Monday, June 6, 2011

Reruns are just as fun the second time around

Do you ever get stuck wondering what to teach or what activity to do with your little ones?  Well, I certainly have this problem every now and then.  Do you know what I do when this happens?  I repeat an activity I have already done.  That simple.

You can ask your students to call out their favorite activities and the class can vote on what they would like to do.  My favorite, however, is to pick a lesson I wasn't so happy with the first time.  It gives me an opportunity to revisit it, to change what did not work and to enhance what did.

I always type out my lessons.  I record what I plan on doing and then I go back after the lesson and write notes about what I did - what worked and what did not.   This way when I do the lesson again I can build upon what was successful.

When you do the lesson again, ask the students to demonstrate what they remember about the particular concept.  This is a great assessment tool.

Don't be afraid to repeat.  We learn by repetition.  We build confidence and master a concept by reviewing, repeating and practicing.  And students love to repeat lessons.  They love to show off what they know and remember.

I am sure I have repeated these ideas in other posts but the more I write about a topic the more I understand it myself.

Have fun repeating and re-repeating activities with the little ones in your life!

Sincerely,
Stacey   

2 comments:

  1. Hi, Stacey. Congratulations! I have awarded you The Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award. You can pick it up your badge here and pay it forward: http://tinyurl.com/5sk8pvp :)

    By the way, I can imagine that it is very hard to come up with completely new ideas for dance classes, especially if you teach a lot. I agree that repetition can be a good thing!

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  2. Thanks for the sweet award! Look for my post next week on my sweet take on being awarded this honor!

    I think that kids get so much thrown at them that it is nice to be able for them to digest a concept and have time to revisit an idea. I also think that teachers have so much thrown at them as well. And it is just as nice for a teacher to settle in to a concept get some practice teaching a skill or idea as well! Thanks for the feedback!

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