Last Day at St. Mary's

It was our last week at St. Mary's and it came to an end with parachute games. Through this experience I have become a lot closer to all of the students at St. Mary's, and it has helped me grow as a future teacher. A lot of the younger students were excited to play with the parachute. I feel that their favorite games were the ones where they got to hide under the parachute or run under it. Throughout our last day we learned part of a dance called "Move You're Body" by Beyonce. Many of the childeren were to tired at the end to dance and decided that they wanted to sit, what we found out the next day in class is that we would be performing this at pool side. It was really exciting to be a part of something that was so fun. We came together as physical education majors and made a great video. Its sad to see our time at St. Marys end it was a quick semester but I want to give thanks to everyone at St. Mary's!

Happy Easter!

It was Easter this week at St. Mary's! The kids all seemed to be on sugar-highs after coming back from a week off and being full of all the candy that the easter bunny had brought to them in their easter baskets. We got them started with some skill assessments, having them show us their dribbleing and kicking skills. We had to modify some of games so that we could actually see them in a circle where they werent moving around. We then got to travel outside to the playground and play with them, its a different experience outside. They seem to keep to each other in the gym, but when they go outside they like to chase you around, play tag, and hid in the playground. It is a place for them to let lose when they go outside.

St. Mary's Run for the Stars 5k run/walk!



The volunteer crew making it over the finish line :)

 This Saturday we got up bright and early to help out with St. Mary's 5k/1k run and walk. It was a lot of fun to see some of the kids that we teach in lab there with their families, tryin to raise money for the school. As volunteers we got to stand on the corners for the little kid run to make sure that they didn't go out into the street. We then moved over and set out some healthy foods for those participating in the event, and of course we had to make sure the runners were hydrated when they finished the race so we handed out water bottles. It reminded me of being home with all the families and teachers coming together as a community to raise money for the school. Everyone got to be a part of something fun, while exercising or cheering on those that they knew in the race.

some of the food!

 

Dinosaur Train!

This week at St. Mary's our theme was Dinosaur Train. Based on a PBS show on dinosaurs (of course), where buddy a t-rex ends up in Mrs. Pteranodon nest as a baby egg. When he hatches they find that he is not theirs but they adapt him into the family. When we first go to St. Mary's we obserrved kids on their throwing and catching skills. We split up and my group was located with the older students, where we played my game, capture the dinosaur eggs.  I used plastic easter eggs as the dinosaur eggs, which made the game colorful, but it could have been dangerous if the students had stepped and slipped on them. Next time I will us the resources in the gym and just us the balls in the gym. I think that I need to find better games for the students that get them moving and having fun. I saw that the students weren't having as much, maybe because they were tired but good games should still get them excited and active.

Giddy Up Partner!

It was western day at St. Mary's.I didnt not only have fun doing crafts and playing games with the pre-k, but the Cortland students also added a little treat of dancing! We got to make horses, by tracing our foot to make the head, adding a some googlie eyes, and string for the hair. We then headed over to the gym and played some cowboy and cowgirl games. My favorite part was dressing the part wearing a flannel shirt and a nice bandana. It really got everyone into the western theme and gave the kids an idea of what we were trying to accomplish with our cowboy and cowgirl looks. The little kids seemed to get into all of the games because we were dressed up and into ourselves. The kindergarten crew got to play some fun games while practicing their leap,jump, and slide. It all came together though when we did Cotton Eyed Joe at the end. Everyone got loose and did the dance and we added the nice touch of YEEHAW! at the end. All in all it was a great success at St. Mary's.

                         

Movement Skill Acquisition