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!