Next week and the week after I am bombarded with parents days and end of the year celebrations. Woohoo! I like to give the kids something on the last day to remember me by. Since I have SO many students, it would get expensive to buy something for all of them. This is what I came . . . → Read More: Thank You Notes
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Move. Create. Educate.
This semester, circles have saved my life. I usually start my class in a circle, but many times I go back to a circle in the middle of the class. I feel that circles are a way to bring the class back together and calm the excitement. With my 3 year olds, we start in . . . → Read More: Circles I need to tell you a story. I tried something today in class that worked! But, I need to know what you think…Here is the story: I have about 5 boys in tap class and they are all around 9 years old. All great boys, but I have one boy who is a major disruption to the . . . → Read More: Asking Students for Help? Do you ever notice that when your students come into the room they always sit or stand in the same spot? Well, I have window clingers, mirror touchers, piano players, and barre hangers all in my tap class. I noticed today that, they always seem to gravitate to the same spot in the room every week. . . . → Read More: Same spot, New spot I have been thinking a lot lately about the way I end my dance classes. For ballet, I sing a song or we do our reverence nice and slow. For creative movement, we become a bear or rabbit or dance our way out with a prop. For tap, we talk about what we are going to . . . → Read More: Until Next Time… This past thursday was a new semester at Mark Morris. I was very excited to see what students return but I was also anxious because I knew I would be getting new students. I thought a lot about what to do if I got new students in my class of tappers (ages 6-7) who have now . . . → Read More: Playing Catch Up This past week was the end of the fall semester for my tappers (ages 5-teen) at Mark Morris. Parents Day for me= excitement and anxiety. I love to give the students the chance to show their parents how much they have learned. This parents day was a bit different for me though, many times the parents . . . → Read More: Parents Day Every Thursday I teach a class called Teen Tap. I have had a about 4 weeks of the class now and believe me when I say I am so happy I am not a teen anymore. Remember when you were a teen? Your body didn’t fit into your clothes… your legs and arms were to long . . . → Read More: Teen Tap These are my tap classes from yesterday. They are beginners to tap, yesterday was their first class. Ages 7-9 they are doing great! I am try to challenge them to keep all of the diverse learners happy! I have 4 boys and 7 girls in this class. I am teaching them a combination that they can . . . → Read More: Teaching Tap My new tap shoes… aren’t they beauties! I thought I would show them off since I have not purchased tap shoes since I was in high school! If you don’t know how long ago that was, don’t worry, it was long long ago! I wish I had a picture of my old ones so we . . . → Read More: Calling All Tappers! |
Maria Hanley is an independent early childhood dance educator in New York City.
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Maria serves on the 