so students would know what to expect next. A consistent warm up helped my students get focused at the start of class each day. I used basic isolations throughout the body, followed by improvisation traveling across the floor. For example, “hop like a frog,” “travel low on the floor like a crab,” and “walk, kick legs across the floor,” etc. Constant positive encouragement made a big difference for my students. They really grew and took chances following my supportive feedback.

Creative Dance Project example: I will use the example of a scary Halloween dance that I did with my class to demonstrate what worked well for them. First, the students learned scary movements like spider fingers (wiggling fingers creepy), Frankenstein arms (walk like a Zombie), skeleton knees (knees shaking in and out), and ghost arms (arms floating at side). I wrote the names of the movements and the order we did them on the whiteboard. When the time came for them to create their own pattern, we had visual images of each movement on paper for students to use to assist in this process.

Students got a paper timeline and cut and pasted the movement images onto the timeline in the order in which they wanted to do them. Students practiced their sequence, some added a change of facing (walls had colored paper on them to help with this), then one by one each student performed their solo for the group. We talked about being a good audience member (watching, listening, applauding). Students also made scary paper masks that they could wear while they danced if they wanted to. This activity was great for students of all ranges of abilities. There were many ways to differentiate instruction and challenge those more advanced students like changing facings with movements. I also kept it easier for students with more severe disabilities by holding their timeline in front of them while they performed for the group.

After teaching this class I still have these lingering questions which I will continuously try to answer: How can we maintain a dance classroom of respect and safety with students with special needs? How can we utilize student aides in the most effective way? What is appropriate movement to expect from students within a large spectrum? How can we challenge creativity and performance with this group of students?


Have you taught this population before? Do you have any thoughts you’d like to share regarding your experience? We’d love to hear any comments you may have…


dancer posing upside down
    Janet Rothwell

Contributor Janet (Neidhardt) Rothwell has been a dance educator for 10 years. She has taught modern, ballet, and jazz at various studios and schools on Chicago’s North Shore. She received her MA in Dance with an emphasis in Choreography from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and her BA in Communications with a Dance Minor from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Throughout her time in graduate school, Janet performed with Sidelong Dance Company based in Winston-Salem, NC.

Currently, Janet teaches dance at Adlai E. Stevenson H.S. in IL. She regularly seeks out professional development opportunities to continue her own artistic growth. Recently, Janet performed with Keigwin and Company in the Chicago Dancing Festival 2012 and attended the Bates Dance Festival.

When she isn’t dancing, Janet enjoys teaching Pilates, practicing yoga, and running races around the city of Chicago.

 

Filed Under: 4teachers Tagged With: dance class, dance for special needs students, dance in schools, High School Dance Class, janet rothwell, movement lesson, Special Needs Dance Class, tips for dance teachers

Dance Students: The Importance Of Good Character

February 8, 2016 by 4dancers

"Surrey Celebration Dance Team" by Brendan. Licensed under CC Attribution 2.0 Generic.
“Surrey Celebration Dance Team” by
Brendan. Licensed under CC
Attribution 2.0 Generic.

by Lucy Vurusic Riner

There is a lot of talk that typically surrounds the plight of the millennial. Did their parents raise them to be self-sufficient? What sort of work ethic do they have? How do their values and morals play out in today’s workforce?

And, for me as a teacher, how do I impart my “Gen X wisdom” on them in dance class?

I wonder about this each day as I watch my students come into class. They really do toggle back and forth from being complete perfectionists and go-getters to being completely entitled and lazy. As a parent I wonder when their character will begin to take shape and how much influence their own parents have over the kinds of humans that are walking into my dance class each day. As an executive director of a dance company I wonder if I would hire more than a fraction of them upon graduating from college.

Attitude matters these days.

Teaching high school dancers (and I believe this extends well into college as well) is challenging in that most of our students are setting goals that are superficial; or what I like to call surface level. They read the syllabus or the rubric to see what they need to do to get the A or get cast in the role and then they simply do the bare minimum to make that happen. There is a preconceived notion that if you’ve done all the work, you now deserve the job. Period. The problem is that a lot of them can do the work. A lot of them can even do the work well; but there aren’t enough jobs for the amount of dancers we’re cranking out these days.

We need to teach them that doing the work is standard. It’s status quo. It’s the bare minimum expectation. It’s what happens after you’ve done part one that leaves an impression. It’s more than just bringing your skills and talents. Attitude, character and work ethic matter. [Read more…]

Filed Under: 4teachers, Teaching Tips Tagged With: building character in dancers, dance class, dance in schools, lucy riner, lucy vurusic riner, teaching dance, teaching high school dance, teaching teens, teaching teens dance

Process Focused Thinking In The Dance Classroom

November 10, 2014 by 4dancers

PSM V26 D768 Brain of gauss
by Janet Rothwell

As a choreographer and dance educator, process is very important to me. It is through my creative process that I problem solve and create various products. My process can vary depending on the task at hand or even on how I feel in the moment. Any changes in my process are usually reflected in the product outcome as well. One example of how changing my process can be helpful is when I am choreographing a work and I do not want it to look or feel like the last piece I created. Changing my process can help me to create new movement and fresh ideas.

In order to teach my students about the value of process I give them many assignments where they have built in time to explore and play. I also have them reflect on their process answering questions like: How did you go about learning a movement sequence? How did you work within your group on a project? How did you approach the creation of your movement?

I often have students work in small groups on various choreography assignments. The most recent project I gave them was to create a short choreographic study based on initiating movement from certain bones in their body. The main goals were for students to learn the names of the bones, where they were located, and how it feels to move from those bones in their body.

The assignment included a rubric which required students to use specific choreography tools and a required length of counts for the whole dance. Often time when I give an assignment like this with a clear rubric of expectations, students look at the list of what the dance must include and work towards this end goal first instead of taking the time to experiment and play with movement ideas. I have to remind them that I’m giving them many days to work on the project to include the process of discovering the movement they want to use and they have time to change their minds and let the dance evolve. I use many analogies like when you create movement and choreography with your group you are writing in pencil not pen so as you go on if you don’t like something simply erase it and make a change.

The majority of the classes that my high school students take are very product focused and students can either be right or wrong with their product. It can be very challenging for students to shift their perspective in my class and linger in the process focused perspective as a means to create and problem solve. In dance class with a creative assignment there is not one way to do anything right so there are many right answers and what I try to teach my students is that I want them to discover what they feel is the best and right answer for them. They discover this through their process.

Having an emphasis on the process rather than the product does not mean that I do not care about the end product. On the contrary, I think that when the process is more fulfilled the end product is also more likely to be fulfilled and realized in a deeper way. The way we go about getting to an end product is through various paths and that we honor the paths we try out and discover what each one has to offer. Students edit and revise more while focusing on process in order to create the product.

As students embrace this mind set I see a shift in the quality of their work and their work ethic. In a world of instant gratification and product focused thinking it is becoming more and more important that we teach young people to value the process, the how we get to an end goal. Teaching students to be process focused can have great implications in many areas of their lives and help them to problem solve in creative ways. I hope to help my students become creative problem solvers and leaders in the world they live in.


dancer posing upside down
Janet Neidhardt

Contributor Janet Rothwell has been a dance educator for 10 years. She has taught modern, ballet, and jazz at various studios and schools on Chicago’s North Shore. She received her MA in Dance with an emphasis in Choreography from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and her BA in Communications with a Dance Minor from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Throughout her time in graduate school, Janet performed with Sidelong Dance Company based in Winston-Salem, NC.

Currently, Janet teaches dance at Loyola Academy High School in Wilmette, IL. She is the Director of Loyola Academy Dance Company B and the Brother Small Arts Guild, and choreographs for the Spring Dance Concert and school musical each year. Janet is very active within the Loyola Academy community leading student retreats and summer service trips. She regularly seeks out professional development opportunities to continue her own artistic growth. Recently, Janet performed with Keigwin and Company in the Chicago Dancing Festival 2012 and attended the Bates Dance Festival.

When she isn’t dancing, Janet enjoys teaching Pilates, practicing yoga, and running races around the city of Chicago.

Filed Under: 4teachers, Making Dances Tagged With: choreography, dance classroom, dance in schools, dance teacher, high school dance, janet rothwell, making dances, process focused thinking, teaching dance

Dance And The Grading Process

March 24, 2014 by 4dancers

Intern Tess Losada
4dancers Intern Tess Losada

by Tess Losada

I got my first ever C in high school chemistry. My world of unfailingly perfect grades that I had always achieved with little to no effort came crashing down around me.

Though surviving that C helped me realize that a grade couldn’t actually stop my heart, I felt that same panic in my first college dance technique class. As my professor explained the grading scale, complete with skills tests throughout the semester, I wondered if I would be able to fulfill her expectations and get the A.

One of my favorite aspects of the dance field is how incredibly intelligent dancers are. Most dancers are also rather “type A”; willing to do anything to solve the problem and anxious to find the “right” answer. For individuals who are so driven to do things correctly, being graded on the very subjective facets of dance can be incredibly stressful. It can also be difficult to accept the emotional differences between dancing for fun and the new academic requirements placed on your dancing.

This semester, as I prepare to graduate with my degree in Dance Performance, I feel that I can look back on my undergraduate academic career and understand the grading process with a new mindset. I would like to offer future dance majors some ideas of the things I believe that myself and my classmates wish we had known four years ago. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Editorial Tagged With: college dance, dance in schools, grading dance, orchesis

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