Mississippi Moments

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

"I've got peace like a river, I've got peace like a river, I've got peace like a river in my soul" and it's raining so hard the street and the church yard across the way are already flooding and the boomers are booming and the lightning is flashing and I may not have much time left to blog for the day.
Soccer Day 1 went extremely well. There are no older girls in the Girls to Women this year because they are not being allowed to participate. It is unbelievable what happens to the younger girls when the odler ones are not around. The positive attitudes, the sense of playfulness, the get-go, the stuff we can accomplish. Yesterday, we did soccer for an hour and a half straight with no A/C in the gym and then they did another hour of dance.n I ran laps with any offenders who piked up the ball with their hands. We had the same-ole-same-ole..you say "Dribble" and a couple always pick it up with their hands and start bouncing away! Then we run some more. I have today's drills and games mapped out. LAst night we went to aerobics class after soccer and dance and go to sweat and work out some more. I like this part. Good work. Good workouts. Small town and lots of open space. Nice, friendly people to learn about and from. Today's session with the JLC kids went well. They are learning all about the landforms of the Mississippi River and what happens when the river floods. They get some of the concepts. The claywork was less messy and we managed to cover the floor in plastic before the claywork began.
I am not comfortable with the way some of the adults talk to the children here. Sometimes, they will jokingly call them names like "ADHD" and ADD-Girl, etc. I got in trouble at school this year calling a child "Gooney bird" during a religion class and the principal was observing me. I didn't think twice about it. I acn think of some much worse names.
I am using some of the differentiated instruction skills and materials that I acquired this year. I am also causing a little stirring with all the multisensory and "Waldorf" kind of stuff. Some of the other staff want the kids to be doing just "basic skills" and are helping by bringing me dittos of handwriting pages, etc. They don't understand what it is I am doing and why it will help the handwriting and the counting, fine motor, and basic literacy skills, and that's okay. Sister T wants to call a staff meeting to discuss it. I don't want to waste the time and effort. It will be easier to just incorporate what is being offered and use it to strengthen what I am already doing. I am only here for three weeks. They live here.
Off to soccer and then the health club. My knees are giving me some trouble. I know how to fix that. I don't want to but I must. I like to snack. Squishy is fine. He sent an email with pictures of his new girlfriend. He likes her.

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