Help me give my students a 40' Traverse Wall and the climbing adventures it provides, to help build confidence, muscular strength and muscluar endurance.
Generally speaking, my students want to be active. They are eager to try new physical activities and challenges. I try to fill their desire by providing a fair amount of variety within the physical education (PE) curriculum. Whenever I can add a new experience using equipment the school currently possesses, I do so. As a result, the students are excited to come to PE.
Additionally, my students enjoy what could be considered adventure sport activities.
Living near Mt. Hood and surrounded by large tracts of wild lands, my students enjoy the adventures which can be found almost directly outside their doors. But the wild lands which surround us include a great many risks. I try to give them some of the skills necessary to confidently and safely enjoy our surroundings by introducing them to somewhat risky activities within the safety of our school gym. Any time I can add an adventurous learning opportunity, I will consider it.
My Project
Within every lesson, I try to provide student choice in some small way. This increases student investment in the activity and usually leads to better outcomes. However, there are still times when students must perform a specific skill or an activity with little or no choice. This can be intimidating for some students. So, with some regularity, I schedule station days, during which students are free to choose from a wide range of activities and to change activities whenever they would like.
A traversing wall would be a great addition to our station days.
It would be quick and easy to set up. Once the students have been taught how to use it safely, it would not require a significant amount of direct supervision. And it would help students develop confidence, muscular strength and muscular endurance. It could also be incorporated into a wide variety of obstacle course set-ups. Every grade level could use it, and it would be reasonably simple to maintain. I could see our students using it for years to come.
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