Parents that ignore due dates...drives me crazy. I can just about predict who will turn info sheets on time and who thinks that I can magically read their minds or just don't care.

We're trying to do a perfomance cruise next summer. We've had our informational meeting and handed everything out. We gave a due date of 10/5 for the yes or no as to whether they will participate. The downpayment will be due soon and to top it off if they are sending their dancing without going themselves we have to find a cabin they can share with someone else.

Out of the 30 plus families that were at the meeting or received the info from me because they couldn't make it we've only heard from 8 in writing a few more called and left messages saying yes or no. How hard is it to let someone know your plans, especially when we have to put this whole thing together. Going into a room by myself to to scream.....eeee kkkkk!

Going back to stage moms, imparticularly the ones who are determined their child is going to be a dancer, because "they never got the chance." I have this student who I've taught for about 5 years now, and she's never liked to dance. When she was younger it wasn't much of a problem, but the past two years she's done nothing but play in class. However, her mother is determined that she is going to be a dancer. She was upset because she was not progressing, and went to another teacher this year (within the same studio). However, it seems that this teacher, who is more strict than me, has not pleased her either. She now wants to move back into one of my more than full classes. When our secretary told her it was full, she told her that it wouldn't matter, she would just need to talk to me. Of course, I told her that there was no way I could allow her to be in the class, especially when there is already a waiting list. This didn't make her happy at all.

graciedance wrote:

I am so tired of hearing how the enrollment is down but she can still go on several trips a year and has a pool in the back yard. I get a promotion but no raise to go with the extra work and responsibilities that it brought. No thank yous for my competition pieces winning and representing her studio. The students have all become dollar signs to her - no longer are they people who matter - just a way to make more money. I'm tired of making the peace for you with parents and students. I'm just tired of making you all this money and never seeing much of it for myself after all the work I do.

AMEN!!! Sounds like my SO as well. Just last night she told me that I am too close to my students and their parents. Psh!! She's so cranky and hateful all of the time that no one wants to have a relationship with HER. I apologize for being a KIND individual! Grrr!

Parents, can you please do your job by being a parent~! Yes, it is my job to enforce the uniform, but why do you let your kids go to class dressed like freakin' slobs when you know the rules too~! In my mind you are more disrespectful than the teens~! You are adults and need to take responsibility for your children. And teens, if your parents are too lazy to be a parent, take some responsibility for yourself and dress yourself~! Do you honestly think you will be a good dancer taking ballet class in those crazy outfits~! No, and know why, because I can't stand to look at you nevermind give corrections to you~! ARGH~! Hard night

No lie, in rehearsal the other day, a 6th grader got yelled at and asked, which is your right foot?! (not me yelling). She literally held up both hands and looked at which one made the L!

There are many things on here that I have agreed with but just a few of my own.

1. I have parents complaining because the recital is a week later this year. This is partially my fault but not completely. My sister is getting married on the day the recital usually is. She was certainly not going to pick her date around me. So it's a week later, big deal? They get an extra week to prepare.

2. I can not stand when kids come to class in jeans and without their shoes. I have a class that starts at 4:30 and some of the girls come from a Spanish lesson before that. Ok, so parents...Remember to bring your kids clothing and shoes with you. Is it that hard to stick it in the car the night before? If I showed up to teach in jeans without shoes I'm sure they wouldn't be that understanding.

3. I have one student who has been to class once since September and still plans on being in the class. Continues to pay (as he takes another class with another instructor), but has not told me when they will be back. They just keep telling me at the beginning of the month. Well it's November now...are they just gonna show up at recital time expecting to dance? Come to class!!

4. I moved 2 younger girls into a more advanced class this year. There is only a 2 year age difference between them and the next youngest in the class. These girls dance better then some of the girls already in the class so I really don't want to hear parents complain about it.

5. And if I have to hear parent's complain about how much they pay a month one more time then I'm going to scream. If you don't want to pay so much then don't put your kids in 4 different classes each. That will cut down on the bill. And yes they really do need a costume for each class...Come on now!

tornteacher wrote:

No lie, in rehearsal the other day, a 6th grader got yelled at and asked, which is your right foot?! (not me yelling). She literally held up both hands and looked at which one made the L!

Thats not too surprising, when I was that age not only could I not tell right from left but if I held up my hands to look for the L I still would not have known how to work it out.

5% of adults can't tell left from right immediatly, I can work it out now and mostly get it straight away but it is not a natural thing.

I solved this by designing uniform leotards with the studio emblem on the left of the uniform. That way if I need to tell the kids to use their left arm or right arm or leg I quickly glance at the leotard. I know which way I want it, but I can't tell immediatly if it is left ir right.

We had to sell those chocolate bars about 8 years ago for co. I was in college and hence, had a fabulous lack of nutrition. I swear I ate pretty much all of them and paid the 50$
And no, I didn't blow up.

Is the student ambidextrous????? That adds a tough dimension to learning right from left.....and it does happen. Sometimes I have my students put a hair elastic around their R hand if they are having trouble.

There is a mother at our school that will NOT go away. She's even brought in props she thought would work well for our spring show(hello, a. its 7 months away, b. youre not in charge).
she always hangs out in the doorway trying to catch our attention.
Her daughter disappeared in the bathroom for 20 minutes during the first class, then she told her mom after class that someone had stolen and hidden her shoes(interesting that they were found in the same bathroom underneath the toliet paper).
This was the same mother who, on my first day of teaching class(my first class) made a huge deal bc i forgot to introduce myself(I'm sorry, but if you are so concerned that you know nothing about the person who is teaching your daughter even though ive only been dancing here for 20 years, why dont YOU come up and introduce yourself!!!)
So the next week i make a big point to hang out in the lobby to meet this woman, say "hello" to her when she comes in which she doesnt answer back, but instead starts screaming at her daughter.
Note I am SOOOO glad i am not this woman's daughter.

at age 11 though???

oh i hardly doubt the abidextrous(sp?) thing wiht this one.
just dense.

tornteacher wrote:

at age 11 though???

In the 5% of adults who can't naturally tell left from right, the average age to learn them is 16-18 years old and even then it will never be natural and they will usually still need to hold their fingers up at age 30 or 40.

tornteacher wrote:

No lie, in rehearsal the other day, a 6th grader got yelled at and asked, which is your right foot?! (not me yelling). She literally held up both hands and looked at which one made the L!

Nothing wrong with that, I do it all the time and I'm well past 6th grade! At least she knows to do that and doesn't stare at you blankly.

hunh. oh well then

I had my left and right down until I started teaching dance. Now I'm so used to mirroring the kids, and saying left when I'm doing the right that I'm all confused.

I can say L and R backwards without thinking...but I have to think about it to say R when I mean R because I've spent so long training myself to say it the other way around!

Please officially call when you are withdrawing from the studio. Do not send the news by a 7 year old that was in your daughters class!

When I say that it's due on this day, that's when it's due- no joke!

Mine are all pretty typical.
Please show up on time. I start class and you're not there...that's you're bad. Don't come complaining to me.
If your child doe snot want to dance, DON'T force them...or leave it up to me to force them. Sorry but if you want to dance, then take an adult class. Don't live your dreams through your child all the while making them (and everyone else) miserable.
I respect school sports. I think they are great. But don't come to my class complaining how you're tired. You signed up for soccer and dance and God knows what else. SUCK IT UP!!!!
Don't ask me why we are doing a certain step. Because I said so and I'm the choreographer. If you want to be choreograph, you should pay attention. I just may teach you something.
Don't complain about steps and positions hurting. If you do the correctly, they won't hurt anymore.
And for God's Sake, POINT YOUR TOES!!!! (unless I say otherwise)

Ok here is my vent! I have two girls from the same family that cause me grief. Every year the mother is in my face (actually it seems like every other month) about one of my teachers or myself and how we teach. If one of the girls get mad at a teacher they join together to get their Mom all reved up and then want to set up a meeting to yell at me. I think it's the way the girls feel that they can get back at the teachers. I do private lessons with each (why I'm not sure) and I know they have reputations for being bullies at school. The girls are disrespectful (eye rollers or argue back) and they don't understand that you have to give respect to get respect. To top it off I just got a letter from Mom from the doctor (one of the girls has developed a so-called back problem) excusing her from any thing that hurts. Ok fine I understand but most things in dance are not comfortable. One day she can't do splits on the floor because it hurts her hips but she can sure nail switch center leaps during across the floor. If I correct her too much I'm picking on her. If I ignore her she makes huge mistakes to try and get my attention. I make general corrections to the whole class when they have to do with her but she doesn't get it unless I say her name. But if I say her name then I am singling her out. She is on the competition team also so how do I handle cleaning before competition. She doesn't have to do everything full out if it hurts. At this time we are working on choreography so she has no problem trying and doing everything so she gets picked for certain parts but I know the story will change come time to clean. GRRRRR Help. How is this fair to the rest of the class if I allow her to sit out of the not-so-fun stuff but allow her to take part in things that you would think would hurt her back like leaps and jumps. (She likes that part of class) I'm so fustrated and I honestly don't know how to teach her. Anyone run into this problem?

^ Whew...what a pain that is!! Well, as far as the competition team goes, my girls have to have a 100% good attitude in the studio no matter what in order to be on my teams! I understand the occasional bad day, but not a series of them. I tell them that if they ever went to a competition acting that way we could be disqualified w/ no refunds and if I can't trust them to behave at dance then how can I trust they will behave at an outside event such as a competition.
You need to call her and her mom in for the next meeting at your conveinence and lay it all out on the table. Tell them that while her dance training is important to you there are other students in the class. Are you the SO? If you are than maybe even suggest she takes time or a year off if her "back injury" is that serious. If you're not the SO, talk to your SO!

parents as much as we need them they are the worst
1. Please pay on time not 3 weeks later.when you sign your child up my studio policies don't state pay whenever.The classic line of i forgot my check book is over done it's like my dog ate my home work.
2.Please don't ask during rehearsal to put your class on cause it's taking to long, and your hungry. please consider everyone else.
3.To the parents that think their child is more advanced then everyone. no ones perfect and 1 child can't do a clean back double turn.
4. why do kids sign up and then have conflicts of plays and sports. I'm done bending over backwards. i love how the school director or coach says don't miss practice but it's ok to miss dance.i have a dance recital others in your class are working for. Then complain when your in the back row or have a smaller part.
5.NO I DON'T TEACH 2 YEAR OLDS. don't ask your 5 and under child what she wants to take. don't give them that much freedom pick a class for them. in the beginning they don't know what tap or jazz even is.
6. why is it parents think that if they complain i will do what they say. 1 lady trys to complain she hasn't won yet but this is her 4th year.
7.last and then i will stop so i can go to bed. why do kids tell parents what to do. who is the parent and who is the child. what happened to finish what you started, don't quit cause you never see your dad it's 1 night a week. Don't quit cause your friend didn't come back this year.don't quit come back 2 years later to quit after 2 months.Please don't try to come back.

thanks for this, of all days today was the day i needed it!

To my students- Don't do things you don't want to get back to me! Word travels quick! And by the way, I know all the tricks in the book! I have done and seen them all!

Don't show up late to my class and then expect me to fill you in on what you missed. You're an adult - manage your time better and turn up! I only have a problem with the one student, the rest are fine. Most of my advanced dancers come to the class beforehand and use it as conditioning and a long warm-up so they're ready to go when it's time for us to start. This woman turns up late every week with no explanation, and misses even the in-class warm up. Then, she proceeds to fumble through the steps and drills that I've been going over since October and doesn't seem to notice that she's not on the same level as the others. With most of my corrections for other dancers, it's fiddly stuff: they've got good technique but could be higher on their toes, their back leg could snap up a hair faster in a leap to give it a bit more hang-time, entrechat quatre could be tighter, etc. But with her I'm still going on about keeping the legs together, knees straight and arms in (which I don't even have to tell my beginners anymore...). I'm not about to dumb my class down as we have some phenomenal dancers, and I already give several different combinations (all along the same lines, but the more advanced ones have slightly different jumps or beat patterns) to suit varying levels in the class. Everyone else is progressing fantastically, because they're putting in a lot of hard work and practice outside of class, but she's at the same level she started.

If it was up to me, she'd be back in Beginners (which she is supposed to be attending anyway), but I can't make that call (none of the teachers can) and it's driving me (and at least one other teacher) absolutely nuts. Argh!

Cheers,
ShyViolet

- S.O's: Please pay me on time! Not 2 months behind....I swear my at the end of January I got one check from nov. and 1 from dec.!What....the....Do not think that I am stupid and don't keep track of my hours and what you owe me.I make copies of EVERY CHECK before I deposit it.If you tell me to please stop flooding you email box then try paying me! Maybe that will fix the problem
-Also, if you insist on picking music for recital, please keep in mind the ages you are choosing it for.Don't pickout a 5 min. song for my 2 y.o. and then proceed to tell me that I cannot cut it.I guess all 6 of my 2 y.o. will have a 45 sec. solo to fill up the music...ugh!
-Please give me the recital music for the other 6 classes I have to choreograph for.Come on, Its practically March!!!!!Class time will not stretch out to accomodate last minute choreography!I may just have to go ahead and cut the songs myself if it is a 5 min. dance and we only have from now until May to work on it.
wow...I feel alittle better

To the front desk staff....

Please check with me before signing a new student up. If I didn't recommend so and so for the level 4 class, please don't sign her up anyway. I then have to be the bad guy and tell her that she is not ready for this class AFTER her parents paid the tuition. It puts me in an extremely difficult position and could have been prevented.

To the students....

Stop trying to give me excuses for not practicing. If I have to hear "I don't have enough time" again, I don't even know what I am going to do. It's funny how you have time to watch American Idol and hang out with your friends, but you didn't set even ten minutes aside to review and practice your dance. Then you wonder why I am still drilling you on the first eight counts of your dance. Geee...If you practiced we might not have to always do the same things!