slow down and teach

I don't know where to start with my thoughts on today's class. Not that a lot of things went wrong today, but there is just so much running through my mind about my class- how can i teach more productivly and clear, how do i know if my students are really enjoying what i am teaching them, how can i plan a shadowing day, a lot of my girls have so much potential!!!
I began teaching a new ancient style hula dance today and we did not get very far (just the first verse- four 8 counts). The dance turned out to be a little more difficult for the girls to learn then i thought it would be. I had to keep stopping, to break down the steps over and over again. I would forget that i am working with 9th grade high school students who had never danced hula before. i know that when i was learning some of these hula dances at a young age, my hula teacher moved very slow with us. however, we had time to move slow- our classes were almost two hours longs. My Samohi class in 50 minutes with many interuptions. And i only have 6 more set planned class sessions with them! I feel like i do not have enought time with them at all- once a week for 50 minutes- thats so short.
Most of the girls are really trying and i can tell they are interested in the story of the dance, at least i think they are. It just seems like i need to move slower for the girls to get it, but if we move any slower then we'll never finish the dance, and then soon the girls will get bored of the dance. i guess this is why i am scared to move slow. Maybe sometimes I just need to have those relaxed moments with my students, where we can laugh, talk about the story of the dance, and get to know one another. Little by little we will get somewhere. I just need to remember that my students and I will make it through the year growing together and learning from one another no matter what happens.

1st day of Hula, 1st day of video taping

My students are progressing more and more each week! We have continued into or Hawaiian segment and today they learned four hula basic steps. Not only did they learn how to do the steps, but they learned how to spell the names of each step that i taught them- kaholo, kalakaua, hela, and uehe. I explained how each vowel in hawaiian is pronounced then asked volunteers to guess how to spell the name of the movement after i told them how to say it. In addition, my girls began learning the difference between the two main hula styles- the ancient hawaiian kahiko and the contemporary hula auana. I explained what the music would sound like for kahiko and auana then played some examples to see if they could identify which song belonged to which hula style. These exercises push the girls to make connections of sound through spelling the hawaiian language and listening to two different hula music/dance styles. Next week we will continue our study between the two different styles by watching videos of examples.
Today my students were particularly quiet and paid attention. This could be because of the presense of our video documentor Jaynie and our photographer Vera. It could have been the fact that two of my main "talkers" that love to chate during class were not suited up and unable to participate, which is actually unfortunate. Or maybe it was the fact that we were learning something new- hula. Whatever the reason- it was nice to have the undivided attention of my students! We'll see how next week goes.
After teaching the four hula basic steps we practiced them to both kahiko and auana music while i also added in simple hand placements. The girls told me that they like the sound of kahiko more then auana so i am probably going to teach a hula kahiko. Stayed posted for next week's blog.

looking grown up

Today was our fourth class session. We have finally completed learning the dance Mokore'a! Yay, what an accomplishment! We will continue to practice this dance, but next week I will start teaching Hula basic movements and talking about Hawai'i itself.
What made today different is that i was mistaken for being one of the high school students while walking around campus. After my class ended, while on the way back to my car i was stopped by a capus security guard. "Young Lady!" he hollered in a deep voice, "Come here please." At that moment i was talking on the phone and had to end by converstation in order to speak with the guard. I showed my badge and explained that i was a guest teacher. He was surprised and immediatly appoligized telling me how he thought that i was a SAMO student. In addition to this incident, before my class, when i arrived at the guest parking lot, i was explaining and showing my badge to the security guard of the parking lot. He raised his eyebrows and said "How old are you Desiree?" I replied telling him that i was twenty and a student at UCLA. "Because you look a like a baby yourself!" he said smiling. I found it funny as well because i do agree too that i look very yound. I was wearing black dance pants, a red sweatshirt and jean jacket today. In spite of all this, after today, I have decided that i will begin wearing work clothes for the work place to my high school and change there (i.e.- wear heels, slacks, a blazer, etc.). I want to start playing my role as a respected grown up teacher where i do not have to worry about being mistaken for a high schooler. I already am a little nervous knowing that my students now know that i am twenty. Dressing grown up will build my confidence as a professional teacher and hopefully gain this recognition.