Ballet Class Blogging: My Special Helpers
April 5, 2012

It’s no secret that children love helping out. But unlike a K–5 classroom, in which there are unlimited tasks to assign students—like passing out papers or pencils, turning off the lights and writing on the board—a dance studio doesn’t seem to have have as many small jobs.

 

In my class, students have three or four jobs: Passing out shoes at the beginning of class (at Groove with Me, students keep their shoes at the studio); putting the tardy sign up 15 minutes into class (we put a sign goes onto the door that says, “If you’re reading this, you’re too late to join”), and turning off the lights at the end of class on the way out. If we use plastic dots on the floor, the girls can help organize those, too.

 

Each week, I try to let different girls be in charge of something, but I’m running out of tasks. Everyone wants to be my special helper, and I’m struggling to come up with an organized system that works. I don’t want to leave any student out, but if I call out a student to help at random, others get upset.

 

Do you assign students jobs during each class? I’m sure there are little jobs that I’m forgetting—what can I let students do for me? Share your ideas and let’s start a discussion!

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