Fun & Informative

Teacher Symposium with Sandy McAlister in Aston, PA; May 13-16, 2010

By Diana Bahn, New York, NY

Sandy McAlister, together with Alba Cordasco’s foresight and rugged determination, launched the second ever T’ai Chi Chih Teacher Symposium. The symposium format is a relatively new model offered to TCC teachers to deepen their skills in teaching our nineteen movements and one pose. Sandy, the trailblazer that she is, conducted the first symposium in 2008, with Alba in attendance. The seed was firmly planted. Alba “saw and felt the need for the community to come together” again in this way.

I was one of 22 teachers who participated in this never-miss-a-beat 2 ½ days of “intellectual discussions, freely exchanged ideas, shared opinions all while enjoying drinking with music (water that is, or whatever). Sounds like heaven.” – Sandy’s own words.

The atmosphere could not have been better, at a contemplative site where we were blessed with gorgeous spring weather. Weeks prior to the event, Sandy and Alba set the stage for dynamic involvement by suggesting that we bring 22 copies each of “flyers, business cards, handouts and other materials you use in class to share with everyone.”

Sandy asked us to give “pre-thought” to teaching topics so we would be prepared to discuss them. We had brand-new teachers in attendance; teachers who had not taught for the last six years; a veteran of TCC, who “hasn’t been teaching for a while but always maintains an interest in the TCC community;” teachers sharing tips about how they use Justin’s DVD in class; teachers who work with children. (For Basic Pulling Taffy she tells her kids to do it like you are “throwing a Frisbee quietly,” so the teacher won’t see. It was probably the best teaching of Pulling Taffy I’d ever seen.)

The participants’ abundant teh was omnipresent. Teachers walked away with huge amounts of handouts to share with our students, but also with more insight into how our fellow teachers teach this wonderful “simple” moving meditation. Each teacher had his/her own unique style, format, study aides, images, words … you name it. All I had to do was sit down at a meal to have an informative, heartfelt conversation (without having to make any effort at all). Sandy made it clear that there’s a lot of leeway in how to teach. The symposium gave teachers a chance to see our reflections in the mirror, while having a seasoned trainer witness our movements and sometimes even critique our personal teaching styles. If you want to bring your teaching to a higher level (and have fun eating, drinking and listening to music while using a foot massage machine), you’ll want to think about participating in the next symposium. Alba, are you out there?