relaxation

For the relaxation presentation, I can honestly say that I left class feeling the most rejuvenated I have in years! The portion that I will probably carry on with me into my personal life is yoga. I found that yoga is very tricky, yet relaxing at the same time; it's also very convenient that it is offered in various locations at different difficulties. I found that the relaxation techniques in which I was allowed to close my eyes and to turn off the lights is not a good idea for me; I actually fell asleep and woke myself up when I began to snore!!! :/ Looking deeper into TR, I think that these relaxation techniques may come in handy when dealing with patients and clients who deal with a great amount of stress; I'm assuming that they will all benefit from this since everyone deals with stress on an everyday basis.

dance presentation

On Thursday October 18th, the dance group did their presentation. The two activities that stood out to me the most. First was the cha cha slide. Watching the video of the residents at the nursing home dance to the cha cha slide was truly entertaining and adorable. I think that dancing is one of those activities that many would try to avoid with an older population, and I feel that it is brave of the coordinators to think outside the box enough to think of a dance that is up to beat in which they can dance to. The second activity that I enjoyed was dancing with an impairment while incorporating an impairment; a loss of an arm and a leg. I found that the loss of an arm made it more difficult to keep a good rhythm going with the beat of the music, and the loss of a leg was extremely difficult; my one leg got extremely tired and I was stuck in that  one spot on the dance floor. 

Stories/ Writing Presentation

The Stories and Writing presentation was extremely interesting. I enjoyed the activies that we participated in such as the random thought webs we made, and how we used that to create a story with a group. The stories that we made up with our groups I think would work very well with patients who need to work on socializing. The mad libs activity I though would rather prove itself to be useful in teamwork because you have to agree with your group on which word you are actually going to use; for example one kid really wants to use the number five because it is his favorite number, but another girl is really set on the number 7 cause that is how old she is. I really liked how this group made the extra step to show us some tools that could be used in help with writing and showed us  a website in which we could actually access ourselves to buy them.

Holidays Presentation Day

Overall, I enjoyed the Holiday Presentation. Not only did I get to have one of my favorite cookies in the whole wide world (Peanut Butter), but I also really enjoyed the attempt of dancing with the music video at the end of class. The presentation on Darius Weems really touched my heart. After class I went to check out some music by Darius Weems. His music alone is an extremely inspirational accomplishment that I feel can touch everyone's lives.

Games Presentation Day

Today, my group and I had to present our games. We met up half an hour before class started so that we could collaborate one last time before we had to present. The first group to participate in my game (Dragon's Tail) didn't seem to get into the game too much, but with each group that came to my station, the game became much more fun for my classmate and I; the last group had a great time and got much more creative with their strategies. I learned from leading my game that you must be able to switch things up on the spot, be enthusiastic the whole time and to try various ways of motivation to keep the flow going. Overall, I think that my station was successful in showing my classmates some examples of adaptions and in helping me think quickly and creatively in order to make things more interesting and adaptable.

Group meeting before presentation

Today I met with my group for the first time to discuss and make final plans for the first group presentation. As a group, we selected games. I feel that this topic seems simple at first, but what makes it kind of difficult is trying to figure out what exactly is expected. We decided to split up and each do a different game and to have the class rotate in stations. I'm hoping that our first presentation turns out to be fun, educational, and enlightening for the class. My station is called "Dragons Tail" and I hope that I will be able to get  the appropriate supplies so that I don't have to change my game.

Last Thursday, was the first day for RTH 252. The class seems like it is going to be a lot of fun. We used "huddling" to pick out our groups for our group assignments. The two topics that my groups and I received were sports and games. I am very excited to see what ideas we will come up with to fill a three hour class period.