I want to share something with you that I imagine not everyone thinks about. But when you attend a training — at least the ones that I have attended — it is part of the training. Many people will easily admit to knowing that an instructor or teacher of an exercise class is responsible for instructing the students on how to do an exercise correctly. In Nia we talk about the Body’s Way . . . the way in which the body was designed to move and also YOUR body’s way . . . the way in which YOUR (each individual) body moves. So we encourage people to move in their own way, but we also keep in mind the general safety guidelines. In keeping with the way the body was designed a lot of safety is built in. As an instructor in a class we instruct the students on how to move and exercise safely. Part of our jobs as instructors is to watch the participants to make sure they are doing things – moving – in a safe way. That is something that all of my trainings have included and something that most people are aware of. Another thing, the thing that some might not think about, is that we are responsible for the students’ safety in other ways. We are responsible for ensuring that other things and other people do not affecting the safety of our class. So in other words, when someone comes into the room where the class is being taught to grab equipment. The instructor is responsible for making certain that the person does not drop equipment on or in the path of a student. So we have to adjust our attention away from teaching and away from our own students to keep an eye on the person that has come into the room. We are responsible for what goes on in the class we are teaching.

I feel that some people don’t think about that or perhaps they don’t understand it. Perhaps they have never taken a class where you are concentrating on what you are doing, so they don’t realize what a distraction it is when someone comes into the room. Also, they might not realize that the teacher is responsible for the students and their safety so the teacher gets distracted from their teaching when people come into the room to get equipment for another class. It happens often when an exercise room is also where the equipment is kept. I’ve even taught at places where there has been Audio-visual equipment kept in the room and it – apparently, needed to be retrieved during the middle of the class.

In many cases the instructors are instructed to not let people just take equipment out of the room, so not only are we responsible for the safety of the students, but for the safety of the equipment. Most venues don’t want people just walking in and removing equipment from the room. We, as instructors, are asked to keep that from happening. So not only is the teaching being interrupted, but the teacher is supposed to not let the person who has entered the room take equipment. It is completely disruptive. In addition to interfering with the class that is being taught, it puts the students safety at risk. The teacher has to turn her attention away from what the students are doing in order to give attention to the person that is removing equipment from the room. Even if it is a staff member it is completely disruptive. Despite the fact the person entering the room has authority to do so AND is allowed to move equipment, the instructor has to refocus away from the class onto the person that has entered the room.

One thing I am pretty certain about, the students in a class that is continually interrupted, they know. They know that the instructor has to stop teaching them to figure out what it going on. They know that the person entering the room is disrupting their focus and their class. It could all be chalked up to a lesson in living in the moment and focusing, but when it happens all the time they feel disrespected. They have paid to be in the class, they have taken time out of their schedule to be there, and then it gets interrupted. They know it is not right, because they too refocus, but for different reasons than the instructor.

If you’ve left a class and accidentally leave something behind and have to interrupt the next class to get your item, that is understandable. Ya run in, ya look apologetic, ya grab your item, and ya run out. That happens. We all forget things. It is when someone enters to remove equipment – even if it is quick, but especially if they have to move things and decide what they are taking – that the disruption occurs.

Sometimes it can’t be avoided that equipment is stored in the class.  Often times there are classes that use the equipment, but when the equipment is needed for a different class than is being held in the room, the equipment should be removed from the room beforehand.  The students deserve the respect of an uninterrupted class.  They also deserve to have the teacher watching to make sure they are moving safely for the entire class.

What do you think?  Have you ever had a class you were in be interrupted?