Why I Oughtn't Leave Things Until the Night Before

Actually, more like why it doesn't matter that I did, again. I realized after Ballroom Dance got out (luckily early) that I needed books for a Paper proposal and preliminary bibliography due tomorrow. So I went and got some, and put something together after swing troupe (ok, after a swing troupe rehearsal that didn't quite happen: there were 4 of us there. Oh well, it was amusing), and some chat. But it took about half an hour, and I think it should work just fine. ANd then there's that paper due Monday that I haven't touched... But it's only 5 pages.

Other than that, today was busy but nice. Besides being a bit tired, the day just worked well. Had an interesting conversation with zodiacmg at lunch about the educational system, in which I got sort of self-righteous and sort of hung up about fairness, but it was interesting nonetheless.

On a topic from a few days ago, aka Tuesday... I really need to learn some better dance session leading skills. I do pretty decently in general, but I had one person frustrated to the point of tears this last time, when she was doing just fine. I don't quite know how to avoid that. SHe was doing fine- and Really well considering that she is, as far as I can tell, really starting from scratch, not from a Jewish summer camp or youth movement background, or parents who dance or anything like that. I'm just used to people hanging in there and taking breaks as appropriate and eventually getting it (with rare exceptions of people who just never get it, but they're pretty rare- and they're rarely the ones who notice that they don't get it. I knew one guy whose approach to dancing could only be described, as my mother did describe it, as Brownian Motion.). I mean, sure I can do a few more really easy dances at the beginning, but really, I can't cater to the lowest denominator the whole time: I have a couple of folks who can really Dance if they're taught stuff, and who are steadily progressing. And then I have complete beginners, and everyone in between. And all this in an hour and a half. I think I'm going ot start making things progress from a bit easier (can't get That much easier: I just need to get a couple of the easiest things in the right formats) to a touch harder by the end of the night and see how that works, I guess. But it's frustrating not to be able to satisfy what people want, and not to be able to teach in a way that works for everyone. Practice makes better, but until then, I just keep trying, and I Wish I could do a better job.

Why don't college students own brown paper bags? I need one, and don't know how to get one outside of a trip to Victory or the like. Frustrating- at home we have tons. They're Handy.

Why I Oughtn't Leave Things Until the Night Before

Actually, more like why it doesn't matter that I did, again. I realized after Ballroom Dance got out (luckily early) that I needed books for a Paper proposal and preliminary bibliography due tomorrow. So I went and got some, and put something together after swing troupe (ok, after a swing troupe rehearsal that didn't quite happen: there were 4 of us there. Oh well, it was amusing), and some chat. But it took about half an hour, and I think it should work just fine. ANd then there's that paper due Monday that I haven't touched... But it's only 5 pages.

Other than that, today was busy but nice. Besides being a bit tired, the day just worked well. Had an interesting conversation with zodiacmg at lunch about the educational system, in which I got sort of self-righteous and sort of hung up about fairness, but it was interesting nonetheless.

On a topic from a few days ago, aka Tuesday... I really need to learn some better dance session leading skills. I do pretty decently in general, but I had one person frustrated to the point of tears this last time, when she was doing just fine. I don't quite know how to avoid that. SHe was doing fine- and Really well considering that she is, as far as I can tell, really starting from scratch, not from a Jewish summer camp or youth movement background, or parents who dance or anything like that. I'm just used to people hanging in there and taking breaks as appropriate and eventually getting it (with rare exceptions of people who just never get it, but they're pretty rare- and they're rarely the ones who notice that they don't get it. I knew one guy whose approach to dancing could only be described, as my mother did describe it, as Brownian Motion.). I mean, sure I can do a few more really easy dances at the beginning, but really, I can't cater to the lowest denominator the whole time: I have a couple of folks who can really Dance if they're taught stuff, and who are steadily progressing. And then I have complete beginners, and everyone in between. And all this in an hour and a half. I think I'm going ot start making things progress from a bit easier (can't get That much easier: I just need to get a couple of the easiest things in the right formats) to a touch harder by the end of the night and see how that works, I guess. But it's frustrating not to be able to satisfy what people want, and not to be able to teach in a way that works for everyone. Practice makes better, but until then, I just keep trying, and I Wish I could do a better job.

Why don't college students own brown paper bags? I need one, and don't know how to get one outside of a trip to Victory or the like. Frustrating- at home we have tons. They're Handy.