Catch up post!

November 20th

Bowling! The Alley was a lot of fun! Each lane had a large water animal coming up from the floor. Fish hung from the ceiling. The lights made the walls look like water!

The students were very patient and flexible; we were short on our time there, so we cycled through as fast as possible by having everyone roll the bowling ball just one time each turn.

(Previously posted: 11/13 games, climbing, balancing; 11/6 kickball and wall ball; 10/30 yoga; 10/23 walk around the Walks')

October 16th

LOTS of activities today; so many that I may need to post again to remember them all! We jumped over boxes with one leg at a time, and then again jumping with both legs at once. We jumped sideways over a log, back and forth down the length. We balanced on the log as we tried to pass over or around each other. Some of the smaller students sat on a stool balanced on poles that others held up, and also spun forward and backward while holding onto those same poles. We twisted through hula hoops and passed them on while we held hands in a circle. We hooked elbows in a circle facing outward, sat together and got up again. We climbed upon one another, into pyramids. We used an Army blanket as a parachute as we tried to roll a golf ball around it without dropping it; we also tried a huge ball. In pairs, we had one hang onto the other who was to grab a certain color of doodad and place in their area before the other pairs. Two pairs tried the human caterpillar (or ball) - each hold the other's ankles and roll over one another.

October 9th

We played with Frisbees! Thanks to Nalani and some of our students, we had plenty to go around.

We spent some time in kind of a free-for-all, where everyone was throwing a Frisbee to anyone else. Next, we gathered up all the Frisbees and had a contest to see who could get the best distance from the curb, throwing one Frisbee at a time. Last, we had an enjoyable Ultimate Frisbee match.

October 2nd

This was our 'ride to the park' day. We had 4 who traveled by bike, 1 by roller blades (1 who helped with balance, speed and safety - thank you ever so much Merry!), and 1 trooper who ran most of the way! We enjoyed our time at the Lincoln Park, climbing, spinning, pushing, pulling, running, and playing.

September 25th

Today we played Badminton. Those birdies weren't too easy to hit, let alone aim! But we had a beautiful day to be outside to practice.

(September 18th Teacher Liesl was out of town and Teacher Amber posted on the obstacle course)

September 11th

We all met and got to know each other a bit today, on our first day of class. We chose an adjective that shared the first letter of our first name. Then we bounced a ball to one another, calling out the recipient's adjective and name.

Hey It's Teacher Amber...
Just wanted to do a quick reminder about the AWESOME Field trip we will be taking on Thursday!
REMEMBER

Please bring back permission slips, $5, and make sure you're wearing socks for bowling!

We will all be riding in my van! 

Parents please remember we might be back a few minutes after the day ends (by 2:45pm for Sure)

I am so excited!!! :)

October 23

This week was our 'Walk Around the Walk's'. I remember seeing the sun shine on a white ship in the harbor. We all enjoyed the view into the ravine under the bridge below us and we took pictures there.

Because we made good time, we also practiced some pushups and planks in the entrance until class was over, setting new pushup goals for November.

October 30th

Thank you for bringing yoga mats this day! Especially Teacher Amber, who brought extras to make sure we were all covered. This was our first day inside the building. Good thing, too; you might remember the waterfall off the building from the downpour directly after lunch!

Teacher Amber and I were visualizing a calmer, quieter class for yoga practice. Didn't quite come to pass, but this was after the lunchtime Halloween party so what could we expect? I do want to thank Maddie for her focus on our task, for her participation, and sharing her knowledge of yoga poses with us.

We discussed some of how yoga is great for stretching and for centering/balancing physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

We did some timed planks - Merry held on longest! - and some additional stretching not considered yoga poses.

November 6

We missed Maddie and Kaela this week.

Brrr! The wind was cold for us! It also wouldn't cooperate so that we could keep the bases down on the ground. Our students were great sports despite these challenges as we played Kickball.

We lost Danny part way through and Eliana needed to leave early, so Merry, Trinity, Teacher Amber and I finished out the PE hour with Wall Ball (with some adaptations)!

HELLO! The long silence is broken....

November 13

We missed Danny and Teacher Amber in class this day. (Thank you to Teacher Amber for researching bowling options and printing off permission slips!)

The weather was cold but beautiful! So we were thankfully able to be active outside.

We were a little short to do these two running games justice, but we tried anyway: Missionary Tag and Flying Dutchmen. (2 of my own grandma's favorites!) They were new games to most of our students.

In Missionary Tag, pairs are linked at the elbow and spread out from the others. One 'it' chases another around the area. Whenever the one being chased wants to, they can link up on one side of the pairs - but that 'bounces' the person on the opposite side of the pair off and they become the one being chased.

In Flying Dutchmen, again, 2 stay out from the group. The group is holding hands in a circle and the separate 2 hold hands, walking around the circle. The one nearest the circle taps the hands of 2 in the circle, and both pairs run opposite ways around the circle to get back into the hole first. The hardest part of this game is remembering which pair gets the inside loop and which pair must veer out!

Merry began to create a new game that I thought resembled Truck-and-trailering (though backwards), Eliana thought should be called "Worm" or "Lizard" - because lizards lose their tails and regrow, and Maddie suggested "Nose crusher". Merry preferred the name "Bulldozer". She would run up behind someone with her arms outstretched, grab their shoulders and push them, running, towards another. Once they caught up to someone, the new person became the front of 'it', and put their hands out while the first person (at the back of the line) broke off the chain and could be chased again. Maddie was a great sport with what you can already guess happened, but we decided it was time to move on.

Kaela, Maddie and Trinity climbed a tree with assistance (up into and down out of the tree), from Eliana, Merry and Teacher Liesl.

Once all were out of the tree again, Merry, Kaela, Maddie and Trinity tested their balance as "tight rope walkers" on a sturdy metal gate. (2 at a time of: Eliana, Merry, Trinity, Teacher Liesl and maybe Maddie too, held the walkers' hands to keep them steady and safe.)


For next week: Please bring back permission slips, $5, and make sure you're wearing socks for bowling!

Week 2- Overview!

Thank you all for the fun day! The obstacle course was a great time and you even challenged yourselves doing the PT Push ups. Remember to keep working on those push ups, both form and numbers, so in October we can see your improvement!

What a fun way to end the day of Classes!

Thank you
Ms. Amber