Teaching Moves (or...The Longest Post Ever)

i think this whole thread is amasing, it has helped me with my technique and my attitude towards poi.
from the beggining i felt that poi was a sorce of spiritual release for me, a way to relax and reflect on the day.
this thread has given it more meaning for me though, it has made me realise that i should never allow myself to fall into the competitive 'trap' that was talked about earlier, i have only been spinning a month and i think it would be easy for me to fall into a simlar state of mind that was also mentioned earlier in the thread
i have so far been teaching myself poi and have had little contact with other spinners and have been to no meetings so i am also afraid that when i finally do meet people i will be highly influenced and lose what style i have so far developed
well enough of that!
i only wanted to congratulate you all on the best thread i have come across in my short time here and end up spilling my guts

must... keep... reading... *collapses while twirling a stick*

@ Bluecat.

since this fits i see no point in starting a new thread, sorry if im hijacking it.

how do i tell a kid to work harer without telling him to work harder? there is this kid who comes to our meets, and he is into poi, which is great, but, and i not trying to be mean, he just doesnt seem to get it, to him its about what the ends do, not what his hands are doing, i think its a confidence thing, and a lack of practice, but i dont know how to get him to practice on his own, cos he always wants to be learning, and if he cant do something he'll either go back to a simple weave (which is good cos he can do it really well) or try to advance, which isnt so good cos he is missing the basics.

we got him to buy a book and read it, and learn from that between meets, but i dont know if he is, and its really getting to me, cos we spend all this time trying to teach him new stuff and he doesnt seem to be putting the effort in himself, and you give him excercises to do, like the beginnigns of 3 beat weave, and he'll do them once or twice and wonder why he cant do 3 beat weaves, so please, any suggestions or ways i can improve his spinning would be greatly appreciated

You can't force teach someone... well, you can but that's evil. Every person I have ever taught has learned at a much different pace. Some pick it up very fast and are doing 5bts in a week, others are content with simple weaves and reels after months. The best thing you can do is try to foster inspiration by pointing out all their strong attributes and share their excitement with progress. The more students enjoy spinning, the faster they will progress with new moves or more polished basics.

Whenever things seem stagnant, show them an odd variation, transition or dance step to keep them thinking. The goal of poi isn't about a large repertoire of stock mechanical movement, it's about expanding your own personal style. The most beautiful spinning I have ever seen didn't involve anything more technical than a thread the needle.

encouragement and patience, inspiration---

maybe along with a book, are there any videos that are available? Sometimes it translates and inspires better.

Are there kids his own age and fairly compatible skill level that he can buddy up with to practice?

Maybe have him work on something all together different than tricks/moves, like just regular spins, but hitting the beats of music, maybe have him just explore what he can do with the poi, on all levels, turning, behind the back etc, or challenge him to come up with a move completely on his own, something he makes up for himself and teaches to you.

Bottom line, he will only continue if he is enjoying it, so whatever level he is at, if he likes it that is good. Some people have to struggle a long time before they " get" anything. I take a long time for the lessons to sink in. It was almost a year of spinning before I would even let Nick watch me ! ( Meenik, www.playpoi.com Great teacher, extremely patient. )How he taught me without ever watching what I was doing is beyond me... ;-) ( he says he snuck peeks when I wasn't looking)

Have fun !
Andrea

Morning all.

Wicked this is my first post!!

I can see that the basics need a' learning in order to progress.

and people will learn at their own pace.

But I have been conscripted to teach almost thirty 16 year olds at once!! (I'm 17, will they listen to me?)

how do I teach them all??? this is surely going to be a mighty challenge.

theyll all learn at different speeds and people will get behind, or worse people will get ahead and bring the rest down.

oh yeah. I'm teaching them from scratch! their only briefing is what poi could be (I.E. ballso on strings!) and have been told to bring tennis balls and socks into their first lesson!.
I'ts a tutor group and they decided to make poi their goal. but reading this thread just gave me a hugely different spin on what I thought I could achieve. they'll be move driven and i'll be technique and feel driven.

Do you reckon I should make them dance?

I need help! any suggestions? anyone?

Get them to teach each other.

As you're teaching them stuff, get anyone who picks it up really quickly to help those that are finding it difficult.
That should get them off your back a bit so you're not trying to teach everyone at once, the people who find it difficult get almost one to one tuition and those that pick it up quickly get to cement it in their minds better through showing someone else - everyone wins

I'd steer away from dancing for a while, at least until they can turn and move about with the poi - it'll be no fun trying to dance while having the poi bouncing off legs and heads

bump