Thoughts from Mr. G

So the other day I was talking about the benefits of drinking milk during P.E class and a funny thing happened.  I'll go back to the beginning of the school year, so that this story will make sense.  I asked scholars in 1st-4th grader where various muscles were located.  For example, where are your biceps.  Class after class kids stared blankly at me as if I were speaking a different language.  In a way I was.  I thought for sure a large percentage of kids would know that their abs were located in their stomach or maybe that their calves were near their feet.  To my amazement very few scholars were able to answer my questions.  At that point I decided that every few weeks I would introduce some basic anatomy, physiology, and kinesiology into every class.  The main focus was to familiarize scholars with several large muscle groups, where they're located, and what they do.  This would only take a minute or two each class and would be taught after warmups.

Hopefully my previous paragraph will help you understand why the event that happened the other day during class made me so excited!!!  So we were talking about the benefits of drinking milk.  One scholar raised their hand and said "Mr.G, milk makes you strong", "yes you're right"  I responded.  I followed this up with another question "what in milk makes you strong?"  Another scholar shouted out "it's the protein" as they flexed their arms. "Does anyone know what else milk does for your body?"  With this question, I was hoping that someone would know that milk is full of calcium and that it builds strong bones and teeth.  I paused and a few scholars looked like they might have the answer; however no one was able to come up with the correct answer.  I pointed to my teeth and a scholar raised their hand "Mr. G milk builds strong teeth."  "Nice work" I replied.

Here is where something very interesting happened.  I began pointing to my leg, in an attempt to give the clue about milk building strong bones.  Instead of yelling out bones, a scholar called out "milk makes your hamstrings strong."  I looked down and I was pointing to my hamstrings, so I moved my hand a little.  Another scholar raised their hand and said "Mr. G milk makes your quadriceps stronger."  I looked down again and I was pointing to my quadriceps.  Wow!!! could it be?  Were they actually listening to me? We had not talked about hamstrings and quadriceps for over a month.  Sometimes as a teacher you're not always sure if your message is being heard.  As my story comes to an end, with a little bit of help, scholars were able to figure out that milk is full of calcium and that it helps build strong bones and teeth.  I was very impressed with the connections that were made to specific muscle groups.  Understanding your body and how it works, is an important in creating health awareness and living a healthy lifestyle.

Have a wonderful day!!!

Mr. G