Eric Ealey and five other students eagerly loft a parachute above their heads like a giant collective cape and strut across the gymnasium. Wearing a protective helmet and brace, Eric scrambles to keep up. He takes a tumble, but quickly bounds to his feet and completes the exercise, grinning broadly.
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Finding all kinds of ways to exercise with their parachute are Bostonia Elementary students Cassandra Michel-Ochoa, Heather Wakefield, Ashlea Hodges, Eric Ealey, Bryan Cossano, Manuel Serrano and Julian Martinez. |
The children use the parachute to bounce beach balls in the air, take turns running underneath it, and kneel on it while shaking it up and down.
The goal is to have fun and at the same time develop upper body strength, gross motor coordination and team-building skills.
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Bostonia Elementary students participate in a variety of exercises with their parachute in teacher JoAnn Samuels' class. |
The youngsters, who attend a special day class at Bostonia Elementary School in El Cajon, are participating in JoAnn Samuels' adaptive PE class for grades 4-6. The activities are modified to be as appropriate for a person with a disability as for a person without a disability.
"Adaptive PE allows children to work at their own pace, based on their individual goals and needs,' says Samuels, a member of the Cajon Valley Education Association. "My goal is to modify PE so that students can be successful. I want them to meet their maximum potential."
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Melissa Escobeda and Julian Martinez (in background) scramble to collect game pieces. |
She considers it important for all students to learn lifetime leisure activities and become physically fit.
To accomplish her goal, she says, "I simplify the rules. In my classes there is more repetition, more time spent on skills development, and the equipment may be modified." Balls, bats and mitts, for example, may be larger, lighter or equipped with beepers, Velcro or scoops.
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Teacher JoAnn Samuels demonstrates adaptive PE technique. |
Teaching methods have to be coordinated with the rest of an IEP (Individual Education Plan) team. For teachers who have a broad range of students with disabilities in the same class, it can be extremely challenging, says Samuels. Her students range from mildly handicapped to blind, deaf, tube-fed or confined to a wheelchair.
Adaptive PE classes generally have no more than 15 students in a class and usually have an aide or two on hand. Since the classes are funded separately from regular PE classes and mandated by the federal government, there has been no trend toward reducing or eliminating them.
"Unlike other PE teachers, we never have to worry about that happening," says Samuels. "I guess we're lucky in that respect."
