PSAC

This weekend we are going back to Bloomsburg to play PSAC Championships. On Friday we are playing Bloomsburg and are planning on winning that match to compete in the finals against California University. Then we will either be hosting Regionals finals week or flying to Rhode Island to play Bryant. Hopefully we are hosting!! Then hopefully we will make to Nationals in Texas!

weekend at philly

As a tennis team we flew to Philly for two matches. We had to play Holy Family and Queens. We played both matches Saturday and both matches are a race to 5, which is whoever gets to 5 wins first wins the match. We played Holy Family first outside at 11am and didn't finish till 2pm. It was so hot outside that it started to slow us down, or atleast me down. We ended up winning 5-1. Then later at night we played Queens inside at 7pm. We ended up beating them 5-0. We spent Sunday going to downtown Philly and checked out Geno's Steak. They have the best Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches. I don't like steak but I loved their sandwich!!

clarion

When playing against Clarion it was one of our first matches that the weather was very hot. There is a difference of temperature when sitting off the courts and sitting on the courts. It is about a 10 degree difference. It was already about 70 degrees outside with the sun and playing on the courts made it seem like it was 80 degrees. We ended up beating them.

against calu

California University gives out lots of money for athletes, that's why they have so many foreign athletes. Their whole tennis team is from across seas. There is a girl from Russia, France and other countries. They are very talented at tennis. There is not one girl on the team that is American. When we played them we went out there and played our best. That team had to earn their win. They couldn't walk all over us and they didn't. Even though we lost 9-0 we all still got games and some were close to winnning.

IUP

On wednesday we played IUP at our home courts. It ended up being a really good win. We knew at the beginning we would win but we still had to play hard. Everyone played great tennis and came out defeating. Doubles was a little easier than the singles. I know my singles match should have been shorter than what it was but if it takes time to win I'll take my time. I did not like the fact that the girl that I was playing thought she could win by making some bad line calls. It shows that people who cheat do not win.

the powerpoint

The interactive powerpoint is a great idea for the classroom. It is easy to quiz the students to make sure they understand the material and it is a good way to have fun with it too. The powerpoint was not a night before project, it definitely took time. It was a little confusing to hyperlink everything together to make sure it ran right. Coming up with questions to the topic wasn't too tough but it was a little bit to make sure questions were not repeating. At the end it came out pretty well I thought.

bloomsburg

We spent the weekend at Bloomsburg for tennis matches. We had to play Dowling and Bloomsburg. When we woke up Saturday morning we ended up having to roll dry the courts since it rained all night long. We spent two hours roll drying so our matches was pushed back. Finally we played Dowling and beat them. Then later we played Bloomsburg. It ended up being a race to 5 since we didn't want to delay anyone else's matches. We ended up winning that match 5-0.

teaching

For Fitness Ed we spent a class period teaching our middle school health related lesson plans. My group taught Ultimate Frisbee with multiple frisbee's. Most people know how to play just Ultimate Frisbee but not a lot of people played the game with more than one frisbee in use. When watching the class participate in the game it looked like tons of fun. Everyone had to be aware to where all the frisbee's were and it seemed that lots of people got the chance to catch a frisbee and toss it.

Naspe

I though Naspe was really cool. It was very user friendly. It was easy to apply to and to log on to. You could pretty much ask any question that is Physical Education related and it does not take long to get posted. Then shortly after it is posted the responses to your question start popping up in your email account. It was so fast that if you put up a question at night then the next morning or afternoon there would at least be a response or two.

avs

Tonight was my first night volunteering for the AVS Program. Iworked with my client in the gymnasium. The activity was frisbee golf, we worked on throwing the frisbee to a target and went around like an actually golfing course and played with scores. I was surprised how frustrating it is sometimes to get the client to throw a frisbee or to toss a ball. We worked on the throwing motion till the end. Even though some of the time it was frustrating it was still lots of fun working with the client.

big toe

In Adaptive Physical Activity class we watched a video of a guy playing the guitar...with his toes! He has no arms and loves music so he had his friend teach him how to play. I thought it was amazing that he could do it and was actually GOOD at it. He has a band and travels across the country and plays in parks. The way he plays the guitar is he lays it on the ground and levels the neck of the guitar with something underneath to keep the guitar straight and not moving. He sits on a chair and strums away.

Back at school

The drive back from Hilton Head was way too long. We started out driving around 8:15am on Saturday morning. We only stopped a few times for food, gas and bathroom breaks. Overall we were off the road for about 2 hours maybe. We didn't arrive back at school till almost 10pm!! For a tall person being crammed in a van is not fun. We mostly just slept or stared out the windows for hours. I am very happy to be back but very sad to leave the sun and nice weather. Hopefully it starts to get nice at school, I am so sick of the cold!

Savannah

Our last day in Hilton Head we decided to go to Savannah Georgia for St. Patricks. We took a boat over to the street where there were hundreds of thousands of people. I have never seen so many people wearing green. The street was about a mile or so long there were all sorts of shops and bars to go to. They had tons of great food.

Hilton Head Tennis

The tennis team had a winning record in Hitlon Head of 6-0. The first two matches were close but SRU ended on top. It was very different playing outside with the sun in our eyes instead of being inside with the AC on. Then we dominated our third match. When we played Charleston WV me and my doubles partner, Kayla, ended up down at first in our doubles match. It was 0-5 in about 15 minutes, which wasn't good. We started coming back and the score was 2-7. In doubles we only play up to 8 games, which is known as an 8 game pro-set. We ended coming back and winning the match 9-7. I thought that was the greatest match ever!

laptop

I think that the laptop with the swivel screen is pretty neat. It sounds like a great tool for the physical education room. It's like a giant palm pilot. It seems like it would be very easy to take quick notes on and to do so much more. It would save lots of paper and less mess and also to keep things organized.

another article

There was an article in a magazine about a guy who got into an accident on his way to swim practice. He was hospitalized and died 8 times and was revived every time. He was in a wheelchair but soon worked his way out of the chair. He is now a competitor in triathlons. Being able to come that far I think is amazing. Especially the fact that he died 8 times. He calls himself living proof of miracles.

man dumped

We watched another video in Adapted Physical Activity and its a video of a man that is in a wheelchair who was dumped on the floor. I could not believe that anyone would do that to a person in a wheelchair. The worst part was that it was a police officer who dumped him. The man must have given attitude or the police officer didn't believe that he was paralyzed from the chest down and thats why he is in a wheelchair. So she dumped him on the floor and he tried to roll to protect his ribs but its hard when your paralyzed. Then the officer frisked him! I feel that it is not right after dumping him on the ground. She shouldn't have dumped him in the first place. I feel that the police officers need some education about people with disabilities and find to different ways to handle people in wheelchairs.

Walsh

Over the weekend we had to go to Walsh's courts to play them. We get there and we are only playing on 4 courts so the match was long. Their courts were very different, they were like a carpet material. Which made the ball bounce extremely different and low. The match was not all that difficult. It was a good experience to play on a different type of court. We are very used to hard courts depending whether their fast or slow but we never play on carpet so it was fun.

the future computer mouse

New technology to be able to move a computer mouse with our brain. It would take a blanket of electrodes over the brain and just by our thoughts we can move the cursor around the computer screen. It is said that it will help people with disabilities in the future.

the worlds greatest dad

In Adaptive Physical Activity class our teacher showed us another great video of someone with a disability. It was about a son who has CP and his dad does so much for him that he takes his son with . His father participated in a Triathlon and took his son with him. The dad put his son in a raft to do the swimming part. Then he picked him up and carried him to the bicycle and hooked his son up to a bicycle made for the two of them. Then he put his son in a wheel chair and ran the rest of the triathlon. It was pretty amazing to watch. His son communicates through technology. He has a computer that is hooked up to his hi-tech wheel chair and when he blinks it spells something on the screen. That is how he talks.

walk and charge

I was sitting in Intro to Adaptive Physical Activity and Mrs. Arnhold told us about this new technology that was in the news. I don't know if it was just for people with leg disablilities or everyone. Its a device that you put on your leg and as you walk and you can charge your phone. So if one lived in a more poor society that does not have much electricity it is easy for them to charge their cell phones and computers just by taking a walk. It's a way to get exercise and charge your appliances. I thought that was neat piece of technology.

Backflip in wheel chair

I just watched a video of the kid who did the first backflip in a wheel chair. He has a disability so he is in a wheel chair all the time. He trained himself to use his wheel chair as a skateboard and does spins and tricks next to skateboarders and bmx riders. He doesn't call it skateboarding, I think he said he calls it hardcore sitting. But I thought it was amazing that he had that much determination to complete a backflip in his wheel chair.

smallest laptop

The smallest laptop can fit in an envolope! That is a really skinny laptop. It amazes me that someone came up to invent the smallest laptop. I think there are lots of good and bad qualities with the laptop. It doesn't even have a CD/DVD-Drive. I think it is very cool that it is so small but is it really that great? I don't think it would be because of the size. It doesn't seem like it would have that much memory to hold in its little body. But it would definitly be a lot easier to carry around without a huge bag.

tennis season

The tennis season is just starting out for the spring season. As a team we are expecting to make it to Nationals this year. In the fall we already came out with wins. Now our goal for spring is to win every match and get the highest ranking we can. That will help us out with the end of the season tournaments to get to Nationals.

about me

My name is Laura Handy I am a sophomore at Slippery Rock University. My major is Physical Education and Health. I am originally from Pittsburgh, PA. I have lived in Pittsburgh almost my whole life and I love living there. I am a huge fan of all sports. Mostly basketball, soccer and tennis. I am part of Slippery Rock's womens tennis team.