GAME:making a spider web>Pre-K

This week at Saint Mary's, it will be halloween.  In the spirit of the holiday we all tried to relate our games and activities to a halloween theme as well as the focused skill of throwing.  I posted a blog of a good pre-school arts project, and here is a game that they will hopefully enjoy.  If time permits, start this game with the "itsy bitsy spider" song to set the scene.  Explain that we are going to be busy little spiders today and are going to make our very own beautiful spider web.  Form the children in a circle and have the adults around to assist.  one child will start with a ball of yarn and throw it to a classmate across from them.   This child will catch the yarn, hold on to a piece and throw to another person in the circle.  Keep this going until every child has thrown and caught the yarn, which will make a web like formation in the middle of the circle.  That can be the end of the game, or they can continue throwing the yarn across the circle, or they can even throw the yarn in the same pattern over and over, making the web lines thicker.  I hope they enjoy this game and at the same time practice the throwing movement.

Halloween** Making Gohsts

Next week at Saint Marys my group will be with the youngest class, the pre-schoolers.  I am excited and also hesitant to be honest.  I have been working more with the older kids, where I feel most comfortable.  It is time to step out of comfort zones.  I am excited to see how it goes, this may just be my favorite age group.  With these young kids we will have a mixture of activities, art projects, and story telling.  One art project which I think they will enjoy is making a gohst out of a white balloon and shopping bags.  It seems to fit with the spirit of halloween and the materials are very accessable. Keep reading to find out how this and our forth experience at Saint Marys went!

So Much To Learn In A Short Amount Of Time

A few weeks ago cortland held a mini conferencce for Physical Educators.  There were physical education teachers all throughout parkslope for almost the whole day.  Meeting, sharing, learning and moving together.  The atmosphere was definately positive and energetic.  Unfortunately, the day of the conferenceand the days prior I was sick and exhausted.  I made it to one of the last workshops.  I learned so much in just a 45 minute period.  I wonder how much more I would have learned if I were there earlier.  The woman who was leading the group showed us different ways to approach basic skills and strenthening excersises.  Different stations were set along a cirlce and we rotated with our group around to each station.  Traditional sit ups and push ups are good excercises and can be way more effective if approached the right way.  Making it fast moving and to the beat of music can really help motivate. Next year or the next conference, I hope to attend throughout the whole time.  There are many small details that can be learned about teaching and my major here, and its those that will help, make me the best Physical Educator I can be.

ROUND 3 >> Leaping, jumping, sliding oh my!

This week at St. Mary's was the best yet, for myself anyway.  This monday was a sports theme and almost our whole class had sport related shirts and jerseys on.  The kids are definately getting more comfortable and so am I.  I had many consversations about school and music and siblings, it was a blast.  I also played pretend with a little girl for a while.  I want to research more little games to just pop out when there is free time.  The focus of this lab was leaping, jumping and sliding to see more about this lab click SPORTS

N'SYNC- BYE BYE BYE

Expect the unexpected in prep lab! My teammates and I worked together choosing a song and making a 1 minute dance video.  I believe everyone would agree when i say it was very fun.  Stage fright and awkwardness were faced and replaced with a little more conscious free confidence.  Enjoy! :)

ROUND 2 >> Running, galloping and hopping!

I think its safe to say we all had a great second experience at Saint Mary's!  The kids are getting more used to us as we are them.  We practiced observing and assessing skills as well as leading games.  We got the oppurtunity to try out all the different teaching strategies we learned so far.  My personal teaching experience was definately memorable for me.  For an active game, I wasnt pleased with the amount of movement and activity.  Always expect the unexpected and be quick on your feet to modify a game is what I really learned.
 click HERE to see more of what we did for our second lab.

GAME: Fire On The Mountain

In a land far away there was a town at the foot of a great volcano.  A few times a year this volcano would spit fire down the slope of the mountain right towards the town.  The people would hear the shouts "fire on the mountain run run run!" and begin to run.  Every once in a while stopping on rocks where they were safe.  The safety rocks are all different sizes however so they must listen to the number that will be called telling them how many people can fit on a rock. (how many people to make a circle with).  \Example: "fire on the mountain run run run! fire on the mountain run run run! fire on the mountain run run run! gather in groups of 4!" The announcer is in the middle of the space and the children are running in the same direction around the center. when the number is called they will have 10 seconds to form a circle by holding hands with the correct amount of people. The ones who are left with no group, help the announcer count the groups.