Coughlin

Name:Sara Coughlin

Guiding Question: Would I enjoy working as a dance teacher?

(optional) Use this space to list possible activities, tasks, experiences. Remember everything you do should help you answer your Guiding Question.

(Required) This plan is a “best guess” as to what you and your mentor think you will be doing. It is not meant to be a hard and fast schedule for your Exploration. The plan should illustrate how you intend to complete a minimum of 80 hours. the Actual Routine ||= 30 ||
 * = Date ||= Location/Activity ||= Number of Hours ||
 * =  ||= Helping the Students Purchase Tap Wear ||= 3 ||
 * =  ||= Watching Tap Films ||= 4 ||
 * =  ||= Preparing the Students ||= 10 ||
 * =  ||= <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Teaching Basic Tap Steps ||= <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">30 ||
 * =  ||= <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Teaching/Choreographing
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<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 180%; text-align: center;">Journal:

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">So far in my exploration with Hannah and Annie, I have come to realize just how much of tap dancing is now second nature to me, since I learned the basics when I was much younger. I came to this realization when I found myself moving too quickly in the first few lessons, assuming that they understood exactly how their feet should move as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Funnily enough, taking things slowly and thinking through the steps more helped me understand how to teach them more effectively, by breaking down the steps to their basic movements, (the foot moves back and then front, only with the toe, etc.). Moving at a slower pace has required a certain amount of patience on my part, but the payoff makes up for it, in that I can more easily understand where Hannah or Annie might make an error and how to fix it. I have come to find that most of the mistakes they make while tapping are due to lack of confidence or nervousness, which is understandable, as neither of them have very much tap experience at all. But, when they do not over-think the movements or get inside their own heads too much, they can make real progress! It is clear that they understand the rhythms and just need to practice moving their feet so that the motions eventually feel more natural. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">To introduce them to the culture surrounding tap, we have been viewing such movies as "Singin' in the Rain" and "Bootmen," which showcase how much range tap has, from a showier, more theatrical style to bare bones rhythm tap. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">My biggest challenge this week is to select a song and begin choreographing their final routine. I also plan to start each session with a small warm up, which will include tae bo and possibly some light stretching.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Repeatedly throughout the process of working through my choreography, Hannah and Annie have referred to the "learning curve" that one experiences with tap dancing. I entirely agree, as I have come to understand just how exactly they both handle learning a new step. Sometimes it is met with hopeful nervousness, other times pessimism, even a rare moment of anger. The one constant in my students has been determination. We finished the dance today and I think they finally realized how far they have come. There were days where they felt the need to apologize for not being able to do a step as well as they would like! They definitely forgot that, before a few weeks ago, they had not even picked up a tap shoe, let alone learned a three minute routine. They have become more engaged and confident as students, definitely quicker to ask questions about the steps, the rhythm, and the style of the dance. I admittedly ran into a few moments of uncertainty in explaining something to them, as there is so much about tap dancing that I have allowed to become second nature and pretty much instinctive in their execution. In these moments, I had to tell that, given practice, the step will eventually come, that they only need to train their feet to the movements. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">At this point, I just want to get them to run the dance as much as possible and with costumes as //soon// as possible. Every time we go through it, their sounds get clearer and they are more in sync with each other.