strathspey@strathspey.org:44623

Ron Mackey

RE: Rules for teachers

March 11, 2006, 12:23 a.m. (Message 44623, in reply to message 44606)

> I think that what is meant is that as the teacher one
> has already perhaps chosen a certain wording so that
> it is more clear to the class rather than just reading
> out of the book.  I know that I sometimes depend too
> much on the book rather than already knowing exactly
> what to tell the class.  Once I really know a dance I
> might describe it a little differently in a way that
> would be easier to understand for the dancers.  
> Wendy Grubb

	Hi, 		I attend a class where a teacher reads the 
first try from the book and has us standing while discussions go on 
about what the instructions mean to each dancer involved.  It is very 
much a timewasting experience and, by committee, often is done 
incorrectly in the end!.
 	Personally, I scan any new dance and copy it to a text file. 
This is fairly garbled and needs re-writing/editing.  In doing this one 
has to go line by line, often retyping the whole 8 bars being 
considered.   I take the opportunity to insert my own abbreviations 
(e.g. RSh,: 1s, 2s, 3s,:  Rts & Lts ; R3-4-5 etc.) and change the 
wording so that I can grasp the meaning more quickly so that by the 
time it is done it is re-written in a compact form and one has a clear 
idea of what the deviser intended.   Oh, yes - and I always try to find 
more then one way of saying things to produce the same result 	
Tonight I tried to do a couple of old dances out of books 9 & 14 
(which I knew well 50 or so years ago) straight from the wee books 
and made a right hash of things.
  Taught me a lesson, it did!  i.e.  

Don't take short cuts and be sure you know the dance before you 
teach it.  It is the least you owe your class.