my first EVER class

it's been quite a long time coming, but today I taught my first class

my first class was for staff and service users of a learning disability day service as a part of learning disability week celebrations.

to say I was nervous about my first class could possibly be the understatement of the millenium, i was absolutely BRICKING it.

practice practice practice, that's pretty much all i've done for the past 2 weeks - if you fail to prepare then you prepare to fail and all that jazz. my playlist had changed about 27 times since i got asked to do these classes, there was even a last second substitution last night after a lightblub moment during Lyna's class.

so I arrived at the venue at about 9:45am, class to start at 10, was nervous as hell but once i was in there, said hello to some of the service users and staff and started setting up they all just went away. there ended up being about 20 service users and 10 staff.

i got some background music playing and within seconds half of the service users were out on the floor dancing along, I kinda knew then that most of them were pretty up for this and that in itself eased my nerves a lot. others came up to me and started talking about samba and salsa dancing, evidently it's something they've been talking about at the day services.

just before we started i was approached by the day services manager asking if it was OK to get some photos taken, kinda felt like a celeb for 30 seconds while i posed with the class!

so once the photo session was over with we got started, explained quickly a little about Zumba, how they're not there to learn how to dance so it doesn't matter if they go the other way to me, however they move is perfect etc that they're there to move to the music and to have some fun. brief safety rundown etc and away we went.

it became obvious within about the first 10 seconds of the limbering section of the warm-up that although most were fairly unrestricted physically, cognitive ability level was lower than I had prepared for, so already the old grey matter was planning ahead for the rest of the routines of the class and the modifications i'd need to make. I wouldn't say I needed to take it to Gold level, but for the vast majority of routines they were kept at absolute basic steps level with limited additions of directional changes etc, i deliberately chose routines that had fewer longer sections so the same movement could be repeated over and over, and for the most part i'd say that worked well with this population group.

I was quite surprised as to the routines they found easier to deal with, it ended up being the routines i was sure they'd manage no problem that i ended up having to modify. eg Pegate they managed with minimal modifications to the original routine, yet Do You Dig It was taken right right down to absolute basics only.

my last minute substitution, Para No Verte Mas, ended up probably being the most popular track, I had a wee girl in a wheelchair with obviously quite profound disabilities dancing her wee heart out to this track in particular, it was a sight that would make your heart melt!

i need to remember to add more arms in on the belly dance track for those less able with the legs...

clapping

clapping was a big thing in this class, they all loved a good clap along to the beat and was something those who didn't want to take part in the actual class even joined in with, so ended up putting clapping in anywhere i could!

cardio got to a reasonable level, I certainly worked up a good sweat anyway, but i didn't want to push them too hard - these are people who are generally used to pretty sedate lifestyles, I didn't want to push them too hard and a) scare them off from potentially wanting to go to classes on a regular basis or b) end up having them dying on the dancefloor!!

I remembered to talk to the class- giving praise and words of encouragement, I even remembered to cue (well, for the most part anyway!).

some would possibly say the amount of praise i was throwing out verged on condesending, but I meant every single last word of it. I really do feel they all did fantastically well considering none of them had ever been to a Zumba class before and i was ever so proud of every single one of them for taking part, for showing their ability and unique flair! and believe me, these guys had flair!!

when class was over I had the vast majority of service users approach me and told me how much they enjoyed it, they even presented me with a little gift to say thank you which I was totally not expecting! i did my little speech to say thank you and announced that this was my first ever class, that they made it really special for me and that i'd always remember it for being the most amazing experience. i later had staff approach me and say they were surprised to hear that was my first shot at teaching - so phew, i must have actually done reasonably ok!!

to be honest, i didn't really even care if I was crap (well I did, but...) the point was the service users enjoyed it, and that's what the day was about for me, it wasn't about me trying to prove my abilities to myself or anyone else, it was about encouraging movement (ie exercise) in a population which has a shockingly high rate of obesity due to needless sedentry lifestyles, this was to prove they CAN do it if given the oppertunity to do so.

it was probably the best first class you could wish for, working with a population group who don't judge you, who aren't there with the mindset of being there to get fit, burn calories etc, they're just there to move to the music and have a good time. true exercise in disguise!

i approached the wee girl in the wheelchair and asked her if she had enjoyed it, said that i'd spotted her joining in and how well she did, she didn't have any verbal communication but her face said everything. this was evidently a young woman who loved her music and loved a good boogie and coming to class opened up a whole new world of music to her.

after class we broke for lunch, went down the street for a roll and caught up with the learning disability nurses who i've not seen since my first placement of 1st year (i go back to them next week, I can't wait!).

I was grinning like a loon for probably about 7 hours after the class finished.

then the adrenaline wore off and i crashed- big time... ended up taking to my bed at 5pm and sleeping for 2 hours!

all in all it was an absolutely fantastic experience and i whole heartedly encourage other instructors to approach their local learning disability services about classes.

i learned a lot from today from my wee first class guinea pigs, some modifications to make for my next class on thursday, but i think what i mainly took from today is how completely and totally sure I am that working with people with learning disabilities is just the BEST work in the world, whether it being Zumba or nursing - this it is for me. totally.