Each year it is important to make a class plan that will outline the entire year and the content of work you would like your class to learn. This will also help keep you in line with what the class has learned, what they are struggling with and what must be taught. You can and must make this a working document that you will make notations on.
Tracking class progress will help you keep your finger on the pulse of your students’ progress. It will also be helpful if you have to get a substitute for a class or two. I highly recommend that you leave a copy of the work you are doing in your classes at the studio where you are teaching. This will be extremely helpful for any substitute and show the studio owner that you really care about your students. Don’t have a class plan to use? No problem—there are many set syllabi out there that you can use for most subjects. The key is to find one that suits the class you will be teaching. If you are teaching young children, then you will need one to fit that age group. If you teach beginners, then you will need one for beginner students, and so on.
Developing Your Own Syllabus
Don’t let this thought be out of reach. It can be as simple as setting a group of steps, techniques and exercises that you want to teach to a particular class level. Whether you teach preschool, preteen jazz or even advanced lyrical to teens, you can create one to fit the class you will be teaching.
Let’s use an example of teaching a level I tap class.
Start with the warm-up you will give the class. Decide on the sounds you want to have the class learn and build a group of warm-up exercises that you can use to incorporate these sounds into. Next decide on the center technique you want them to learn; flaps, shim shams, military time steps and anything else you would like. Keep in mind that the class will first need to learn the basic sounds before they move onto technique. As an example they will need to learn basic brushes before they can shuffle or perform a shim sham.
Next, you can decide what grouping of steps you want to put together. This is a very important aspect because it will help facilitate your choreography for your end of year show. If the students are familiar with certain steps linking into another step, then you can easily use these combinations to build your choreography.
Once you have decided what you want to do, now put it all on paper. It can be as simple as an outline. Start with the basic sounds, then the warm-up and then the technique. Leave room after each entry so you can make notes and write in any additions you may have. Because this is an active, working document, you do not have to be a prisoner to it. You can and will have to adjust as you go along. Some things will be a bit too ambitious and other classes will get through your plan and more can then be added. That is the beauty part of having it all documented. You will have a great tool to help you not only remember what the class is doing, but also how well they are doing it. This may seem like a lot of work, but once you take the time to set what you are going to do, it is easy to keep track during your class. You can even make notes as the class is going on: have them demonstrate certain steps and technique and jot down a few notes on the progress.
If You Build It, They Will Come…And Dance
The above example shows a tap class, but it can be done for all genres. Ballet syllabi are abundant out there to help guide you. You can use them to help facilitate your classes or use them in a customized version to suit your students. The key is to create a plan for your students so they can continue to grow and learn. It really doesn’t matter if you teach at a recreational studio, competition studio or one that just wants the students to learn to dance! If you have a plan that will help them link from basic to more advanced steps, the students will keep coming back for more.
Check out the archives to see my simple jazz and tap class plans for beginner I and II. They are helpful and easy to use and you can alter them to suit your own needs.
Any syllabus you use or create is there to serve you. Don’t become locked in to it and do not teach out of a book. Remember that it is a tool for your use. You can use it any way you want to. The plan you make now will go a long way toward helping you all year long. It will also make the process of creating year-end choreography simple for you and your students.
