All too often you see students who have an excuse why they are unable to participate in your lessons. Now I count myself in the lucky situation that most reasons are very justifiable and it is only seldom that I have to enter a discussion with a student or a parent that participation is possible. However, teaching in Korea has also taught me that there are regions where doctors are very quick to place the students in a cast. It seems like the motto is "When in doubt - use a cast". As a result we see our students frequently being unable to join in for a longer period of time. And at that point you need to look at more alternatives to get your injured students as engaged and as active as is possible within their current limit. Of course, we all know the fact that these students can engage as a warm up leader, a coach, a referee, a teacher assistant etc, etc. And yes it keeps them engaged in the unit, but it does prevent them from moving and being active. The last few weeks we have been working to create a compromise, something where the student is still active and get's his or her heart rate up and is actually maintaining his or her own fitness level to a certain degree. The students will still engage during the lesson when there is important information to share or where their role is vital, but they will also have blocks of time where they will workout by themselves. For this we have developed a set of QR codes, all linked to various fitness activities. It will allow students to follow workout programs just aimed at lower body activities or only upper body activities or to look at a low intensity cardio workout. It has been a helpful tool for our department to make sure that students are just that bit more active. It makes your students realise that even if you have an injury you are able to participate, just slightly different then everybody else, there is no reason why you can't. Of course you are the professional who needs to judge, if it safe for your student to participate, but most of my students are very happy that they find a way how they can be active too. The next step is to include some yoga and pilates activities for students who are unable to participate in a high intensity lesson or contact lesson....stay tuned! | One with a light cast, one with a hand injury and one with a chronic illness - unable to play handball but able to work-out! The link below will provide you with a PDF document with various exercises and topics. |
alternative_pe.pdf |