[Floor Monkey]

Hey guys...errrm...girls.

I just got a pretty dope job teaching kids how to break dance in this dance studio. It's odd because these aren't urban kids at all. Most of them come from wealthy rural families, so it's a bit awkward trying to teach them how to have soul and style. My biggest problem is that these kids are all girls, and very weak girls at that. I've tried to spend a decent portion of my class developing their strength a little more, but I just can't seem to motivate them. They won't stop talking about who they saw at school or the fight that happened in the gym.

I need advice B-Girls! How can I motivate girls between the ages of 8 and 18 to breakdance, or at least put forth a good effort. I can't give up on them because I'm being paid to do this, and I want them to learn to break!

[U-reeka]

im not a b-girl, but maybe you should ask them why they are in your class if they don't want to learn. You want to learn them how to break, but the most important thing is that they want to learn how to break! If they don't want to, they're just wasting their money.

(btw is it legal for bboys to post here? )

[izzy]

hey
i was too lazy to break dance before and i was thinking id never make it, its kinda boy thing and bla bla. but my brother was very good to break dance, and once i went to see this break dance competition. there i saw very very cool girls as i thought. they didnt even do anything amazing, but they did what they could and i was just so inspired. i asked my brother to show me some tricks the same evening...as i am weak i train every day now and its just going well.
so i think what you should do, is to take them to watch some break sance show/competition/battle where they have girls too, so girls could have something to look up to. you could eventually show them some videos but that will not be the same as seeing it live.
and yeah, if you see that some of them still are doing nothing just ask them politely to stop coming. you will have more time to girls who are motivated, and at the end of the year you could have a show for parents, so they will see they didnt waste money and u are a good teacher.
good luck, and let me know how it went

[Kunoichi Sakura]

Yeah, the easiest way to motivate them is to do what Izzy said above. Take them to an event were there are bgirls and have them talk to the bgirls. Some girls are better than boys speaches would help also,lol.

As far as helping them get stronger so they can dance. Start with small sets of excercises like 10 -15 pushups (girl pushups,lol) or whatever then can do. A few reps ( 2 -4 ) every practice until they can do more and more then until they are able to do regular pushups. Thats a start.

I would revolve their strength exercises around the ones you use for upper body,lower body and cardio but at the speed and level the girls are at and just let it develope as they go.

You can always try to reach out to them on a personal level to. Find out what music they like, what you like and try to come to a middle where thats what music the sessions will be practiced to.

And since its all girls and as you said they like to gossip, have a few minutes were in the beginning, middle or near end of class were you guys just talk. They tell you about the things at school and you can try to relate to them on similar things. I think that would be good cause then its not just about dancing. They know they can come to you and talk about something important and get advice. That makes coming to class more fun.. imo

That show idea is also great. Let them know you might plan a show for their friends and family which I belive would help them strive to improve as much as possible. And like Izzy said if there is still some that just don't want to be there it's not your fault. You just gotta tell them if you don't want to be here I don't want to take your money.

Sorry for the lenthy post, lol but good luck on the class.

[Bboy EZ]

I don't think Floor Monkey has the right to tell someone to stop coming if they've paid the money for the services he provides. Let's pretend I pay for 1 full year of a gym membership, and I never go to the gym, or go there whenever I feel like it. Well, turns out, I can do that! I've done that before, not by choice, but because of my work schedule. Now, even though I'm not taking the gym seriously, and may be hampering the body builders and weight lifters I go with at the gym on occasion, when they need to take it down a notch in weight volume to spot me with my much lesser weight, I can still do that! However, I'm not equivocating the two situations, I'm just saying if this is a business, where he's getting paid to teach, he simply can't say "don't come," because the owners of the place who actually collect the proceeds would flip. Ultimately, a customer is a customer, and I'm just looking at this from the business side of things.

I still have a solution to the problem for the few unmotivated bgirls who hold down the entire group as a whole: single them out in front of the entire group, and bring up that very point. Question them, in front of the group, why have they signed up, and why do they not try harder? If you feel they are sincere in their answers, then try and work with them, I guess. However, if you feel they are no hope, and they truly will hold down the group's learning process, I feel proper measures should take place. You should put them on the spot, in front of everyone, and explain to them how they are anchors in the journey of bboying, and simply bring that into the public's eye. They will either be too embarrassed to come back, because you've exposed them for the frauds that they are in front of the class, or you'll give them initiative to push themselves into wanting motivation, because after all, nobody wants to hold down the group.

Hope this helps.

[Kunoichi Sakura]

So your going to take the money of parents who's kids aren't interested? Ok. The gym thing is different since you can make your own gym schedule as opposed to this class that has certain times to be there.

I think its a waste of the parents money and the teachers time if someone doesn't want to be there.

I don't think putting eight year olds on spot would serve any positive purpose. Showing them long term results (seeing bgrils in action) is better than embarassing them in front of their friends. If someone still doesn't want to then talk to the parents.

Judging by Floor's post he is more interested in teaching than taking money. Busniess is one thing, taking the parent's money when a kid doesn't want to be there is another.

[BbOyJeOpArDy]

join into their conversation

girl: omg dont you think billy is so hot?
girl2: omg yeah, omg omg h4x!
you: yeah omg, he is so hot!


disclaimer: doing so may be illegal

but anyway, try to get them to go to an event. make it like a field trip; write out permission slips and stuff

you could always give them a break and stuff

oh and if they keep talking
ask them to stay w/ the program

WAIT i have a question

what are their excuses? like if you tell them to pay attention or do something, what do they say? "i'm tired"? if so, you def. need to be more strict upon them. tell them "yes, and i understand that, but we'll have a break in a few minutes"

or you should make their waterbottles or w/e easy access. like keep them near the dance floor so they can just take a couple steps, drink some water/juice/soda/potable oils and then come back w/out distracting ppl

but about the conversations thing....
just keep moving. ignore them.

or have something where like tell them "if i think youre talking too much, i will do flares"
and then if they see you do flares maybe theyll shut the hell up. or if they dont notice, tell another kid to tell them to stop talking

it sucks to have a teacher tell you to stop talking. so you have to make it noticeable you want them to stop, ie by looking at them. eventually someone will stop talking and tell the rest of them to stop talking

^ maybe that's the only paragraph you should listen to

[izzy]

ehhh...?
what keeps me motivated is seeing bgirls do theire thing, not a teacher telling me to shut up
you may make them be quite but it doesnt mean they will start dancing

[Floor Monkey]

First of all, thanks for all your replies.

As for the field trip: that's a great idea. I encourage the girls to come here and check out the community to get a better feel for what it's like. The only problem is that the closest place to where I live (Myrtle Beach) where break comps can be found is Columbia, which is a good 2 hour drive. There are some local clubs where some good break dancing goes down, but obviously they're all too young.

Their excuses are typically something along the lines of "I'm sick, my stomach hurts" or "I'm tired from school." Despite their whining, I push them as hard as I can, but I am feeling that my pushing is just making them want to come to class less and less.

Since I'm teaching foundations for breaking, my typical class is to show the girls how to do some basic moves, then the last part of class is spent in a circle where they can all talk and take turns getting up in the middle and freestyling. This seems to be the part in the class where they have the most fun, however they need a lot of work to get better and they just aren't putting forth the needed effort during the rest of the class to improve.

And finally, as much as I want to tell some of these girls who sometimes even get attitudes to leave, I can't. As an above poster stated, this is a business that is owned by someone else, and I would lose my position entirely if I chased kids away from the dance studio. Parents insist on paying and sending their kids to class even if their kids don't want to just so they'll stay out of trouble. It's not the best situation but I'm making the best of it.

[MandyB]

The people that will actually want to break and stick with it are the ones that will keep coming to class despite how hard you push them because it's something they really want to learn.

[Bboy EZ]

Exactly. If it's not his business, and he just works there, if he decides to chase away unmotivated kids because of the negative impact they have on the entire group, then he's jeopardizing his job position by shrinking the business's customer base. The smaller a customer base is made, the smaller the volume of funds that are received by this business, and that means lost revenue. The bottomline is that he can't make the decision of telling a kid NOT TO COME BACK because the parents who paid for this service will surely call the business with complaints directed at the teacher who said the words "don't come back." Now that's bad.

[dangflo]

give them lipstick?

[BbOyJeOpArDy]

ok, you have to talk to them individually during breaks and stuff and discuss the thing w/ em
make sure to ask them if they really want to learn to dance. tell them to tell their parents if they dont want to stay in the class. seriously. dumbass girls dont know good chances when they see one.

[Kunoichi Sakura]

It's not his fault the owner is a capitalist. Doesn't prove a point imo. Regardless of the fact, people there who don't want to be there regardless are eventually keeping the rest down.... but Good Luck with the class none the less.

<---- boys posting in the b-gril forum

ok, you have to talk to them individually during breaks and stuff and discuss the thing w/ em
make sure to ask them if they really want to learn to dance. tell them to tell their parents if they dont want to stay in the class. seriously. dumbass girls dont know good chances when they see one.

Neither do dumbass boys....

[BbOyJeOpArDy]

^ yeah youre right, but in this case i said girls because that was pertaining to this specific case

i didnt mean offense to anyone here. b/c everyone here is cool

and then im gonna get flamed for implying that the girls he teach arent cool. and then we'll have a huge flame war. then i'll get shot. 9 times. then i'll become a rapper

you know, 50 cent got shot b/c of an internet forum flame war