Building Leaders...

Two weeks ago, I had to bring my 3 year old to class since my husband was away. He is very well behaved and I knew he would be fine. Towards the end of the class, he needed me to do something. I was in the middle of a song, and didn't know what to do. I now not only have my students, but the parents have all decided to join the class, and it has gotten quite large. I wondered how I was going to be able to get something for my son, and keep the momentum of the class.

I took a chance. I asked X to keep the class going.

And he did!

I returned without anyone missing a beat.

I officially have a helper in my Zumba class.

Here's the funny thing about X. He is SO shy. Before the class starts, he will hardly give me a hello. He paces around and will not talk to me. I do not take it personally - this is just how he is.

But when the music comes on and the class starts, something kicks in. He is so animated. Loud. He laughs. He calls out to the class - either giving praise or telling someone they are going the wrong way. He calls out my cues (even though I use nonverbal cueing for the most part). And he is always, ALWAYS on the right step. Always right on beat. And always right next to me when I'm teaching.

Zumba has brought out the leader in X.

Last Saturday, I needed him again. There is a new student in the class who is learning the ropes. At one point I had to walk over to him a few times to help him out. Again - I had X take over while I did so. And again, he had my back. Right on cue, he had the class - including the parents - following along until I could come back to the front....

What is great is, I am able to move away from the front of the class a bit - which is the goal of every Zumba instructor. It is not about me - it is about them - and I want to get away from being front and center so they get a chance to watch themselves shine. The problem is - they follow me so closely, if I were to turn to face them, or walk to the back of the room, they would follow me.

Again, this is where I not only have come to depend on X, but my young lady, B. These 2 are always right up front with me and are my strongest students. I have been able to point to them, and the other students are getting that they can watch them, which has given me more freedom to turn to face them, walk around a bit, and interact a bit more with the students during the class....

During certain songs, the students know the choreography SO well, that they won't follow me anymore if I deviate a little bit - which also has been great. This is when I can get them used to the fact that I WILL be moving around a little... turning to face them... doing other things that they do not necessarily have to do. This, in a nutshell, is addressing flexibility. Individuals with autism have difficulty with change, and tend to not be so flexible. I am beginning to build more and more changes and opportunities to be flexible during the class, and again, they have been stepping up to each challenge so gracefully.

We also have been having our amazing moments - where everyone is on the same step, not watching me anymore, but just getting lost in the music, lost in the choreography, and rocking it out. This is when you can literally feel the energy crackling through the room. During one song, I could tell even the parents felt it, and were so moved by the experience.

We have been having our funny moments - where I forget a step, or make a mistake, and X and B laugh at me. Where B, who does not know any Spanish, attempts to sing along to a Quebradita. Where our new student all of a sudden breaks out some disco moves.

There are the touching moments... Where D, who jumped and flapped the first few classes, follows along to every step, and then beams when I come up to him after class and tell him how AWESOME he was. Where B, who wants to be on So You Think You Can Dance, gets a step she was working on and squeals out happily.

And the rewarding moments, where the moms come up to me, sweating and fanning themselves asking me' "And this is your toned DOWN class???"

Heh Heh.....

= P

Change is Good!

Since Halloween was last weekend, I decided to incorporate some Halloween songs into our playlist.

The first song that came on was Monster Mash. The song starts out a little creepy. Everyone was fine with it except for X. He put his fingers over his ears, and walked to the back of the room. I assured him it would be fun - not scary - and it was special for Halloween.

He got through it quickly, and wound up enjoying the song. When it was done he commented that things change sometimes. At 19 years old, he has been exposed to many changes, and I am sure he has been taught ways to handle it. He really stepped up the plate at Zumba using those skills to get through his anxiety and continue to enjoy the class.... I was so proud of him!

L continues to watch X during the class. His mom expressed concern about this, feeling he should be watching me, not X. I explained that L has to follow adult direction all the time. If he has the opportunity to follow a peer, I think that is a great thing and we should encourage that. L's mom agreed, and said she will stop stressing over it during class.

D has been awesome. He is nonverbal, and since I have known him as a little boy, I see how far he has come. He was so self directed when he was little. It was hard for him to imitate, follow direction, or do things that did not involve his interests (mostly jumping and flapping). Now, D picks a spot when told to do so, and will follow all types of steps - including salsa, stepping back, and using his arms. He moves side to side, and always keeps up with the class. He has come so far, and it is so wonderful seeing his skills blosson during class.

B, the only girl in the class, went from a quiet, shy young woman to a beaming, laughing ray of sunshine in the class. I asked her mom if she had a dance background - she loves it so much and is so good at it! Her mom said she watches Dancing With the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance. She loves anything dance related and wants to be on one of those shows someday. Her mom said doing Zumba has been so wonderful for her because she gets to dance every week!

I have started to hold off some of my cues to see if the students are remmembering what steps come next. They are! Especially X and B. They are my strongest students, and I am really seeing some nice opportunites to let them lead a little. My goal is to eventually let them be the spotlight in front of the class!

Something interesting has begun in my class. The moms want to join in! I told them they might not get the best workout, since I make the class a bit slower paced than my standard Zumba class. But they really wanted to join - they see how fun it is and want to be a part of it.

The moms were all sweaty during the class! After the class, they said they worked really hard and it was a great workout.

Which made me realize something else: I am not scaling back the class as much as I thought. I am making these kids WORK! I am making them move fast. I am making them challenge themselves. And they are doing it!

The kids lasted longer than the moms!

I gave the kids Zumba bracelets for Halloween (along with a little treat bag) - they loved them. So now I'm thinking Zumba t-shirts for all of them for the holidays!