Teaching Hand-Eye Coordination Through Juggling
Introduction
It was decided that online teaching would continue through to the end of the school year so I was looking at fresh ideas for teaching virtually when I came across @thephysicaleducator resource “I’m Learning How To Juggle!”. I was immediately excited by the framework this resource provided to move away from a fitness focus. And it was 50% off! Just $5.
The resource is a google slide document that provides gifs, key points, and reminders for 6 different stages of performing the 3-ball cascade juggle. Each level is also broken down into 3 progressions allowing students to find success at each stage, providing a differentiated experience. The creator was in the original gifs on the document, however, I filmed myself performing each level and replaced him to show students I was fully invested in their learning experiences. Plus I wanted to learn how to juggle as well! Here is how the first of eighteen progressions would look like:
Learning Experiences
The learning experiences my students explored alongside this resource over the six-week period to finish the year included:
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Record themselves performing the highest progression (they could do consistently) for each of the six levels.
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Exploring the skill of hand-eye coordination through playing catch and analyzing popular sports.
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Reflecting on the different levels and strengths/weaknesses of working with their hands and small juggling balls.
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Making a plan to improve a weakness (catching the balls, tossing properly, using their less-dominant hand) and documenting the process.
Final Thoughts
In this tough time where we need to find meaningful ways to teach physical skills online and keep the IB vision present, this resource was a pleasant experience, both for myself and noted in the student’s year-end reflections. It provides clear verbal guidance, with visuals for students who learn more effectively through media.
I sent out the resource one level (three progressions) at a time so that students would not feel overwhelmed. It also gave me an opportunity to scaffold the other learning experiences mentioned above. I wanted students to learn how to do the 3-ball cascade of course, but I also wanted them to make connections with how this hand-eye coordination is useful to succeed in other activities.
An affordable resource from @thephysicaleducator that was great during this time of virtual learning, and one that I will look to teach during in-person classes in future years.
Thoughts, questions, concerns? Send me an email or message on twitter @tannernickel., I am always looking for ideas and ways to improve my inquiry teaching.