GRIT!

Grit!  What is grit? Grit as defined by Webster is "mental toughness and courage."  Girt is the passion and perseverance for long term goals. Grit is stamina and not backing down.  Grit is in all of us!
     As a physical education teacher, swimming coach and yoga teacher I witness grit in action each and everyday!  I see grit in PE class when my second grade student throws herself across the gym floor to block a ball from going into a goal.  I see it when my fourth grade students are running stride for stride to achieve the fastest time in the mile. I see it when my first grade students are practicing their throwing skills and not giving up because they missed their target.  I see it in my swimmers when they are so immersed in their workouts yet they want to cry because their lungs and body are burning, however, their goal of making it to the state meet is all they can think of achieving.  I see it with my yoga students when they are learning a new pose or trying to achieve a supported headstand for the hundredth time.  All of these examples show the attitude of grit and to NEVER GIVE UP!
     Is grit really that easy? NO!!!! Grit is in all of us but, why do some people seem to have more of than others?  Is it genetic? Is it intelligence? Is it both? It's neither of them. It's one's mindset!  Everyone is presented with many challenges each and everyday.  Some are small and some are so big they seem impossible. It's all how we approach the challenge presented to us.  Are we opening our minds up to succeed?  Most people will say "yes, I want to succeed."  But truly the question that should be asked is...are we opening our minds up to fail?  Thomas Edison took a 1,000 try's to create the light bulb. Michale Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team and he even states "I've failed over and over again in my life and that's why I'm successful."  Failure teaches us more than success.  We can choose to take our learning's and continue to grow from them or we can let our minds limit us.
     This year one of my goals is to teach each of my students and athletes to discover their true GRIT! If a student says "I can't climb a rope" or "I can't swim faster" or "I'm not good, so I can't do it." I stop and let that student know that THEY ARE GOOD ENOUGH AND YES THEY CAN!  It's all how we approach the challenge and how we deal with it mentally.  Strong mental toughness, belief, continually trying and finding new ways to accomplish the challenge that work specifically for oneself is how grit is learned and built up more and more in each and everyone of us!
     Step outside of your comfort zone and take the risk to discover the true grit you have within you!

Welcome to the 2016 - 2017 School Year!

Welcome back Lower School students! It's time to get moving in Ms Carlson's PE classes!  We will start of the school year with our Body Management unit.  In this unit we will be performing skills and participating in activities that help us with spatial awareness, agility, locomotor skills, body movements, cooperative learning and sportsmanship.

The students favorite game to play during body management is tag.  We don't just play "tag you're it."  We have lots of version of tag which helps the students really focus on listening and following direction.  Another important part of PE.  The classes favorite version of tag is "Secret Agent Tag."  In this tagging game there are 2 taggers and two secret agents.  This version of tag not only focuses on spatial awareness, locomotor skills and agility it emphasis the value of honesty.  For this game the students need to tuck up in a little ball and hide their eyes as the teacher goes around and chooses the two secret agents and the taggers.  The taggers are allowed to tell the class they are taggers but the secret agents are not.  The students love trying to figure out how the secret agents are so when they get tagged they know who can help them get free.  They also love being the secret agent!

The upcoming unit is ice skating.  This unit focuses on the skating basics as well as body management on the ice.  Mr. Little will be teaching my classes and I will be teaching Mr Little's classes in the swimming pool.  Within these two units the students really learn how their bodies move in different environments.

Pictures and video will be coming once the students are back in the gym!

Go Mustangs!