After receiving some great tips from a fellow teacher candidate (thanks Mercer!) I embarked on my fourth week of learning for my 20time project. During this week I decided to venture outside of my backyard and begin to practice in larger areas - I chose a local park nearby. Fortunately, due to the weather not being the greatest this week (fog, rain, & wind) the park I selected was empty....therefore I had plenty of space to practice! After this week, I now feel like I have more control over the direction of my board - not perfectly, but it's a process. I made a few changes and modifications to my method of skating from previous weeks in order to improve this week. To begin, per the suggestions provided, I tried to minimize the number of times I pushed with my left foot prior to stepping on the board. Just making that small change made an immediate change over my ability to cruise for longer periods of time and to control the direction of the board. As can be seen in the video included below, there are still moments when I pushed more than two time but I made an effort to only push twice and then step on. Furthermore, I also began to keep my knees slightly bent and my arms spread out after I had stepped onto the board with my left foot. After I reviewed the footage of me skating, I did notice I might be spreading my arms out a bit too much, but it definitely helped me maintain my balance! As I reviewed my video clips, I also began to make note of what I would like to improve in the upcoming weeks. First, I still need to work on rotating my front foot (right) inwards after I have stepped on with my left foot. This may help me accomplish my next goal for the upcoming week: turn, or shift the board's direction, right. I was able to start making slight turns left - mainly because that is the natural direction my stance on the board is facing - but I found it more difficult to shift the board towards the right.
I've included a video of my learning this week, the footage is from my day practicing at the park. One great thing about the 20time project so far has been that has inadvertently provided me with an opportunity to spend time with my family. On the day I went out to the park my two younger sisters actually tagged along with me so that they could record my evidence of learning and to practice skating (they were able to pick it up a lot more quickly than I have been able to thus far!). As you view the video, you might hear their voices pop up here and there; it was great to spend some time with them and to just have a day of fun an play while learning occurred. | |