Our New School Running Club

Ever since I coached Girls on the Run with the fabulous Lauren a few years back, I've been dying to start a running club with my students at school.  This year two other teachers and I finally did!  We ended up purchasing Fit Girls instead of going with Girls on the Run for a couple reasons.  First, while Girls on the Run offers scholarships, it packs a hefty price tag for girls.  Second, the Girls on the Run 5K is in Chicago, making travel there a bit of a logistical nightmare for many families.  We did some research and decided Fit Girls would be a good match for our school and got the program rolling back in March.

My friend Katy and I ready to run the GOTR 5K as running buddies!

We decided to open our club to girls in grades 4-6.  Every Tuesday and Thursday, we meet for an hour after school.  Here's how our meetings typically go:

1. Snack & Read Aloud:  One unique feature of Fit Girls is a literacy focus.  We have a "lending library" (aka a bin) of books about strong, brave girls that the kids can sign out, and we are also reading aloud Moon Runner by Carolyn Marsden.  I'd never heard of this book--Fit Girls sent it over in our starter kit, and I love it.  Great messages about running and trying new things!

2. Warm Up/Stretching: We will spend a few minutes warming up with a game or activity like freeze tag, relay races, hula hoops, etc., followed by some gentle stretching.

3.  Workout:  Obviously, the bulk of our time is devoted to running.  We started with 15 minutes of run/walking and have been adding on each week from there.  This part can get tricky--a lot of the girls are super gung ho at the start, but rapidly taper off and fall into a leisurely walk.  It's important to find a balance between remembering that these girls are actually little kids, not high school track stars or Olympians in training, and trying to get them ready for a 5K.

4. Closing Circle:  We always end by sharing celebrations for the day and with a closing huddle--everyone puts their hands in and shouts Fit Girls! on 3 before giving high fives all around.

We've been trying different things to spice up our workouts.  A few weeks ago, we gave the girls chalk and had them draw a little "tally box" for themselves and write some "words of encouragement."  Most of the teachers in the school do Quantum Learning, and one popular piece of Quantum is using positive affirmations with kids, so this was nothing new for them.  As the girls ran around the blacktop, they drew tally marks in their box for each lap.  Also, they were allowed to stop and write kind words for their friends near the other tally boxes.  The girls loved this!  Hugely motivating.

Another day, at a friend's suggestion, we paired the girls up with a buddy they didn't know very well.  We instructed the girls to stick with that buddy the whole time, no matter their pace.  After each lap, the other teachers and I had the girls tell us a fact they had learned about their buddy.  Halfway through, we had the buddies join with another pair to form a small group of 4.  The girls had a blast, and it was awesome seeing them make new friends!

We picked a local 5K to run as a club near the end of May, and have worked with race coordinators to get our girls and teachers a discounted entry fee.  Also, our school is planning to use funds to cover the registration for any girls who need financial assistance to make sure all of our girls can be included.  We are pumped!

I'm absolutely loving this club, and for so many reasons, too.  Our PE teacher came up to me after school the other day and shared that he was explaining the push ups fitness test to a group of kids, and one of the girls in the class said, "Oh, I can do this--I'm in Fit Girls!"  Heart. Melts.  Among other things, this is what I want my students to understand--anyone, anywhere can be an athlete.  Anyone can run.  No matter how fast or how slow you are, you can be a runner.  You can run for joy.  For fun.  For friends.  For yourself.  It took me 22 years to fall in love with running.  I hope that some of my girls have already fallen for it.

Have you had the opportunity to encourage your students to get active?  
Ideas for spicing up the workouts for our Fit Girls club??

The Twilight Dilemma (or why I worry about my students reading this series...)

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Okay, here it is, my confession.  I've fallen in love with Twilight.  The thing is, it's the epitome of a love-hate relationship.  When I first read the books in December, I devoured them at a rate I had never anticipated.  When my coworker (a Twilight skeptic) asked me what was so great about them, my response was, "I don't know!!!"  As a liberal feminist and relationship-cynic, every fiber of me screams that I should HATE these books/movies with a vengeance.  But no...I'm hooked.

Having just spent the evening watching New Moon and Eclipse with a friend, I started thinking more about the impact these books may be having on their primary audience: teen & tween girls.  Yes, clearly adults are reading them too, but the Twi-hard base is definitely young girls.  While I have always subscribed to the "Don't limit kids' book options, just get them reading!!!" camp, I am a little wary of giving these books to girls...honestly, to any girls under the age of 18.  And maybe not even then...

Does this make me a hypocrite?  Absolutely.  But please let me explain before you judge.  I love Twilight because, while poorly written, the plots are captivating.  They are an adventure.  While the characters fall flat throughout the series (which gets worse, in my opinion, with every book), I fell in love with the idea of Edward & Bella in book 1, and I wasn't about to let them go and leave the series unfinished.  I'm hardly a romantic, but as a Team Edward member, I swoon with every cheesy lovey-dovey line he throws her way.

Then there are the reasons I hate Twilight...
First of all, there's the bad writing.  I'm not even going to go there...it's really that bad.  But bad writing is really the least of my worries.  That's not why I'm reluctant to share these books with my students.  No, I'm worried about some different things.

*caution, some spoilers!*

1. Unrealistic Expectations:   Edward is perfect.  No really, perfect...well, aside from that whole wanting-to-suck-Bella's-blood thing...but other than that, he really is flawless.  I mean, the two sit in fields of wildflowers while he repeatedly professes his love.  And when, in Eclipse, she goes and kisses Jacob and tells him she loves him too, Edward is totally cool with this.  "Whatever you want, Bella.  You're my life, Bella.  I love you, Bella."  Really?  Um, really?  While I am all for girls holding out for the real deal, I'm not so sure this is the standard we should be setting for girls...

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2. Unhealthy Relationship Examples:  That brings me to the HORRIBLE relationship examples Twilight sets.  Yes I love Edward...but their relationship is totally creepy at times.  I've said a million times that the whole series reads like a handbook for an abusive boyfriend.  In book 1, Edward sneaks into Bella's bedroom to watch her sleep...BEFORE THEY HAD EVER SPOKEN!  He is ridiculously protective, and not in the sweet way...more in the scary way.  He even removes the spark plugs from her car at one point to prevent her from going to see Jacob.  In his defense, her life is constantly being threatened so I guess some concern is a bit understandable, but come on people.  That ain't normal.

Jacob is no better.  I'm not a big Jacob fan...well, I liked him in New Moon, but in Eclipse he morphs into a rapist-in-training in my opinion.  For example, he forces Bella to kiss him and doesn't back off even when she tries (unsuccessfully) to push him away.  Then, Bella punches him, breaking her fist on his jaw.  He is unapolegetic.  The cherry on top, though, is that when he takes her home and her father hears about this, he congratulates Jacob for finally going for it and kissing her!  WHAT THE HECK.  What kind of standard are we setting for young girls there, that this behavior is okay??  That it's normal??  Dear god.  (To be fair, Jacob does apologize later.  Bella forgives him.  I do not.)

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3. Ultra-Wimpy Female Lead:  Oh Bella.  Bella, Bella, Bella.  Excuse my language, but will you PLEASE grow a pair?  Maybe it's because I read Twilight when I was still coming off my Hunger Games high, a series which has a dynamite, strong female lead, but I pretty much hate Bella.  Here's why:  Bella has basically no life B.E. (before Edward).  She likes reading the classics...but that's about it.  No hobbies.  Few friends (who she essentially abandons once she and Edward are together).  No ambition.  Annd, no personality.  Enter Edward.  Suddenly, her life is full of purpose and meaning.  He is her reason for living.  Her whole life.  Umm, girl, what happened to YOU?  I get it, you're in love.  But...are you still Bella?

Fast forward...Edward leaves Bella.  In a veiled attempt to protect her, he tells her he "doesn't want" her anymore, and that she's "not good" for him.  She translates this to mean she's not good enough for him.  She accepts this instantly, having always KNOWN she was not good enough for Edward.  No "let's talk this over," no "we can work on this."  Nada.  Just a doormat, "Okay."  Then, she self-destructs.  After a week of lying in a catatonic state, she eventually starts going through the motions, but barely eats, sleeps, or speaks for about 6 months.  SIX MONTHS.  What starts pulling her out of this insane coma of self-woe?  Guess.
Another boy.  Because of course, your life is not full without a boy.   But we've already discussed Jacob, so I won't go there again.

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Finally, throughout all 4 books, Bella wallows in self-deprecation.  She never believes she is good enough for Edward, and constantly questions his devotion, which he articulates for her pretty much every millisecond.  It is painful.

*end spoilers*

I'm sure you're asking yourself, "Then why the heck are you reading them???"  I ASK MYSELF THE SAME QUESTION!  I have no clue.  But like I said, I love them and cannot stop!  The thing is, though, that I can read them and know that the fantasy isn't just the vampire/werewolf thing.  There is so much more disbelief to be suspended.  And I can read them as a confident woman knowing that the relationships are unhealthy and that Bella is not someone I should be looking up to.

But can my 11 year old female students?  Many of whom have no stable adult relationships in their lives as examples?  While I appreciate the positive, albeit conservative values portrayed in Twilight (one of which is that Edward insists on being married to Bella before sleeping with her, him being from the 1900s and all...) and think that's a great example for young girls, I'm not sure that's the message they'll be taking from the books and movies.

I'd be interested to hear others' thoughts on the topic!

mondays, mondays, mondays

when i think about the less happy days of this school year, i think there has definitely been a pattern to which day of the week they have fallen on--MONDAYS. it seems like every monday the kids are chatty, someone is "bothering" someone else, and i am so incredibly inarticualte with every direction that i can barely get my point across. yikes. yesterday was no exception!!

The chattyness i can handle, by this point--and let's be honest, they are MUCH MUCH MUCH better than they were at the beginning of the year (that, or my tolerance has sky rocketed...). What I have had way more than enough of, though, is the "bothering each other." The true culprits here are my lovely ladies.

Yes, we have some serious mean girl drama in 5th grade. It started about a month ago with some jealousy on behalf of some of the girls regarding who another student was spending most of her time with (a common tale...). Well, instead of ignoring this or socializing with new students, the girls who felt "betrayed" in this situation decided to (metaphorically) draw a line in the sand and ask the girls in the class to take sides. You can imagine how that went...

By the time I had multiple girls in tears, I turned the situation over to the social worker who did her best to work things out with the girls, but the story obviously doesn't end there! In the following weeks, mysterious writing about my girls started showing up on the walls of stalls in the girls bathroom. Now I know without a grain of doubt in my mind who was responsible for this, and all the kids have confirmed my suspicions, yet without a witness or confession (these girls can lie through their teeth without cracking, it's ridiculous), unfortunately there was no consequence. Man oh man.

Following the bathroom writing we have had to institute a "group" and "buddy" bathroom procedure so that multiple people can be checking for writing before and after they use the bathroom. Seriously, I can't make this stuff up.

Well, the bathroom writing has toned down, but the girl drama perseveres. These girls are just plain being MEAN. We're talking insults, manipulation, and even hand to hand contact on a couple instances. If they are like this now, just IMAGINE what junior high will be like in a few years.
The worst part about it all (well, besides the amount of TIME it has occupied for me, between parent meetings, phone calls, and discussions with the asst. principal and social worker...oh, and just THINKING about it...) is that all I want to do is help these kids. I am so attached to so many of them, and want the best for every single one. Yet I feel so, so, so unbelieveably powerless. Nothing I say or do is sinking in. I am doing my best to prevent opportunities for this behavior, but I am not always around and have limited control.

I have done my absolute best this year to create a positive classroom atmosphere, but this has happened anyways. I have to wonder, is there something, anything I could have done to prevent this? Or is it inevitable... I guess more importantly, what can I do to make it stop???