Week Four: Day Four

This was the final day of the Kinect. The students were able to choose what activity they did again today. Also, the students from another class were a part of the class. The students that had been doing the Kinect over the last four weeks got to spend some time telling the other students about the activities they had been doing. They also helped to demonstrate and teach the studenst how to use the technology!

Overall, I think the Kinect experience was a good one. The students really liked the activities and seemed to show some basic improvement in their stamina and physical capabilities. I am proud of how hard they worked and how cooperative they were working on this project with Ashley and me!

Week Four: Day Three

Days three and four will be the last days for the students to use the Kinect. Because the games we played had many more options than the ones we had in our curriculum, the students were given choices as to what activities they wanted to do. For Day Three, the students chose to do hurdles. Below are some videos of the hurdle activities.

Week Four: Day Two

The students were given the choice for their warm up dance again today. This seems to work best because each group has a song they like the best.

This is the final day where I am choosing the sports for the students. We did the same boxing activity as yesterday. The students had a great time again with this activity.

Tomorrow, the students will get to choose the activity they do.

Week Four: Day One

We have begun our final week of Kinecting with Physical Fitness. I am going to miss this time I get to spend with my students. I have had a great time getting to work with them in a non-math setting. They are such different kids when you take the classroom element away from them.

Again this week, I let the students choose their dance from a list of songs we have already worked with.

The sport for today was boxing. There is no mini game for boxing so we just played the two player mode and rotated through rounds. When there was a knockout or the end of a round, we switched players.

This was fun to watch. The students had a great time--the especially enjoyed when they got to box me. It was the only chance they had to "hit" their teacher. =)

Week Three: Day Four

I let the groups choose which dances they warmed up with today. We had some Lady Gaga and Funkytown. I have been careful about what I choose because I am not familiar with all the lyrics and I do not know if they are school appropriate. However, for the sake of warming up-- the ones we have been doing have been working well.

The sports portion of the Kinect was Beach Volleyball again today. We played the same mini game as yesterday because it had such great perceptual motor benefits.

Overall....Week Three was a success.

Week Three: Day Three

Warm Up today was Funkytown on Medium. This was a little more difficult than Funkytown on Medium, but the students seemed to enjoy it.

For the Sports activity, we moved onto Beach Volleyball. We played the Mini-Game called Body Ball. This required the students to hit a volleyball with the body part that was being called out. For many of the students this was a challenge because of the motor integration problems.

In terms of my students and their needs, this has been the best activity we have done so far.

Week Four: Day Three

For Week Four: Day Three, we warmed up with Lady Gaga's Poker Face on Hard. This was a nice change because it incorporated many of the moves the students had already learned in the previous weeks.

For the Sports part of the Kinect, the students got to participate in Student Choice. The groups picked track and field because we hadn't done it yet. They played the Mini Game: Hurdles. This was the most physical of the games we have done. The students played two at a time and "raced" against each other, jumping over hurdles. The students really loved this one! They liked switching the teammate they raced against. A few times during the play, a student would false start and the game would make them start over-- just like real track and field.

Check out the videos of Hurdles!

Week Three: Day Two

Today we warmed up with the Break it Down of Can't Get You Out of My Head. This was a slower dance, and not as easy. For warm up purposes, I think I am going to stick to more familiar, easier dances.

For the sport part of the Kinect time, we played soccer mini games again today. We focused on Target Practice today. This game required that the students kick a soccer ball at moving targets. This was an easy task for some students, yet proved to be very difficult for others.

The Fitness Station Activities remained the same as they have been.

Week Three: Day One

Week Three: Day One. Today we are tried out some new dances for the warm ups. We did some different ones for each group and did the Break It Down up to the first Perform It. For the Kinect Sports, we played Soccer Mini games.

The Fitness Station remained the same as last week. The students are able to complete the activities much faster than in the beginning. I have been recommending they complete another cycle of the activities at the station.

Overall, Week Three is off to a good start.

Week Two: Day Two

Week Two is off and running...

The Fitness Station activities were the same as yesterday with students doing sit ups, push ups, lunges, and running in place. When the students completed their activities, they were given the option to jump on the small trampoline or jump rope. Many students chose t o take turns doing both of these activities.

The Kinect Station spent their warm up time doing the Break It Down for "Evacuate the Dance Floor." Due to the short time for each station, the students only did the first two sets of Break It Down.

After warming up, the students played table tennis. The first group played a game with the two player mode. The second group played a game against the computer. The third group only danced because Ashley came to check out the progress and the group wanted to do the dances they learned for her. Finally, the fourth group did a mini game of table tennis.

I also sent home and had most returned, a media release so the students could be photographed or have video taken to place on the website.

Week Two: Day One

Yesterday would have technically been Week Two: Day One, however, it was an early dismissal day.

Today, at the Fitness Station, the students completed the activities on their logs. I also added some other activities for them to complete when they were done. They jumped on a small trampoline and took turns jumping rope. The students seemed to really like the jump rope!

For the Kinect Station, the students warmed up with a few of the Break It Down Steps from Lady Gaga's Poker Face that they learned last week. The students seemed to remember the steps and needed little to now assistance! I was very pleased.

After some warm up time, we switched to bowling. We bowing in a traditional sense, rather than the mini game we played last week. Some groups had more than the four player maximum for the game, so we just rotated through the players. While the students were bowling we talked about the different aspects of bowling: how players take two turns (unless there was a strike), strikes, spares, pins, etc.

The students seemed to like bowling, however, they seemed to be more into the dancing.

Week Two: Day Three

Today was Kinect with just the boys because the girls were swimming.

Warm Up today was Break It Down for Funkytown on the Easy level. The boys have a harder time dancing than the girls do, so they like to keep it on easy.

The sport for today was Table Tennis. The boys played mini games of Table Tennis. We have found it is easier to run a mini game than playing the full mode because it allows more play time.

Overall, Wee Two went very well. We are looking forward to Week Three...

Week One: Day Three

The girls were at the YMCA for swimming today, so I had only the boys. I split the bots into two groups. I took them down to the Kienct and they participated in the same activities the girls did the day before: "Break it Down" and "Perform It" for both Poker Face and Funkytown.

While the boys were not as receptive to the dancing as the girls were, tehy seemed to have a good time. I had to spend more time demonstrating dance moves for them. Overall, they also had a good time.

To end the week, the students completed surveys on SurveyMonkey.com about their first week of Kinecting with Physical Fitness. We will see how the results look!

Week One: Day Two

Ok...Day Two. Things will go more smoothly today, right? Wrong. When I got downstairs with my first two groups, someone was using the room. So we made some adjustments and had the Fitness Station in two large groups in the All Purpose Room of the school.

Later, when the room was free, I took a large group of girls down to use the Kinect because we were short on time and they would be missing the next day due to swimming. We played Dance Revolution as a large group. The girls first did a session of "Break it Down" where they learned the moves to Lady Gaga's Poker Face. Then, the girls did a session of "Perform It." The girls then did a session of "Break it Down" for Funkytown and a session of "Perform It."

The girls responded really well to this activity. They were giving each other high fives and really enjoying themselves. They had a very positive attitude.

Week One: Day One

Today was the first day the Kinecting with Physical Fitness curriculum was used in the classroom. We started with a small group lesson to discuss the importance of physical fitness. We also discussed some things you can do when you can't go outside to exercise. We compiled a large list that we hung in the classroom.

The students were arranged in five groups. There were 3 to 5 students in each group. Three groups worked in the classroom with the educational assistant and two groups worked with me in another room. When the groups were with me, one group was working at the Fitness Station doing activities like sit ups, push up, lunges, and running in place. The other group was using the Kinect.

Because today was the first day, and the whole Kinect idea was such a novelty, I allowed the students some freedom in the use of the Kinect. We played some simple mini games on Kinect Sports so the students could get a feel for the program. The overall reception of the idea was good. The students seemed to like the idea of using the Kinect at school and were enthusastic.