Peshastin, Perstashtin, Preshashten, Whatever....it was rockclimbing!

This was a very interesting experience. When we arrived at the rock it looked a little intimidating. We had to hike up with our water, shoes, and equipment before we started the climb, and I was pretty much exhausted for the rest of the day after that. However i kept on keeping on. I belayed Shane for the first climb and he did awesome, made it look easy. When I got ready to go I was scared out of my mind and my feet were on fire. I made sure to ask Shane 49 times if he had me secure. The worst part was coming back down from the climb. What do you mean put your feet flat on the rock and lean back. I did eventually, but I didn't like it. The next climb required us to repell on our own. I belayed Shane again, and when he got to the top we realized he had no helmet on. Whoops! Again Shane did a great job, and made it look easy again. However this time I knew it wouldn't be. When I got to the top I made sure not to look down, and Fred taught me how to repel down the side of the rock. I was more comfortable repelling down the mountain that being belayed down. My 2 climbs and repel was complete and I was ready to "attempt" 3 more and call it a day. That is exactly what I did. Shane and I were the last ones down to the parking lot, but I really did not care at this point. I was hot, hungry, dehydrated and ready for a "beverage." After the climbs we all met at Gustav's for food and drink. I had a ton of fun hanging out with my cohort, and relaxing. Would I rock climb again? Yes, but on my own terms. Challenging, great experience!

Hardcore Bikeride!

The hardcore was a lot less hardcore than I thought it was going to be. I didn't even realize that area of Ellensburg existed but now I have a place to go back to and camp, and mountain bike. When we first started the ride we approached a super steep hill, and Limwell ate it. Aaron's bike wasn't working so he was way behing, but eventaully Dr. Mathias and him caught up. I had a tone of fun during the downhill portions where we could gain a little speed, and the uphill rides were not too hard. The ride took us about an hour and a half, and once we stopped for luch it was all down hill. I am looking forward to do this ride again, and I would love to do it with my cohort!

Free Manastash Rides!

What can I say, I was sore as heck from doing plometrics that morning, but I still finished the hike. That was my first time ever hiking Manastash successfully, and I am very happy I did. I was a little sketched out after hearing there might be rattle snakes, but I was told the bite wouldn't kill you unless you don't get it treated within a few hours. I feel everyone should take a rattle snake bite in their lifetime. Anyways, this was a great experience and I am excited to hike many more times in the near future.

HONORS CAMP!!!!

Honors camp was da bomb. I had so much fun hanging out with my classmates and teaching the students. Before camp began we all met at the Golden Dragon for nasty chinese buffet. The drive was short and when we arrived it brought back memories of when I attended camp in 6th grade. The first day we were able to just mingle and see what the camp looked like. That night Aaron, Jason, and I (with the help of Sean C.) did a "helping hands" skit. The kids enjoyed it and I think our cohort did to. I can't believe Aaron ate that banana and cookie! The next day (Saturday) we had the opportunity to teach the campers trust and teamwork exercisies. We did an ice-breaker, trust-fall, and finished up withwood-plank-walk. I know the students enjoyed it, and we all had a great time teaching it. That night we watched more skits, and Carly and megan did a funny SNL cheerleader skit! We all dressed up in our 80's gear and went to their dance. I thought it was pretty cool to see a bunch of kids dressed up into 80's clothes and they were all born in the 90's! The dance was fun but I was definitely ready for bed very early. The last day we woke up and taught more for the kids, and that ended our day. Overall the kids were great, the food was ok, I got terrible sleep, but I had a great time with my cohort!

Where the (Geo) chash at? Where the, where the cash at?

Geocashing was an activity I had never done, but heard great things about. I was always curious to know how a GPS unit worked. Using a GPS unit a skill that I know will come in handy in the future, as a teacher and someone who enjoys traveling. We started off the day by learning how the GPS unit worked and that was followed by getting into groups and hiding a cashes. After we hid ours and found the coordinates, we took a break. When our lunch ended we came back to use our GPS units and find our classmates cashes. It took a while, but we found everyone's, and also came to notice that we gave the rest of our class the wrong coordinates. Geocashing is something I can see myself doing in the future and teaching in the classroom!

Orienteering

I learned how to use a compass! Other than that I personally did not get much out of this day. It is important for kids to learn these kind of things, and it could be implimented into some types of activites, but the experience I had in practicum was a bit boring. Oh well, everything can't always go your way.

FRISBEE!!

I learned how to throw a forehand pass! I didn't think I would ever be able to do that and its actually pretty easy. We started the day with an instant acticity game of throwing in through the goal post. Following that was basic passing and catching skills. Before our lunch break we did a couple activities including bowling, catch, and golf. after class we played some ultimate frisbee. It was fun. Of course some of my classmates are a bit more competitve than others but that always makes for good times. I just tested for frisbee yesterday, and i got advanced in throwing and catching. GOOD TIMES!