Task 2b: Journal Writing Experience

I am going to reflect on a recent workshop I taught at the Sixth Form College

Description - I am working with first year students in dance and musical theatre. This lesson consisted of a musical theatre routine which they would then use in an audition process scenario in the third lesson.

Initial Reflection -  I felt very nervous before going to teach my first class of the new term and was worried that they wouldn’t like my choreography or struggle to pick it up. I was pleasantly surprised about how hard they worked and how well they picked up the material I gave them. 

List - I make lists pretty much everyday so this was an easy way for me to list emotions and thoughts of the day;

·      Nervous

·      Excited

·      Passionate

·      Need to learn names!

·      Vary the warm up?

Evaluation - Thinking back on it, it went better than I originally thought it would. One thing I will do differently would be to swap the lines around more when teaching so that everyone has the chance to come to the front which will build confidence and make sure they see everything that I do. I have realised that this has given me a great opportunity to be able to push the boundaries of my choreography and imagination as I am now directing a class rather than being directed.

Graphs, Charts and Diagrams - I love making graphs and trying things out on my laptop but putting my reflections into one was quite tough. Don’t think I will be using this in the future unless I feel I have enough detail to make a good enough chart.

What If? -  I am a big ‘what if’ person and always annoy my family with my silly little worries and don’t think there is a day that I don’t get worried about something. On this day the ‘what if’s’ were there from the very moment I woke up but once the class got started the negative thoughts disappeared and I got on with what I was there for. The worse thing that could have happened would have been – What if they didn’t like me? What if they don’t enjoy the class?

Another View - I chose to ask the students to give me feedback about me and the class in writing and anonymously as another view and couldn’t believe all the lovely things they said!

‘Very very good teacher and choreographer’

‘Extremely professional and so so helpful’

‘Very engaging, easily approachable’

Hearing what everyone thought about me and my choreography gave me a boost in confidence and thoroughly enjoyed working with them. This also helps me to know what the students want to get out of the lesson so I can plan better. I feel that for me this is a good way for reflection and will ask the classes I teach for feedback now and then at the end of the lesson.