Horseback Riding aka Hippotherapy is a Big Time Hit!

This past weekend, Strawberry Fields Ranch in Cortland, NY held a fundraiser encouraging individuals with disabilities to come out and enjoy Hippotherapy. The American Hippotherapy Association Inc. (AHA, Inc.) promotes the use of the movement of the horse as a treatment strategy in physical, occupational and speech-language therapy sessions for people living with disabilities. Hippotherapy has been shown to improve muscle tone, balance, posture, coordination, motor development as well as emotional well-being. For only $10 Junior and I attended the event in which we played some barn games, made some arts and crafts, enjoyed some snacks, and Junior spent about 45 minutes riding horses!

Junior has never experienced anything like he did at Strawberry Fields and he absolutely loved it. We played kickball in the barn, ran some relay races, made a sign for his room and then things really took off when he was able to ride two different horses. Junior enjoyed playing with his peers and doing something he has never done before. He claimed he was "a little scared" as he was quickly jumping on the horse but seconds later he was saying how he wanted to go fast! Junior learned some terms to control the two horses Max and Danny such as a clicking sound from the mouth to signal "go" and saying "woah" to signal "stop!" Junior was able to pet the horses, feed them carrots and he even gave them some hugs and kisses. As you can tell from the pictures, Junior had an absolute blast. His love for animals truly shows and all the students who got on the horses proved how beneficial hippotherapy is.

In the future, I strongly recommend for other mentors to bring their mentee's to the program. The staff at Strawberry Fields absolutely loved how the day went and they mentioned that they wouldn't mind doing something like this twice a year!

Bowling Progress is Opening New Doors!

Yesterday was definitely one of our better sessions! I am seeing consistently huge progress in his bowling technique. We finally received permission for Junior to use the Fitness Facility at SUNY Cortland which Junior has really been looking forward to. I told him straightforward that if we get some efficient bowling practice in first, we will get into the weight room. Instantly Junior was on the ball. He could tell me all the cues for our form, "palm up, stepping with opposition, and release low!" Not only could he recite the cues but he executed the skill with all 3 critical elements on our modified bowling alley in the racquetball courts. We spent about 25 minutes practicing bowling and then we moved onto the weight room which Junior was really looking forward to as you can see with his face of intensity on the exercise bike!

Before entering the weight room I had to talk to Junior about rules including safety, etiquette, cleanliness, intensity and progression. We started off on the bike to warm up nice an easy for 6 minutes. Then we moved onto the elliptical since he was ready to increase his intensity and work on his cardiovascular endurance. After about 5 minutes of work and a push to give me 1 minute of a cool down speed, we were going to move onto some lifting. We worked on the shoulder press, triceps extensions and some biceps curls. Compared to other average 15 year old males, Junior is a lot smaller and is lacking muscular strength and endurance so we had to start very light. I was able to get Junior to agree that we should be focusing on form, more than the weight being lifted.

He became fatigued very easily so I think he is starting to see how much he can improve. The struggle we have to overcome is the fact that he is not used to being physically active. While we are being active, he frequently tells me how he doesn't like getting hot, he doesn't like to sweat, and when he actually starts feeling his muscles working, he thinks his leg or arm fell asleep. He clearly demonstrates a lack of physical activity but Junior can improve by starting out small and progressively moving up the intensity ladder. Our Project Dream goal was to bowl a turkey so we are continually working on that and Junior is definitely making progress, but I am also trying to expose him to other forms of activity so he can find one that is right for him where he will pursue it on his own! I am able to show him with bowling that he can improve when he puts the effort in as he has showed already! My goal is for Junior to realize that he can open his own new doors and be actively successful by putting in the time and effort!

PE Teachers Need to Adapt

Many PE teachers are aware that they need to be able to adapt. On a daily basis, lessons are probably not going to run as planned. On Saturday, Junior and I planned on going to the SPCA to walk some dogs. Junior really enjoys playing with animals. Junior has never run around as much as when we were walking the dog Woody. Saturday also turned out to be the nicest day of the Spring semester so far so it was a perfect opportunity to get outside and be active with some dogs.

However, when we got to the SPCA there weren't any dogs, what a total bummer! We definitely wanted to be outside so I quickly thought on my feet and we decided to take about a 2 mile jog/walk to the waterworks and feed the ducks and deer. Once we got to the waterworks I really noticed how much Junior enjoys being around animals. He was having a blast and laughing the entire time as we threw some crackers to the ducks. He talks about his pet bird all the time, loves walking the dogs, and really enjoyed our walk to the Waterworks pond.

Fortunately there is a fundraiser at Strawberry Fields Ranch on Sunday April 17th! At the fundraiser participants can get pony rides and interact with the horses so I am extremely excited for Junior. I don't think he has ever had an opportunity like this and I think he is really going to enjoy it. He has told me he is excited but slightly scared about riding a horse so I am interested in how things will turn out. I am believe Junior will get up on a horse even if he is nervous at first. Junior has really enjoyed working with animals in the past although they have been on a smaller scale. I am really excited for Junior to experience this opportunity and to see how the day unfolds.

Experiencing a Teachable Moment

During my preparation as a Physical Education Teacher Candidate, I learn countless lessons about events that will occur in my future profession. Many of my teachers use the term "teachable moments" when events occurs and we can learn from them for the future. One of the lessons I have learned is that events occurring outside of school, specifically at home, can have an effect on how students behave during lessons. It is important to know this so teachers don't jump to conclusions when trying to figure out student behavior. Luckily, I was told by Junior's mother about some events occurring at home, so I was informed. I was expecting Junior to not act like his usual self because of the changes at home.
A term to describe how Junior was acting would be "Frazzled." He was having a hard time focusing on what I was saying and was even asking me questions like it was the first time we met when we have been together for over 7 weeks now. We went bowling and at first it seemed like we had lost our progress we made since the beginning of Project Dream. Since I knew what was going, I gave him some more leniency than normal. He started out bowling with the ball between his legs and didn't want to hear any of my tips.Then after a few frames he started to listen better after I expressed to him that I was beginning to get disappointed because I know he can do better and he wanted to prove it to me. He started to bowl just like the way we have been working on with the ball on the right side of his body, fingers in the bowling ball holes, and holding the ball with his palm up!The best part was that as he was using the form I was teaching him, his score increased and his last few frames he bowled a 9,7,9 and a spare in the tenth frame. His last 4 frames were his best I have ever seen him bowl! I was happy to see what I was teaching Junior was being reinforced by his score!By being patient and persistent I was able to help Junior succeed. The process was a lot easier and less stressful since I knew about the other events in his life that were occurring recently. At first I was a bit nervous that we were going to have a rough night but I thought about what I have been learning about in Cortland's Phys Ed program. I then felt confident in my ability to adapt and help Junior succeed because of what I have learned and know!

Spring is in the air.. So lets get out and move!

Although it was only 30 degrees outside, it is Spring. Most of the snow is disappearing which means more opportunities to get out and be active and I definitely enjoy being outside instead of indoors.
I wanted to share my love with being outside with Junior so I suggested we go down to the local SPCA and walk some dogs. Junior said he loves dogs so I explained that we could have fun playing with dogs and being active at the same time. It turned out to be almost too easy to volunteer and walk a dog, they friendly and trusting people at the SPCA just handed a dog over to us as long as I as the adult held onto the leash the entire time. They didn't even ask me for a name so thankfully they are trusting individuals.

We decided to walk a medium sized terrier named Woody as you can see in the pictures. We had a blast as Junior was chasing after Woody and Woody chased after him. I've never seen Junior run for as long of a period of time as he did with Woody. He was having so much fun but he did admit he was getting tired after about 20 minutes. It was also still on the chilly side so we went back to the SPCA and checked out some of the other dogs including the new puppies!

The puppies were addorable and Junior just kept saying how much he loved playing with dogs. We saw some of the other older dogs and we got to give them treats. We are definitely going back again because Junior loved it so much and he enjoyed running with Woody which can be a great form of exercise and activity!

Working Out on a Snow Day!

First thing Junior let me know when I saw him for the first time since Spring Break is that school was canceled today! The second thing he told me is that he worked out with his nephew by doing some push ups because he had the whole day off. I was so happy to hear that he is trying to workout at home and he is sharing exercise with his nephew. The next thing I asked him was if he works out everyday and he replied that it is tough when he has school work. My next objective is to get him to find time everyday to be active!

Junior made me feel bad that I hadn't seen him in more than a week because I was home for break and told me he missed me. Then after talking a bit he asked if I could take him to get a video game disc cleaned at the video store which was very good planning on his part! I said if we had a good workout and bowling session I would take him! A a good session we had!!!

We started off with a game I call "Clean Your Room" in which the gym was split into half so there was my room and his room. There were bean bags scattered everywhere and in order to clean your room and make the other player's messy, you had to use a bowling motion to bowl the bean bags to the other side. Junior really enjoyed the game and was able to practice his bowling form at the same time. I helped him make the connection between how we were bowling the bean bags and real bowling. I then asked him to show me his push ups he has been working on and we also played the quick hands game in the push up position with the bean bags as in the picture above.

We finished our workout with practicing modified bowling. Using empty water bottles as pins and my Gaelic football as the ball, we practiced bowling from different distances. Junior did an excellent job by being able to knock down all the pins in one shot from the furthest distance!

By this point Junior was ready to get his game cleaned and I agreed to take him. At the video store, I noticed that socially he is pretty well mannered. He told me he enjoys being polite by asking people how they are doing and wishing them a nice day. He says please and thank you often and I am going to continue to encourage him to keep up his polite manners. Sometimes I remind him to say thank you when he is so excited that he forgets to say it, but as soon as I remind him he says "oh yes, I like being polite!" I was very happy to hear that over spring break he went bowling with his mother and grandmother which is outstanding. Part of my goal for Junior was to engage in an activity he can do with his family and it is great to hear that they are going together. They even told me that he bowled a strike which is the first time since we started that he bowled a strike on a regulation lane! Bowling does cost money but it is nice to see that when they can afford it and have the time to go bowling, that they enjoy going. They want me to come with the whole family some time on the weekend which is an excellent idea!

Hanging at the Youth Center

On Wednesday, I took Junior to the Cortland Youth Bureau's Youth Center to check out what goes on there because I figured it could be a place for Junior to Socialize with others. The Youth Center doesn't quite have structured activities but it is a safe place for kids just to hang out, watch tv, play pool/ping-pong/foosball, listen to music, play video games and they even offer either snacks or dinner for free.

There were about a dozen teens in there when we got there at 7 and although Junior didn't know any of them, one girl recognized him from school. It seems like it will be hard to break old habits because as soon as we got in there Junior wanted to play his video games and watch a movie. I tried to get him to play foosball with the other kids but he said he just wanted to hang with me and show me his movies. He really seemed to be enjoying it so I figured I would let him watch the movie for a short bit. Then I convinced him that we could watch TV or play video games anytime, but how often will we have foosball so we played each other for a while.

As we were talking, he told me that somebody called him the "r" word at school today and it hurt his feelings. I was so upset to hear that but I talked to him about how he has to ignore those people and their name calling. He said he let a teacher know and I said that was good and I told him when people call me names, I know they are the immature ones that are not worth my time because they are not my friends. I think this may be why he just wanted to play with me and not the other kids in the center. The next time we go I'd like to bring his friend, who is also his neighbor, with us because he seems like somebody Junior can hang out with during their free time. I'm trying to encourage Junior to get out of his house and play with his friend instead of staying inside all day.

On our drive home we were talking more and I found out he doesn't know how to ride a bike so maybe we can work on that as the weather gets nicer. I just need to find a bike to borrow. The best part of the night was juniors last few words to me. We were talking about our futures and I was telling Junior how I need to find a job soon. Junior told me that I should get a job in Cortland and live in Cortland so I can be closer to him. He told me that if anything went wrong or if I needed anything, he could be there for me. He said he has my back and that put the biggest smile on my face and I told him I have his back too!