Essay #13

   

       Building Blocks:
An Essay Looking Back on Middle School and Its Challenges
     8th Grade English

      May 15, 2012

         Mia Perry

As a young child, I watched a television show called Time Warp Trio, an educational yet amusing cartoon about friends who traveled together through time. Although watching the numerous episodes was one of my favorite pastimes, I was too young to be able to fully grasp the life lessons hidden in the depths of all of the action. There is a quote said by one of the featured characters from their adventure to China, “Wushu Were Here”, that was, “To those who are eager to learn, every challenge is a lesson.” Looking back over all of my past middle school years at Pine Point School, there have been 9 main challenges that have helped shaped me as an enthusiastic student.

The first year of middle school, 6th grade, was my introduction to the numerous challenges that I would come across in different forms throughout the rest of my time at Pine Point. The Bird Report, a long term research paper done on a particular bird, was my main challenge during that year, and it taught me multiple skills to help me improve on future projects. First, I learned how to manage my time and take proper notes that would assist me in writing the paper. I developed useful researching techniques after being introduced to the school’s online databases and trustworthy websites. In addition to the bird report, participating in the Greek play helped me learn effective ways to memorize passages and phrases. Being the chorus leader, I had to memorize passages that varied from short to long, and I described the story like a modern narrator would. Now, I use a similar approach of reading the lines and constantly repeating them in my head, and then repeating the same lines out loud. The vocabulary and root words quizzes in English class were another challenge for me, because each quiz only had about five questions, and any wrong answers carried a lot of weight in your overall grade for that quiz. This influenced me to study more and check over my answers multiple times before handing the quiz over to the teacher. 6th grade’s challenges were more intense than I had expected, although they left me well prepared for expectations for the next year. 

The Movie Poster For The Play That We Performed

I was an avid learner in 7th grade, and there were not as many challenges due to the preparation that we had in 6th grade. Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, a play selected for the 7th grade to perform that particular year, taught me to be calm and composed when I need to be. I had to sit still for hours as my peers, acting and portraying different characters, took their turns while I waited to act out my short scene. This challenge bestowed a trait of patience to me that is useful in current English classes to help all of the hardworking students to succeed. In addition, math was slightly challenging for me, but luckily my teacher, Ms. Call, was able to help me with these problems. She taught me multiple lessons about using different methods and acronyms such as PEMDAS, a way to help students grasp the concept of the order of operations. These different strategies continue to be of aid to me in my math classes with Mr. Hambleton. Earth Science, another class led by Ms. Call, was a challenge for me. There were multiple tests and quizzes during those two semesters, but I pulled through those challenges and I was able to get lessons out of them. Since I am not skilled at taking tests, this helped me to find adequate ways to study and read over my notes to effectively know and understand the material. 7th grade was another difficult year for me, yet I learned valuable lessons to help me during 8th grade. 

Striving to succeed and learn more and more each day, I have been a particularly devoted and determined student during this current 8th grade year. In history class, I learned how important our past is, and how previous events have shaped our country and our world into what it is today. We have learned about multiple wars in this class, which has taught me that I can do well, even through difficult struggles. We are currently focusing on how after World War 2, creating bonds with other countries, multiple areas globally have joined the United Nations, a group of countries that have joined together to help us stay peaceful with each other.  This example also reminds me of how I have become a more sociable person and branched out with who I talk to, who I socialize with, and who I eat lunch with. At the start of this year, I stayed around the same group of people that I knew well, and I didn’t feel as if I wanted to socialize with students from other grades. On and after the trip to Washington, DC, I began to grow as a person and talk to more 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th graders. Finally, I obtained new skills to assist me in test taking, since that is one of my main academic weaknesses. We discussed multiple study techniques during our weekly class meetings, and we received handouts, advice, and acronyms to help us improve.  I have been able to apply some of these methods to my science and history tests that we have had during the second semester. Although this year has not been as much of a challenge as previous years, I am still able to learn from my mistakes as an eager learner.

Challenges remind me of building blocks. They wobble, shake, and sway when stacking them on top of each other, and will either create an amazing structure or crash down into disarranged rubble at the end. This symbolizes how people’s lives can be when they are faced with challenges, and how they can either be patient so that everything will come together, or they can rush and be hasty, which causes all of their work to fall apart. As a meticulous worker, I have already encountered multiple stumbles while building my structure, and hope to have a rewarding outcome as I continue to grow and learn.
Self Assessment
1) One writing issue that I am continuing to work on is making transitions that notify the reader that there is a new point in the paragraph without being awkward.
2) One possible strong point in this essay is the use of FAST words to help create a continuous flow throughout most of the sentences.
3) One possible weak point that I see in my writing is that I might need to vary the lengths of my sentences more so that the sentences are not all long or all short.

Essay #12

         Lost Love:
An Essay Relating Quotes From “Where is the Love” To My Life and The World

      April 24, 2012

   8th Grade English

        Mia Perry

The year 2007 was the first time that I heard “Where is the Love” by the Black Eyed Peas, an influential song about troubles and inequality in society. Being a 3rd grader, I did not fully understand the powerful lyrics of the song and their meaning. The Black Eyed Peas writing this song with such a relevant and valid message was 

not an accident.  While recently reading through the words of the song, I realized that they are easily applicable to events that I have occured in my own life and to the world today.

“Wrong information always shown by the media, negative images is the main criteria,” is one line of “Where is The Love” that can relate to an experience in my own life. At Valley Forge Military Academy’s summer camp in 2008, a marksmanship counselor forgot to put the on lock his gun, and he accidentally shot himself in the leg. Although I was not there when the incident happened, another counselor, Jemma, was telling me about this when I saw a news helicopter overhead, flying and soaring across the clear sky. That lunch at Mess Hall, the most recent news was being displayed on the large TVs, which caught every camper’s attention. One of the stories was titled “Counselor Shot”, and they described the situation as an insane murderer who somehow got onto the campus and attempted to assassinate this counselor, and they showed a policeman strolling beside and helping the stumbling man, the injured marksmanship counselor.  While the story was being told on the news, some campers booed because everyone knew about what had actually happened. After this experience, I realized that sometimes the media bends information to attract more viewers to the negative happenings in society today. Even though this song was not written in 2012, it can still be related to problems today.

Another quote from Where is The Love?, “Most of us only care about money makin'
Selfishness got us followin' the wrong direction” relates to worldly issues. On the weekends, I sometimes watch television and notice commercials about impoverished families in the continent of Africa. I wonder why there are so many wealthy people who don’t seem to pay very much attention to the people in need. It seems to me that currently people only care about getting more things for themselves instead of helping others, which also reminds me of selfishness. Most of the people that I know from Pine Point aren’t selfish, but when I visit other places around the world, people seem shocked at how much I share with others. I never realized that outside of school --the safe place where I learn and grow-- things are significantly different. Often times selfish people believe that no one should be allowed to share the privileges that they have, admiring and enjoying things that they keep away from anyone else who might need one of the same items. I wonder how different the world would be if selfish people changed their ways and we all did our part in helping others.

Sometimes I marvel at how difficult life seems as a human. For animals such as deer, they seem to care and look out for any other deer that they come in contact with. They help each other especially through tough times finding food and shelter. These animals do not appear to have problems with each other, and I am curious about what makes humans so discriminative against others. 

Self Assessment
1) One writing issue that I am continuing to work on is writing interesting concluding sentences for each of my paragraphs.
2) One possible strong point that I noticed in this essay is the varied lengths of sentences throughout the 2 body paragraphs.
3) One possible weak point in my writing could be my appositives. Since I am new to writing appositives.

Essay #11

Everything’s a Pattern:

An Essay About Patterns in To Kill A Mockingbird and My Life

 April 10, 2012

    Mia Perry

Patterns are everywhere, and they can be found in almost everything. There are human made patterns in sweaters, clothes, and other accessories that we don’t necessarily pay attention to during our everyday lives. Patterns can be found in our personal lives as well, and these repetitions may not be thought about often or discovered easily. Also, authors create patterns in their stories to help with the flow and make an interesting plot, and in the classic book To Kill a Mockingbird, there are visible patterns that you are able to follow along with.

Boo Radley

(TS) There are many patterns intertwined throughout the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. (SD) One pattern that I found is missing parents. (CM) During the story when kids were introduced or talked about,  they were all missing a parent. (CM) The Finch and Ewell children had only a father, and Tom and Helen Robinson’s children lost their father near the end of the story. (SD) Also, another pattern in the book was Boo Radley doing good deeds for Scout and Jem. (CM) Boo repeatedly did favors for them, such as giving them special gifts in a tree. (CM) Boo protected the kids by bringing a blanket to keep Scout warm while the Finch kids, frowning upon the sight of red and orange flames, watched Miss Maudie’s house burn down, and he also protected Scout and Jem from Bob Ewell when he tried to attack them on the night of the pageant. (SD) In addition, there is a third pattern of loneliness that I noticed in this book. (CM) Mrs. Dubose, a woman who experienced loneliness during her life, became less lonely towards the end of the story, which was when she became frequently visited by Jem and Scout. (CM) Mayella Ewell also was lonely, lived in a bad environment, and had no friends. (CS) All of these events and characters were strategically placed in the story to create patterns.

(TS) Patterns are present in my life as well as books that I have read. (SD) One example of  a pattern in my life has to do with my weekends. (CM) Every Saturday, Emmanuel and I go over to my Aunt Cheryl, Uncle Ted, and cousin Brandon’s house to hang out with them at night until we are ready to leave. (CM) This has been our constant routine for many years that we enjoy with each other, smiling and laughing while playing games and watching movies. (SD) Moreover, I go to church every Saturday as well. (CM) Besides the occasional snowstorms in the winter or my family being on trips, we always leave the house around 9:30 in the morning. (CM) This has been a weekly pattern displayed in my life since I was born. (SD) Lastly, sports is another example from my life, because every school year I participate in all three seasons of sports after school, running and exercising every week to stay fit. (CM) Each year’s sports patterns are the same for me: cross country, basketball and gymnastics. (CM) These sports help keep my healthy during each school year. (CS) Although the patterns in my life aren’t the same as the ones in To Kill a Mockingbird, there are still patterns in everything.

There are patterns in many other things besides books and people’s lives. Everything in nature has a pattern that is evident, but sometimes you must observe it closely to uncover the secret repeats. Each plant and animal follow patterns, whether it be creatures migrating or the soft and rough textures of various leaves. From small to large, obvious to hidden, patterns exist in everything.

Self Assessment:

1) One writing issue that I am continuing to work on is using transition words to help my sentences have a better flow and clear transition to them.

2) One possible strong point in this essay are my participle phrases lengthening my sentences.

3) One possible weak point in my writing is that some of my sentences are very short, and I could lengthen them.

Assessment Essay

       Nothing but Net:

               An Essay on Teaching Gym Classes for Assessment

           Mia Perry

           8th Grade

                   February 27, 2012

                   Pine Point School

        Have you ever thought about what a game of knock out, a badminton match, or even just 20 minutes of playing outside a day can do for your health? I found out the answer to that question during the seven weeks of working on my assessment project, and conducting research about the topic of child physical education. Teaching the physical education classes, better known as P.E. or gym, was a delighting experience filled with basketballs, birdies, and badminton nets. Although this does not sound as if much effort was involved during my assessment, there are many thoughts and much stress that goes into the process and every-day set up for the class.
        Finalizing my service site was not an easy or short process. When I first started my assessment, I was volunteering at High Hopes Therapeutic Riding Center. I chose High Hopes because I had not worked with horses before, and I was also interested in helping children with disabilities. I soon discovered that I was not old enough to conduct side walking activities with the children, so I would be cleaning horse stalls instead, which is when I decided that this site was not going to be the best place to volunteer for this particular project. When I decided that 

High Hopes was not going to work, I consulted Mr. Salsich for advice on finding a new location. After some discussion about options on Pine Point School’s campus, I decided that being the assistant in the P.E classes with younger children would be a good idea. I talked to Mrs. Davis, 

who was glad that I offered to help, and she said that I could work with the 6th and 7th graders during my study hall period. Although I was excited to begin, I was not sure how things would go since I was working with students that were closer to my age. I was expecting students below 3rd grade that were many years younger than I was. I am glad that I was able to work with the classes that I was assigned to, even though they were not as young as I had anticipated. Changing my service site was not easy, but I am satisfied that I stuck with the gym classes.

        Although I was doing my volunteer work at Pine Point, there were still challenges and obstacles that I had to work through with the students. Since I knew most of my students well,

My 6th Grade Students Warming Up

they often wanted to have side conversations with me. Because of this, I was often instructing them to do the warm up exercises again, so that I could focus on taking attendance. Sometimes I would be helping one student and another student would try to ask me a question, and over time the students learned that they needed to wait patiently if I was helping another student. On the other hand, some students thought that since I was not their regular teacher, I would not notice the code of conduct lacking in certain areas. For example, one of my students took his shoes off and started fooling around even though there is a gym rule that states that you always need to keep your shoes on, and one of my other students had sports clothes at hand, but did not put them on until I noticed and told him that he needed to change since he had the clothes that were necessary for the class. I solved these problems by not allowing them to play or participate until they followed the rules. Some of my students were not as accomplished at sports as others, and felt discouraged sometimes when they were having trouble. A few of my 6th grade students had difficulties with shooting the basketball, and I spent a fair amount of time in the last two classes helping students with shooting. One of my students was not confident during P.E, so I gave her suggestions on how to improve. Although there were obstacles in my assessment, I was able to overcome them all.

        Looking back over all of my assessment visits, I was able to be of assistance to more people than I originally thought. One way is that I helped students gain sports skills. Although 

sports are not all that matters in life, I was able to teach some students how to be better basketball athletes. They also learned rules about badminton from me during our badminton season. 

Badminton Racket, Birdie and Nets (Not At PPS)

I was an aid to Mr. DeLapp and Mrs. Davis in multiple aspects of the class. I demonstrated activities for different stations, took attendance, and set-up and took down equipment. They had more time to become more organized since they had time not always having to teach the class. What’s more, I helped myself by gaining knowledge on how to deal with children. I was able to calm students down, and get them to listen when they became hyperactive. If students wouldn’t abide by the rules, there would be a penalty for them until they agreed to follow directions. In the end I assisted many people, and also expanded my knowledge of problem solving.

        Over the course of my assessment research on child physical education, I learned much about the importance of gym in your life as a student. Physical education is an activity that helps your growth, health or body image. The origin of this activity traces back to China in 2500 B.C. In school systems, as you advance up a grade each year, more activities like badminton and field hockey are added. More on the statistics side, a Center for Disease Control test shows that girls who get 70-300 minutes of physical activity a week consistently score higher on tests and quizzes that are given to them in school. Sadly, schools are cutting gym classes, which could be a factor that can affect girl’s academic achievements. The quality of the class also matters, because you could have P.E. class for an hour and just stand around. With classes being cut from our nation’s school curriculums, there is an increase of time in class for students to not be active, which can increase your weight because you are stressed and will not be burning calories from lunch. Weight is the combination of calories that you eat with the amount of those calories that you burn. Children consume calories, and, since there is less physical movement time in their lives, spend little to no time burning the calories, which can risk obesity. Learning about weight and how movement can help you lead a healthier life has given me useful knowledge that I will hopefully be able to apply to my life as I grow older.
        There are also themes and motifs in To Kill a Mockingbird that relate to my assessment work. The first motif that relates to my assessment work was games. We engaged in many activities such as knock out, king of the court, and other games during the classes. In the book, Jem, Dill and Scout play games such as impersonating the Radley family or running to touch Boo Radley’s house. Also, my work relates to the theme of expectations. Students are usually expected to be great athletes or at least good at sports. The expectations that you have for the students in class are similar to the ones that Aunt Alexandra set for Scout. The last theme that relates to my work was do not judge. When some students weren’t as talented at badminton or basketball, or had difficulty with the sport, no one judged them. This reminded me of how Tom Robinson was judged by people just because of his skin color, and how that is not what should matter to people. I was surprised that I could relate the themes that I found in To Kill a Mockingbird could relate to my assessment work.
        There are some changes that I would make if I had to do my assessment project over again. I could have saved time in each class if I did not have to explain the rules multiple times. I would have quieted the children down when they weren’t paying attention. If I had taken the time during demonstrations, they most likely would have listened closer and not had questions. I also would have tried to be more helpful to the students when they had questions. I was often vague when I explained the games so they generated even more questions. Sometimes they would be having difficulties without asking for help, and I should have stepped in to help them even if they didn’t need my help. Lastly, I would have taken more opportunities to encourage the students. When some of the children got out of the game, I sometimes forgot to congratulate them for doing a good job. Some of the children were discouraged when they missed or lost, and I could have made them feel better. Even though I had a successful experience, there were changes that I could have made to my assessment work.
        I have been changed by this assessment project work in three ways. First, I have a slightly better idea of knowing how to deal with issues. I know what to say to calm down children, somewhat like how Atticus deals with Jem and Scout. Next, I know the students better. Before the assessment project started, I didn’t know any of the new 6th grade students. For the children that I still don’t know, I left a good reputation and now they know who I am. Lastly, I gained appreciation for my gym teachers and knowledge about P.E. classes. There are large amounts of effort that must be put into preparing and teaching a class. Now I know how to set-up the nets and stations and take attendance. As I have said, I was changed by the assessment project even though they are small changes.
        I wonder if mockingbirds ever exercise. Maybe the older birds teach them, like I taught the classes for the 6th and 7th graders. Although we are different, birds may have similar lives. I greatly enjoyed helping Mr. D and Mrs. Davis teach the P.E. classes, and I hope that they had the same satisfactory experience as I did.

Essay #9

  Equally Wise Connections:
         An Essay Relating A Quote From To Kill A Mockingbird To My Life and To The Book
Mia Perry
      8th Grade English
       February 10, 2012

Atticus Finch is an extremely wise man. Although he may not exist in real life, Harper Lee created his character to be witty and understanding. Atticus has moral courage and is intelligent with his thoughts and words. He also has some quotes that are able to relate to, and were very important at the time.

(TS) “We know all men aren’t created equal in the sense some people would have us believe- some people are smarter than others, some people have more opportunity because their born with it, some men make more money than others, some ladies make better cakes than others- some people are born gifted beyond the normal scope of most men.” (SD) This quote from chapter 20 of To Kill a Mockingbird was said by Atticus during his final statements to the Jury in Tom Robinson’s trial, but they also relate to the characters in the novel. (CM) Scout and Jem, unknowing and thoroughly thinking through every moment, were born with more opportunity than people such as Boo Radley or Dill have access to, partially because they don’t have supportive parents like Atticus, and probably have parents that are as precautionary as Aunt Alexandra. (CM) Although Calpurnia isn’t as well educated or appreciated in Maycomb County as Aunt Alexandra is, she has better judgment and family skills, and Aunt Alexandra does not seem as if she knows that she is lacking in many areas. 

Atticus Finch Defending Tom Robinson

(CM) In addition, Atticus Finch was born with many gifts that helped him defend Tom Robinson, and Atticus always does what is right in his eyes.

(SD) This quote also relates to my personal life, because there have been many experiences l was able to have and enjoy that others are not so fortunate to undergo. (CM) Some people envy my abilities at different sports that I was gifted with, while I am not so accomplished at others. (CM) Sadly, in my lifetime my eyes have seen many people who are experiencing homelessness, which reminded me of how Mr. Finch explained that some men make more money than others. (CM) Also, I’ve been to many places across the country and in the world that so many people, as Atticus said, are not born with the opportunity to explore. (CS) Atticus made valid points in his speech to his jury, and possibly Scout and Jem will grow up knowing that message, and everyone who reads the book will understand how we are all different yet alike.

As children, you grow up thinking that owls are the wisest animals. They are often portrayed in movies and books as the smart person who speaks up and gives the greatest advice that there is to be given. If that is actually true, then I wonder if the owls think the same way that Atticus Finch thinks. Maybe owls give advice, similar to the advice of Atticus, to their owlets.

Self Assessment
1) One issue that I am continuing to work on is that I sometimes repeat words without being purposeful.
2) One strong point that I see in this piece of writing is my varied lengths of sentences.
3) One possible weak point I see is that the flow of my sentences from one to the next aren’t always equal.

Essay #8

Mild In America:
     An Essay About Mildness In My Life and To Kill A Mockingbird
An Essay By Mia Perry
    January 24, 2012

Mild is my favorite flavor of salsa. Although I eat this type of salsa all the time, I never thought about what the word mild truly means. In fact, mild isn’t just a word used to describe the spiciness of the dip, but is also a word that is not used often in today’s American dialogue.  There are many people in my life that I know of or have heard of that are mild.
(TS) The word mild means gentle or not easily provoked. (SD) One of To Kill A Mockingbird’s characters, Atticus Finch, is an example of a gentle father. (CM) He is always kind to his children and others with his good manners, and he never purposefully wants to offend anyone. (CM) Atticus has good morals and standards that he sets for himself to help maintain his calmness. (SD) In addition, Atticus isn’t just a well mannered father, but he acts the same way in the courtroom as a lawyer. (CM) Atticus isn’t intolerant in court, but instead, hearing and listening, he openly wants to hear what the opposing side has to say. (CM) He could be rude and interrupt every time he disagrees, but he stays aware of how others think. (CS) Atticus Finch is an all around good-natured person, who seems to care about others even if they don’t care about him.
(TS) Aside from book characters, I have also seen and heard of some mild people in my life. (SD) A few years ago, there was a story in the news about a man at his favorite baseball team’s game, and he caught a ball that was hit out of the field. (CM) He handed the ball to his young daughter, who not knowing what to do with it, threw it back and everyone watching gasped in horror. (CM) After she 

Father With Daughter Who Threw Back The Foul Ball

threw the ball away, smiling and laughing, he gave her a huge hug, which is without question a good example of a warm-hearted father who doesn’t care about material items more than his family. (SD) Another peaceable person is my grandma on my mother’s side. (CM) Even though she likes to sleep often, she always wants to help in any way she can by cleaning or cooking. (CM) She loves occasional jokes, and she never raises her voice. (CS) From fictional characters to real life people, there are mild living beings in places you don’t know about or expect.
One animal that I think of when I think of mild creatures are giraffes. Giraffes don’t seem to bother anyone at all, and they care about themselves and their herd. Like Atticus Finch, they are protective and loving towards their children. Everyone seems to have a mild characteristic, but some people are able to show it more than others.

Assessment 7

(TS) With a smaller amount of students comes easier control. (SD) Today, half of the 6^th grade class was missing as a result of Mrs. Williams needing them working on a dance project, although that didn’t stop the other half from showing up to class and working hard. (CM) The students played various basketball games such as Knock Out and Around the World. (CM) Many of the groups had trouble understanding the games so I had to explain the rules to them, which they eventually understood. (SD) One of my students, Maggie, had an extremely difficult time shooting the basketball, and she often consulted me for help. (CM) I was able to help her shoot better by showing her how hitting the corner of the square on the backboard will increase the probability of your shot going into the basket. (CM) She also needed to have stronger force on the ball, so that it would go higher in the air and wouldn’t fall short so many feet. (SD) Many of the girls had tried to talk to me while I was taking attendance for the day. (CM) Since I was trying to focus on my work of checking which students were present, I advised that they go work on shooting, because I needed to stay on track. (CM) Although they did not seem interested at first, they eventually began to practice their lay-ups. (CS) Today, I feel as if the students were able to take away more from the lessons than they had on any other day of class.

Assessment 6

(TS) Today I worked with the 7^th grade class, which is surprisingly more productive than working with the 6^th grade. (SD) Most of the time I stayed with a group of 4 girls, who needed my help the most. (CM) At the knockout station, one of the girls, Beth, who is an accomplished basketball player began to make every foul shot that she took after the first round, while another student had a hard time making any baskets at all. (CM) Although I would try to suggest helpful hints while she was playing, after she got out I would explain to the student how she could improve her foul shots and lay-ups by using the backboard, and after a few rounds she seemed to be a more efficient shooter with a better idea of how to use the backboard. (CM) This group worked well together, and seemed to pay enough attention to hear when it was time for them to switch stations. (SD) Although I had helped many groups by the end of the class, I originally started out with getting the gym set up, helping explain how all of the different stations functioned, helping Mrs. Davis get the equipment ready, but then I moved on to working with the students. (CM) Many of the students that I worked with had a hard time understanding the activities that were planned, so I often found myself explaining the rules constantly to various groups and helping them solve their problems.(CM) I was also challenged by using the stopwatch to help two groups at the same time keep track of how long they were able to keep the ball away from another member in their group.  (CM) Working with different groups helped me to get to know the students better, along with helping Mr. D and Mrs. Davis work on their pieces, and knowing that I was there to help. (CS) The students worked together surprisingly well this class, and they seemed to be in a better mood when they left the P.E. class.

Assessment 5

(TS) Today, basketball started as the new P.E activity. (SD) Although for the past few weeks I had been helping the students with badminton, today we started a new sport. (CM) Since Mr. D had left for his team’s basketball game and Mrs. Davis was busy getting ready for the class, I started out in charge of the group. (CM) The 6^th grade class was definitely complicated to keep quiet, and they often had a hard time sitting still and following directions. (CM) Sometimes when I was monitoring the stations, I would notice that the kids had stopped playing, and then I would have to remind them to keep shooting or passing since there was no station that said to relax and laze around until school was over. (SD) As I already mentioned, this group was very hard to keep track of and help make sure that they were on track. (CM) I remember when I was helping out at Station 7, the Jump Ball station, I left to go help Station 4 fix their stopwatch, and when I came back there was only one of the students left at Station 7. (CM) This made me confused, and I had to scout out the different students to bring them back to the station where they belonged. (CM) Most of the 6^th graders are new to basketball, so I often found myself helping them with shooting or how to perfect their chest passes. (CM) Helping this group of students was quite satisfying, and it also seems as if everyone enjoyed themselves, while I am still wondering what I was like when I first learned how to play basketball. (CS) I wonder if my experience of bringing in basketball with the 7^th graders will go as well as it did with the 6^th graders today

Assessment 4

 My fourth visit was my most accomplished service day. The class started out wonderfully, because not only was I able to set up the nets with ease and without help, but everyone besides one or two children remembered their P.E. clothes. Today’s class had plenty of energy, and often had a hard time quieting down.  We played King of the Court for the final time with that class, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, accept they often enjoyed themselves too much to hear that I clearly and loudly yelled that it was time to switch courts. There were many things running through my mind while 4 students would circle me like vultures flying around a carcass. I also felt more “in charge” today, because students would come asking me questions. Not only was I asked questions, but also I often had to hang around different courts since some teams tried to cheat.There were two teams that were always stirring up problems, and I always ran over to them to solve it. Usually since I did not see that particular match, I would tell them that if no one knew who’s point it was that they would re-do that point. While I packed away the badminton nets and reminded the children to pick up their Jump and Hoops for Heart packets, I felt like I had accomplished something today that I had never accomplished before in any of my assessment visits.

Assessment 3

            Today was another successful Assessment visit. Since today is Thursday, I worked with the 7th graders. I started out with my usual duties, and moved on to playing King of The Court. Today there were a fair amount of complaints and questions about the game that were easily solved. The most asked question today was about the boundary lines of what was “out” and what was considered “in” for points. One student started out at the King Court an eventually moved all the way down to the last court, number 6. She kept getting so frustrated and I would explain to her that she could still redeem herself and that she was doing a good job. Although this cheering did not get her anywhere, I was determined to help in some way. During the last minute of the class, she was able to win a match and move up to court 5. I had a good time doing my assessment today. I feel like this visit was more successful than the last visit I made. 

Assessment 2

My second assessment visit had many similarities and differences to the first visit. There were not as many kids, because most of the girls had gone away to their basketball game. Today, I was able to work with the group of 6^th graders that were present, and surprisingly I didn’t know as many as I do now. I started my visit with the regular organization clean up, sign everyone in, and set up the nets routine. We played a game called King of the Court where you try to move to the highest court, Court 1. During this session, there were many disagreements where I had to step in and keep track of the score to quiet down the quarrelling. On some occasions, a court wouldn’t know who had won, or just said they won when they weren’t sure, so I solved the problem by having the two opposing teams have a match point to see who would move up or down a court. Some students thought this was unfair, but since no one would admit that they had lost or decided to be lazy and not keep score, it was a problem solver and a bit of a “wake up” signal to make sure that they paid more attention in the next game. Besides that, everyone seemed to enjoy him or herself, including me and the teachers who didn’t have to work so hard with me stepping in to assist them. Over all, I feel satisfied with my work today, but I didn’t get the special feeling that I had during my first visit. Hopefully Thursday I will be more proud of my assessment work in the P.E. class.