Classroom Choreographer (Issues in Education) (Teaching Methids‪)‬

It is the middle of winter in Kettering, a city located in southwest Ohio. I am hugging the fence in my backyard, trying to find enough courage to skate onto the ice rink my parents have built in the backyard. My parents, as always, are supporting my dreams. After taking a few ice skating lessons, I have developed a new passion and long to be the next Peggy Fleming. My dad stands on the sidelines, taking pictures, while my morn skates with me. I let go of the fence and start to glide, loving the feeling of almost flying. I soon realized, however, that I lacked the skating talent for serious competition, and so I turned to dance. Like figure skating, dance is a combination of artistic and technical skills, of finding a way to express oneself within the confines of a series of eight counts. I loved choreographing routines, whether the steps were for my own performances or for students in the school musical. As a high school English teacher in Ohio and later as a college professor of future teachers in Florida, I viewed teaching as also consisting of both artistic and technical elements.