Thematic teaching offers an umbrella students can return to to make their own connections. It provides a constant amidst the chaos to formulate conclusions and test variables against. Stepping back and trying to see the bigger picture of my classes,… Read more ›
Interest dictates pretty much everything. It is the neck that turns the head and keeps curious eyes fixed. At its most illuminating and significant, it attracts the onlooker into their own inner workings. Believe that you are both interesting and… Read more ›
If I learned one thing growing up in the Chicago suburbs, it’s that lazy people are really, really frowned upon. Being worth something meant you did something. You contributed; to the house, the team, the school, the community. Willingly making… Read more ›
Two years ago, I set to develop a “new” type of PE that looked outside the realms of sport and weight lifting. With the outliers as my muse, we set to examine movement with a larger lens — how one… Read more ›
Matan Levkowich is a dancer, choreographer, and martial artist. Another of the incredible Israeli movers, he is able to pluck out threads from all the worlds he has immersed himself in and deliver them in practical form. He first blipped… Read more ›
Information is a tease that lures you to attach yourself with a particular paradigm. The consequence of consuming the free tastes is that you are left deficient. Once sampled, you’re not entirely sure what you just had, but you do… Read more ›
Three months into the new school year, everything seems easier. As encouraging as my findings from the first year were, I wanted to further minimize my influence over their minds. To instigate thinking, one must ask provocative questions that the… Read more ›
Balance is a movement intelligence. It relies on systemic interdependence — that your parts work well enough and that the body can efficiently execute interpretations from the brain. Creating feet that grip and then utilizing them in skill-based, eyes closed situations bridges… Read more ›
There is a huge benefit to feeling like an outsider. You learn to trust yourself. Your different feels correct. You become excellent at observing and sifting, and finding your own truth. For a long time I mistook my almost constant… Read more ›
Engaging with your work demands a certain degree of ownership. There must be a benefit to the challenge presented, beyond just a hard-to-apply confidence. A task can serve as a test of will, a test of adaptability, and/or a test… Read more ›
Doing without knowing. Playing, creating, learning. Adjusting and adapting. Describing Fighting Monkey is an act in organizing verbs. Everything overlaps and intertwines and is a wonder. The only certainty you are left with is that you have experienced something good… Read more ›
“I’m going to explore the depths of the ocean.” “You’re gonna what?” “I’m going to get into this magical pressure suit, close myself off to the known world, and look for cool stuff.” “Why would you want to do… Read more ›
“The more complicated the environment, the more it takes you away from yourself.” I have a confession to make. I live in the land of Dewey Nielsen, and I don’t revel in being outside. I don’t mind it, and… Read more ›
feature image photo credit: Alexander Yakoviev via freeyork.org “Re-creation develops the artistry of ‘finding the how’. Re-creation allows helpful acts to be reproduced. It infuses YOU into the creative process: solving problems, creating alternatives, and granting whatever time… Read more ›
“Translation allows for otherwise separate entities to synapse and communicate.” I have been a teacher for thirteen years and a movement therapist for five. As I toggle through the two professions, an unlikely blend has taken place. I find… Read more ›
“To enjoy the process you have to re-frame desired results.” Give a kid a list of tasks to do, and you’ll find yourself with one unhappy kid. Give an adult a checklist, and they transform into blissful busyness. One… Read more ›
As a young athlete, I did whatever my coach told me without asking questions. I rewound video tape of Michael Jordan again and again to get the footwork right. As I aged, I accepted and attempted to perform summer programs… Read more ›
feature photo credit, Moshe Feldenkrais and Magic Johnson: feldenkraismethod.com People want to be self-sufficient. There is an immense satisfaction in being able to pinpoint what is wrong and develop a strategy in how to fix it. The process of correction… Read more ›