Professor Confidence Promotes Future of School Programs in Classroom

BY BILL GIDUZ, EDITOR

 

After spending the last 18 years promoting juggling instruction in school gymnasiums, Dave Finnigan is taking his program into the classroom.

 

Budgetary pressure that is forcing school systems to cut physical education programs makes a classroom-based program of juggling instruction both more marketable and more attractive to schools, says the man who countless learners know as "Professor Confidence."

 

A veteran of two decades of school programs, the founder of Jugglebug equipment manufacturing and The Juggling Institute thinks he's found a better way to teach juggling to young people. For the past year Finnigan has driven a recreational vehicle from coast to coast with his family to promote his "Juggling With Success" program in 40 states. He is hosting a workshop at the IJA's Burlington Festival to share his ideas with others who may be interested in the approach. Then it's back into the RV for another year of overnights in elementary school parking lots in hopes of establishing a demonstration project in every state.

 

Finnigan said, "From a juggler's point of view it's ideal. You don't have to be a really good juggler and you don't need a partner. People can do this program by themselves, and can let students be the whole show at the end of the day. The juggler can just emcee from backstage and never juggle at all."

 

That's because, from the instructor's point of view, "Juggling for Success" emphasizes "look at you" rather than "look at me." Finnigan explained, "I think this is the next wave in instruction. If we ever want to make juggling part-and-parcel of learning in the schools this is the best hope. I don't think there is any 'true way' to do it, but this has more long-term potential for the popularization of juggling than promoting it as a hippy street art form. There's room for both, but if you do want to see juggling taught widely in schools, then this is the way to do it."

 

In about 60 schools last year, and up to 130 in the coming year, Finnigan produced his all-day show. Waking up in their recreational vehicle in the school parking lot, Finnigan and his 10-year-old daughter Dorothy and 6-year-old son Benjamin began most days with the school principal and teachers in the library a half-hour before school began. "It's important that the principal calls the teachers to the library, that's a lot more effective than if the phys ed teacher does it," he emphasized.

 

During the next 30 minutes Finnigan told teachers what he hoped to accomplish, and gave them a six-minute scarf juggling lesson. He also asked them to remain with their students during their lesson rather than running off for a cup of coffee. Then he met with grade levels one at a time, concentrating on upper grades, working with up to 100 students at a time for at least an hour. Each grade level works on a different skill. Five-year-old Benjamin often taught kindergarten students by himself to balance peacock feathers. First graders learned spinning plates. Second graders did "criss-cross applesauce" with two scarves. Third graders did scarf juggling, and fourth, fifth and sixth graders worked with beanbags and rings. Finnigan said about seventy percent of upper grade students learn beanbag juggling during their hour lesson.

 

During the final five minutes of each period Finnigan talked about their part in the end-of-school. show. Then during the last period of the day, all students and teachers filed into the gym for their moment in the spotlight. Finnigan, as emcee, began by thanking the program sponsor and princi­pal, then introduced the students a grade level at a time to come to stage and perform for two minutes, accompanied by music from his "Juggle Time" instructional video.

 

For the finale, Finnigan invited all teachers to come juggle on stage. "I always talked about how the teachers are life-long learners, and they have all learned to juggle today. The kids love it, and give the teachers a big cheer, which the teachers love."

 

In the ideal juggling world, that day­long program becomes the kickoff for a continuing classroom-based activity. The school buys copies of the "Juggle time" scarf video for first through third graders, while fourth through sixth graders learn from the "Juggling Star" beanbag and ball video and "Juggling Step-by-Step," which Finnigan describes as a video version of his instruction book "The Complete Juggler." Each class also needs enough equipment in the classroom for all students.

 

"We've created a program that works at the classroom level," said Finnigan. "Where juggling used to be something phys ed teachers would do to round out a games unit, regular classroom teachers can now motivate and physically educate students every day."