Dance and Video

             After reading an article I found online about different ways to incorporate the use of the camera and video camera in the classroom, I have come up with ways that I can use it in my dance classes to challenge my students. I want to work to my best potential to incorporate technology in a beneficial way for my students, rather then just choosing an activity because the curriculum requires the use of technology. The video camera can be an extremely beneficial tool for self correction in the classroom. From my past and current experiences of being a dancer constantly learning and taking classes, it can sometimes be hard to fully understand what it is I am doing wrong and how to fix it. When you are taking a class it can be difficult to stop and self evaluate yourself while going through the motions of class. In my classroom when I teach I will constantly be focusing on alignment and correct posture, therefore I want my students to be able to fully understand the correct placement of their body at all times. I plan to use a video camera once a week to video tape my class doing an exercise pertaining to my lesson. After I video tape the class as a whole, I will have the class sit down with a notebook and pen and take notes on what they need to work on. This is really helpful for students so they can see exactly how they move. Sometimes we don't realize that we were doing something incorrectly, and by simply watching and observing themselves we can use self correction. This activity has always been extremely beneficial for myself because there are times where my alignment is completely off and by watching myself on tape I can self correct my mistakes and begin to really understand how to properly use my body.

           Another activity I will play with is taking still pictures. So I will put my students in pairs and have them take still pictures of one another, standing in a natural parallel position, and a turned out first position. Each student will take notes on their partner, dissecting what they were doing wrong and ways to fix the position so we can avoid possible injury in the future. I want my students to use their partners pictures to articulate not only with their bodies but verbally express how they can fix their alignment. Talking with peers and getting another persons feedback can be very useful. Then for the second part of the assignment I will have the students take a new set of pictures doing the exact same positions. This time in the same groups I will have the students compare and contrast the picture that was incorrect alignment with the picture that is correct. I will print out these pictures and hang them up around the room, and towards the end of the year or semester do the same exact activity so students can see how much they are growing and learning. The camera and video camera can be an excellent use of technology because students can really learn from their mistakes and self evaluate.