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!