I am intending sitting for my modern associate.... <BR>i've been to a few courses... but still need some guiding especially since i'm working at it on my own....<P>can anyone help?<P>thanks

xwish, <P>i assume this is ISTD Modern Associate? <P>i have seen this syllabus only once (at Arts Ed, Tring) and that was a long time ago. i DO remember the type of work involved, and in fact i have some of the music, coincidentally, thru an aquaintance here who is one of their examiners - but i cannot really think of anything ABOUT the work to tell you, without more information (maybe even then, i might be unable to help!) ~ however, give us a try! can you tell us a bit more about exactly what you want to know?

It all boils down to the "What, why, when, where ! "<P>What is this (say hug and release )exercise ?<BR>Syllabus knowledge.<P>Why do we do it ?<BR>Muscles groups used, parts of anatomy involved.<P>When do we do it ?<BR>When are the basics of this exercise carried through to other exercises higher up in the syllabus - contractions. The reverse can also be asked say " contractions" <P>Where does the training for this exercise begin?. Where would you find this in say the Elementary syllabus ?<P>I tell my teacher trainees to think of kneading a piece of bread dough. You turn it inside out, upside down, right side up, right side out. If you can do this with all of the exercises you will be able to answer any question thrown.<P>The help you need is from yourself -(please don't take that as me being harsh ). <BR> You have to spend time with the syllabus and with the methodology.<BR> <BR> You have to analyse the exercises. What do you feel happening in your muscles, or your body ?. <BR> <BR> How should I and would I train this so my students will be able to get the same feeling ?. <BR> What is difficult about this exercise ?. <BR> What are the common faults found when teaching this exercise?. <BR> <BR> Build up records of class plans and class evaluations. Then you are speaking from your own experience - not from what you have read in a book.<P> Do case studies of individual students ?. <BR> <BR>All I am saying really is "preparation, preparation, preparation !" We have a family friend who is a PE teacher who also coaches the high school athletics team. A saying of his I have heard many and from time to time I place it on my notice board. <P>"Success boils down to 5 P's. Prior preparation prevents poor performance". <P>Good luck with your preparation !

Grace - I just noticed a couple of typing omissions or mistakes and can't find edit - Please how do I edit ?

grace is fast asleep now down under, Tip-toes. If you go to the icon on the right above your message (a page and pencil). Click on that one and away you go.

Thanks tip-toes...<P>i have been to a few courses and know what i'm suppsoed to be doing...the only thing is that since i'm the only one on my island working for my ISTD associate i have no help...so i kind of feel that i'm loosing out on a few things especially since it was recommended to me that associates be coached by an examiner... the only problem is that there isn't an examiner here!!!<P>i appreciate your help!<p>[This message has been edited by xwish (edited October 04, 2000).]

i understand, xwish, but i still don't know where to begin, without some more clues as to what sort of guidance you are looking for.....can you give us any more info as to your needs? when are you taking the exam?

Hopefully i'll be taking this exam this june/ July!<P>I'd like some help on the breakdown perhaps ... maybe i could work some out, and perhaps get some feed back on what i've said... just to see if i'm on the right track!.. i feel i'm 'drowning!' if you know what i mean!!<P>

i DO know what you mean. but i also know that we really can't help (and we'd like to) without more specific information.....<P>xwish, maybe it would help if i told you about when i did my (ISTD) Cecchetti Associateship.....<P>i had already studied benesh notation, so that really helped, but you can do this other ways. personally, i need to see the pattern in things, and this is helpful for syllabus learning in a number of ways.<P>can you extract out some elements of the syllabus - like, say, learning to do an advanced levl step, and separate out the component parts and the levels at which they are learned.<P>maybe that's an upside down way to describe it.<P>i'll put it the other way. with the ballet, i wrote out lists of all the exercises (notated, but you could do this in words, or just by photocopying the pages!). then i cut up all the pages into separate exercises. then i re-arranged all the exercises, so that all the pliés were together, in grade order....and did the same with all the rest of the exercises too. sounds obsessive, i know! but that's me! <P>then i stuck 'em all together as pages, with all the pliés on one page, in increasing order of difficulty; all the tendus; all the glissés, etc!<P>finally then i was able to sit back and look at those pages and visually see the development of the teaching of each exercise, thru the grades.<P>this is harder to do with the modern syllabus as it will vary more from grade to grade, i imagine....but i hope this (perhaps rather wierd approach) may at least give you some ideas?!?<P>please do give us some specific examples, because there are lots of willing senior teachers here, happy to share their knowledge! <P>