For the week 6 session we met all our goals. Considering how the previous session went, this was quite a marked change. We managed to not only get our volunteer back, but we got one extra, meaning the two of us (Michael and I) were able to focus on teaching the session and allowing our volunteers to deal with the music and such. Following our last session in which we'd basically defeated ourselves before the lesson, this time, both of us made sure to memorize the entire dance in full, as well as the timing for each move. We had a deadline of 10:55 for teaching all the moves, so we really had to be on peak performance to get it done. Fortunately, using the lessons taught last session meant that we decided to teach the moves first, and go for perfection on the rehearsals, and it worked like a charm. None of the kids called for excess water breaks, which I would assume meant we kept their attention, most of the class got the moves in the three tries system we had, and most importantly, when we finished with all the moves, our clocks read 10:56, which, considering it took double that to teach the same amount last session, was incredible. After they got it, we let them have a water break, but it dragged on due to a wasp entering the studio. We lost quite a bit of time due to this, but I'm still not sure what else we could've done to take care of the wasp quicker. Fearing we wouldn't get the dance down quickly enough, we rushed to rehearse the dance, but even though in our plan, we would've lead the kids through the final performance, they picked everything up quicker than our best estimates, and by 11:10, they were completely ready to do it themselves, with Michael and I only counting for them. We ended up with quite a bit of free time at the end, so Ms. MIller, our special guest, gave us her feedback and showed the kids a dance game. All in all, this was an auspicious end to a roller coaster of a Summer Youth Project, one in which it didn't always look as if we'd succeed, but managed to get through in the end. It was a heck of an experience.
Michael's Reflection
We finally did it! We were able to teach the whole choreography. Our end goals were finally met. This session compared to the last 3 sessions went out way better. The two extra volunteers really did make a huge difference in our progress. While Garry and I were focusing on teaching the children the choreography, the two extra volunteers dealt with the music, giving an extra set of eyes, and opening the windows. For our last session, both Garry and I had to memorize the whole dance routine perfectly so when we were teaching the children, we wouldn't face any confusion between the facilitators. When we were teaching the children, we had to be on our peak to get the choreography taught before 10:55(deadline time). Fortunately, we taught the whole routine before our deadline time because we decided to teach the moves first, and go for perfection on the rehearsals. When the kids didn't ask for excess water breaks, I knew we had their attention and they were enjoying it. Most of them got the dance moves with the three tries system which is going step by step with them two times then on the third time, we danced with the music.