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The Purposes

The Agility Web provides the participants with the opportunities to engage in thinking, moving and social interaction.

The Thinking - (cognitive process) Takes place both during the construction of the Web and the problem- solving aspect of the physical performance.

The Moving - Takes place during the actual physical performance; trying out and practicing the various tasks involved in using the Agility Web.

Social Interaction - Takes place during the construction phase when participants learn to cooperate and plan together how to construct the Web for today's activities. Social Interaction takes place when the participants design the problems and solve them in movement. This interaction further develops when participants solve problems and perform tasks designed by the teacher throughout this process. Students have a unique opportunity to offer and develop their individual and group initiative.

An Operational Definition

Agility is a physical attribute that involves the ability to move in space in various speeds, various postures and various combinations of movements.

Components Of Agility

All agility tasks (activities) are composed of the following components:

Starting "position"
� A stationary position before the take- off or a movement as preparation for take off.

Take- off
� The movement involved when leaving the starting position.

Moving in space
� Flight in the air
� Moving on the ground from point A to point B

End- position
� Landing after a flight
� Rest position at the end of movement on the ground

Touch and go
� When agility tasks are continuous, the end- position serves as the starting position for continuous movement and the performance of a sequence of movements.

THE APPLICATION AND USE OF AGILITY

The ability to move in space
� Agility as a physical attribute - is needed and used in most, perhaps all, sports and daily activities. For example: All five components of agility are highly manifested in basketball gymnastics, volleyball, adventure activities, etc.

Some sports require emphasis and development of all five components, while others (due to the structure and the demand of the sport) require only two, three or four components. Can you think of any examples?

The richness of task- design and problem- design emanates from seeking variations in the performance of each component.

THE AGILITY DEVELOPMENTAL PROGRAM

The Agility Program consists of four parts:
I. Constructing the Web
II. Performing tasks designed by the teacher
III. Solving problems designed by the teacher
IV. Problems designed and solved by the students

I. Constructing the Web

• The Web can be constructed by the teacher, the students or both.
• A particular construction design can be used for a single episode during a lesson or in a series of episodes in several lessons.
• The Web can be used as a challenge for individual students, pairs and larger groups.
• By attaching the bungees to different poles it is possible to create a web of different polygons that vary in size, height and plane.
• Varying the size, height and plane of the polygons creates a continuous challenge for all students.
• The Agility Web is designed for inclusion.
• Criss- crossing the bungees creates triangles, squares, rectangles, any other shapes?
• The polygons can be constructed in the horizontal plane, diagonal (slanted) or in a mixed design.
• The variety of designs is virtually endless, the imagination is limitless!
• Regardless of the design, safety must be observed!

Challenges are wonderful, safety is mandatory!

II. Performing tasks designed by the teacher

Designing tasks for the Agility Web is an intriguing task for the teacher. It is possible to design two kinds of "task clusters"!

A. A "General Cluster" which includes jumping over the bungees (elastic cords), crawling under, stepping over, stepping through the bungees, while keeping the body straight (most of the time), keeping the body in a rounded position, and so on. The general cluster of tasks can be used with most (many) configurations of the Web.

B. "Specific Cluster" for specific Web designs. In this option, the teacher designs the tasks in relationship to the specific design of the Web.

For Example:

1. Select your "entry point" - the polygon for the first starting position - say, a squat position. Jump on the bungee to the next polygon and land in a squat position and the same jump until you entered every polygon.
2. Jump over the bungee into all the triangles. Crawl under the bungee into the squares.
3. Jump over into squares, and immediately move on to the (touch- and- go) next polygon. Stay in the next polygon, standing on one foot, raising the other - stay balanced to the count of 5, 10 or 15.
4. Repeat #1, 2, 3 with a partner - holding hands - and performing the same movement. Here, the teacher must ascertain that the design (the polygons) can "contain" two people.
5. Jump only into triangles! Again the design must provide for adjacent triangles, or they must be close!
6. In the same manner, the teacher can design a variety of movements that can be performed with the Web's configurations. These tasks invite the learners to engage in reproduction of the teacher's movements design.

III. Solving problems designed by the teacher

The Agility Web offers rich opportunities for designing episodes in problem solving. Problem solving invites the learners to engage in production of solutions, multiple solutions to the same problem. In these episodes, the learners engage in divergent thinking. They engage in the discovery of possible solutions to a problem. Indeed, the teacher too is engaged in discovery: The discovery of problems that are appropriate for the particular web design.

Some examples:

1. What are three possible movements that can be done while moving under the bungees and visiting every polygon?
2. Is it possible to design and perform three more movements?
3. What are four possible movements that can be designed and performed while weaving over- under- over- under the bungees? Do each movement, separately too, while visiting every polygon.
4. Is it possible to perform your ideas or the student's ideas in pairs, with continuous body- contact between the partners?
5. Is it possible to do it in groups of three? Four?
6. Is it possible to perform all the solutions direction? Combination?

These experiences in problem solving invite the learners to engage in several cognitive operations (thinking skills) such as: Understanding the problem; discovering a solution (and/ or solutions) assessing the success of the solutions; selecting the solution( s) each student can perform (in this case the student is engaged in convergent discovery); comparing solutions and so on.

The motivation to participate is usually very high during such experiences. When performed in small groups, initiative is developed in design and in social interaction. Negotiations between and among the members of "product" design is agreed upon and is experimented with. Modifications of the design and the solutions are offered and performed.

On paper first

The problems presented to the students can include the design of the Web itself. The students (in their groups) spend time discussing and designing the Web on paper (what an opportunity to develop a relationship with the geometry teacher). When the "blueprint" is ready, the students construct the web and seek solutions to problems offered by the teacher. The teacher has a wonderful opportunity to observe each group during the design time and then offer the problems.

IV. Problems designed by the students

After a reasonable experience in part I, II and III, the students can participate in designing the problems. (They do come up with incredible ideas!) Their designs can be used for:

• Challenging members of their own group
• Challenging members of another group
• Competing with other groups
• Quantity of solutions
• Quality of solutions (criteria developed by the students)
• Speed of designing
• Speed of solving the problems
• Any other possibilities?

For young children (or older)

• A challenging activity can utilize the "universal game" of Follow the Leader.
• Each student serves as a leader at a given time.
• He/ she designs the sequence of movements to be performed in the Web.
• The members of the group (a reasonable group of 2- 5. Otherwise the waiting is too long and inefficient) follow the leader by performing his/ her designed movements.
• Storytelling. The teacher or the students compose a story about people or animals that includes a variety of movements to be performed in each polygon: The direction of the movements (North, South, East, West), the level of the movement (high, low, etc.), the speed (fast, slow motion) and the intensity (soft, sharp, punch, etc.).

Components List Four Big Red � Bases
Four 6' Vertical Uprights
Four 8' Horizontal Poles

Agility Maze bungee cord ( 3/16 " stretch cord with swivel clips on each end) set includes:

Two 10' Pieces Violet
Two 8' Pieces Orange
Two 7' Pieces Green
Ten 6' Pieces Blue
Four 5' Pieces Yellow
Four 4' Pieces Red