Field Notes - Ninja Gym Field Trip

• On the bus, teachers combined rosters so the students were listed in alphabetical order, not in the order of which class they were in.

• Kids were given name tags so people could use one another’s names even if they couldn’t remember them.
• Students sat in mixed pairs on the bus.
• No one was assigned a seat, but student voluntarily invited one another to sit beside them.
• Students warmed up by lining up on two sides of a square. 
• Each side took turns doing variations of springs, skipping, hopping and various other exercises.
• Once warmed up, students had the chance to try the warm wall and then they were divided into three groups. 
• One group went to the trampoline, trapeze bar and foam pit and had free time to play.
• One group did a course on the floor where they were challenged to move from obstacle to obstacle, including balance, jumps, swings and climbs.
• One group did a series of balance exercises moving from a line on the floor to planks to raised bars.
• Students rotated through each activity.

Reflections:

• I noticed that from the sideline, you couldn’t tell students were in one class or another.
• All students took risks to climb the warp wall and students who were from the individualized needs center were able to master the ramp!
• Students encouraged each other in a natural way.
• Students paid attention. Even the side conversations were about the task.
• Cheering (when students wobbled and when they completed the task)
• I see so much laughter and so many kids interacting. One group did a series of balance exercises moving from a line on the floor to planks to raised bars.
• Students have their phones, but no one was on their phone.
• I was impressed by the encouragement, but later a student said it was awkward because she wasn’t naturally good at things like this. She felt like the encouragement was embarrassing. She much preferred to have more happening at once, and people paying less attention to individual actions. This made me wonder about the continuum of being invisible vs. being seen. How do we figure out how much to see and how much to let pass by without noticing? Are we simply uncomfortable because we aren’t used to taking risks in front of each other? 
• I loved that in this context the instructor offered challenges and students accepted.
• Sometimes in classrooms, students do the minimum, so it was fun to see them stretch themselves for no other reward other than knowing they could do it.

Emerging Questions/ Analysis

• My original questions were: 

  • Does a shift in environment from a more cognitive experience to a more physical experience enhance, hurt or have no significant effect on interpersonal relationships between peers in the LABS cohort?
  • Does the introduction of a new experience in a new environment allow students from LABS and INC to connect in ways they were unable to connect in a typical classroom environment? 
  • What effect does the introduction of accommodations have on students participating in challenges?
• Survey results from students showed: 

• In terms of the impact of accommodations on students participating in the challenge, there were few people who got accommodations individually. Generally speaking, either most people needed the accommodation so it didn't feel isolating, or no one did. 

Future Action

• I want to continue to pay attention to the way students engage with risk taking as they get more comfortable with each other.
• I also want to know the perceptions students had when they considered the impact of the trip experience.