Never stop learning, because life never stops teaching

Category: Learning Project

So You Think You Can Juggle – Final Learning Project

Learning to juggle offered me various valuable benefits. Before engaging in this activity, one of the things I wanted to focus on was my hand-eye coordination,  juggling challenges you to precisely track moving objects and synchronize your hands’ movements. The process of juggling encourages the development of ambidexterity, as both hands are utilized. Beyond the physical aspects, the cognitive benefits are evident as you have to focus on timing and attention. It contributes to the refinement of my motor skills, both fine and gross.  

  • Improve hand eye coordination
  • Development of ambidexterity
  • Focus, attention, and timing
  • Persistence and patience
  • Intrinsically rewarding
  • Challenging to learn

As I experimented with various juggling patterns, I find joy and entertainment in this skill, making the learning journey both valuable and enjoyable for me.

While I still have trouble juggling for an extended amount of time, I am proud of how far I have come. Can my girlfriend still juggle better than me? Certainly. Do I still get frustrated when practicing? Absolutely I do. But I have shown glimpses of good habits along the way. 

Full Recap

Not a Juggler, Yet

  • Reasons to want to learn to juggle
  • Resources I think I can use include
  • Focuses to start out
  • Progressions
  • Other reasons I want to learn
  • Wikihow to start the basics

Strugglin’ to Juggle

First take on juggling, jumped right into it after not trying for a long time.

Youtube lady named Taylor Tries really helped jumpstart the juggling process. 

Valuable lessons

  • All about messing up and getting better in little increments
  • Dont get frustrated
  • Enjoy the journey
  • Bean bags are the best way to go

Trying iMovie

Tried out Imovie and had some success making a video

In terms of use in the classroom,  iMovie can be a great tool for:

  • Digital Storytelling
  • Virtual Field Trips
  • Interviews
  • Peer Reviews
  • Digital Portfolios
  • Collaborative Projects

Went into the SAMR Model

Substitution:

At the Substitution level, iMovie could be used as a basic video playback tool. Teachers and students use it to watch educational videos or films

Augmentation:

At the Augmentation level, iMovie starts to enhance the learning experience. Teachers and students use basic editing features to trim or add text to videos.

Modification:

The Modification level involves more significant changes to the learning experience. In this case, iMovie is used to create multimedia presentations or reports.

Redefinition:

At the Redefinition level, iMovie is used to transform the way students learn and demonstrate their understanding. It enables tasks that were not possible without technology.

Back to Basics

I had a reply on a posts of mine about going down to 2 balls instead of 3, this ended up helping immensely and was a big focus of mine.

  • I went down to 2 balls and practiced consistency, it was a Taylor Treis tip
  • Practice “throw, throw, catch, catch” pattern down.
  • Started to get a rhythm
  • My girlfriend had a great tip for me, I was to practice against a wall so that I am forced to throw the ball in an area where I am going to catch it, without it hitting the wall. 

Good to take ideas from other people and use your resources. 

Positive reinforcement from classmates really helped along the way.

Making Progress

Realizing that with lots of practice, juggling is not impossible 

Found a professional juggler on youtube and I watched him religiously

Started to explore Tik Tok and fell in love with the video creating process

Wanted to incorporate juggling into my routine before hockey practice as a way to warm up

Two birds is right!

Main ideas from the professional

  • Peripherals
  • Consistent throws
  • Make eye contact with the ball at its highest point
  • Give your hands information about it where it will land
  • Move around to increase difficulty

The sand filled balls are way better to juggle with than anything that I tried

3 Ball Juggling

Really gaining traction with going back to 3 ball juggling

My youtube instructor has helped me so much in my juggling journey,  3:35 of this video will gave me many tips. 

For anyone interested in juggling, the wall tip is extremely useful.

Tik Tok also made the content process a breeze, editing and audio options are great.

At this point, still struggling getting the 3rd ball in the air and caught properly. Rhythm is right there. 

1 Hand?

Back to my youtube coach, he does a great job explaining what the benefits are for practicing juggling with 1 hand.

Benefits

  • Precise hand-eye coordination
  • Using both your dominant and non-dominant hand
  • Extra level of challenge 
  • Motor coordination and dexterity.
  • Persistence

I found success with throwing the balls high, tried to incorporate the height aspect to the 3 ball juggling

Calling 3 Balls

Counting out which ball is being thrown was tricky to start but once I got the hang of it, became smooth.

Some of the key things I focused on

  • Not getting frustrated
  • Throw the balls closer to my body
  • Find a good rhythm
  • Get all the balls to the same height
  • Focus on each ball at the top

6:11 of the Jack Kalvan video does a great explanation.

Walking Backwards

Walking backward while juggling can do many things:

  • Improves coordination
  • Fine-tunes motor skills
  • Enhances multitasking abilities
  • Forces you to throw the ball in the air more towards your body

(Way harder than it looks)

He makes it look easy

Final Thoughts

I started learning to juggle to improve how my eyes and hands work together. But to also learn the new skill, it turned out to be a fun challenge!

I learned some cool tricks from YouTube, and my girlfriend gave me good tips too, like practicing against a wall. My classmates supported me, which was nice, and even got some much needed criticism along the way.

I tried using a video tool called iMovie, and it can be handy for school projects too. Learning to juggle wasn’t just about the balls; it was also about making content and being creative.

I faced some difficulties, but I got better by practicing with two balls instead of three. I even tried juggling with one hand, it was a great way to increase hand speed. And walking backward while juggling? Way harder than it looks…

So, in simple terms, learning to juggle taught me not just about juggling but also about being patient, having fun, and finding new ways to learn. Even if I’m not a pro yet, I’m proud of how much I’ve learned and the cool things I can do now!

Walking Backwards

Walking backward while juggling improves coordination and fine-tunes motor skills. Juggling itself engages cognitive processes like hand-eye coordination and spatial awareness. Doing both at once enhances multitasking abilities. While walking backwards, it forces you to throw the ball in the air more towards your body. For people like me who struggle with throwing the ball in a good area, this is a great drill for practicing.

Jack Kalvan shows this in his youtube video, while he is a professional and makes it look easy, trust me when I say I make it look incredibly hard.

If you practice it enough, it does benefit your throwing habits.

Calling 3 Balls

6:11 of this youtube video does a great explanation of how calling out which ball is being thrown can help.

While I found it did help me a small amount, I still have a long ways to go if I want to be a fluent juggler.

Here’s how it went

Some of the key things I need to focus on is not getting frustrated, throw the balls closer to my body, and find a good rhythm, get all the balls to the same height, focus on each ball at the top.

1 Hand?

Jack Kalvan does a great job explaining what the benefits are for practicing juggling with 1 hand.

Some benefits include:

  • Precise hand-eye coordination, enhances your ability to track objects
  • Strengthening and coordinating both your dominant and non-dominant hand
  • Adds an extra level of challenge with timing
  • Regular practice can enhance your motor coordination and dexterity.
  • Persistence and patience

I found success with throwing the balls high, I found it gave me time to throw the second ball and react to the ball coming down.

I want to incorporate this height aspect to my 3 ball juggling.

3 Ball Juggling

My youtube instructor has helped me so much in my juggling journey,  3:35 of his video will give you everything you need to know about juggling 3 balls.

I have gained lots of confidence but still need to fine tune some things.

My throws need to be consistent and to practice that I have been focusing on juggling infront of a wall so that I am forced to keep the throws close to me.

For anyone interested in juggling, the wall tip is extremely useful.

Tik Tok has also made the content process super easy, the endless editing and audio options have been awesome.

Making Progress

Juggling is surely difficult, but with practice comes results!

Professional juggler Jack Kalvan teaches everything you need to know about the basics of juggling in his youtube video.

Went to tiktok for this blog post video!

Starting to incorporate juggling into my routine before hockey practice as a way to warm my hands and eyes up

Main ideas

  • Catch the ball with peripherals
  • Consistent throws
  • Make eye contact with the ball at its highest point, giving your hands information about it where it will land
  • Move around to increase difficulty

Also found an upgrade in objects to juggle, these sand filled balls were lying around the house and are meant for juggling, there are super cheap if interested.

Back To Basics

I had a super awesome recommendation on one of my recent posts about going down to 2 balls instead of 3 to try and get some basic fundamentals down, I think this is a great idea as I cannot get the 3rd ball into play.

  • I went down to 2 balls and practiced throwing the object to this height consistently as it was one of the basic rules that Taylor Treis discussed

  • My next task was to get the “throw, throw, catch, catch pattern down”. This was difficult for me for some reason and I wanted to throw both balls at the same time and catch them both at the same time, not good.

  • I started to get a rhythm but I could throw the balls consistently. After I got frustrated, I facetimed my girlfriend and she had a great tip for me.

  • She told me to practice against a wall so that I am forced to throw the ball in an area where I am going to catch it, without it hitting the wall. I also decided to go on my knees as I seem to be bending down to pick the balls up, way easier on the hips!

Trying iMovie

For doing video assignments in University I have always stuck to tik tok or YouTube, being a Mac owner I wanted to try out iMovie to see what it offers. I quickly found out it is super easy to use and lots of the features are premade for you, just add your content, organize, and away you go!

  • Lots of title options to pick from

 

  • Easy to add text and change the size

 

  • Complete control of where content is, and able to add transitions

 

In terms of use in the classroom, if there are Macs available iMovie can be a great tool for:

  • Digital Storytelling
  • Virtual Field Trips
  • Interviews
  • Peer Reviews
  • Digital Portfolios
  • Collaborative Projects

SAMR MODEL

Substitution:

At the Substitution level, iMovie could be used as a basic video playback tool. Teachers and students use it to watch educational videos or films

This level involves minimal transformation as it essentially replaces a traditional video player or DVD player

Augmentation:

At the Augmentation level, iMovie starts to enhance the learning experience. Teachers and students use basic editing features to trim or add text to videos.

For instance, students may create a simple video project where they edit together clips to summarize a historical event.

Modification:

The Modification level involves more significant changes to the learning experience. In this case, iMovie is used to create multimedia presentations or reports.

Students might create documentaries that include not only video but also images, text overlays, and music to convey complex ideas effectively.

Redefinition:

At the Redefinition level, iMovie is used to transform the way students learn and demonstrate their understanding. It enables tasks that were not possible without technology.

For example, students could collaborate on video projects with peers from other countries, conducting interviews and sharing cultural perspectives to develop a global understanding of a topic.

My Finish Product 

 

 

Strugglin’ to Juggle

First take on juggling lets go!! Like I said, easily 4 years since the last attempt, tried my best not to get frustrated.

Pretty much went as expected (not very good) – take a peak if you need a laugh

After this epic failure I went digging for in depth videos on youtube and came across a lady named Taylor Tries and I think she just might take me to the promise land.

THINGS I LEARNT FROM HER ALREADY

  • It is all about messing up and getting better in little increments
  • Dont get frustrated (I kinda did ^^^)
  • Enjoy the journey
  • Bean bags are the best way to go (gonna have to get my stone hands on some) 

Have already made great strides, with lots of work to do – STAY TUNED

Not a Juggler, Yet

I will be learning to juggle for my learning project. Where am I now? In all honesty, I think I am awful.. but I am ultra competitive and being a goalie in hockey I like to think I have strong hand-eye coordination so how hard could it be. I am extremely motivated to learn, mainly because my girlfriend had a similar assignment last year and learnt to juggle and it is one of many things she holds over me so it is time to learn!!!

Resources I think I can use include

  • My girlfriend (got sneaky good)
  • My dad (feels like everyone around me can juggle)
  • Youtube (unlimited learning tool)
  • Books (amazon could be my best friend)
  • Wikihow (simple starting point)

I want to focus on using human resources for the first few weeks to being learning, I think putting in 1-2 hours a week of learning/practicing would be a solid starting point.

I can then move to alternative resources to further my learning and pick up new progressions, the internet will be great for this.

Where will I go if I am secretly good after practicing?

I want to master the fundamentals/basics of juggling with 2 hands & starting with 3 objects, thinking bean bags to start because if I drop them they will not roll away from me, I hope.

Progressions!!

  • 3,4,5 objects/balls
  • Increase/decrease size of objects/balls
  • Walk & juggle
  • Light objects/balls on fire (Katia’s request)
  • Increase amount of time without stopping
  • Learn new patterns (ex, reverse cascade, columns, or the fountain)
  • Synchronizing the rhythm of throws and catches
  • Explore one-handed juggling

Other reasons I want to learn

  • Improve hand eye coordination
  • Fun skill to have
  • Challenging to learn
  • Lots of resources
  • Ample oppurtunity to practice
  • Can practice anywhere
  • Use of multiple objects
  • Progressive skill

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