Cyr, Melissa. “Designing Dances: How to Choreograph a Dance in 10 Steps.

” ​Dancesport 

Place​, 24 Aug. 2016, 

dancesportplace.com/designing-dances-how-to-choreograph/. 

Melissa is a professional dancer who turned her passion into her career. She made a 

business for the dancesport competitors, and Dancesportplace.com is her website. It 

offers diverse video lessons and articles about dancing. One of the articles that Melissa 

wrote is “Designing Dances: How to Choreograph a Dance in 10 Steps.” In this article, 

she advises how to choreograph which is an essential part of a dancer or a dance 

instructor. 

I learned that first I should look for any inspiration, choose the music, and choose the 

theme in order to design a choreography. But most importantly, I should consider the 

other dancers’ skills who will learn my choreography. If I have dancers with limited 

skills, I shouldn’t over-choreograph because they will look better with simpler 

choreography. Her advice is useful for me since it is my first time making choreography 

for others, not for myself.  

The origin of this article is reliable because the author is an expert dance instructor. But 

since the purpose of this article is to advertise her business page, it is questionable if 

she is being honest or not. However, the article is to provide useful tips to make a 

choreography which I should learn for my mission project. Thus, this source is valuable. 
Garrett-Hatfield, Lori. “Traits & Characteristics of Middle School Learners.” ​Education​, 29 

Sept. 2016, 

education.seattlepi.com/traits-characteristics-middle-school-learners-2687.html. 

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is an online newspaper that was founded in 1863. It 

publishes articles about local issues, business, sports, travel, comics, education, etc. 

One of the authors of Seattle PI, Lori Garrett-Hatfield, wrote “Traits & Characteristics of 

Middle School Learners.” which explains about middle school students’ physical and 

emotional characteristics and how they approach learning. 

I learned that middle school students are not kids nor adults. As early adolescence, they 

go through the acceleration of their growth and development. Since they are still in the 

phase of maturing, they are very sensitive and can be easily offended. Also, they tend to 

get away from adults, including teachers, because they think adults do not respect their 

feelings and opinions. They will even challenge authority figures. Since I will be teaching 

those age dancers, I should be aware of their traits and treat them well. 

This article is written by Lori Garrett-Hatfield who is an expert in not only journalism but 

also in education. Working in the Education field since 1994, she has taught every grade 

level in the K-12 system and got a Ph.D. in Adult Education. As well as the author, this 

website makes the article very reliable. Seattle PI was nominated for GLAAD Media 

Award for Outstanding Newspaper Overall Coverage. Thus, this source is valuable.  
Ma, Jessie. “Just Because You're A Great Dancer, Doesn't Mean You're A Great 

Teacher!” S
​ TEEZY​, 2 Jan. 2019, blog.steezy.co/great-dance-teacher/.   

Steezy is a website for a dance studio in Los Angeles. It offers online dance classes, 

and there are lots of articles about dance written by the studio’s instructors. Jessie Ma 

is one of the instructors in the studio, and she wrote “Just Because You're A Great 

Dancer, Doesn't Mean You're A Great Teacher!” In this article, Jessie talks about how to 

be a great dance teacher. She contrasts a good dance teacher with a great dance 

teacher in order to emphasize the importance of teaching, not only dancing as a dance 

instructor.  

I learned that only by teaching choreography successfully does not mean that I am a 

great dance teacher. In order to be a successful dance teacher, I should develop a 

relationship with students, teach the students about dancing rather than finishing a 

choreography, give helpful feedback to students, be flexible in changes, and love 

teaching as much as dancing.  

The origin of this article is reliable because the author is an expert dance instructor. 

However, since it is based on her own experience and opinions, it might be biased. 

Meanwhile, the purpose of the article is to give out honest advice for people who want 

to be a great dance instructor, which is also my goal for this mission project. Also, this 

article is very recently written. Thus, this source is valuable.  

Mcdaniel, Rhett. “Motivating Students.” ​Vanderbilt University​, 7 May 2018, 

cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/motivating-students/. 

The Vanderbilt University Center for teaching promotes university teaching that leads to 

meaningful student learning. They offer teaching guides such as “Motivating Students.” 

This page provides different types of motivations and how different students will react 

to different strategies.  

I learned that there are two big categories of motivations: intrinsic and extrinsic. 

Intrinsic motivations are personal interest, fascination with the subject, sense of 

accomplishment, etc. They are long-lasting and self-sustaining, but they require lots of 

time and effort to affect the performance. Extrinsic motivations are personal benefits, 

grades, expectations, etc. They produce rapid changes in behavior, but they can distract 

the students from learning the material. For both options, the instructor should be fully 

aware of students as different individuals. Most importantly, the instructor should be a 

role model by showing enthusiasm and passion for what he or she is teaching. 

This page is very helpful for me since teaching a subject, especially dancing, requires 

motivating the students to learn. By this page, I could learn about diverse strategies that 

I can use while I teach. This page is reliable since it is from a teaching center of the 

university. And the purpose of the page is to help people become more effective 

teachers. Thus, this source is valuable. 

Pamenter, Jane. “Effective Dance Teaching Methods » Ausdance | Dance Advocacy.” 

Ausdance​, 27 June 2012, 

ausdance.org.au/articles/details/effective-dance-teaching-methods. 

Ausdance is a dance organization which encourages access to and understanding of 

dance in communities throughout Australia. Their website provides articles about 

creating dance, teaching dance, and having careers in dance. “Effective Dance Teaching 

Methods ” is the second edition of The Australian Guidelines for Teaching Dance which 

was originally published in 1998 whose content has been updated by Jane Pamenter. 

This article is enriched with advice such as how to plan a lesson, how to create a 

positive learning environment, how to communicate well, how to be a role model, etc. 

I learned that I should consider the students’ ages, skills, emotional and physical status 

when I plan the lesson. Also, the goal of the class and explanation during the class 

should be clear. Teaching should be supportive and encouraging, and I should always 

be non-judgemental. I should show the students my love in dancing with positive 

approaches that give students confidence and a willingness to practice and improve 

their dance skills. 

This article is from a trustworthy dance organization. They have a 42-year history of 

educating, inspiring and supporting the dance community. Thus, this source is valuable.