in·de·pend·ent indəˈpendənt adjective: independent 1. free from outside control 2. not depending on another for livelihood or subsistence; capable of thinking or acting for oneself. 3. not connected with another or with each other; separate; not depending on something else for strength or effectiveness; freestanding. noun: independent; plural noun: independents 1. an independent person or body My final post from 2017, is one I am so excited about! And this excitement is not for any kind of ingenuity on my part, but simply for the pure celebration of my students. I often mention that I try really hard to have my academy students, that dance with me in Jazz for 4 years, to not have to repeat a project in their student career. So initially I was going to attempt a cross curricular math project with my Jazz 4. However, I decided to follow the inspiration my students were giving me in that moment and go a different way. When I needed to be out for a day, I chose a so
bal·let·o·mane baˈledəˌmān noun: balletomane ; plural noun: balletomanes; a ballet enthusiast So I definitely consider myself a balletomane since a very young age! However, many of my fellow public school teachers would agree that this dance form can often be one of the hardest ones to convince the students of it's importance and the ability to enjoy it. I was doing ballet with 2 very different classes this last grading period: 1. Academy Ballet: students who actually CHOOSE to take ballet all year long and many repeat it each year 2. Dance 2-4: students that cover multiple genres of dance with ballet probably being their least favorite no matter how enthusiastic or creative I get So, never making anything easy on myself, I decided to try 2 new different projects that were differentiated for the 2 types of classes. One was much more of a success than the other, but that is what I call life-long learning! Every year in December, I am obligated by the ballet Gods