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  • This fourth day of class was bittersweet.  It was such a kick to see the Osmonds, the Jackson 5, and the days of disco.  Then to try to do the Hustle.  I am so glad I am not being graded on my dancing ability!  I can laugh at myself, though, because, even though I was totally out of my element, I gave it a good shot, was able to laugh at myself, and had a great time!  I will definitely share these dances and songs with my students.  That is the sweet part.  The somewhat bitter part was reliving 911.  That was the hardest day/week of teaching I have ever endured.  Many of my students had only been in the US for a few days and spoke no English.  It was so difficult to explain what was happening while trying to maintain my composure.  I had the students draw pictures of the event...I still have them.  I don't ever want the new students to forget the importance of that day.  I found the exercise of incorporating the images and personal reflection very powerful.  

    Ending the day with the positive and energetic Gabe was perfect!  As I wrote in FB later that evening, "I put the grrr in my swag and the hip in my hop!"  If only I could remember my left from my right!!  Hahaha!  Oh, well...it's all good...and good to share the history in such an engaging manner for the students.  Thank you for sharing all of your ideas.  

  • Gabe was such a delight!  I was impressed by his confidence, relaxed manner, and ability to simplify the genre of hip-hop (an area of dance I'd previously deemed to be completely beyond my capabilities).  The hour flew by, thanks to his good humor and excellent demonstrations.  The last time I was in a hip-hop dance class was during my senior year of high school in 1996.  I was so terrible, the dance teacher sent me to the library to do a report on the ballets of Tchaikovsky for the remainder of the semester.  Scarred me for life!  Gabe's class really made up for that dreadful experience.  My students will never believe me next year when I tell them I finally learned how to hip-hop! 

    Aside from the dancing, I liked the activities which allowed us to place sticky notes on things and quietly reflect.  I really don't shine in group discussions, but I enjoy writing and inward reflections.  It was nice to have a time to do this.  Even though I enjoyed this format, the 9/11 topic seemed too heavy.  Too soon.  Maybe replace it with something else next year?   

  • I enjoyed learning about the history and the different teaching techniques this afternoon. My kids will like to get up and move around from quote to quote to decide who said what and will listen hard to the audio pieces to see if they got it right. I was interested in the idea of white cover songs, so I read this article:  http://hipquotient.com/when-white-artists-cover-black-music-it-rock... I guess I never thought of different song versions as a black/white thing. Although the Icons of 911 activity was a somber affair, it is history and it is something I would do with the students in my class. My heart goes out to all associated with our class who hung in there and remembered during this activity.

    I certainly loved all the dancing. Embarrassing fact:  I actually did the Hustle in a disco in the 70's. Wow.

    Thanks for bringing Gabe to us. It was a great way to end a great class. Thanks for all your hard work, Stephanie and Elizabeth, to make this an engaging and immediately usable class.

  • I like the activities that offer a silent activity followed by discussion.  I, like many students, find it challenging to volunteer in discussion but the opportunity to see photos or hear voices from the past helps form ideas to share when discussion occurs.   The shape/quote activity as well as the Museum Walk have immediate application to music classes at all levels.

    The video and audio clips brought back many memories: the Osmonds, Jackson 5, disco dancing and singers with various interpretations of the same song.

    Gabe's time with us was a marvel.  I had no idea that hip hop was about anything other than dancing, that it truly is a culture.  He is a terrific teacher: patient, encouraging, presentation carefully paced and has an obvious love for what he does.  Thank you for inviting him.

  • I really enjoyed the exercise of identifying famous quote from famous people. We did our best to figure out who said what. I got a little better than half . The second part was to listen to the actual sound bite  for the quote. It was interesting that as soon as I heard the recording , I knew exactly who it was. The 9/11 segment  reopened some old wounds for me . As one who served in Iraq, I still have strong feelings, so I bit my lip during the discussion. I enjoyed learning the disco dances as it was an era that I tried to ignore growing up in the 70's. It could be a fun activity for class on a Fun Friday or day after a performance to decompress a little.

  • I really enjoyed having Gabe come and share with us about Hip-hop dance.  It was interested to hear him talk about isolations within his warmups.  It makes a lot of sense to separate each movement and work on each body movement one at a time.  I tried to show my wife some of the motions and she just laughed at me, but it was still a lot of fun to learn.

    I also enjoyed the history lesson on 9/11.  I enjoy learning about devastating events from the past because they are so engaging emotionally and mentally.  I think most kids would enjoy looking at those pictures and learning what that day meant for America.  

  • I think that the disco moves were very fun to learn about and again students can make connections to the modern dances that they do today.  I also liked learning about hip-hop.  I had no experience with hip-hop and it was interesting to learn the basics of hip hop and it's philosophy about confidence.  I could see how that could be really powerful for students.

    I also liked doing the 9/11 activity.  It would be very powerful for students and give visuals to an event that they don't know about but is still such an important and has impacted part of our society.

    Thank you so much for a wonderful class.  This was amazing and I learned so much.  

  • It was a heavy afternoon with the 911 activity.  It won't be the same for our students, but since 911 is current in our lives its very difficult to participate in an activity like that.  However I think it is easier to teach then to participate in the exercise and I'm not all together sure why that is.

    I'm glad we ended the class with Hip Hop and Gabe was wonderful.  Overall a great class all around.  Thank you both for offering a class like this.  It was tremendously fun and so applicable to my teaching.

  • This section was mostly very exciting. It closed a clear line of how dance has progressed through the ages, but more specifically how the zeitgeist is reflected in dance. The section on 9/11 reminded me of how young my students are and their perspectives. The silent activity is very appropriate and will be so good for my class.
  • This afternoon was emotional with the 911 component attached to it. As I was born in this era I could relate to all of the information presented. I could remember where I was when I found out about major events.

    The Hip Hop was super fun & interesting, its all about confidence!!

    All the activities are always presented in the best possible order, to keep us flowing, & engaged!

     Thanks again for an awesome class!

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