Zoom Teaching Tips - 2-6yr olds
As lockdown 2.0 strikes every dance teacher i know is back on zoom... Yay 🤦♀️
teaching over zoom is hard they haven't got that social aspect of class and on top of that they have 1000's of things to distract them (pets, toys, iPads etc) so i wanted to share a few tips and tricks that have helped me teach over zoom! I would love to here your ideas too.
Zoom Treasure hunt
Over zoom I like to break up the dancing with little games and one of my dancers favourites is a treasure hunt! I will give them a clue and then they have to find the answer. We did a princess themed zoom class , these were our clues/ questions:
Find me something the colour of Elsa dress (blue)
In a Little Mermaid Ariel uses me to brush her hair (fork)
In toy story what comes alive when Andy leaves his room (toys)
Cinderella looses me on her way home from the ball (shoe)
Fancy Dress
Most children have 1000's of fancy dress/ dance costumes and who doesn't love dressing up! We have had a few fancy dress zoom classes such as we did a princess party where they all dressed as there favourite princesses. One of my favourites was our Tooth fairy sleep over and everyone wore there pj's.
Questions
I like to use questions to keep them all engaged and listening. I have to mute everyone when teaching the little ones (other wise you get everyones background noises cutting into class) however because of this i think they loose that one on one engagement as they can't talk back to you or see that your looking at just them. so in class i will ask them silly questions and unmute them one by one so they can share there answer.
For example i do a balance exercise where they walk round the room as princesses standing tall so there crown doesn't fall off there head. Before we practise to music I will ask them a simple question like "What princess are you today? I'm Rapunzel today" or "My crowns yellow what colours your crown ?"
Themes
In class and over zoom i'm a huge fan of theming your classes especially for the young ages to inspire and focus there creativity and there energy. I also think it challenges me as a teacher to be move creative and think of different ways to teach the same dance move or exercise. As every child learns slightly differently and it might be the 7th way of teaching and describing a tendu that finally clicks for that child.
Empathy
Lockdown is hard for everyone especially as a child who might not really understand whats going on and why. Of course I want everyone to be engaged and focused during a zoom class but on the flip side i would hate a parent to be embarrassed because she's not joining in one week and then feel like she couldn't join in the following week. I'm honest with parents from the start saying zooms a weird one and some weeks she maybe distracted but please don't stress as long as she's having fun and dancing i'm happy. Its hard as a teacher to not take it personally and get upset when a parent doesn't want to sign up to zoom classes but i think its important to remember to be empathic, you can't know what is happening in that family's life, personally and professionally. All we can do is offer our amazing classes the best we can and support our students through this weird time.
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