Philosophy of Coaching

            Coaching provides students an opportunity to engage in physical activity outside of school at a competitive level. Not only do children who play on interscholastic teams gain the benefit of being active several hours a day, they also learn the value of being on a team. My philosophy on coaching is meant to build up sport specific skills, and should not only help students become as skilled as possible in that sport, but should also teach them values of being on a team and developing relationships.

            As a coach I will strive to focus on each player and their ability. Once their present level of ability is noted in their particular sport, I will help to bring them to the next level. I would like players to not only see what they are, but what they can be. I will also focus on problem solving and the tactical approach of coaching. A player should be taught how to do each movement required for their sport well, and how to apply it in an authentic environment.

            In my opinion, the values taken away from playing a interscholastic sport are much more important than how skilled your team becomes or what their record is. Being a part of a team, with a good coach, should produce athletes who value teamwork, communication, punctuality, respect, problem solving, determination, goal setting, loyalty, community and motivation. Having these players every day for practice time, you will see physical improvements, but it is just as important to make sure your team understands that becoming a team will ultimately lead them to success. All of these skills that are learned from playing on a team will carry over to the real world, in college or in employment opportunities. A prospective employer or college will look for people with determination, a good work ethic, loyalty, and honesty. If my players can walk away from a season of playing on my team and have an understanding of what it means to be a team player, and have all of these attributes, I believe I did my job.

Philosophy of Physical Education

II. Physical Education

    As a professional physical educator I believe that there are three major ideas that frame what I do and value in the field.  These ideas are building physically competent/proficient students, developing an understanding of why physical education is important, and implementing life long fitness into students lives. Teaching a child to become physically competent, showing them the numerous benefits of physical education, and ‘giving them the tools to keep up activity for a lifetime are the basis of my philosophy in physical education.

            Within physical education I would like to expose students to a diverse array of activities. In doing so we will find an activity that a student is competent in, and could build up to become proficient in. Also by showing students a variety of physical activities from many parts of the world students are becoming more well rounded and open minded about other cultures and countries activities. While trying to build competent students, it is important to keep in mind that students have varying ability. I would like to set students up for success. In order to ensure students improvement and build toward competency and proficiency, I will implement various levels of tasks and progress from the level a child is at, upward and onwards.

            I also believe it is very important to not only express to our students why physical education is important, but to all of society. I will push to make sure students understand the benefits of physical education. My students will know that being physically active and eating healthy will not only better their bodies, but it will also allow their minds to thrive and build even better academic students. I will show students information about childhood obesity and its increase in the recent years. While presenting all of this information about how positive physical education is, I will not scare the children. The point of discussing how important physical education is in school is to get students motivated and interested in moving their bodies.

            Lifelong fitness is an ever growing aspect of physical education. I believe life long fitness is one of the most important things you can teach to your students within the curriculum. In traditional PE there is a lot of team sports, such as basketball, soccer, and volleyball. Although I do value some aspects learned through team sports, you cannot play these sports for a lifetime. I want my students to have the tools to keep them fit for their whole lives, not just for when they walk into my classroom. Some activities I would like students to get into are activities they can do on their own, for their lifetime. These activities include dance, yoga, Pilates, hiking, canoeing, biking, ice skating, rollerblading, and skiing. There are plenty more activities than those listed, and I would like to implement as many lifetime activities into my PE curriculum as possible. Exposing students to these new activities may be just the jump they need to become passionate about being physically active.

Philosophy of Education

I. Education

               As a professional educator I rest my philosophy of education upon three major pillars of belief. Together, these three beliefs provide the basis of what I value, what I do, and why I do it as an educator.  These four beliefs include: building good, moral, sound young men and women, encourage self discovery, develop a sense of community as a class, and preparing students for life after high school. Being an educator is not just about presenting material to students; it is about making sure these students understand what you are teaching them, and why. As a teacher it is not only your job to educate these children when it comes to the books, but also educate them about life to come.

            Every person in the world has a set of morals or ethics. Depending on where your students come from, their experiences, and their environment, they may come into school with varying beliefs. As an educator I will strive to express my beliefs and morals to my students, while keeping an open mind and not imposing my beliefs on my students. I would like to express to my students my value in honesty, mutual respect, and welcoming diversity.

            Within my guidance to encourage students to become honest, respectful, and well rounded, I would like to have students discover for themselves what they value, and their value to their school, community, and society. I believe every student is talented in some endeavor, and they just need to discover their talent. To give students greater opportunity for self discovery, I will have a diverse classroom. Not only with students, but information presented. I would like to expose children to a number of activities so that every student may find something they enjoy and are good at. While exposing students to a number of subjects or activities, and educator should also be a keen observer. Once a student is seen excelling at a particular subject, it is important to help foster their growth within that subject.

            Whether students discover they are good leaders, good organizers, great designers, or good at movement, I would like to give every student a role in the classroom. I believe building a classroom with a sense of community is vital to success not only for student learning,  but also for their preparation to be released into life after high school.  Within the classroom I believe it is important for everyone to have a task, to feel as if they are contributing to the classroom running smoothly. Here giving the students a responsibility and opportunity to express attributes that are looked for in life after high school, such as punctuality, hardworking, honesty, and in some cases group collaboration, will give them an idea of what kind of people are successful in the world

Questions for thought...

1. The purpose of schools is… to educate and shape young minds and bodies. Not only should students go to school for an education to help them further in life, but they should also be exposed to learning ethics, morals, and lifelong lessons to shape them as young adults. Students should also learn how to take care of their health independently, including diet and exercise.

2. Faculty and staff in schools should…put students first. Faculty and staff must be caring and enthusiastic about their students, not only in their academic lives, but in social, emotional, and physical well being.

3. Curriculum should…..consider students individual needs, such as learning styles, age, culture, and ability. The curriculum should wholly educate the students in a verity of subjects.

4. Instructional approaches must…be diverse to accommodate a verity of learning styles. They also must be fresh, interesting, and every changing to keep student interest.

5. School leaders…. must be good examples. School leaders must be positive role models and set good examples for students to strive towards.

6. The ideal school includes…a sense of community. The school should function as a unit, with everyone having respect for themselves and others and they all strive for the same goal of success in the school.

7. Parents and communities need to…become involved in the school. Parents need to help foster growth in their children outside of the classroom. Communities should offer programs to better student learning in the hours they are outside of school.

8. The major problems facing education today are…funding and lack of motivation, both in educators and students. School with poor funding have trouble implementing programs that are effective, and tend to have students who do worse within the environment. Students in public schools have less resources to become successful, and their lack of success may have a negative effect on the teachers. Some educators give up on their students if they show no improvement or drive to succeed, while they really should be finding ways to help these students become successful.

9. What is physical education about? Physical Education is about educating students on their body, the benefits of exercise, nutrition, and life long fitness. Physical Education is unique in its ability to integrate almost any subject matter into an activity within the gym. Here you may combine student learning with kinesthetic movement. Physical Education is used to teach students new skills involved in sport, and to understand lifetime fitness which can be used in the community and throughout the students lifetime.

10. What does it mean to be “physically educated”? A physically educated person should learn skills needed to perform a verity of physical activities. A physically educated person is physically fit and participates in daily activity. A physically educated person values the benefits of physical education.

11. What is the role of the field in society? Currently in society physical education isn't exactly looked at as a profession. There must be a lot of work to push for a better reputation for Physical Educators in society. Our job is important, and vital to the success of America. With the rates of childhood obesity increasing,  physical education needs to be pushed for and students must become active.

12. The ideal physical education program would……keep kids interested day in and day out. An ideal program would get all children involved and active each day. This program should have a wide verity of activities including sport, recreation and lifetime activities.

13. What is athletics about?  What is its purpose? Athletics is about competing an physical activity in a controlled, recorded settings outside of the school day. It is a commitment to a team, the coach and its team members. Personally I think the purpose of athletics is to build character and learn life lessons through the use of sport.

14. The role of the coach is to…..A coach should be able to teach his/her players the core values of respect, loyalty, friendship, support, and compassion. Although a sport should strive towards physical excellence, it should also include building students roles in the community and as young adults.

Bullying In Education

Tonight in my night class we discussed the recent events of bullying in school. These events have been widely publicized in the media, yet even before they were given public attention, bullying has occurred all over our country for years. My professor, Ralph Hesse opened with this video...

The fact that these young boys were bullied to their death breaks my heart. The most concerning thing Ive found after watching this video is that even when parents and students reported this bullying to the school, nothing was done. This was an ongoing discussion in our class about what is considered bullying, and why does it go unnoticed? Why do teachers often under-estimate the rate of bullying at their schools? We came up with some answers to these questions. Bullying usually occurs in a place where teachers do not have supervision; such as in the bathroom, locker room, during recess, in the hallways, and on the walks home. Often teachers may turn a blind eye, or simply not notice certain ways of bullying, and that is how things get so out of hand. Also many schools within the state and the country don't have specific plans to deal with reports of bullying.

My professor then showed us this video of a school in Norway that has a phenomenal anti-bullying program at their school. If schools in the United States could take a page from Norway's book, we may be on our way to building better school systems, and more well rounded students.


To view this video click here. The program implemented in Norway is pretty amazing. Developing a sense of community within their schools has had an positive effect on their schooling. There is almost no bullying and when there are instances they are dealt with immediately and with seriousness.

PreSchooler Depression?

I came across this article in my Behavioral Disorders in Education class about diagnosing preschoolers with depression. It is very interesting to see the early signs, and the debate of whether we can diagnose children who barely yet understand their environment with depression. My major concern in this article, is if your child is diagnosed with depression, what do you do about it? In adults the most common and effective treatment for depression is medication, but would you give your preschooler, or even a child in early elementary school anti-depression medication?

Its an interesting read.. check it out...Can Preschoolers Be Depressed??

Chapter 2/3- Different Ways of Learning & Teaching Your Diverse Students

1. How do cognitive, affective, and physiological factors impact learning?
Cognitive factors impact learning greatly. Students have much "different ways of perceiving, organizing, and retaining information"(p. 31). Here is where students will say they are a "visual learner", or a learner who learns through movement and participation. These cognitive factors impact learning and may shape how a teacher should present a lesson. A teacher should understand that students all have different cognitive approaches, and try to include something that will help each different learner understand the information in the best way possible. The affective domain can impact learning just as much as cognitive. If students have behavioral problems and do not respect their peers or their teacher, it will be hard for them to learn, and will also effect other students in the class. Physiological factors can vary depending on the environment and students background. If a student is from a less wealthy family and cannot afford a healthy breakfast, or warm cloths, their attention will not be as great as a student who is in class that is comfortable.

2. How can teachers respond to different learning styles?

 Teachers can respond to different learning styles by planning their lessons according to their students needs and learning ability. For example, if a teacher is presenting in a lecture, they can have visual markers in the slides, including words and pictures, as well as audio segments to go along with them speaking out loud, and even some in class activities that get students moving to help understand the concepts being taught. 

3. What are the classroom implications of Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences?

 Gardener's theory of multiple intelligences includes 8 intellegences. These intelligences are:

- Logical-Mathematical

- Linguistic

- Bodily-kinesthetic

- Musical

- Spatial

- Interpersonal

- Intrapersonal

- Naturalist 

These 8 intelligences are important to consider in education because every student learns differently and has certain things they excel at and will have greater success in learning when taught through those mediums.  Teachers should consider how they can include music in lessons, how to use movement activities in a traditionally lecture styled classroom, how to get students to interact with their peers throughout a lesson, implementing visual aids to better student learning, and include activities outside the classroom.

 

4. How does emotional intelligence influence teaching and learning?

As defined in the text, "Emotional intelligence is a type of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one's own and others' emotions, to discriminate among them, and use the information to guide one's thinking and actions" (p. 40).  Students have varying emotional intelligences, some tend to be more adventurous and confident, while other students may be more stubborn and frustrated. Teachers must take in to account that not all students will be confident in their learning and motivated to do well. 

5. How can teachers meet the diverse needs of an increasingly multicultural student population?

Teachers must first understand the needs of their students. Since there is an increasing number of multicultural students, teachers should be prepared and understand that they may learn in different ways and need alternative approaches to be successful in school.  One thing I specifically want to do in my classroom is make sure that everyone is treated equally and all students have respect for one another regardless of ability, race, religion, culture, or socioeconomic status. 

6. What are the different levels of multicultural education?

Level 1: The Contributions Approach- focuses on heroes, holidays, and discrete cultural elements.

Level 2: The Additive Approach- Content, concepts, themes and perspectives are added to the curriculum without changing its structure. 

Level 3: The Transformation Approach- The structure of the curriculum is changed to enable students to view concepts, issues, events, and themes from the perspectives of diverse ethnic and cultural groups. 

Level 4: The Social Action Approach- Students make decisions on important social issues and take actions to help solve them. 

7. What are the political and instructional issues surrounding bilingual education?

There are many views of the idea of bilingual education. Some are for it and others are against it. "Critics of bilingual education advocate an immersion model, claiming that many bilingual programs simply do not work, placing ELLs into lower academic tracks in which they may never emerge"(p.70). Those on the other end "point to studies that show first- and second-generation Hispanic students who attended bilingual programs from the 1970s to the 1990s earned considerably less money than Hispanics who attended "English-only" programs. 

8. How are the needs of special learners met in today's classrooms?

In the 1970s the courts established 5 critical principles of special education:

1. Zero Reject: This asserts that no child with disabilities may be denied a free, appropriate public education.  

2. Nondiscriminatory Education: Mandates that children with disabilities be fairly assessed, so that they can be protected from inappropriate classification and tracking. 

3. Appropriate Education: Implies that children have the right to an education involving the accurate diagnoses of individual needs, as well as responsive programs keyed to those needs.

4. Least-restrictive Environment: Protects children with disabilities from being inappropriately segregated from their age-group peers. 

5. Procedural Due Process: Upholds the rights of those with disabilities to protest a schools decision about their education. Gives parents right to challenge actions of the school using a counsel and expert witnesses.

9. Does technology exacerbate racial, class, geographic, and gender divisions?

I personally think technology can help, not hinder, those regardless of class, location or gender. Some argue technology such as spell check hinders student learning. Although this may be true, if students are using technology to research articles relevant to education and access a vast amount of information which could be beneficial to any educational program.

 

Chapter 1-The Teaching Profession and You

1.What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a teacher?
There are many advantages and disadvantages of being a teacher, all of which can vary depending on individual opinion. Some advantages are fulfilling the desire to work with young people, the love of a specific subject, and value of education (p.3). Other advantages include building relationships with colleagues, job security/benefits, lifetime growth, and summers off. Some disadvantages of being a teacher include inadequate salary, poor working conditions, heavy workloads, discipline issues, negative attitude of students, and lack of parental support (p. 4). Each of these advantages and disadvantages vary from school to school due to factors such as school funding, levels of poverty, location of the school and administration. 


2. What are the satisfactions—and complaints—of today's teachers?
Most teachers reported in the National Education Association Survey that they are satisfied with their job,  collegial relationships, challenge of work, job security (tenure), and their autonomy in the classroom (p. 3). Within this survey most teachers agreed that they had adequate resources and a solid supervising staff.  Some complaints, as stated in question 1, included teachers salary, heavy workloads, poor conditions, lack of teacher involvement, disciplinary issues, negative attitudes towards education by students, and lack of influence over school polices.


3. Can we consider teaching to be a profession?
When looking at the tables on page 11 and 12 and comparing the criteria for a profession and critera for a semi-profession, I found that teachers may not meet every criteria to be considered a profession, but checking of certain criteria for a semi-profession would be selling teacher short. To prepare to be a teacher one must provide essential services to the individual and society (education is essential), teaching is concerned with an identified area or need for function- education,  teachers possess a specific body of knowledge and skills (subject matter), teaching requires a preparation program at a college or university, and teachers are usually characterized by a  strong service motivation and a lifetime commitment to competence. These are just five examples of professional criteria teachers meet, yet the professionalism is still questioned.


4. How has teacher preparation changed over the years?
In colonial America teachers rarely had formal preparation, and rarely attended a secondary school. College completion was more common in Europe than in America. Teachers were expected to have some knowledge of their subject, but not required to complete any form of education. Teaching was not considered a career but as temporary employment (p 14). In 1823 there was a Normal School developed to provide elementary school graduates with some formal training in teaching skills. This school, opened by Reverend Samuel Hall, marked the beginning of teacher Education in America (p. 14). Years later Horace Mann opened another normal school in Lexington. During the 1900s normal school was the expectation to become a teacher. Teaching also use to be female oriented and held in a low regard. As time went on Normal schools became three or four year schools to learn how to teach. Into the 1980s a demand for professionalism increased for teachers. This called for a masters level degree in teaching. In '87 the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards was developed to recognize outstanding teachers. This Board aimed to award board certification to extraordinary teachers (p. 15). The board had 5 specific criteria- mastery of subject area, commitment to students, ability to effectively manage a classroom, continuous analysis of teaching performance, and a commitment to learning and self improvement. Today teachers must go through specific requirements depending on state standards. Teachers must earn a B.A. or an M.A. or have a 5th year of study to obtain a teachers license. 


5. What are the differences between the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers? 
 The National Education Association was created in 1857 and is the largest professional and employee organization in the nation with 3 million members (p. 21). NEA provides free legal services, training opportunities, and is also a political force and works to make sure pro education candidates get elected and promotes laws to be passed that are beneficial to teachers and students.  
The American Federation of Teachers was created in 1916 and has over a million members and has a leadership role in education reform. The AFT supports national standards for teachers, charter schools, and induction programs, that enable new teachers to work with master teachers and recruits people of color into the teaching profession.

6. What traits and characteristics are needed for successful teaching?
Teachers must be compassionate, knowledgeable of their subject matter, punctual, professional, and personable. Teachers must be committed to educating their students and caring about them. Teaching is a profession that you need to put in extra hours, extra research and be compassionate about your students and professional with your colleagues to be successful.


7. Is teaching a "good fit" for you? 
I believe that teaching is a good fit for me, especially physical education. I love being around kids, and helping people. I also think that physical education is one of the most important things for people to learn and understand. Regardless of what your interests are and what you want to do in your life, you will always need to take care of your body to be successful. Teaching students lifetime fitness and aspects of nutrition will ensure a greater quality of life. 

First Night of APE

Last night was our first lab for Adapted Physical Education. I was super excited, and a bit nervous. It was kind of scary to go into a lab with students who have different abilities than you are used to. We got a bit of background information on our students, but you can never understand someone from whats written down on paper, you must actually meet them and speak with them to figure out who they are, what their likes and dislikes are and build a relationship with that student.

I prepared a lesson plan in which I got to know the students with a beach ball game. I planned on having a beach ball, and depending on which color your right thumb lands on when you catch a pass from a fellow student or teacher, youd have a specific question to answer. These questions were my way of getting to know the girls interests and seeing what kind of activities theyd enjoy later in the year. I also had a few games in which the girls would participate in movements that I can assess using the Adapted aquatics for Individuals with Disabilities Skills Checklist. Although I planned plenty of games and planned a pre-assessment. But any teacher candidate knows things seldom go according to plan.

I met my girls and was very excited to finally see them face to face. They both were excited and were very happy about their lesson in the gym they had just before. I asked them if they had fun and what kind of games they played. They told me they had a lot of fun and played a numbers game, but didnt want to explain it to me. I learned a little bit about them as we walked down to the locker room, and helped them change then get into the pool. The girls were excited to get in and pretty good listeners which is exciting for me, because I can plan some fun activities. As far as my lesson plan went, I attempted to implement some of the activities I had planned, but the girls wanted to do their own thing. Within the little games they wanted to do, I could convince them to hop on one foot, or go under water and spin, a few things that are on the aquatics checklist. Both girls are pretty good swimmers.

As far as teaching in the pool, this was my first time, and it was a bit difficult. I know the girls enjoyed what we did, but It wasnt much teaching. Hopefully next week they will participate in my activities, and Ill have an incentive at the end for them if they did well.

All in all week one went well and Im excited for the rest of the weeks to come!

Similarities in Class

I've noticed in the past few weeks of class that since I am finally in my senior year, all my classes seem to correlate. I am taking Adapted and Statistics, and both of those classes go hand in hand. Im also taking Emotional/Behavioral disorders in Education and that has many similarities to the APE class. I am excited for my senior year to kick off and I know I have a lot more to learn but I'm excited! I feel like this year will prepare me even more than the past three years have. Combining a number of classes and making the connections between them and my past three years of school I feel is very important to my success. I am very excited yet nervous to go into the adapted lab. As of now I don't know what student I have or their abilities. This will be a whole new experience for me, teaching in the pool, and teaching an adapted class. I have great help from my TA's already and my professor, so hopefully all will go smoothly. I also want to work on associating and collaborating with my peers and bouncing ideas off of them. I think it is really important to have students within a class communicate and express their thoughts and beliefs about subjects together. Although these students will be my competition out in the real world, they also will be great to make connections with and come together to make changes in the PE world.

I Hope, I Believe, I Will..

I hope to make a difference. I hope to make a difference in students lives, a difference with their parents, faculty members, and within my community. A knowledge of physical education and lifetime difference at any age will make a difference 

I Believe I will have a positive impact on students lives. I believe I will be great teacher. I believe I will remain passionate about PE and adamant about healthy and active youth. 

I Will make a commitment to better myself to help others. I will keep up on my knowledge of physical education, nutrition, and lifetime fitness and share this wealth of knowledge to help others. 

255 Final

The website if from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The school is in South Saskatoon, Canada.

This news story was awesome! I'm surprised I hadn't heard of it yet. It is something I'd like to share with those who are still in denial that the condition of the body directly effects the mind. I think all teachers, PE or not should look into grants and programs to help them gain equipment to have such programs in their own school.

We don't hear about the Physical Education class because it is just another typical, sub-par PE Class. The PE teacher isn't doing anything amazingly special or comparing data to prove the need for physical activity.

By the end of this program many students had a higher performance in many subject areas than they had before the implementation of treadmills within the classroom. Not only did the students benefit in their grades, their behavior was noticeably different. Before the program students wouldn't stay in their seats more than 5 minutes. They swore and talked back and were rarely focused. Students actually began coming to class and being excited to be there, giving them so many more opportunities to learn. If you don't go to class, you don't learn. Now that students were regularly attending, they had so much more potential for learning. This program does meet the NYS Learning Standards. Standard 1A and 1B were met when the students began running, biking, and walking. They gained knowledge on those basic motor skills. Also the use of heart monitors and used that information towards creating a plan of their own meets standard 1B. Throughout this program a more positive learning environment was created. With the implementation of exercise, the students behavioral problems decreased and created a safer classroom, meeting Standard 2. One parent mentioned that their child encouraged them to go on walks at home out of the classroom. This shows Standard 3 at work, having students be aware of things to do outside the classroom.

B.D.N.F.= Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor

This is a growth factor found in the brain that helps neurons in the brain and also helps growth and development of new neurons. This causes the brain cells to become stronger. Research shows that aerobic activities help increase BDNF!

There are countless activities that meet standards 1A and 1B. 6&3 across 3 means that by their senior year students should be recreation ally competent in 6 activities, proficient in 6 across 3 different categories. I know in my experience this was not the case. In many classes students in PE were graded on attendance, if they were dressed, and then on participation. No emphasis was put on motivation or effort in PE, students did just enough to get by. In my experience in asking fellow students and thinking back to my years in PE I do not believe many schools in the State are using the 6&3 / 3 as a grading standard. Students in a PE class should be able to meet the 6&3 across 3 by their senior year. Students have been instructed in PE since kindergarten. If the curriculum is built from the bottom up and is well planned and written, at least 85% of grade 12 students should be able to meet this goal.

Standard 1B is extremely important. Once students leave their high school PE class, they are on their own physically unless they are an athlete playing at a collegiate level. Students should be able to have the skills and tools needed to create and follow their own fitness plan in order to stay active even when they aren't being told to by a teacher. Students should be able to develop a fitness plan a few weeks into school, and follow it while logging progress for around 4 weeks after. This shows they can create their own fitness plan, and follow it.
The percentage of students who can write and follow a fitness plan should be around 90%. Students should also be required to research proper nutrition and log their eating habits- here you could use DAILY BURN!



check out DAILY BURN

(http://dailyburn.com/locker_room)

So far using daily burn has been helpful. There are a lot of tools and tricks on the website to be explored. I like the graphics and think they would be aesthetically pleasing to high school kids.
A teacher could have students track their daily activity and nutrition, and take snap shots to track their progress. Here the PE teacher will be able to assess the students progress and ability in Standard B 1.


For students to accomplish the regents level for Standard 1B, students can track their work outs along with their nutrition. This gives the students the opportunity to track their progress through the semester and see how their fitness progressed and visually see weight loss.In today's day and age students are always on facebook, texting, or on their iPod. Adding one more step for them to do for homework on a visually stimulating website should be simple for both the PE teacher and the students. Adding pedometers to track students steps through out the day would be a great idea. This could also be tracked online. If the students are having a difficult time with the concept of using the Daily Burn website, the teacher could always record their steps.The Daily Burn is a great tool. It has everything available at your fingertips. You can search all foods you ate and track them, you can find any type of exercise and record it. This website is a great visual for progress for your students.For individual goals. In the beginning process where you's select why you're working out I wouldn't encourage students to pick losing weight. As we all know in any classroom everyone is different and this goes for PE as well. Students won't be expected to lose weight, just use the program in a way that benefits them the most.Grading would be noticing their recorded data, not checking if they ate the right things or worked out enough.

Students would learn how to use screen shots to help in their grading. I would also have students keep up a PE blog, and post these screen shots on their blog documenting their progress. Using screen shots gives documentation that students are participating in this physical activity.

Get Ready to MOVE

Done with Lab D!

After a long semester has come to the end, I am proud to say I have grown. I finished my final lab on Wednesday April 20th. This journey has not been easy, but it has been very rewarding. Before I get into my reflection for Lab D I would like to thank everyone involved in this class this semester, Professor Yang especially. I have learned a great deal from him and so much from the TA's and other students. Thank you for being available for help and inspiring me with new ideas to use in my lessons.













Now on to Zumba!! Take a look here at the video of my lesson:





After watching my videos and completing the Time Coding form, I see I still have some work to do. Although students got more than %50 activity, they were still being instructed for too long and had waiting periods. With more planning and practice I believe I can adjust my lessons to make things more efficient.

Regarding the C-9 form, there are some points that I missed or didn't quite cover thoroughly enough.I should have gone over safety a bit more instead of just reminding students to be aware of their space. I had a good instant activity that got students moving, and after bringing them in I successfully introduced myself. I missed out on checking for understanding with students after the demonstration, and also need to work on my feedback. I give feedback but very rarely is it congruent feedback. I encourage students and tell them they are doing a good job, but not specifically enough to students and I don't tell them exactly what they are doing a good job at. To see a detailed transcript of the lesson click here. This is one area I still need to grow in. I also had to face some tech challenges in this lesson. I had a nice powerpoint to show the class, but couldn't get it hooked up to the projector so it was only shown on the small screen of my lap top. This visual aid could have helped me in gaining more points on the C-9. One thing that surprised me while watching this video was my confidence. Usually I am very energetic and confident in my lessons and within class. I have to admit for this lab D I was very nervous. This was one subject I knew almost nothing about and was not familiar with. I knew a lot was riding on this final lab and I believe my nerves got to me a bit. But once again this is a learning experience, and although I didn't do as well as I would have wanted, I was exposed to teaching new skills in a new environment. I will only learn by doing and I'm very glad to have had the experience here at SUNY Cortland to better myself.

To see my content development form click here. 

ZUMBA!!

Lab D crept up quickly! We're already at the end of the semester. When I look back on each lab I can proudly say I've improved little by little each time. My speaking has improved, organization, as well as visual aids. Although I have improved on some things, there is still a long road ahead. Even seasoned teachers have room for improvement every day. I am very thankful to have had this experience with our 255 class. We have learned a lot together and had a lot of fun. I'm excited and nervous for my Lab D!  
Students will learn a few Zumba moves as well as a brief history of Zumba. The students will also be asked to complete a small assignment and attend a Zumba class or event.

Pleased with Polo

After the anticipation of how much lab C really counts for, I think I did well once I got into teaching. I was very nervous and stressed out before this lab because it is longer and used a different skill that most people are not familiar with. I looked up rules of Polo, a brief history, and passing techniques. I decided that I wanted some fake horses for the students to ride on while passing the foam ball to each other.

Some positive things I did was the organization with the cards for partners. I made index cards with numbers on them. I had 1-4 with blue maker, and 1-4 with red marker. 1's paired up with 1's, 2's with 2's and so on. When the students paired up I had them work on a slow smooth pass to a partner while standing without their "horse". Once students got that down, which happens so fast in our class compared to how it will happen when we're teaching high school or grade school students. Once this pass was done well we moved on to back hand passing. The progressions start at forehand passes on the right side, and moved up to back hand passing and a neck pass or tail pass.

One thing I wish I did more was manage my time so the students could play a full field game longer. I could cut off some time from our passing progressions and get more into game play.I think my feedback in this lesson was better than my previous lessons. I used the cue's "slow and smooth" while talking to the students in class. I can still work on my volume and also make my visual aids larger. They seem so big when I'm in my apartment but then I get to a gym and they're not so huge any more! I am pleased with this lesson and the way I taught it and am exited (and a bit nervous) to move on to Lab D!

Partner Jumping Reaction

Every day teaching gets easier and easier. With practice I think I am becoming more clear and effective with my teaching. I taught 2 partners in 1 rope and 2 partners in one rope alternating partners. This skill was pretty easy, yet hard to explain. I was pleased with my visual aids I used for this lesson. They were pretty cute and would be great to be used at an elementary school level. I think a common theme within our class is the size of posters. We all have great visuals but some of us need to make them a bit bigger, myself included.

Teaching the class partner skills was fun! I was amazed with how many things you can do with a jump rope. Having each of us teach multiple lessons using jump ropes and almost every skill is different than the one before keeps people interested in the lesson. Part one of my lesson was pretty simple and I think I demonstrated it clearly and effectively.  I demonstrated it without the rope just jumping with a partner then had the students break up with their assigned partner (that I used with the numbered cards). Once students seemed comfortable with that skill I called them back in to work on 2 in 1 alternating partners. This skill seems hard at first but after I demonstrated it in slow motion I think the students got it. This skill is good to have the students go out and work on things themselves.




My voice is at a good level and my confidence is high. I think I could work on demonstrating more. Once without the rope slow motion, once with a rope slow motion, ten the full motion of jump rope at live speed so students know what they should be doing. Also my positioning in the classroom gets off a few times. I rarely but sometimes had students behind me while I was watching other students.

Overall I think the lesson went well. I could work on using more congruent feedback with the students. Also I notice give feedback to those who are closest to me usually. I have to work on giving everyone positive feedback that correlates with the cues given in the beginning of class.

Tentative Plan for lab C- POLO

This lab I was assigned Polo. I plan to give a brief history of polo (hook), and show the students the various passes that can be used in polo. I will also review defensive rules and regulation. Once students are comfortable with all passing skills while on the move at different speeds, we will play a mini polo game!

Feel free to view my lesson plan and task progression sheets for this lesson.