This past Friday I observed the students play at Eisenhower Elementary. This particular day the students were full of energy and excitement because it was their last day of school before spring break. However, the weather was a little chilly compared to the temperatures the students played in earlier in the week. Again, the group I observe are boys and girls, predominantly hispanic, second through fifth graders. A young fourth grade Hmong boy who is typically extremely outgoing and very engaged during this free time was strolling around during the beginning of play time by himself. Hi is always very compliant and deemed as very intelligent. He usually responds well to me and seems to be most close with me compared to the other staff members. He approached me and explained to me that he was really sad today because his girlfriend was moving away during the break. He was seriously bummed and I have never ever seen him this way before. He is always upbeat and gets along with everyone. He is very athletic and gets along with all the boys as well as the girls. It was just interesting how he expressed to me why he was feeling so sad but then shortly after we had this discussion he began to play basketball with the a bunch of kids. It made me think of how he was handling his emotions. Considering the research we have been exposed to and the how it stated that play can be a way which children handle and cope with their various emotions. It was extremely interesting to see a child so emotionally distraught and then shortly thereafter they are engaged in a game of basketball. It was neat to so research proven right before my eyes! In addition, some students that are usually very playful shied away from playing on this particular day because of the weather. It was a bit rainy out but nothing serious and a boy that generally plays the entire free time did not want anything to do with going outside. It was weird how he was so negative about going outside and would rather sit in the cafeteria that participate in play. Overall, another great experience that I have applied my materials to.

This week I was observing again at Eisenhower Elementary. Considering the weather was beautiful the students got a longer time to play outside. I focused on observing the 2nd through 5th graders. It is ironic how some students handle altercations with their peers. Various students are very quick to rat out another student to a teacher almost immediately following an incident whether it affected them or not. For instance, I observed three girls playing with each other. There was an issue between two out of the three girls but neither of the girls involved sought out a teacher, but the other girl felt the need to tell me what had happened although she was not involved. Moreover, I also noticed a group of about five girls playing some sort of game. As I walked over by them to find out what kind of game they were playing they shied away from playing it in front of me. I walked away again and they began to play again. The game they were playing was completely made up. They made their own rules and everyone took turns and played according to the rules they designed. The game was all about copying someone. The girls elected one person to start a sort of dance or move and the rest of the girls copied it. No one would get get out they just took turns making and copying moves. Overall, it was interesting to watch the game involve and watch how they played so nicely with each other and cooperated so well.

Every Tuesday and Thursday afternoons I work at Eisenhower Elementary. The students that attend the after school program are generally considered to be from low SES (Socio-economic status) families. The school itself is also a Title 1 school. The students are predominantly Hispanic, a handful are Hmong and African American, and a select few are Caucasian. As soon as the students come to program they go outside for 25-30 minutes of playtime. However, every Tuesday and Thursday the group of students that I supervise, 2nd to 5th grade, have the designated area consisting only of a field, blacktop, and one basketball hoop. It is extremely interesting to watch the various students interact with one another. Many of the boys tend to gravitate toward the field either engaging in soccer or football with the two male staff members. When participating in a game they seem to follow the rules very well with little to no complaining. Then you have the girls. The girls usually roam around the blacktop in packs of three or four not really engaging in actual games or utilizing any of the equipment provided by the YMCA. Next, you have the select few boy and girl interaction that is solely based on friends. One particular boy always plays with two girls, the girls thought of as being shy and extremely well-behaved as well as the boy. They usually use the jump rope, but not as a jump rope, they use their sense of imagination and play horse with it, the jump rope being the reins. Then, on several occasions boys and girls will come together to play four square or jump rope. A lot of the girls participate in jump roping while singing corresponding songs. Then there are some students that, especially now, just love to get dirty and do things they are not supposed to be doing. For instance, there is a huge muddy puddle on the blacktop and 2 to 3 boys are always surrounding the puddle and throwing items into it just to wade in and have to fish them out later...it's very interesting to watch this. Finally you have the 1 boy or 3 girls that chase each other around the play area. It would seem to me that this would take place because one or the other has a crush and that is their way of establishing it. One time I had a 3rd grader come up to me during playtime and ask me if I would tell a 2nd grade girl that he likes her. I was shocked at the honestly and his desire of wanting me to tell a younger female counterpart such a thing. It was hilarious! Overall, I am learning so much while watching these students relate to their peer on all sorts of different levels.

I thoroughly enjoyed today's movie depicting different play environments and perceptions of play. I found it interesting and thought provoking as well. The thing that really got to me was the difference in urban kids vs. suburban kids in the way that they approached the city project. Moreover, I was amused by how kids explained their play experience. The kids from the island described the idea of play at such a high level using concepts that an average 10 year old would not think of identifying play with. The movie truly exposed the importance of play. The weekly readings are also interesting, but I feel as though this movie really set the tone of play due to the fact we were witnessing students engage in it and comparing different environments. In addition, I believe that parents are a part of the problem when it comes to lack of play, especially in terms of suburban kids. Suburban kids seem to be overscheduled and pushed too much, in terms of academic performance at such a young age when they should be experiencing play in a nonstructured environment. Moreover, these children are also the same children spending way too much time on video games and television while they should be playing outside. Play is truly a way for a student to learn about themselves and about the world around them in a non-forced approach. Play is so important and so many people are missing the boat on understanding the impact of play. We, as future educators and possible parents, need to reiterate the importance of play and make sure to enforce it ourselves. I also noticed how parents need to relax and let their children learn based on their own terms and experience life through play, without placing to many rules and restrictions on when, where, and how they can play.

This past weekend I worked at the YMCA in the youth swimming program. This week was the last session of a seven week program; therefore, it was 45 minutes of free time. It was extremely interesting to observe these particular children, ages 6-10, interact with one another in an alternative setting, a pool. Some children were extremely physical with their play, hanging all over one another, and hitting each other with toys, splashing around violently and being extremely loud. One particular class there were issues that derived from the rough play, such as a child being injured, their feelings hurt because their toy was taken, etc. Two children that I especially kept an eye, a boy and a girl, at first I thought they were brother and sister due to the way that they were interacting with one another, more rough play rather than subtle play. The play was extremely rough and the girl was hanging all over the boy in the water, flailing her arms all over the place, and hitting the boy with either a noodle or a plastic swim toy. I thought for sure one of the children was going to get injured; yet, it never got to that point. They were warned to an extent to be a little more gentle but they never really lightened up their play. I was shocked that for 45 minutes straight of this kind of play neither child got mad at the other, or frustrated with how the play was going. I feel as though there are few children that could engage in this kind of play without complaining about one another. Overall, I was amused to watch these children interact with each other in an alternative play setting.

I would like to reflect on my visit to Aldo this past Monday. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and it is most definitely different than the traditional classroom. I was most entertained by the creativity used within a lot of the teaching tactics. For instance, as we observed the students make journal entries they were able to use clothespins decorated as astronauts, reminding the students to put spaces in between all of their words, using the "spacers." In addition, the teacher did not correct any of the work done by the students. She gave them a certain amount of time for an entry without focusing on too many specifics. Moreover, the students did not have to write with pencil which I found astounding, mostly because, I never gave much thought to changing up such a simple concept. The students were allowed to write with markers making the experience all that more interesting and fun. Overall, I learned a lot from my time there and look forward to going back.