Saturday, March 15th, 2008

Time

Event

6:35p

Girl Scouts on Ice Today I taught lessons to girl scout groups at the rink. There were 3 groups: one at 12:00 and (supposedly) two at 12:30. The 12:00 group had about 25 girls. They're leaders didn't really want too much lesson, so the other insturctor who was helping with that group and I told them off ice about how to fall, how to get up, and how important it is to not stay sitting on the ice. Then we set them loose and for 30 minutes just helped individual girls having trouble, coaxed some away from the wall, etc. Pretty easy stuff. The first 12:30 group had 16 girls. The other group wasn't there yet. This leader wanted a real lesson. So I taught it LTS style, but with way more side talking then I would ever allow in class. Couple it with the busiest public session I had ever seen, and this was exhausting. I started them stretching to get used to being on ice, falling and getting up, elevator game dips, then did some forward swizzles, backward wiggles, backward wiggles, 2 foot glides, then dips while moving. To kill time we then did limbo. At 12:50 the OTHER group showed up, that they were planning on combining with. So I taught this group how to do a really simple spin (none could, but they had fun) and told them they could go skate, and if they had questions they could come ask me. Their leaders seemed happy. Then I moved to the next group, who was late enough that I knew I'd have to add another 30 minutes at the rink. I was tired and ready to go home, but I really like volunteering with GS so it was no problem. GLad these groups were not combined. The first 12:30 group could all stand up, and all but one could move very well. This group had about 8, 3 of whom were crying and incredibly scared. I did the same lesson format, starting with falling and getting up. My first cryer was hysterical, but doing everything I asked her to, while I held her hand. Once she realized she could get up, tears were gone. Second cryer stopped once she realized that if she fell it wouldn't hurt too bad. Third cryer didn't stop the whole lesson. She was so frustrated. While the other kids skated ahead I talked with her telling her that the troop was there for fun, and if she was crying I was doing my job wrong. She kept trying everything, but was NOT happy, very frustrated and often slipped into tears. We did forward marches/glides, forward swizzles, a bit of back wiggles and dips in place. Then I set them off and told them I would be there for 10 more minutes to ask questions. I went to the last girl and asked her if she wanted to practice standing up a few more times. She did it on the first try once the group was away and I got the biggest smile. We did it 2 more times and then she took off best she could. That was a really nice smile to see. I skated around for about 5 more minutes after that and so many of the girls came up to me to show me "I can do it now!" It was really exciting to do, and SO different from LTS. My throat has been incredibly sore for the rest of the day. In other news, I take my boots to Cedar Rapids to get punched out. Cross your fingers it will help!