My personal definition of learning is becoming, more importantly, the process of becoming. This may be becoming a well-rounded individual, someone who can think critically, an engaged member of society, or simply becoming something better than you were before. Learning should be student-centered. The classroom should be a place of engaged learning and a laboratory to try new things. I believe that people learn in a lot of different ways, but I believe people learn best when they're together. You can gain so much insight from others and learn so much about yourself when working with a group. I think the process of groups working together to solve a problem is the best way to learn new material and to retain it.
As mentioned before, I believe that the process of how one learns is the most important step. All lessons will be student-centered and allow students to work collaboratively with their peers. They will solve problems together and discover knowledge they didn’t have before. A dance classroom is a great place to discover new things and to problem-solve. Students will be set up to succeed, but will still have to work hard and smart to learn the material being taught.
In my classroom, students should expect a lot of collaboration with their peers. They should expect to be problem-solving and discovering new things every day. They should have an open mind and a positive attitude. They should expect to grow and always be working towards becoming a better person/dancer/student every day. They should expect that they will need to put in work to succeed in this class; I will not do all the work for them. They should also expect to have fun in a safe, judgment-free zone.