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Independent

 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 song and gave it to our dance sub to have her create at lyrical combo. When I returned to school, I asked to see the combo with the original intention of adding on to the end of it. Since I was not the creator and was seeing it for the 1st time, I was very much taken by how unique each student danced it. After watching a few times, I sent the class to sit at the mirror and called out duets to perform for the class. They were chosen for the specific reason of how complimentary they were to one another. And it was wonderful to watch. Then I had the class watch and comment on what they saw, not technique corrections or for polish, but what they really saw about each person, how they dance and what qualities they bring to our class. 

The following day, I had them take the combo, take what they heard and saw about themselves, and think about how they like to move. They could then take the combo and make any of their own changes they would like to the combo to fit their own ways of moving and creating. This time to perform, I had all students stand in a circle and I called in 1 duet at a time to the center. The instructions were to remember that a circle has no front so they, were to face any way to start that they wanted and as they danced the "front" could continue to change. It didn't matter where the turn or jump landed anymore, everything could happen organically. This time the magic happened. We could stop enjoying the unexpected moments that were happening between these two dancers and had us all so excited or speechless. I wish I had videoed the results in the beginning, but was enjoying the moment too much. At the end I did record all of the Seniors in 1 group and the other grades in another group. Oh, and did I mention they also did this in the middle of a huge fundraiser arrival AND during 8th grades tours where groups of students would come in a sit and watch. Not one single part of any of these obstacles and directives threw them off their game and I loved it. YouTube would not allow me to play any of the videos with copyrighted music, so I have provided links:


So, over the weekend I was going to then plan their project and I sat there still reveling in the moment and decided that I was going to follow my own directives and go with creating what felt good to me. So I prepared them for a Dance Film Project, some of whom had done something similar as a Freshman with me, however this time was still going to be different in so many ways. These students had now been a part of a NextGen dance class for 4 years and had grown into different dancers and students. Also, this time it was going to be a large group project that they did as an entire class. I had prepped the assignment directions and divided the charted the music and separated sections. As a class, each pair had a section of the song to create/direct for anyone they wanted in their shot. I said I would be available to help with filming or editing as needed. Little did I know that instead of asking for my help, these student strictly prohibited me from any viewing of the choreography, filming, or editing of any kind. Strictly. Prohibited. We saved the final viewing during our final exam time where I watched, I cried, and I celebrated what remarkable young humans these are. We talked about the process, talked about the group dynamics, and we all knew it would be a unit/project they would remember as their favorite for a very long time. 


My one of my colleagues and I both teach a section of Jazz 1 so we are always make sure to horizontally align our calendars and plans with room for our own personal adjustments or ideas. This year we chose to also vertically align and do a lyrical/choreography/film project adjusted in rigor for our level 1 dancers. In both classes they had learned (their own) lyrical combination that was tested in class. Students were then instructed to add their own choreography to the end of the combo. They were then given this Dance Film Project. Examples of dance films were shown, the app explained, camera movements demonstrated, and groups had been previously divided at random using Randomly. They then had a few days to work on their choreography, filming, and editing. Being Jazz 1, I expected to need to be much more available for guidance and assistance throughout the project, and they proudly proved me wrong by working so well together independently and creating some really good work!
Here are few examples: 

Teachers are constantly being given lists of tasks, goals, and best practices that they are encouraged to add to their lesson prep, teaching skills, and assessments. One of those buzz-phrases is "student driven learning," "meaningful technology integration" is another, and a third is "non-traditional assessments." The one that touched me the most this time around the wonderful example of "student driven learning" and the independence that all of my students displayed during this project time. I felt a little like the Grinch (at the end of the movie) and was pretty sure my heart grew a few sizes each day!

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