Off-Court Talk: The Environment

Our Off-Court discussion this week was about the Environment/Recycling. We talked about ways we can help protect the environment, and we discussed recycling.

We asked our students what they knew about the subject recycling... many of them knew a lot about recycling! We discussed the 3Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle. We discussed littering and the harmful effects it has on the environment. We talked about how the trees and plants help the environment by producing clean oxygen. I asked our students what they knew about landfills. Most of the older students knew what a landfill was.

We talked about air pollution. Mainly about how all the cars in NYC pollute the air, and what we could do to reduce air pollution. Our kids stated that walking was a great way to reduce air pollution (and a great way to stay in shape!) or to ride a bike or travel using mass transit.

We're asking all of the students to bring in an item that was recyclable and one that isn't. Lafayette Garden students can bring their items to Candice and Marcy students can bring their items to Gary. A prize for the winner will be determined by Michael.

Week 10: Playing Tennis Together

From Lafayette Gardens:

Saturday's play date between Marcy and Lafayette Gardens was so much fun! It was exciting to see our LG kids interacting with the Marcy kids on the newly renovated Marcy court. At times I was even taken aback by how much they've learned--their tennis skills are definitely improving! The turn out was perfect and tons of parents were watching. Looking forward to more playing time together in the future.

A Tennis Courtship: Congratulations Michael & Maayan!

Off-Court Talk: Our Future

Saturday’s off-court discussion at Marcy called for a bit more creativity than usual. Gary posed the question, “How do you see the world in 25 years?” to kick off the conversation.

Of course, there are no objectively right or wrong answers, so the students were inspired to use their imaginations. The kids made a number of fun predictions about what human life will be like in 25 years--mostly related to technology. For instance, the kids expect that by 2039, hovercraft cars and vacuum tube trains will be our primary modes of travel, while gas-powered cars and existing modes of public transit will become obsolete. They also anticipate robots assisting with human beings’ daily functions and tasks, providing a great benefit to mankind.

In addition to their expectations for technological advancement, the students brought up some more meaningful ideas about life 25 years away. For one, they were confident that a woman will be—or will already have been—President of the United States by 2039, and pointed to some of our female volunteers as possible candidates. They also spoke of their hope for environmental improvements. People will have to change their habits now, the kids said, if we want to enjoy a clean and beautiful environment in the future.

All in all, the Marcy students expressed desire that our future world will be a better place. More importantly, they touched upon an important reality: While we can’t possibly guess all the little details of the distant future, we can modify our current actions to shape the big picture into something positive.

Week 9: Playing at the Net aka How to Volley

From Marcy

This week our focus was on introduction to Volleys/Footwork. Station 1) was used to introduce the proper technique and stance. Station 2) was the volley & catch station. Station 3) was footwork and agility. Station 4) on the Main Court put into play all the skills taught at the other three stations. Station 5) was the off court discussion group.

From Tompkins

This week, we had a lower turnout of kids than normal, but it gave us an opportunity for the volunteers to work one-one-one with a kid. First, we taught them how to volley--to step up to the net and hit the ball over with a quick "punch" rather than a full stroke like a forehand or backhand. The kids took to it immediately and really enjoyed the practice. After having them hit forehand and backhand volleys, the kids chose a volunteer to partner up with and we played a modified version of King/Queen of the Court, where the winning team played up to the net and responded with volleys.

Pro Tennis: Wimbledon Women's Winner - Petra Kvitova

Since there was no class this past weekend due to the holiday, I thought we'd continue our Pro Tennis series because there was plenty of Wimbledon this weekend. Click to learn more about Wimbledon's Men's winner, Novak Djokovic who was featured in our tennis pro series last year. This post is dedicated to the Wimbledon women's winner, Petra Kvitova (Czech).

This is Petra's second Wimbledon win, she won previously in 2011 by beating Maria Sharapova (6-3, 6-4). This year, she defeated Bouchard (6-3, 6-0) to win the title. In 2012, she reached the semifinals of the Australian Open and the French Open. Her highest career-ranking was world no. 2 in 2011. Her current ranking is 4th in the world. Kvitova went pro in 2006.

Fun facts: Kvitova is left-handed. She hits with a double-handed backhand. She also plays basketball and volleyball.

For more information on Kvitova, check out her website or her Wikipedia page.

Off-Court Talk: Education & Learning Styles

Now that school is officially out for summer in New York City, the volunteers at Marcy led a reflection on the academic year this past Saturday. As the previous day marked the first day of summer vacation for our students, we started the water break asking, “How does everyone feel now that the school year has ended?”

“Happy!” the students shouted in unison--no surprise there! Summer’s onset is just about the most exciting time of the year for any child.

Even though our kids were expectedly thrilled to have temporarily escaped the woes of waking up early, being on their best behavior, doing homework etc., they agreed that the most recently completed school year was a good one, and spoke positively about their teachers.

Gary asked, “Who is your favorite teacher, and why do you consider him or her to be the best?” Their responses were varied, but it seemed like Science, Physical Education and English Language Arts teachers received the most votes. The most likeable teachers are those who dedicate the most time and energy helping students get through difficult topics, the kids explained. Conversely, we explored what actions make a good student, either in school or at KCTL, to encourage appreciation for a learning relationships from both perspectives.

As a group exercise, we asked a few kids to pretend to be “teachers,” while the rest listened as “students.” The teachers led a tennis lesson by demonstrating proper technique for groundstrokes.

Afterwards, we asked the teachers how it felt to stand in front of the “class” to educate students about an assigned topic. They said that they felt nervous at first, but soon became relaxed and confident about the experience. Our exercise was a success! The kids understood the effort required to successfully teach a class. We closed out with a discussion about who would like to become a teacher someday before returning to rallying.