Eva Lyppens, who is a secondary school teacher, an NT2 student and a BBB instructor through Sportsticker, gave us an opportunity to work off those corona kilos during a livestream on UAntwerp’s Facebook page.
"When they asked me to teach an online class using a livestream, I was pleasantly surprised. I thought: “Wow, me?”. Because usually I teach in the Agora. Facebook is a little of out of my comfort zone. Initially, I was somewhat reticent, but soon my enthusiasm took over and I started to think which exercises would work best on your screen. Because you need to clearly demonstrate the exercises, but they also need to look right…
I’ve been teaching at Sportsticker for four years already. Initially at the KDG University College and later at UAntwerp. I loved the switch because the classes at UAntwerp are so much bigger. Not just in terms of capacity, but also in terms of the audience. The students are a more international gang. In order to be able to reach all of my students with the livestream, I decided to teach the class in English. Or rather, make an attempt to do it, because the cameras really caused me a lot of stress! When I watched the class again, I thought: “Oh dear, I made some mistakes…” But the main thing was that I had a connection with all the students again, including with those students that don’t speak Dutch. And the mistakes only added to the ambience, right?
It’s absurd how many times the livestream has been replayed since then. And let’s remember, it was a live class, meaning I couldn’t do a general rehearsal and there was no cutting and pasting afterwards. It felt like being in the Agora all over again. The response was overwhelmingly positive, and even from unexpected quarters. I would definitely do it again!
Now that I can’t teach classes normally, my days are a little different. I cook fresh meals every day and my boyfriend and I go running every other day. We try to watch as little TV as possible in the evenings and do stuff that doesn’t involve a screen. I hope that we can keep up these good habits post-COVID.
As the exams draw closer, I can only advise students to keep moving. Any form of exercise is good: walking, a short bike ride, taking the stairs instead of the lift… It’s just not good for your body, but it also relaxes your mind. And daily exercise also promotes a good night’s sleep, which is quite important during this period.”
This article was written for fromyourkot.be, an online platform that was created in times of corona at the request of the University of Antwerp.
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