St. Mary's lab 5 thoughts

We attended St. Mary's yesterday to assess and work with the kids on their dribbling and kicking skills. Sarah did a good job setting up the activities which made assessing easy. We found out with the student that we assessed (for two trials) that dribbling was a skill that was difficult to master for the five year old. Kicking was not much easier however he had fun during the game as contact with the ball was made. Our group is continuing to make progress with the dynamic of working together and it showed as the kids really enjoyed the activities while staying busy. Looking forward to next week!!!!!

TWO MINUTES TO CLEAN YOUR ROOOM A HIT

We played "You have two minutes to clean your room" this past Monday with our Pre-K aged children and they loved it. We divided the teams up evenly and explained that they had two minutes to throw (one of the skills we were analyzing for the day) the garbage (socks and foam balls) from their side of the court (their make believe room) to the other side. After two minutes the whistle blew at which time we the children were done throwing and were instructed to sit down. The winning team had the least amount of garbage in their "room."
The kids wanted to continue playing and we even had other kids join in!!!!!

IT WAS A GOOD DAY AT ST. MARY'S FOR THE FAB 5!!!!!

St. Mary's: Lab 4 thoughts

In reflecting back on some of our visits to St. Mary's there have been some challenges and difficulties. From a peer perspective it always takes time to get to know our classmates. It has been great working with the FAB 5 so far but we are still not as instinctive as we should be in working together. This has developed over the short time we have been together but I feel by the time we get comfortable our experience will be over.
Another challenge has been understanding the dynamics that go into working with pre-K aged children. We have all learned that our activities need to be brief in set up while still capturing their attention. Other ideas that may help with overcoming the challenges that we have faced would consist of more brainstorming on ideas within our group as well as utilizing the resources we have (teacher assistants, Dr. Yang, friends and family at home).

St.Mary's Experience

We just completed our second lab at St. Mary's this past Monday where the learning never stops. As activity leaders it appears that we the students are the ones who have all the information that the St. Mary's are supposed to absorb. How wrong was that assumption!! I have learned so much from the students. From motor development assessments, games in the cafeteria, to when and how to interact, the learning has been mostly a receive rather than a giving proposition. I often find myself daydreaming (not for long Dr. Yang) about my 16 month old son who will soon take part in programs such as these. I hope he is forturnate enough to have individuals work with him who are as caring as the students that I have had the opportunity to work with so far.

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Physical Education Seminar

The PE seminar was this past Friday. I attended a lecture on polar technology and found it to be very interesting. Polar allows for tracking of students through collection of data throughout an entire curriculum. This motivates the students by keeping them informed as well as assisting them in setting up individualized programs. Apparently Fayetville Manlius High School has a wellness curriculum that takes advantage of this software. I am currently looking into this and will post what I find out.