Time, We All Wish We Could Have More Of It

Yesterday, was the second lab at St. Mary's. It didn't go as well as I wanted it to. The group I am in with Holly and Dan, (Three's Company) was in the gymnasium this week, leading the K-1st grade groups. Holly and Dan both led their games, while Mitch followed them in leading his activity. It was then my turn to lead an activity, which was "When are we going to get there?" I wanted to engage the students in practicing their locomotor skills, and it took a while to get the students out there in the game. When the game got started, it didn't last long, since it was time to switch stations. I didn't get to complete my activity as planned.

One thing that I learned this week, and I learned it the hard way, is that you may not get the time you want. I was expecting to get at least ten-fifteen minutes, but instead it was about two minutes. I felt that I did everything to the best of my ability, but you have to get the students engaged in the game as fast as possible. It took a few minutes for me to explain the game, since I wanted all of the students to participate. However, I learned that sometimes no matter what you do, you can't get everyone to participate. I felt one thing that I did do well was that I modified the game due to time. I knew that if I used the game with the equipment involved, that it would've taken too long. When it was my turn to lead the activity, I decided to do the part of the game that didn't involve the equipment.

I also took too long to grab the equipment that I needed for the activity. I wasn't sure on where to go at first, and by the time I got everything I needed, Holly had already started her game. As I learned yesterday, it's important to have your game setup on time, and have everything ready to go. I knew this from the camp I worked at, since kids attention spans don't last that long. I was disappointed, but I made sure that I didn't show it in front of the students. Student's don't care about your problems, and if they see you there, depressed, they won't want to go near you. I made sure that I was always smiling, and making sure that I looked happy. The cafeteria worked out very well. I had the flags that I had drawn for my activity, and I showed them to some of the students down there. A student named C, wanted to draw a Jamiacan flag like the one I had drawn. R, another student, taught me something. She drew the Austria flag, which I didn't know what it looked like. This I felt was good, because just like the last time I was there, and they were drawing Valentines Day cards, they drew different flags this time with the Olympics. I also enjoyed how R, and A, both explained about their class, and how each class was a different country. It's great when students tell you what they're doing, because you learn something about their interests, and what they're doing in school.

I felt I improved on getting to know the students, and their interests. Something I wanted to improve on this time. However, this time in the gym, it didn't work out the way I planned. It worked out well last time, so the next time I'll have to make sure it works, while learning more about the students. Instead of getting discouraged, I have to just move on from this, and learn from my mistakes. Sometimes it won't work out, and while it upsets me, you just have to find ways to make sure it doesn't happen again. I will do better, and try to find new ways so it doesn't happen again, not for me, but for the students. It's about them learning and having fun, which is in my hands.