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At the Hop

Well, I've run into a bit of an experiment of late. I teach an elective in the afternoon called "Computer Applications." Its object is, as one might suspect, to help students become more familiar with pertinent (and sometimes non-pertinent) programs. We were, however, just beginning to play with Garageband when we were forced to stop temporarily as the school uses the computer lab for a series of computer-based tests.

I mention this because this created a small problem. How would a computer class function without computers? In the past, we've survived because there were close to enough laptops in my room to allow us to work there. This year's class is larger than in the past, however, and the laptops we do have available are not only shared with other classes, but they are close to death. At least, it seems that way. Even the sound they make when you wake them from sleep mode seems almost like the wheeze of a sick person, as though they were protesting being woken prematurely by an uninvited guest. Following the analogy, I wonder if they would ever wake at all.

We needed an alternative. I don't know many skills, and precious fewer that junior high kids would want to learn. There was one possibility, but it didn't seem feasible. That was swing dancing. I thought that I could teach them some basic east coast swing moves. Although I didn't take it seriously at first, it became a more real possibility as the prospect of its alternative drew nearer: a nameless P.E. class that would probably look more like free play.

I tried it last week for the first time. The first day, I spent the class teaching them only the lead's steps. I didn't remember that the follow's steps are different, so I had to spend part of the second day correcting that. It was on this day, though, that we learned how to dance together with basic steps and perform the inside and outside turn. It was actually working, and the kids-- at least some of them-- seemed to enjoy it! This week, I hope to teach them three or four new moves, and to begin to put the moves together. This really is a key week, because the newness of the idea will have worn off. I'm going to see what I can do to help them see how fun a dance like this can be.

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