Watching athletes engage in the pursuit of excellence through effort, coaching, failing and trying again, all in the pursuit of achievement is the Olympic story that catches our attention, and our hearts. Audiences love the back stories that put our athletes into the international theater almost as much as we love the performances themselves. Your kids, our students, are creating their own back stories each and every day. My job is to push them just…
Articles by: Garry Pfaffmann
Uphill
Why do we hike uphill on Fridays? Many reasons, really. For starters, we live in the mountains, and want to expose our students the outdoors. Their senses are alive, they experience physical fitness, they get to feel the seasons, and it builds an understanding of where we live. Additionally, we want kids to know how to take care of themselves in the mountains. Before heading uphill, we talk about personal care and safety. These uphill…
Independent Project
We will be sending our kids into an increasingly complex world which demands abstract thinking, creativity, decision making, accountability, and interpersonal skills, in addition to the hard skills of math, reading, writing, and communicating. With this in mind, schools are evolving to teach a broader skill set. Our current Language Arts unit is designed accordingly. Our all-school dance (Celebrate the Beat) is starting next week, and students are working on a Language Arts project based…
Links to Health Unit Articles
Feel free to read the following articles which we are referencing in our health class. The Teen-age Brain: Explanation of changes in the brain during adolescence. We read and discussed this article in class. Adolescent Learner: Scroll down towards the bottom of the article for a list of characteristics common to teen physical, intellectual, and emotional characteristics. We didn’t read this article in class, but I find it very helpful in trying to understand that many teen behaviors which seem…
Personal Health and Healthy Choices
This next three weeks, the fifth through eighth grade students are learning about personal health and healthy choices. This time has previously been used to discuss and practice social interaction skills in mixed-age groups, but for this brief unit Garry will be teaching the 7th/8th grade boys, and Christina Lacroix will be teaching the 7th/8th grade girls in small groups. Our discussion topics will include: Puberty: Physical changes, hygiene, and brain development. Relationships: What is…
Christina LaCroix, Garry Pfaffmann + Darcy Kyle
