The nice thing about living with nine girls is that I didn't have to go far to find people to play leap frog with me. We live in an old house, so it actually has a name, Victoria Station, hence the title of the blog. I decided to ask everyone to play on a Sunday, when the weekend was over and everyone was starting to dread the week ahead. I thought it would be a nice way for everyone to take their mind off the fact that Monday was fast approaching. We were also about to have a meeting about some serious issues that we needed to work out in the house, so I hoped that this would lighten the mood and keep spirits high during the meeting.

Unfortunately, some people were a little too burned out from the weekend, and they decided to be spectators instead of participants. Still, I managed to convince four other girls to play with me, but my roommate Jen dropped out at the last minute. It was funny because the last time my friends had all played leap frog was as children many years ago. For some reason, they thought they would just be able to remember the rules, but it didn't turn out to be quite so simple. Luckily the rules are fairly simple so people picked up on it quickly. I'm not sure if we did it quite right, because we were really close together and we didn't squat down low enough, which made it difficult to leap. Still, it turned out to be fun, and it accomplished what I had hoped. Everyone was in a better mood, and our meeting turned out to be really relaxed.

I would definitely say that my experience with leap frog brought people together. Even those who were just watching were entertained, and it was a fun activity we’ve never done together before. Aside from feeling closer to my housemates, we also were connected on a deeper level, because my classmates were also doing the activity. I turned my game of leap frog into a way to ease tension in my house. My classmates may have chosen to play just for fun. Maybe they played with many more people, or less people, and I know they played in a different setting. By participating in this activity, it connects us as a class, and through the experience, everyone that we played leap frog with is also connected, even though they may never have met. We create a community by the simple act of playing a game that we loved as children.

-Sam Paoletti

I was always playing leapfrog when I was a child and still do find it fun to jump things. This assignment was a blast for me and I was really excited to participate in it. Upon telling some of my friends about this assignment they volunteered to help me out. Instead of just playing a typical game of leapfrog, my buddies thought it would be a great idea to try to jump over each other while standing straight up. After a few wipeouts it was obvious who could and could not accomplish such a feat and I chose to use the video of the guys that could "extreme leapfrog".


I have seen many global moments such as this on the internet, but I have never participated in one, nor have I ever been apart of a blog. It was really cool to see people get excited to help me out and participate in this assignment. It was fun to see how everyone remembered the game and decided to put a spin on it by standing straight up. I have also really enjoyed participating in a blog and hope to see how other people have participated in this global moment.

At the ripe age of twenty-two, I still like to think of myself as young spirited. I have come to terms with the fact that after age twenty-one, there really is no longer any birthday to look forward to. I can already see myself slowly starting to turn into my parents. I find politics much more interesting, I am falling behind and losing touch with mainstream music, and think sixteen year olds should definitely not be driving. I have never had text messaging on my cell phone or have ever stepped foot in an Abercrombie and Fitch clothing store. However, as much as I love my parents, I cannot imagine myself being exactly like them when I am their age. They are afraid of big cities, are devout Republicans, and think nine o’clock is late. I am always trying to convince them to take a vacation or expand their horizons past a dinner and a movie being a perfect night out. I know that young spirit is still in them somewhere. Leap Frog was the perfect activity to let it out.

Granted Leap Frog is not exactly a typical game or activity most twenty-two years even play, it allows you to revert to your younger days and act silly for a little bit. When we were given the project to play Leap Frog, I knew exactly who I wanted to play with. As childish as the game is, I also thought it would be a perfect way to bond and spend time with my parents before I had to go back to school. I only see them on random weekends, so I try and spend as much time with them as I can when I am home.

When I first mentioned the idea to my parents they were a little apprehensive to participate.

“Oh, I don’t know Jon. We probably cannot even bend down that low anymore…let alone jump over someone else. Why don’t you just go to the park and find some kids to play with? They will be better at it than us.”

My mother continued to tell me that there would be no time to play because their friends were coming over and they had dinner reservations. At that moment I thought about the other students in the class and whether they were having any trouble getting people to participate as well. Who were they Leap Frogging with? Where were they leaping? How did they sway their victims to actually participate? After a little more convincing, my parents agreed to play some Leap Frog. Even better, when their friends arrived, they too agreed to play. We went into the backyard and my girlfriend volunteered to be the camerawoman. After a little directorial planning, we assumed our frog positions and began to leap. The next few minutes that followed were probably some of the funniest and most entertaining minutes I have ever experienced with my parents. See below for yourself.

As we all gathered around the camera to watch what we looked like while playing Leap Frog, it was great to see everyone laughing and having so much fun. We laughed at each other’s ability or lack thereof to leap over one another. We laughed at my mom. We simply laughed at the fact we were playing a children’s game. It was silly, but it felt good to see my parents and their friends having a great time not being adults for five minutes. According to the internet, a group of frogs is called a colony or an army. That is perfect because the goal of this project was to build a sense of community, a colony of Leap Froggers. I guess you could say that we were a giggly little colony of Leap Froggers and will most likely remember this for a long time.










I was also lucky enough to have a couple of my friends send me a picture of them playing Leap Frog as well. The first picture is in front of USC Trojan Stadium in California and the second picture is next to a sculpture of Herky the Hawkeye at the University of Iowa.

Phase I-You Want Me To Do What Now?

Leap frog is the staple of childhood games, but, alas, I cannot think of a time when I have played it. Surely, there must have been a moment when I did, seeing that it is such an innocuous part of childhood. If I had played it though, who would I have played it with? I did not have many friends, and the playmates I did have were more likely to pretend to be frogs (or even catch real ones) than play leap frog.

But now that I think on it, I did, however, have a large number of imaginary friends. This is not that unusual in childhood, though perhaps my talking for them was. Furthermore, most of them were adults from various books, television shows and movies. I remember having long conversations with people such as Alan Grant and Ian Malcolm of Jurassic Park, James Kirk of Star Trek, Cordell Walker and James Trivet of Walker, Texas Ranger. Perhaps the best way to get back into childhood would be to play a game of leap frog with these fictitious people.

How hard could this possibly be?

Phase II-Logistics, Logistics, Logistics

Rule 1- Have imaginary friends who are friendly, helpful and willing to do anything for you, even years after you’ve “grown-up”

No. Scratch that. That’s Rule 2. Rule 1 is have imaginary friends who are not pragmatic.

“You do realize we’re imaginary right?

“And the ability for you to actually touch us is nil?”

“I came back from Tahiti with that nice kid for this?”

“The ability for a real person to physically leap over a non-existent entity is impossible.”

“Yeah, and how old are you? Because I’m forty. And I haven’t done this in like thirty ye— I’m not doing this!”

“This sounds like fun!!!”

While it can be a relief to have that one enthusiastic soul, it is better to have the one enthusiastic soul whom no one wants to injure. Alas, this was not to be.

After much wheedling and cajoling my only ally was released. All right, I told them that since they were acting childish it was not to big a leap (pardon the pun) for them to play a childish game. And anyway the sooner it was done, the sooner they could go.

This brings us to Rule 3: Make sure the camera is charged. No further explanation is needed.

Phase III-Survival of the Fittest What I Learned

Childhood is a wonderful time, filled with many happy memories, and friendly imaginary friends—who at that particular moment like you. Who don’t like being interrupted when they’re in Tahiti. To be fair, some did not mind getting away from the “sugar-faced walking contagions,” and only one was actually interested in the task, but still nothing brings back the happy memories of childhood quite like a game of leap frog.

Also, hopping around with a camera is highly awkward and a bit like being in a parody of a spy movie. Just when you think it’s safe to do the secretive filming, someone else jogs by. Or a photography-oriented person wanders around snapping pictures. Or people exit their car near you.

However, it all did bring back the memories of childhood, especially those middle school years where part of you grasps to the more youthful pursuits with people no one else can see, while another part of you aspires to be those lucky people out for a walk.

I chose to do my part of the leap frog phenomenon on October 22, 2008. Let me point out that I was not having the most glorious of days. In fact, it was down right horrible. Things were not going my way, and just when I was about ready to call it a day, I came up with an ingenious plan. I decided to ask some of my floor mates on Atkin 3 to do the leap frog in our hallway.

So, I did not receive quite the reception I had been hoping for. Apparently, leap frog is not the cool thing to do when you are in college. Eventually, I had about four of my floor mates and some random guy, whose name I discovered is Alex, volunteer to experience the amazing game of leap frog.

I asked my roommate to tape the event so I could participate. I thought she had not recorded us doing the leap frog correctly, so we ended up doing it three times. Each leap was a little different, but I think the third was the best. During the first two times, I proclaimed that the random guy, aka Alex, was"big." I did not mean big as in fat, but big as in broad, however he took it as meaning fat. I felt really bad about making him feel that way, so I made it a point to apologize and clarify exactly what I had meant by saying he was big. I told him being broad is a very good thing in my opinion. I definitely appreciate guys with wide shoulders. As a side note, I also gave him a mini-Snickers bar to make up for everything.

All in all, I think my attempt at leap frog was pretty successful, and I had fun. It even made me forget about my bad day for an hour or so. I hope you enjoy Atkin 3 doing the leap frog!

Emily

The first time I watched the Vimeo clip of Matt Harding dancing around the world, I cried. I know, I know, it is silly. But I always get emotional when I take part in experiences which celebrate the community of the human experience. Staying up late reading the seventh Harry Potter book--and knowing millions of others were doing the same thing--it doesn't get any better than that. So as I prepared to teach this course, I knew that I wanted my students to think about community and how shared experiences create connections. I designed this assignment not knowing what would happen next: Would my students participate? Would they think it was cheesy? Did it matter if they did?

Fast forward a few months later, and there I was preparing to play Leap Frog at the Maxwell Dog Park. I had mulled over a few ideas on the where and when, but I decided on the dog park for a few important reasons: 1) Of all the places in town, I probably spend the bulk of my time at the dog park, 2) I was participating in this blog not as a teacher--I wanted to choose a spot that was devoid of "teacher" qualities, 3) I wanted an excuse to put a picture of my dog, Lexi, on the blog.



The day I arrived at the dog park, it was cold. And I was alone. The dog park was empty.

"Good--I won't look like an idiot in front of everyone," I thought.

I sent my dog off to run and sniff, and then I proceeded to play leap frog (or, at the very least, a solo-version of the game). But, of course, I wasn't alone. I knew that my students were playing leap frog, too. Maybe it would be a different day for them (and let's be honest--I knew most would procrastinate the activity until the day before it was due), and certainly it would be a different place, but I wouldn't be alone in my leap froging.

While this particular project was designed to create community, I realize now that it was simply a physical manifestation of something that always exists in a classroom. As bell hooks would say, classrooms are communities, whether we acknowledge it or not. The students and the teachers share their experiences and their stories with each other, and if we are lucky, we forge a community that helps everyone involved develop and grow. Sometimes it doesn't work out in a positive way, but every once in a while everything falls into place, and for a moment I know: The experience we just had in class will stay with all of us for a very long time.

Only time will tell whether this particular assignment is one of those moments for them, but I think it will be for me.

When you want to play leap frog, “who you gonna call?” Well, I would not call Ghostbusters, but I would call my Brothers! I chose to play leap frog with my “Brothers,” my fellow members of the honors fraternity—Phi Sigma Pi. With this assignment, we were aiming to create community by bringing a group of people together. In Phi Sigma Pi, we are always striving to create community in our Brotherhood. So, I decided to combine the two. At the beginning of our Chapter, we play icebreakers. I asked the Vice President, and she thought it was a great idea to have leap frog for one of our ice breakers.

So, on October 20, the Brothers gathered in the hallway of Schroeder, where I told them about my assignment and asked for their help. Always willing to help a Brother in need, they graciously consented to play leap frog while being videotaped. It took a while to get ourselves together and to figure out exactly how we wanted to play, but finally we decided to make one long line and to just leap until we leaped over everyone. It was hilarious and so much fun! I leaped second and had a blast. Random acts of foolishness occurred, such as one of the Brothers kept trying to give wedgies to unsuspecting frogs while going on her leaping way. Others teased each other and made jokes. It was fun seeing the different ways people attempted to leap, some more successful than others. However, even if they were not too happy about the idea of leap frog, everyone ended up having fun. It brought us together. Even afterwards, the Brothers continued to tease each other about their leaping.

We are all very different people, yet we were all doing the same thing—leaping, just in our way. It will be interesting to watch everyone else’s version of leap frog. However, others may try to leap frog our way, but it would never be the exact same. The jokes, the laughter, the smiles, the randomness, none of it can be copied or replaced. It is forever in our memories as a good time with our fellow Brothers.

So, join me in watching the Phi Sigma Pi version of leap frog!