Mar 26

Mar 26 Slice of Life: A New Kind of Soft Start #SOL21

Your arms are straighter this week.
How bad does it hurt?
You didn’t last until 8.
Wow – your palms are almost all the way up.
You do five so easily now.
Try thinking about reaching for the book on my desk – you love books.
If you had a mask on we couldn’t tell when it hurts you. I ready for when I can see faces again.
You’re supposed to do another round.

Whenever I stream into a classroom, I like to begin with a soft start. It gives the classroom teacher a minute to transition, adjust technology, and even take a minute to adjust her mask if need be. It also gives me a minute to connect with the kids. I often change my virtual background to share something or launch a lesson, read a poem aloud, or share an image. These past few weeks I have been enlisting my young friends to help me with my PT exercises as our soft start. They heard the story of the broken arms, they saw the setting of the broken arms, they saw me teach with broken arms … why not help me recover?

Today, I joined a class and the teacher started right in. A young friend politely raised his hand and pointed out, We didn’t do Ms. L’s exercises yet. The teacher paused, smiled and gave me a knowing look. What do you think Ms. L? I put down my marker and gave a thumbs up. You are up to 10 seconds this week right? he asks.

It only takes two minutes. It is a good movement break. It reminds me how important it is to put kids in the role of a helper. As for me, they count for me, provide encouragement and even constructive feedback. Who could ask for better physical therapy?!

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