Yesterday the special needs teachers and students came to my English class. They explained the reasons behind some of the syndromes the kids experience and what they do on a day to day basis. The teachers even had us do a little activity to better understand our fellow students.
I used to help in Circle of Friends in elementary school, but I never really understand the special needs students. That's why I thought it was very interesting to know more about people different from myself. But one thing that really stuck with me is the activity the class did. One of the teachers asked some people to slam their hands on the table repeatedly, others to have a conversation, and someone else to shake a box of supplies over and over, all the while the rest of the class had to listen and follows his instructions without talking. It was very chaotic and annoying. Constantly noise and movement filled the room. The teacher then told us that that is what some of the special needs children hear all day, everyday. The whole experience made me take a step back and evaluate what actually makes me so different from them. They are people too, they have feelings, and they deserve the same as me. I shouldn't look at them any different as anyone else anymore, and they're like you and me
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IS DANCE A SPORT? There have been many debates about what the criteria for something to be considered a sport is and if certain activities qualify. Sometimes sport and art mix, making it difficult to decide whether that recreation should be recognized as one or the other. One example of this is dance. Dance is a form of performance art, but it is equally a sport, even though many people don't see it as such. The Cambridge Dictionary defines a sport as "a game, competition, or similar activity, done for enjoyment or as a job, that takes physical effort and skill". Dance fits this description perfectly. In competitive dance, you get scored and compared to other dancers to find the top performer. Competitive dance is not the only time dance is ruthless. Dancers are constantly fighting to be the best. Dancers have to work everything they have to be on top. Not only does dance require the use of “every single part of a dancer’s muscle”, but it requires stamina and flexibility (Sim par. 8). Dance takes so much prolonged strength and skill that it’s hard to believe people don’t consider it a sport. Many people think that an art form cannot be a sport, but Shanna La Fleur once said “it takes an athlete to dance but an artist to be a dancer” (Is Dance an Art Form or Sport? par. 1). This is evident when a male dancer lifts a 120 lb. girl over his head seemingly effortless or when the Black Swan in Swan Lake does thirty-two consecutive fouetté turns without lose her balance for even a second. It takes immense strength and athletic ability to dance. Dancers don’t just do that though; dancers also have to possess amazing artistry and focus to make everything look seamless. You cannot have one without the other as a dancer. Without finesse, ballerinas would look like robots, and without core engagement and strength, they’d fall on their faces. Due to that fact, dance not only can but is both an art form and a sport. One more reason dance is definitely a sport is that dancers work for so long and hard everyday. On average, professional football players practice for only two and possibly spend a “similar amount of time going over videotape” a day (Silverman par. 3). Whereas, a typical day for a professional dancer starts with an hour and a half long technique class. Then, there’s usually “four to six hours of rehearsals” followed by a later performance ("Ballet FAQs" par. 2). If something you already know takes equal, if not more, work, skill, and time as a sport, who’s to say it’s not a sport? Dance is simply a sport in every way. Cites
"Ballet FAQs." Atlanta Ballet. N.p., n.d. Web. Silverman. "How Long Do Football Players Have to Practice a Day?" LIVESTRONG.COM. Leaf Group, 08 June 2015. Web. 13 Feb. 2017. Sim, Grace. "6 Reasons Why Competitive Dance Is a Sport." Grace Sim. N.p., 17 Mar. 2014. Web. 13 Feb. 2017. "Is Dance an Art Form or Sport?" Rhythmology. N.p., 18 Dec. 2015. Web. 13 Feb. 2017. |