Observing and Teaching at St.Mary's Day 2

Last week at St.Mary's School I had a blast. I had a good handful of games for the kids as well as a song and activity at the end. They all seemed to enjoy what they were doing and all of us college students had a great time as well. The activity at the end was a little challenging for their age group but a couple times through it and they caught the hang of it. I was also surprised that a few of the even knew the son, "down by the banks". It was extremely funny to see them all just get so excited over music. As soon as we finished the ending activity the music came on and they all gathered in the circle to have a dance of as everyone around them cheered them on. It was a fun bonding and teaching experience. Although it was great fun I also had to lay down some rules on them such as no holding my hand and no hugging me. Some of them can be clingy but just telling them strictly no helps to set the boundaries.

I also was able to observe in the beginning of class a couple students and their motor development skills. I observed a male, Garrett (six years of age) and a female, Maddie ( 5 years of age). I observed their ability to run, gallop and hop. As garret ran there was a period where both feet were off the ground and his foot placement was on or near a line. He did not run with his arms in opposition to his legs but instead they were flailing all over the place. He also didn't have his knees bent at a 90 degree angle while running but instead he shuffled them. For galloping he stepped forward with the lead foot followed by a step with the trailing foot and their was a brief period where both feet were off of the ground. His arms were also bent and lifted to waist level. He didn't know how to lead with both of his feet, only his right one. When he hopped his non support leg wasn't carried in the back of his body but instead the front. His non support leg did swing in a pendulum fashion to produce force. He also bent his elbows and swung forward on take off. He was also not able to hop on the right and left foot, only his right.

When observing Maddie i thought she was a very skilled five year old. She ran great having both of her feet off the ground for a brief period of time, swinging her arms in opposition to her legs, placing her foot on or near a strait line and having her non support leg at about 90 degrees and close to her buttocks. She was also a great at galloping. She was able to step forward with her lead foot and follow it by a step with the trailing foot to position adjacent to or behind the lead foot. There is also a brief period of time where both feet are off the ground and her arms are bent and lifted to waist level. Although she could do all of these steps, she was not able to lead with the left and right foot, only her left. She was also great at hopping. Her foot for her nonsupport leg was bent and carried in the back of her body. Her nonsupport leg swung in a pendulum fashion to produce force and her arms and elbows swung forward on take off. She was however, not able to hop on her right foot, only her left.

I had a great time at lab and I am excited for our dinosaur theme next week. My group has planned and organized our thoughts on this class grid.