The weather is getting nice, and the students are becoming coordinated enough that we've started bringing out kickballs to recess. It has been a huge success, and it's great to see theirs abilities improve. The best game is playing catch, with variations in not bouncing the ball, or bouncing it once or twice between the two people. Of course all the kids want to play catch with me, and a lot of them haven't quite grasped the concept that I only have two arms with which to catch balls. My coordination has improved, as well, to juggle six or seven balls coming at me at varying speeds and varying amounts of notice beforehand. Pablo, who is quite clever, has discovered a new strategy to monopolize my attention. He moves around behind me when I am 'playing catch' with about six other students, and lobs a ball at my head. He then calls out "Ms. Marshall!" a fraction of a second before it hits me. So, if I turn immediately, I have a chance to catch the ball or move out of the way. If not, I get smacked in the head with a kickball. Operant conditioning at its best: it hasn't taken me long to be quick to move as soon as I hear Pablo's voice. Unfortunately, he has pretty good aim.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Operant conditioning at its best hu? That reminds me of Mia's crying. I am working on not responding to her until she asks for things appropriately. Today as we walked along the coastal trail she began crying, ( I wouldn't pick her up), people were around, she began whaling. As she took a deep breath to continue I mentioned, You're loud enough for a moose to hear! Crying subsided.
Jen, that's great. It's great that you can have a sense of humor about it all. I wouldn't have thought of saying something like that.
Post a Comment