During the last three weeks at our school the students have been rollerblading in the gym. As the teacher I brought my own rollerblades and helmet and enjoyed skating and playing tag with my students. Some students play hockey and they were zooming around the gym, weaving in and out of everyone and were very comfortable on their skates. There were other students in my class who had never tried rollerblading before and they needed help doing up their skates and standing up etc. We had a total of five 45 minute sessions and what impressed me was how the students who were new to rollerblading improved from the first session to the last session. On the first day they fell down a lot in the gym, but gradually they became more confident and by the end they were easily skating independently.

The instructor also taught the students how to skate backwards which is not an easy skill, especially if your a beginner. I was able to do it, but I found my feet started to hurt after awhile. This is because your using the muscles in your feet in a different way and as a result they fatigue easily and start to ache. Most of the class would try to skate backwards and then after a short period of time they would return to facing forward when skating around the gym. It was during this time, and over a number of sessions, that I noticed one of my students, Joey, who was determined to learn how to skate backwards. While everyone else, including the teacher, was skating around the gym facing forward he was concentrating on learning to skate backwards. He took the initiative all on his own and I was really impressed with his perseverance to master the skill even while there was loud music being played in the gym and the rest of the class was skating facing forward. Good for you, Joey!