Funsies with the Sevies
It was 5th hour. I was standing and delivering, teaching like my hair was on fire all the while changing my bait so that I could ensure a guarenteed and viable curriculum. It was cardio day. I knew it would be hard for my 7th grade P.E class. They had been a ball of energy for the first twenty minutes of it, but I was starting to notice waning efforts and lackluster form. Thirty minutes, after all is a long time to exercise for a 13 year old.
The workout was tough. Aptly named “Centaur”, The workout is a beast worthy of such a moniker. In a nutshell there are five stations to complete as many rounds of in thirty minutes. One round includes all of the following: Ten sit-ups, ten box jumps, twenty weighted rope jumps, twenty squats, and two laps (300 meters). Boys and girls both were grinding it out, moving from station to station all with red cheeks.
Suddenly I noticed several of my students singing along to the music. The shuffle on the playlist apparently had bumped to a good one. I looked around and did a quick tally. Without exception, all fourteen seventh grade girls were singing every word to the song. They were also pantomiming and dancing along with the lyrics. Craziest of all they were still doing the workouts, but now with zeal and bounce.
“Hey I just met you,
And this is crazy,,
but here’s my number,
so call me maybe.”
The electronic pulse of the repeating baseline was apparently laying down some sweet beats. Two girls at the sit-up station had imaginary phones up to their ears as they came to the top of the exercise. Another two exchanged glances across the gym prompting them to mimic each other’s dance moves while seamlessly completing their squats and rope jumps. Three girls ran by completing their laps, singing, shimmying, phoning.
I was taken-a-back. In a flash the gym had come alive again, like the zombies in Michael Jackson’s Thriller video.
The clock hit zero and the kids had a chance to catch their breath. I felt we should debrief; “Wow, did anyone notice that every girl was singing along to -Call me maybe?” The girls giggled and smiled.
Not wanting to be left out, two of the boys spoke up “Hey we were singing too”.
