JJ Abrams @ TED Talks: Mystery Box

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

Popper turned dance Phillip Chbeeb - SYTYCD 4

SYTYCD 4 contestant Phillip Chbeeb made it to the Vegas auditions last year but was eliminated mainly because he wasn't really a dancer and could not adapt and perform like the other contestants. As an engineering student, he practiced all year on his dances (mostly footwork) with Marvelous Motion Crew in Houston. If he can combine his new footwork with the "boneless/fluid" moves and his popping and locking - look out!

Quidditch in schools

Enlisting your students' fantasies and things they already know and like. If your students know about Harry Potter and the game of Quidditch, why not use that fact to your advantage. Obviously, this means you really have to get to know your students and what they do OUTSIDE of the classroom. As I often tell you, you should be making as big of an impact on students outside of the classroom as you do inside the classroom and in the gym.

Michael Spriggs - Wrestling Blind

Michael Spriggs, a high school wrestler born visually impaired, made it to the Maryland State Championships with perseverance and complete dedication to achieving his goals. Focus on what the individual CAN DO and not what they can't do.

Teach the individual

Telling a story through movement - Hok & Jaime - SYTYCD

Dance is a beautiful metaphor for teaching as it requires many of the same elements: 1) Performance - both are performance-based in that they are done in front of others. 2) Communication - communicating a message is the central goal to dancing and teaching, 3) Commitment - being passionate about what you're doing is so important as it can easily be seen by the audience/class. If you aren't excited and don't care about your subject...guess what...your audience will not either.

Kudda Sports

Kudda is a comprehensive sports site with thousands of sports videos, practice plans, and even a way to keep your team organized with schedules and maps.

Sport Skill Videos

This website (pevideo.org) has a lot of video clips of primarily sports specific skills.

Milk Matters

The National Institutes of Health released some new dairy resources as part of their Milk Matters campaign. As a new teacher, finding the appropriate resources should be one of your primary goals, especially if they are free to use. Beg, borrow, and deal.

Fully committed & Articulating the Music

I love finding examples of performances that are totally inspiring in their own right, but also serve as a great metahpor for beginner teachers. The dance group JabbaWockeeZ , on this year's America's Best Dance Crew, is a prime example of commiting to a performance and it's fitting that they wear masks while performing. Another crew, BreakSk8 not only dance but perform on roller skates - come on, dancing is hard enough, but to do it on skates is another phenomenal skill. The performing arts, like teaching, must be done with full commitment to communicating a message to the audience.


Americas Best Dance Crew JabbaWockeez - MyVideo