Entry 5 (Train Game)

"Chugga Chugga Choo Choo..."
This is what the audience shouts to the train of people as they move along to the conductors directions.

Participants:
minimum of 8 participants or more (even number)-make up the train
1 person-conductor
others-audience

Goal:
get from one side of the room to the other without the train breaking.

Directions:
make 2 trains with 4 people each. (Stand in 2 lines)
move forward very slowly and listen for the conductors signals
as conductor signals, follow what he says.

Conductor's Signals:
switch (front person and back person of train switch places)
reverse (train goes in backward motion)
tunnel (train goes really slow with eyes closed)

This is a great game to get everyone involved, provide entertainment for others, engage the mind with the body, practice following directions, and provide interest in physical activities.  A few limitations to this activity could be the amount of space you have to work with, processing directions quickly, the speed of movement of the train, and working with very auditory directions.
I feel like this activity would work best at a summer camp with children.

Entry 4 (Group Leadership)

Paint-Music-Markers-Yoga-Eggs
Activity 1:  Innovative Painting was a great experience. It was a way to express ourselves on paper without being judged or criticized. We could put anything on paper (words, subjects, nature, etc...). This activity would be great working with fine motor skills with all populations. Individuals wouldn't be judged on their artwork because it is all about putting thoughts and expression on paper with different colored paint.
Activity 2:  Musical Expression Art was an activity that I hadn't played since early elementary school. It really brought back memories of my childhood. This activity takes creativity, along with fine and gross motor skills. This would be a great activity to perform with all populations because it allows a way to express thoughts and perform therapy. This activity brought many smiles and laughter to our classroom as we performed our musical, Poodle Cat. Poodle Cat lyrics:

There once was a cat named poodle

She really loved to doodle

On Friday she met her lover Ralph

She gave him a big smelf

They ate lots of smelt

Eating smelt, it made them pelt

And crawl about the world and grelf

All because I have a cat named poodle.

Activity 3:  Collaborative/Group Art was an activity that allowed the participants to show emotion based on the rhythm and words in songs. When your eyes are closed and drawing on paper with markers, it gives a great understanding of what your emotions express. Having your eyes closed is great because it gives you the strength to stay away from judging yourself based on how well you were drawing.
Activity 4:  Chair Yoga was such an experience. It is a great way to relax and take some time out of your busy day for yourself and not worry about anything. Chair yoga isn't an activity where you have to go to the store to buy supplies for before doing the activity. The only equipment you need is a chair. All populations could do this activity because it is a matter of moving your body, whether it's moving your eyelids, spine, upper and lower limbs, or mouth. Since performing chair yoga in class, I have done this activity daily, and it has really helped relax me.
Activity 5:  Egg Drop was probably the most fun activity. This activity was performed with a group of others and needed imagination and creativity from each person in the group in order for it to work. Our group was very creative. We used a piece of newspaper to make a "sailor's hat" and a plastic bag to make a parachute. We then attached the "sailor's hat" and plastic bag with straws and sat the egg inside the "sailor's hat". The goal of this activity was to drop the "egg safety concoction" from the second floor over a balcony and see if the egg would break.  Team Vending Machine's concoction won :) We dropped it from the 4th floor, and it still didn't break. We rocked this project.
Overall, I thought this class period was #1. It had a lot of positive activities that could be performed for all populations. There were great ideas in this class period that can be used in the future as a CTRS working with clients.

Entry 3 (Internet Research)

Click, Click, Clicking Away


Clicking away to find your way
Finding your way page through page
Scanning each page to find a display


Click, Click, Clicking Away

While sitting in class, the sounds of computer mice were clicking left and right, up and down. Every student in the class was researching.
Researching for what you say
Researching on a selected disability for a 4-5 page paper worth 50 points due later on in the semester.
Why learn to research you ask
Learning to research on databases provided by the Murphy Library is a great way to gain knowledge about different subjects from scholarly journals. It is important that each student at UW-L learns to use the databases because it is common to have to write research papers for classes.   

Entry 2 (Tape Art)

Wow!  It's a start to a whole new generation of art. Tape Art!

This innovative activity could have participants in all populations.  The purpose of this activity was to collaborate through discovery learning.  There are many benefits of collaborative art.  There is the possibility of sharing ideas with other group members, expressing encouragement, showing off different skills one possesses, socialization and communication, and feeling a part of something.  All of these benefits have the potential of bringing happiness to one's heart.  Tape art is an activity that allows the engagement of 1-many participants.  You don't need a lot of supplies, allows the process of leading, (giving instructions and steps), and allows a good way to ask potential questions.  Debriefing is a great way to end this activity because it gives the group members a chance to talk about how the project went, ways to elaborate on the activity, and think of a few different variations of the activity.

Tape art is a project using household materials that you can find in your kitchen cupboard.
Materials:
     Object to make your creation
     Seran Wrap
     Scissors
     Boxing Tape
Steps:
     Find a 3-D object that you want to create out of tape.
    Wrap the 3-D object with seran wrap. Make sure that all of the object is covered.
     Once the object is completely covered with seran wrap, take your packaging tape and cover the seran                             wrap with it, making sure that it is sticky side up.
     Next, wrap the object again with tape; this time sticky side down.
     Complete another 3 layers of tape, sticky side down.
     Once fully covered with layers of tape, take the scissors and cut the tape for removal of the 3-D object.
     Find your cut slits and tape them back together.

You now have completed your Tape Art project.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLDfPPUKL38&feature=fvw