Every ballet teacher knows that moment: you've crafted the perfect lesson plan, but your students walk in with different ideas. It might be the post-Halloween sugar rush, pre-performance jitters, first-snow excitement, or maybe the full moon. What now?
After years of teaching, I've developed a method that keeps classes on track while staying flexible enough for real life. The secret? Start with just 1/3 of your class time planned strategically.
Here's the framework:
Anchor each class with ONE key principle
Build towards an engaging grand allegro
Weave in new vocabulary strategically
Start with the most basic need for your class. Every single class that I teach has a key principle. It's the one thing I know I'll cover that day and that I know will contribute to the goals of the level. Which combinations will specifically help us progress towards mastery of the key principle? I plan those first and prioritize them.
After the key principle, I plan my grand allegro. Grand allegro is FUN and it helps everyone's motivation over the course of the year when we consistently end class on a fun note. So I plan grand allegro and I look backwards through class and see what parts of the combination I can foreshadow earlier in class. When grand allegro feels like a review of something you've already worked hard on that day, it feels extra fun.
Then I look at the new vocabulary for the unit and plan those exercises. Finally, I fill in any gaps. And those gaps are the first thing to go when we're having a rough "ballet manners" day. By organizing my classes this way, I can be as flexible as the moment demands and still confident that we are making progress towards our short-, medium-, and long-term goals.
Ready to bring this flexible approach to your studio? My complete ballet curriculum gives you the framework, lesson plans, and adaptation strategies to teach with confidence. Explore the full curriculum here.
Comments