The other day my niece told me that her daughter, Violet, had been kicked out of gymnastics class. Now Violet is only 2-1/2 years old and she's not training for the Olympics. This is simply one of those mommy-and-me type of classes that stay-at-home moms feel the need to enroll their children in. So I wondered, what in the world could Violet have done that would have required her removal from class.
It turns out that the instructor was one of those rigid Type A personalities that we STEM teachers dread. At the beginning of class, she handed out a hula hoop to each student. Rather than twirling the hoops around their waists as the toys were intended, each was required to place his or her hoop on the floor and sit quietly inside the circle while the teacher demonstrated a forward roll. Now when I was growing up, we didn't need a class to learn how to do a somersault. My mom just opened up the back door and we rolled down the hill into the neighbor's yard, but I digress.
After patiently watching the teacher demonstrate a forward roll, Violet enthusiastically jumped up, ready to attempt the gymnastic maneuver. Unfortunately the teacher led her back to her hoop and told her she would have to wait her turn. Now don't get me wrong, I can understand wanting a little bit of order, but there were only 3 students in class on this particular day. The instructor couldn't handle 3 kids doing somersaults at the same time???
After repeatedly trying to confine Violet to her hula hoop circle, the instructor finally gave up and asked her to leave the class. It never ceases to amaze me how some teachers can crush the spirit of a young child with their compulsive need to ensure order and rigid control over a simple exercise. And we STEM teachers wonder why our students have such a hard time thinking outside the box.
