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11 Ways To Create A Positive Atmosphere In Your Dance Classes

Guest Contributors — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 13:30:59 +0000

Today’s guest post is by belly dancer, teacher, and DanceCostumes.com writer, Erica Rhodes.

As you may have noticed, Dance Advantage is POSITIVELY focused on getting your dance year off to a great start. So, be sure to check out the related reading links within the article.

There are many reasons students walk in to take their first dance class, ranging from a love of the art to trying something new. Many dance students find that learning to move their bodies helps develop a more positive self-image. It’s not surprising, as learning to feel comfortable in your own body can often times can carry over to all aspects of life.

When students feel good about themselves in dance class, they enjoy their experiences more. This increases student retention and can inspire your class size to grow. You, the instructor, can enjoy knowing that you’re giving back to the community, when your students begin to experience a change, not only physically, but in mind and spirit too.

How can instructors help students think more positively about themselves?

Photo courtesy Brendan Lally Photography; dancer: Letitia, Ammara Dance (www.ammara.ca)

Words of encouragement and a positive atmosphere go a long way. Here are some suggestions to help instructors foster a healthy self-esteem in their students:

Give students plenty of support and encouragement. For many new students, dance is challenging. It can be frustrating when even the most basic moves seem much too difficult. Reminding students that everyone had to start somewhere and even the best dancers in the world faced challenging movements when they started out, as well.
Be free with your compliments. Everyone loves to hear good things about themselves and their skills, especially when trying something new. Make sure to compliment every student , even if it’s not during every class. This can be a great mark of their improving skills.
Eliminate negative talk about bodies. While constructive criticism can help students improve their skills, negative criticism is very damaging to a student’s self-esteem. This is especially important with negative self-talk and negative body talk. Comments like, “You’re so thin!” and “I’m so fat!” can have an effect on the whole class. It’s not just the student that is being spoken about or the student talking about themselves that feels the judgment, but the whole class may feel the need to compare themselves to that person. It’s better to avoid those judgments all together.
Keep criticism upbeat and positive. Delivering all criticisms in a positive tone helps encourage students to improve their skills, but also takes away the sting of feeling like they just don’t get it. The easiest way to keep things constructive is (...)

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© Guest Contributors for Dance Advantage, 2011. | Permalink | Category: Blog, For Classroom, Teaching | Who's talking about this article?

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Teaching Happiness With Every Leap

Stacey Pepper Schwartz — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:45:40 +0000

I saw my first back to school commercial the other day. Last month I wrote about wrapping up the year and now here I am preparing for a new year of teaching!

I am reading a wonderful and informative book entitled Raising Happiness: 10 Simple Steps for More Joyful Kids and Happier Parents by Christine Carter.

It is not about giving children what they want or lavishing them with praise. It is about teaching them how to deal with disappointment, resolve conflict, and focus on effort as well as achievement. As a parent, I am finding the book useful to teach my child how to adapt to new situations, be optimistic and resourceful. If I find this helpful as a parent, I know the concepts can be a helpful tool for teachers as well.

Here are some of the valuable ideas I have taken from the book:

Focus on the effort involved in the achievement versus the achievement alone.

Praising a child’s commitment to achieving a goal (like a leap or turn) will pave they way for more achievement.

For example, if you say “Jamie, you have been working hard keeping your legs straight when you leap. That was a beautiful leap! Your hard work paid off,” you are complimenting your student not only on his success but the effort, time and energy it took for him to obtain his goal. This will encourage your student to put effort into mastering other skills.

If you say “that was a beautiful leap,” then the end product (the leap) is praised but the feedback does not include other aspects of the child’s accomplishment and will not impact the learning process.

Model optimistic behavior

I undoubtedly have technical difficulties with my music player, be it a CD, tape player or iPod.

I used to say things like “this CD player never likes me,” or “I can never get this to work right!” I am usually frustrated and feeling rushed when the CD player is eating my discs.

What I learned from the book is that fostering optimism starts with the adult. I am being pessimistic if I blame myself for the music stalling, even if I say it in a silly way. Instead I can reframe it and say “This CD player is falling asleep, let me see if I can wake it up!” The CD player is responsible for the action instead of me.

Convey positive messages

There are other ways teachers can instill positive messages in class.(...)

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© Stacey Pepper Schwartz for Dance Advantage, 2011. | Permalink | Category: Blog, Featured, For Classroom, K-12, Music, Studio Admin, Teaching | Who's talking about this article?

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Accentuate the Positive

Nichelle (admin) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:00:13 +0000

Parents help competitive dance live up to its potential

Just because a pursuit is artistic, does not mean it is immune to the same negativity that can sometimes permeate the competitive sports atmosphere. We’ve all seen the screaming parents on the sideline at sporting events. But you know, offending guardians in the arts have their own label…. Stage Parents!

Though there are plenty of stage parents outside of competitive dance, the sport-like atmosphere of competing can bring out the worst in some. Still, just like sports, competitive dance has great potential to motivate students and increase self-confidence in young performers, plus there’s the opportunity to broaden minds and discover a variety of dance styles or modes of expression… The list goes on, for there is certainly much that can be gained.

A parental approach which supports and encourages the positive aspects of an experience is the same, regardless of the activity or discipline.

I’m still new at parenting. Yet, I’ve already found success in applying some of the principles below with my toddler. Consequently, I’ve found they are fundamentally good guidelines in teaching and in leadership/management roles, as well. If you are the parent of a competitive dancer, I encourage you to share your own thoughts, views, and advice below this post.

“As a parent, how do you encourage and reinforce the positive aspects of competitive dance?”

By supporting and building the self-reliance (confidence) of dancers with your actions

A.C.T.T

Approval – Dancers need to know that their 100% effort equals your 100% approval.

Show interest in the process not just the product. Learning to dance is an endeavor that takes time and perseverance. Learning and performing choreography is only part of that process but it easily becomes the primary focus when students are competing. Ask your child questions about what they are discovering about movement, about the art form, about themselves throughout their training. This keeps performance and competition in its place (where it belongs) as just another part of the process.

Be aware of what you are communicating. We convey, with our bodies and with our actions, perhaps more than we could ever say with words. Showing that a mistake is not a big deal, that you are proud of a child’s efforts, that opposing teams are not the enemy, that not receiving a trophy is an opportunity rather than a disaster, that teachers and judges deserve respect is important. Action and reaction speak volumes.

Appreciate their achievements – I’ve written about methods of praising achievement before in Appraising the Value of Praise. The article explores the difference between praise that describes the accomplishment rather than evaluating the child for succeeding (or failing) at a skill. It also offers tips for being specific when you offer praise.

Comfort – Dancers need you to help them work through disappointments and errors

Discuss mistakes and ways to improve when your child is ready. Immediately following the performance is not the time. The appropriate time will depend on your child. However, when the moment comes, remember that discussion is key. Begin with a question, not with your solution. Listen. Help them to assess and learn from their mistakes rather than give advice on how they can be better.

Resist joining ‘em when you can’t beat ‘em. It can be frustrating when teachers, other parents, and students around you or your child behave inappropriately or negatively. It is natural for parents to want to jump to their child’s defense when he/she is mistreated or unfavorably affected by the actions of someone else. When dealing with negativity, don’t stoop to a similar or lower level to deal with it. Instead, regard this as an opportunity to model and teach your child about appropriate and positive behavior. If your child’s safety (physical or mental) is at risk, approach the offender with calm (take a breath before choosing your action) and with respect, and consider removal from the situation if it is in your child’s best interest.

Recognize that not all hurts require a Band-Aid. As mentioned above, parents feel compelled to protect their children. Sometimes parents will stop at nothing to find ways to fix a problem or just make their child’s hurt or disappointment go away. Often what the child needs most is someone to help them put things in perspective and learn to accept things they cannot or need not change. (also see Trust below)

Trust – Dancers need to be able to trust you and learn to trust in themselves

Nurture trust in abilities – The goal is to raise an individual that can do for him/herself the majority of the time – sew elastic on her own ballet slippers, communicate effectively with teachers or peers, stand up for himself, be on time, etc. When you do things your child could do for himself, you undermine her self-trust.

Be reliable – Children need to trust that you’ll always be there to offer them support when they need it. They need to trust you’ll not embarrass them by reacting negatively to a situation in front of friends or teachers. They need to trust that you’ll be consistent in upholding your values and priorities. They need to trust you’ll listen to their thoughts and desires. They need to trust that your dreams for them won’t overshadow their own dreams.

Truth – Dancers need you to be realistic

Encourage them to do their best, not be the best. The truth is, there is no such thing as “the best,” just varying degrees of capability. Wipe the idea from your mind that a child could, would, or should be “the best” if only _______. Help children to focus on learning, growing, refining their skills so that they can best themselves.

Photo by Melinda Shelton

Help them to remain focused on goals. Competitors that focus on winning or receiving a medal/reward lose perspective. They may push hard until they are awarded or surpass their competition but lose their motivation once they’ve done so. Competitors that focus on self-improvement (as an individual and/or as a a team) by setting both short-term and long-term goals experience continual success. They push themselves to succeed because even those small achievements are thrilling to attain. Parents can talk with children about the goals they’d like to set for themselves, about the goals their teacher has mentioned, and help them celebrate and even document their achievements.

Keep it real. The truth is that no one is good at everything. Mistakes are inevitable. You really can’t win them all. Nobody is perfect. Winning an award, a trophy, a scholarship is not something you can control – your own performance is. We learn more from failures than victories. Not everyone will become a professional dancer. Dreams and goals can change. Sometimes you just don’t get what you want. Often, meeting goals takes time, patience, and determination.
Mariangela, a dance mom who is keeping it real, offered a great piece of advice in her guest contribution here at Dance Advantage: “Be sure to love your child unconditionally. It’s easy to judge and criticize when we invest a lot of our time and energy (and money) into something. At the end of the day, they are your babies, your child before anything else.” Read the rest of her insightful article here.

Like a flower that continues to grow when all is against it, even negative environments have spawned beauty. But only the hearty survive. To grow a garden of children that value dance as an art form, value themselves and those around them, and flourish not only in dance but in life, requires that adults (teachers and parents) make every effort to provide favorable conditions. It doesn’t happen just because the potential is there.

I have written this post in response to a blogging contest run by Liberty Mutual’s ResponsibleSports.com. They are offering prizes but, more importantly, I felt the topic was relevant to Dance Advantage readers. I hope you find this post equals the standard of the others here. I was pleased to find that ResponsibleSports is really an excellent resource which provides parents with tips on how to talk with children and with coaches, and offers tools to accentuate the positives in team sports. Their materials most certainly apply to dance and I encourage you to visit and check it out for yourself!

© Nichelle Strzepek for Dance Advantage, 2009. | Permalink | Category: Blog, Competing, Featured, Health and Wellness, Parenting Dancers | Who's talking about this article?

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Appraising the Value of Praise

Nichelle (admin) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:00:27 +0000

Photo by Tommy Hemmert Jørgensen

One of the desires of a teacher or a parent is to create an environment within which self-esteem can grow in a child. The goal is to build confidence in a healthy way so that they can better deal with the every-day adversities and challenges that life brings, both as children and adults. Often, parents and teachers take action by providing children with plenty of praise, accolades, and awards. But, is there such a thing as too much praise? Is it possible for praise to backfire? How can one instill confidence without creating a dependence on external approval?

Too Much of a Good Thing?

Most experts seem to agree that empty praise like “Good job!” or “You’re awesome!” is ineffective because children recognize that these statements are not always accurately or sincerely offered. It has been found that students praised for being smart are less motivated to achieve than those appreciated for working hard. They believe their intelligence to be unchangeable rather than something that can be improved upon, in turn affecting their performance:

“Kids who get too much praise are less likely to take risks, are highly sensitive to failure and are more likely to give up when faced with a challenge.” – Why Praise Can Be Bad For Kids, ABC news

As you can see, because of such findings, it has often been surmised that too much praise can be a bad thing (as noted in the quote above). However, similar outcomes might also apply in students who are continually criticized. So is too much praise really the problem or is it something else?

Descriptive and Appreciative vs. Evaluative

A statement is evaluative any time we use “good,” “poor,” or “excellent” to label a person, skill, or effort. Assigning a judgment tells the dancer how they should feel about themselves or what they did. Faced with continuous evaluation (be it positive or negative) by others, a student begins to depend on this feedback for forming opinions about themselves (self-approval/disapproval).

Evaluative Statements provide only temporary results. Sooner or later a student will find they cannot live up to your assessment. They may try to prove you wrong or, become discouraged, remembering all the times they weren’t “great” or “sweet,” or, feel disappointment any time their pirouettes are not deemed “wonderful.” Children labeled as “good” at something are less likely to discover exactly what their strengths or weaknesses are and therefore cannot build upon these things. Their improvement may slow or stop altogether or, they may focus only on this area, striving for more approval.

Photo by Wesley Fryer

Why Do We Evaluate?

There are many reasons we fall into a cycle of evaluative praise or judgments. One, it’s easy and requires little thought. Another, more subliminal reason is because it creates dependency. It makes our opinions about what is good or bad matter and encourages the student to conform to our ideals, keeping us in a position of authority.

Be More Specific

Professionals in the field of education encourage teachers and parents to be specific when offering praise and, to avoid labeling children. Recognizing that students respond better when the focus is on the effort or work involved, it is presumed that the type of praise, not the amount, affects performance and motivation. “Your pirouettes look great!” is more specific than “Great job, Alison!” “Brooke, you’re spotting really well.” is clearer still. Even more effective, because it focuses on the work involved, might be something like “Hayden, you’ve been working hard on your alignment at the barre. Your pirouettes look wonderful!”

However, consider the power of a statement that avoids evaluating even the skill itself and, instead, simply describes and appreciates their accomplishment. For instance:

EVALUATIVE — “Hayden, you’ve been working hard on your alignment at the barre. Your pirouettes look wonderful!”

DESCRIPTIVE — “Hayden, thank you for working so hard on your alignment at the barre. Your turns have really improved!“

Descriptive and Appreciative Praise may seem unnatural or more cumbersome at first. It is likely that you will occasionally find yourself offering an evaluative statement – don’t be too hard on yourself! As you know, practice is key to forming positive habits and change. Like the comment to Hayden above, many times only a slight change is needed to make a remark more descriptive and less evaluative. It won’t take long until you’ve mastered the technique!

Here are some simple guidelines:

Use “Thank you for…” instead of “Good job.” to show your appreciation for their work/attitude.

Describe specifically what you see, hear, or feel - “Your spotting was really crisp and clear.” vs. “You’re a great turner.” or “Your comment to Jill hurt her feelings.” vs. “What a mean thing to say!”

Stick to the facts about how you feel - “When you talk in class, I feel frustrated that I have to talk over you to be heard. It concerns me that you won’t hear what I have to say.” vs. “It is really rude to talk while I’m talking. You obviously don’t care about your dancing.” (I, I, I instead of you, you, you)

Present a bigger challenge – “Now, try a triple pirouette!” vs. “Excellent double!” This works for a negative, too. If the students are spinning like tops but not maintaining their turnout don’t congratulate them for getting a quadruple, ask “Can you keep your legs turned out and still do the quad?”

Avoid labeling – “Thanks for helping me put away the props!” vs. “You are so sweet!” or “I don’t appreciate your tone.” vs. “Alright, Ms. Attitude, that’s enough!”

Photo by Gemma Longman

With your conscious effort to select words that are encouraging without being controlling, that focus on the deed not the doer, your students will be able to form their own opinions about themselves, their actions, and abilities. By fostering, rather than fashioning their healthy self-esteem, your students can feel secure, capable, and supported and will become more confident and responsible as a result.

Further Reading

Praise That Builds a Child’s Self-Esteem

Why Praise Can Be Bad For Kids

Montessori Classroom – Descriptive and Evaluative Praise

Can Adults Praise Children Too Much? (some alternative opinions presented here)

Practice some Descriptive Praise right now!

List three things that you might want to praise your students for in your next class.

Then, select ways you might state your praise descriptively.

Look for opportunities to use the phrases you’ve prepared/practiced in your next class.

Be sure to list your three phrases below in the comments so that others can see some more great examples!

And, let us know if you use or try this technique in class and share your results or thoughts!

© Nichelle Strzepek for Dance Advantage, 2009. | Permalink | Category: Blog, Competing, Featured, For Classroom, For Parents of Young Children, Health and Wellness, Parenting Dancers, Teaching | Who's talking about this article?

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