Work Out

 

MOVE IT: Generally speaking, it feels like we've been spending too much time lately in a sitting position. Today, we tried to turn that reality on its head. We started the morning with a half hour workout I found online a couple weeks back.

It involves a series of a dozen basic calisthenics , and ended up being a 'nice' combo of strength training, stretching and cardio. The reason nice is in quotes is because it didn't really feel all that nice while we were doing it.

Picture red faces, sweat, hair plastered to head and perhaps a few bad words thrown in the mix. Despite protestations and complaints, we powered through. I told the kids that it would get easier in the future. They were rather aghast at that - not the 'easier' part mind you, but the fact that we'd ever have to do it again, LOL.

And we were just getting started. I asked the kids if they wanted frozen yogurt for lunch. That was met with an enthusiastic, 'Yes!' in stereo. I informed them they could have it if they were willing to walk to go get it. It's a little over three miles away and there's a big ol' hill between us and them, so it meant hiking up a steep hill twice. But they were still game, so off we went.

We admired lots of lovely flowers along the way, including these petite pink pretties.

As usual, I don't know what kind of flowers they are.

On the way home, because they hadn't had quite enough of a workout, we stopped at the always lovely Ella Bailey park at the top of our hill.

Great weather, good times.

ASSESSMENTS: This afternoon, we spent some very pleasurable time evaluating fellow students' creative projects submitted for our Einstein class. What an interesting, amazing array of things we saw.

There were poems, videos, original music, cartoons and more. I wish I could share a bunch with you, but most are posted just to the course site, and not for public consumption. Here, however, are links to a couple that are posted on the WWW for all the world to see. First up is a fanciful short film animation called "Time is ???" by Leonardo Natera inspired by the work of Albert Einstein.
Time is ??? from Dr. Louie Votello on Vimeo.
And I love Love LOVE this creative animation project, "Draw My Life," where Moura Junior tells the story of Einstein's life using a whiteboard and a whole bunch of cartoons.


CLASSY: Yesterday, while perusing the Stanford University Web site, I learned that Coursera isn't the only avenue via which they offer free classes. They also utilize edX (a non profit created by Harvard and MIT), iTunes, and offer free some classes via their own Web site, including their Venture Lab.

I came across a number of things I'm interested in for MPA, and I've already signed up for one class called "How to Learn Math." It starts in mid July, and it's for anyone who works helping students learn math.
Course concepts include knocking down the myths about math; math and mindset; teaching math for a growth mindset; mistakes, challenges and persistence; conceptual learning; number sense; connections, representations and questions; appreciating algebra; and going from the course to a new mathematical future. Sounds great!  (Here's a short video intro about the course: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=E-LWv9pLlL4 )

There will be a companion course for math learners starting this fall. I'll be looking to sign CJ and Annabelle up for that, for certain.