Monday 4 May 2015

Subject 3 - Physical Education or "The Best Class Ever" According to Some

During Spring Break, I did a vast amount of prep work, which included lesson planning for gym. The PE teacher at the school (who, by the way is such a gem) and my MT decided I'll be teaching the line dancing unit for my grade 6 class and a grade 7 co-ed class. First though in my mind was Grade 7, whaaaat? 

This is such a given, but grade 7's are just one grade older than grade 6's! Only difference is the elementary/junior high division. Truthfully, I had so much fun teaching the line dancing unit because it wasn't in a classroom, and I was able to incorporate a range of music too!


My best friend gladly helped me out in how to teach dance. I have never taught dance, let alone know how to do it, so I called in reinforcements. She has danced (and taught dance) for practically her whole life, that it was amazing to see the breakdown of step-by-step dancing. Did I also mention she teaches ZUMBA?! Uhm, yeah. You the bomb.com!



The four dances I taught were Electric Slide, Cadillac Ranch, Cha Cha Slide and Cotton Eyed Joe! I didn't want to do partner or "social" dance at all, strictly line dancing. For the Electric Slide, there's not a specific "song" that goes with it, unlike the other 3, so I introduced 3 different songs with varying pace to dance with. Check them out!

Average Speed

Average Speed 

Faster Speed 

And finally! The last two days on my practicum, I had supervision outside before school started. Some students asked if I could play the songs from the line dancing unit from my phone. Without hesitation, I quickly grabbed my speakers from my car, connected it to my phone and was now a walking, supervising, DJ. By the end of it, there was about 15 students just dancing along, remembering the steps I taught them all. How proud was I at that moment? Very! 

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