It's been a great year in SLC!

For my last blog post of the year, I thought I'd repost some of the great comments we've been getting from students and staff at our Salt Lake Valley schools.  These stories were posted on our internal website by our coaches.  Enjoy!

Oct 7

I was wandering around during indoor recess time yesterday and walked by a class doing their indoor PE time.  They were playing Over Under Kickball! They had just learned it from CGT (Class Game Time) and were using it on their own time. Great to see.

Oct 18

I was walking into the gym to gather my equipment for recess, when I noticed a class was playing elbow tag during their PE time. I asked the teacher if she started the game, and she told me the students started it. They enjoyed the game so much during CGT that they asked the PE teacher if they could play it. They taught her the game and started it themselves.

Oct 19

Today a teacher told me she used to dread recess duty, but now she looks forward to it. She loves how the kids are engaged and not fighting. She thinks Playworks has already made a noticeable difference at the school.

Nov 2

Today at recess I had a random bucket of colorful bean bags. A first grade student grabbed the bucket and went over to the map of the US. He started tossing the bean bags onto the states that were the same color as the bag. It was a great game that attracted ten other students. As the students tossed the bags, I quizzed them on their states. It was a great game and a great learning activity. I am going to start putting out random equipment to see what the students invent with it!

Nov 9

Played "I Love My Neighbor" in CGT with a group of 3rd graders and the student in the middle said "I love my neighbor who loves Coach Jaime!" And everyone moved. Super cute and awesome.

Nov 9

I test out new games with my ASP (After School Program) kids to figure out how to explain activities to them and if the games are any fun, etc, so the ASP kids know a lot  more games then everyone else. They have been taking their favorite games from ASP and playing/teaching them to other kids at normal recess time! Really cool to see.

Nov 9

During ASP I took a moment to lead one of my students favorite songs. One of the students said "Coach Vee, I want to lead the song". I let this student lead and was thrilled to learn that all of my students not only knew the song ,but took turns leading it as well. So fun! After all this time I realized I need to take more time to let my students take more active leadership roles.

Nov 9

For the past three weeks I have been hyping up "high fives" and "nice tries" on our play paradise at Lincoln. A para (para-professional) that helps with lunch recess said to me "Coach Vee, your energy is really changing the students. Today during my reading group one of my students pronounced a word wrong, and his reading partner gave him a "high five" and said "nice try!" Made my whole day!

Nov 9

One of the questions on the Junior Coach application form is “Why do you want to be a Junior Coach?” One of my students who applied answered the question, "When I grow up, I want to be a coach because Cpach Vee helps so many kids. It's like being a super hero!" I chose this student to be a JC, and she rocks our tag circle each and everyday!!

Nov 11

During ASP I took my third and fourth grade classes to play soccer. They decided to pick their team names. Team 1 named themselves "Playworks" and Team 2 named themselves "The Lincoln Way" (Respect, Inclusion, High Fives, Nice Tries, etc is the "Lincoln Way). When I asked them why they picked these names, they said it was because they love Playworks and playing respectfully. I could only smile!!

Nov 14

Went to an after school teachers council meeting yesterday to discuss using only my equipment on the recess playground. All of the teachers were in favor after I explained the benefits (sharing, playing together, increase interaction between students, etc.)  A few of the teachers told me they had stopped giving out equipment a while ago and had noticed their kids all playing together, being respectful to each other and choosing to play group games during their individual recess time, which they attributed to Playworks and what was happening at recess.

Nov 16

I walked into the building this morning and instantly was getting high fives and compliments from teachers about my JC's. I took a sick day and my JC's really stepped up their game. Teachers told me they asked for help to get into our office. They set up recess for the day and totally ran our program without me. To my surprise, they also lead all of our school cheers for cool down at the end of each recess. Teachers said they were blown away when they were able to cool down over 150 students at our last recess. WOW! I feel so proud to be back today! When I say Lincoln. . .You say PRIDE!!

Nov 16

During class game time today, I heard a boy exclaim, "This is kinda fun!" It soon progressed to "This is fun!" followed by "This is cool!" and ending with "Why do we have to stop?"

Nov 16

The recess duty at my school approached me and told me how much of a change she had seen in students at Hillsdale. I said I hope that the program is making a difference and she responded by saying, "A sixth grade girl moved to this school and wouldn't smile at anybody, she would hardly say a word, now she smiles, gives high fives and plays four square every day. I see the improvement!" It made me realize that I don't see the change because I am just getting to know these kids, but it's wonderful to see a game put a smile on a child's face.

Nov 18

Today at recess I brought out a new piece of equipment the office gave me not knowing what do with it, a GIANT volleyball a good 15" in diameter. I put in on the playground and my 5 and 6 grades invented a game using the ball. Everyone collaborated on the rules and it was an amazing group effort! Look out for Air Ball taking off at Meadowlark!

Nov 22

Today one of the 5th grade classes was making notes on those Thanksgiving themed cut-outs (turkeys/those horns that have food in them). A group of the kids made theirs for me. Here is my favorite one: 
"Dear Coach Jaime, Thank you for teaching us new games for PE. Also thank you for helping us on the playground. This is the best year for me because you came for the Playworks. This school would not be the same without you."

Nov 28

I saw a 1st grader pouting during a basketball game. Another 1st grader came up and said, "It is not about winning and losing. It is about both and having fun. If you lose, no big deal. If you win, great." I gave her a much earned high-five for her wisdom.

Dec 12

"Thanks for making time for me and my class on Thursday. My class really enjoys their Playworks time, so if they missed it, they would be upset. We'll be there at 9:10.” -Email from a teacher in regard to me rescheduling their CGT because of an assembly.

Thanks for making 2011 a great year!  Happy Holidays from Playworks SLC.

A Little Holiday Spirit

The holiday season is upon us. I am appalled, once again, by the utter madness of Black Friday.  It seems like every year I hear about someone being trampled or robbed or shot as the holiday rush begins.  This year, the big story was about a woman who pepper sprayed fellow shoppers over an X-box.  To me, these things seem to be in direct conflict with the notion of goodwill and fellowship I traditionally associate with the holiday season, but I recognize that to some, this is what the holidays are about: fighting with family, making a huge profit on irrational consumer behavior, and getting the one awesome thing you want for Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa...

Gift giving goes back thousands of years to various civilizations, and the idea seems to be that a person shows his or her appreciation for someone by giving him or her something special.  The holiday season has a certain ceremonial aspect to it in this regard.  For many of us, it's the one time all year that we will go out of our way to say thank you to people we ordinarily take for granted.  I'm giving my son's daycare provider a hand-made quilt for Christmas this year, and I admit it will be the first time I've gone out of my way to let her know I appreciate what she does for my family.  Perhaps you will be giving similar tokens of appreciation.

This aspect of gift giving is, in my opinion, a good idea, but the tradition of gift giving is less often about appreciation these days than about an obligation.  Many of us feel bound by an unspoken code to give everyone we know a gift regardless of whether that gift is heartfelt or not, and many of us, too, have used the holiday season as an excuse to get the toy or gadget or whatever thing it is we feel we deserve.  

For parents, the desire to fulfill our children's most frantic desires by buying the toy that is too expensive to justify at any other time of year is bound up with our self worth.  If we can purchase an X-box or an iPad for our sons and daughters, we consider ourselves good parents, but if we can't, we are utter failures.

All of these aspects contribute to the insanity of an event like Black Friday, and all of these impulses are, at some level, justifiable or at least understandable, but we are missing something important when we allow ourselves to sink into crazy pants land.  We are missing an opportunity to make the holidays meaningful and important in a manner that transcends material possessions.

We must ask ourselves what lessons our children are taking from the holidays.  Do they see our intentions, our deepest wishes for them, that they will be happy and healthy?  Do they see our kindness and generosity?  Or is it something else that they see when we buy meaningless gifts for people solely because we think we owe it to them?  

I'd like to encourage you to do something rather different this holiday season.  Instead of buying things, volunteer.  You can volunteer at soup kitchens or food banks or shelters or even at your child's school.  Many teachers would really appreciate a helping hand in their classrooms, and if your school is a Playworks school, you can volunteer with us out on the playground.  All you have to do is play a few games, and you will be contributing to something meaningful and valuable.  Plus, your kids will see you doing it, and that will go a long way towards communicating what the holiday season is really all about.

Don't feel like volunteering or can't find the time, consider a donation or microvolunteer by sharing information about a cause you support with people you know.  Sometimes networking is just as good as giving.

Happy Holidays from Playworks SLC