Most pole instructors have planned a class the same way at some point.
You're driving to the studio thinking, "What trick should I teach today?" Maybe a student requested something. Maybe you saw a cool combo on Instagram. Maybe you've been meaning to cover a particular move for weeks.
That's how many of us learned to lesson plan:
-
Pick a trick.
-
Break it down.
-
Teach the trick.
There's nothing inherently wrong with that approach, but it's also why so many classes feel disconnected.
After nearly 20 years as a professional educator and more than 10 years as a certified pole instructor, I can say with confidence:
A trick is not a learning objective.
And that single shift changes everything.
If you've already used my free Pole Level Mapper, you've done the hard work of deciding where skills belong. Now it's time to answer the next question:
How do you turn your map into an intentional class?
A Trick Is a Destination, Not an Objective
Let's use Jamilla (also called Apprentice) as an example.
Imagine your lesson plan simply says: Today's class: Jamilla.
That sounds like a lesson plan, but it's really just a destination. It doesn't tell you:
-
What students need to understand before attempting the skill.
-
What strength or mobility they'll need.
-
What concepts you want them to learn.
-
What your warm-up should prepare them for.
-
What conditioning will actually support success.
-
How you'll know students made progress if they don't achieve the final shape.
Those are the questions a learning objective answers.
Teach the Skill, Not Just the Shape
Many students approach Jamilla by trying to make the shape happen.
They see the grip.
They hear cues like, "Slide your bottom hand down."
Then they pull harder with their arms, trying to muscle themselves into position.
But the move isn't really about pulling.
The real key is understanding the relationship between your body and the pole.
The hip crease becomes the primary point of contact. It acts as the fulcrum that allows you to tip your body weight over the pole and use leverage instead of relying entirely on upper-body strength.
Suddenly, the cue "slide your bottom hand down" makes sense.
It isn't just a random instruction anymore.
It's helping the student find the position where the movement actually works.
That's the difference between teaching a trick and teaching a skill.
The trick is Jamilla.
The skill is understanding contact points, weight transfer, and body mechanics.
Write Objectives Students Can Actually Achieve
If I were planning this class, my objective wouldn't be Students will learn Jamilla.
Because what happens if they don't?
Did they fail?
Did they learn nothing?
Of course not.
A much stronger objective might be Students will understand how to use the hip crease as a point of contact to create leverage instead of muscling the movement.
Now success isn't tied to one finished trick. Maybe a student doesn't hold the full Jamilla yet. Maybe they only manage a fan kick variation. But they understand where their weight belongs. They've experienced using their hip instead of their arms. They've learned something they can apply to future skills.
That's real progress.
And that's what makes students leave class feeling successful instead of defeated.
Start With the Objective
This is the biggest mindset shift I want instructors to make. Before you choose your tricks, choose your objective.
Ask yourself: What do I want students to understand, improve, or accomplish by the end of this class?
Notice I didn't ask: "What trick should they be able to do?"
Because you can't guarantee every student will land the final trick. Some will. Some won't. But every student should leave with a deeper understanding of a concept.
Every Part of Your Lesson Should Support the Objective
Once you've written a clear objective, planning becomes much easier because every part of class has a purpose.
-
Warm-up: Prepare the body for the work ahead.
-
Conditioning: Build the strength or control students will need.
-
Drills: Reinforce the movement concept.
-
Tricks and combinations: Give students a chance to apply what they've learned.
-
Choreography: Encourage exploration and creativity.
-
Reflection: Help you evaluate what students understood and what needs to change next time.
Instead of feeling like a collection of unrelated activities, your class becomes one connected learning experience.
Where the Pole Level Mapper Fits In
This is exactly why I created the Pole Level Mapper.
It isn't designed to tell you what to teach. It's designed to help you organize what you already know.
By making your assumptions about skill progressions visible, the Mapper gives you a framework for making intentional teaching decisions instead of reinventing every lesson on the drive to the studio.
Once your map exists, writing objectives—and building meaningful classes around them—becomes much easier.
Final Thoughts
The next time you sit down to plan a class, resist the temptation to start with a trick.
Instead, start with one question:
What do I want my students to learn?
That single question changes how you choose your warm-up, your conditioning, your drills, your combinations, and even the conversations you have with students after class.
Because students don't come to class just to collect tricks.
They come to build skills, gain confidence, and better understand their bodies.
And intentional teaching is what gets them there.
Ready to build your own teaching framework?
Use my free Pole Level Mapper and start organizing the skills, concepts, and progressions that already exist in your head into a system you can actually teach from.