I have quite a low boredom threshold. Is this a good thing for a teacher? I don't know - it makes for more work, because I'm not prepared to regurgitate the same-old, same-old lessons over and over again. That's not to say that I won't re-use games and activities that work well. It's just that I can't bring myself to teach the same thing in the same way at the same time of year every time.
Of course you've got to have some kind of objective, time kind of purpose in mind for the lesson. But for me, one of the main "Bottom Lines" is that I'VE had a good time.
That's why, contrary to most people's idea of maintaining sanity, I am really enjoying teaching country dancing to my class of 6- and 7-year-olds.
We've done "four steps forward, clap, four steps back, clap" and moved on to "circle to the right for eight steps and circle to the left for eight steps". I'm blessed by having several Teaching Assistants who seem happy to join in and guide the children around while I call instructions and watch from the sidelines.
Today's lesson involved the intricacies of "dos-y-dos". Many of the children have become quite competent at this manoeuvre but I have to say that the bewildered, but willing, look on some children's faces was absolutely priceless. I haven't given up - six weeks of term left....
By the way, this activity dove-tails neatly with the new IT curriculum; learning to create and follow instructions in order to reach a predetermined outcome is pretty much what computer programming is all about. I'm just using real children and music to do the same thing.
Is "dos y dos" some new Welsg computer system?
ReplyDeleteOr did you mean:
Dosey Doe is a maneuver in Square Dance often misinterpreted as another spelling of do si do, referring to Dosado, a basic dance step in such dances as ceilidh dancing, square dance, contra dance, polka, various historical dances, and some reels.
The term, spelled "Dosey Doe", is also the name of an episode of Camp Lazlo.