Folk Dancing is a wonderful way to foster musical independence and build community in the general music classroom, but it can be daunting for many. In this session you will learn about choosing age-appropriate folk dances and tips for breaking down some of the more challenging steps. You will be given tried and true tips for calling a dance as well as ideas to help you proactively encourage respect among your students. You will leave with the tools to empower your students to gain independence and create their own dances. Lastly, you will hear how folk dancing can help you reach beyond the classroom and bring your community together!

Participants will be able to:

* Break down specific dance steps and teach folk dances in various dance formations: long ways set, double circle, and Sicilian circle.
* Break down the calls for the dance and determine the timing for calling the dance steps.
* Identify potential pitfalls of folk dancing in the classroom and learn strategies to remedy these situations.
* Understand the relationship between the form of music and dancing and empower students to create their own folk dances using that form.
* Plan a community folk dance for their school community.

Lindsay Jackson is in her 12th year of teaching elementary music and choir and currently teaches at the Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, PA. Lindsay holds a B.M.Ed from Westminster Choir College and an M.M.Ed from the Hartt School, University of Hartford. While at Hartt, Lindsay served as the graduate assistant for Dr. John Feierabend where she assisted in teaching his undergraduate methods classes. She is fully certified in Kodály (Levels 1-4) and FAME (First Steps and Conversational Solfège). Lindsay is a founding member of the Feierabend Association of Music Education, was featured as a FAME Teacher Spotlight in February 2015, is an Endorsed Teacher Trainer in both First Steps and Conversational Solfege, and currently serves on the FAME board as Member-at-Large. Lindsay is also very active in the Organization of American Kodály Educators (OAKE) and is the recent Past President of the New Jersey chapter (Kodály New Jersey).