Sunday, April 29, 2012

The end has come


     This week was my last week at St. Mary’s after school program. I have to say I am upset to say goodbye. However I am so thankful for this opportunity and experience. It has been wonderful for my teaching experience, I have learned a lot about teaching techniques and the way age groups differ. At St. Mary's I have working in the PRE K program and worked with students all the way up to 5th grade. The younger and older students are very different. I have learned that the younger student enjoy games with a story to it and enjoy very much tag games, they love to chase someone or be chased. The older students like to just play games the whole time. When I worked with the older students all they wanted to do was play basketball or the girls wanted to jump rope. So I split my time and did both. I enjoyed working at St. Mary's very much I have learned a lot about myself. I learned what teaching techniques I am comfortable with. I have learned that I enjoy working with any age group and in the future I will be happy with whatever job I receive. My last lab was very fun. In the beginning we played with the parachute. All the kids enjoyed it very much; they did not want to stop. After that we broke up into our groups. My group was in the cafeteria and then the gym. In the cafeteria the students ate snacks and played board games. When they went to the gym all the wanted to do was play games. The students I worked with were the older children. 





      The boys wanted to play basketball and the girls either wanted to talk or jump rope. One of the members of my group and I decide to play jump rope with the girls. This went out for almost he entire time. The girls knew many roping games and rhythms. I learned a lot! I had a lot of fun and I enjoyed my last lab very much. I cannot wait for my future classes were I interact with students so I can improve my teaching ability more and more.

       I believe my experience at St. Mary's will be my foundation of teaching and I believe in the future it will have been the reason I use the type of teaching techniques I choose to use. Thank you again St. Mary's for a wonderful time!
Check out my last lab write up (Lab 6)

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

I can play like a pro!


Lab #5 at St. Mary's

This week at St. Mary's my group worked with the cafeteria group. At first we were outside playing in the playground and then we went into the gym. In the playground we were with the younger children. Let me tell you how creative these children are. Their imagination is very amazing and they have fun wherever they are. At first they were shy but after a little while they were talking up a storm. Many of the children wanted to play hide and seek and wanted me to be the seeker! I believe they like the idea of hiding and being found. Then we played a tag game and they sure do love chasing you! They chased me all around the playground and never got tired. After this I began playing princesses with two little girls. Their imagination with quite amazing, I could not believe the things they came up with. We went to a ball, had a tea party, and played princess tag. While having a tea party with these young girls they were very talkative and talked about anything and everything. They asked a million and one questions and were very funny. After the play ground my group went into the gym to play games with the older children. Older children do not want to play the games you planned they rather just play a sport the whole time. 

So my group decide we will just play basketball for the entire time. There were only a hand full of older children and there were only boys, so we decide to play the boys against the girl teachers. The students loved this idea. Getting involved in the games and being excited to play helps the students want to play and actually enjoy the game. My group and myself were very surprised that these boys were amazingly good at playing basketball. They all know the basics and more and it was a great game. This week I had the privilege to work with the older students and understand what they like to do in the physical education setting. Throughout my past labs I have learned a lot about the game choice you decide for each age group. When working with older children you want to focus on a game where there is some type of competition. This causes the students to want to do their best and play the game they’re hardest. 

When working with the younger children you want to play a game that has a story behind it. This keeps the younger children interested in your game and it makes them want to continue the story. When working with a mixed age group you want your game to be easy and have a lot of physical activity. Tag games are the best to play with mixed aged groups because everyone likes a good game of tag. Next week is my last lab at St. Mary's it is sad to say this but I know that this experience has been amazing and will help me to be a better educator. 
 


ExerGame Lab: Learning through technology!




Technology Can Be Fun!


Last Monday instead of going to St. Mary's we had an ExerGame Lab! It was SO much fun! We played a bunch of games that anyone could play at home however it was a little different. We played dance dance revolution. At first I was confused on how this could be affective in the physical education classroom but after we went through all the games it was quick clear to me that these games were perfect for physical education! The dance dance revolution can be used to stimulus coordination, reaction time, agility, and ability to move to a pattern and also help on focusing. While playing the game I thought about all the educational areas I was working on, I was really shocked that a still game can do so much. Another game that I played was NBA on Xbox however the only way to power the game to play was to run in place on a machine. This was such a great idea it focuses physical activity in a usually non-physical game. I believe if this was brought into the physical education room many children would enjoy this because it is a common game the only difference is physical activity is added into it. There was another game that was a racecar video game but to power the game you had to pedal on a stationary bike. This game caused a lot of physical activity by the end of the game I most of sweat tons of calories. Fun and interesting games like this will cause children to want to be physically active and want to do what it takes to achieve success in the game. Lastly we were told to play with a bunch of small toys and thing of ways how they could be used in the physical education classroom. Some of the toys we played with were foam object shaped as an animal and a letter was cut in the middle of the foam object. These foam letter animals could be used to help young children learn the alphabet Also they can be used in fun ways like hiding the foam objects in certain areas and once the children find the object they most recite the letter and make the sound the animal made that the foam is shaped as. I believe technology will create a new way of teaching in the future and phyical educators today should begin to get used to this idea! WE ARE THE FUTURE!


Thursday, April 12, 2012

Learning can be fun!

Learning through Technology and Music

Check out the music video my group made! The song lyrics are about what we are learning in my PED 201 class from chapter 7 in our books. At first I thought it was silly to be doing this but when it is all said and done I know all the material from the chapter. Fun and different ways like this motivate people to want to learn more!


Friday, March 30, 2012

HOP LIKE A BUNNY



Hop like a bunny

This week my group worked in the PreK room! I had such a great time working with this age group. I was in charged of the craft that was to be made for that day. I choose to have the children make Easter eggs since Easter is around the corner. I bought a bunch of white paper plates and cut them into an egg shape. I also but construction paper and vinegar. With the construction paper I cut out a bunch of different shapes. I let the children that as many of the little pieces of construction paper as they wanted and I also let them color the "egg." The more color the better! when there were done decorating their "egg" I had them bring it over to me and I painted vinegar onto the construction in a different room. As the construction paper pieces dried they left the dye of whatever color it was on the "egg." The children loved this craft! They wanted to do more and never stop. I was very excited that my craft was successful. This made me feel confident that I am becoming a better teacher day by day. After the craft another member of my group read a story to the class called "Rainbow Fish." It was a great book after that it was snack time then it was time to go to the gym and play games. One of the games we played required the children to do whatever move the teacher called. Since Easter was around the corner we stuck with this them. We made the children hop like bunnies, roll like an egg, and try to form into a basket. The PreK students were so cooperative I was very surprised. Over all I had a successful forth visit to St. Mary's! I can't wait to go back this experience has been a great help to helping me become a better overall teacher.

Check out my My lab reflexion!!

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

The Great Debate

PE Debate

Tuesday of this week we had a PE Debate in my PED 201 Class at SUNY Cortland. The topic that was being covered was what curriculum emphasis is more appropriate for the students in New York State. The three different curriculum's that were being represented were skill themes advocates, Fitness Education Fanatics, and Sticks in Sports and PE Enthusiasts. I was on the Skill Theme advocates team. Our team believe that PE curriculum's should be based around teaching the student locomotor skills. Without learning locomotor skill children do not have the basic skills to play sports. The overall Debate was a great experience it was a great way to should us, future PE teachers, what could happen if you have to fight for what you believe in. I believe this experience will help us all grow strong in becoming the best PE teacher we can be. Physical Education is the future and we need to make sure as teacher we not the proper ways to fight in what we believe in. 


Check out the research my group did by looking at our PowerPoint :)
Also check a live stream of the debate 

Olympic Torch; St. Mary's

3rd Lab at St. Mary's
This week was my 3rd time at St. Mary's working with the students.  I have to say this week went very well. My group this week worked in the gym.  We had to lead the first games and make sure the students used specific locomotor skills. The skills that we used were leaping, sliding, and vertical jumping. My game was called Olympic Torch.  The equipment I needed was two hula hoops, two cones, and two holdable items that can be seen as "torches." The students line up in about 4 different teams with the first person from each team standing inside a starting hula hoop. I gave the students in the hula hoop a "torch." On the signal to begin, the students had to run to the cone and run back. They will hand the torch to the next student in line who will then run to the cone and back. This continued until i have the signal to stop. Some modifications I made was instead of having the children run I interacted them to leap, slid, and vertical jump. The students played the game very well and seemed to like it. I believe the teaching strategies I used helped me capture the students attention. Some teaching strategies I used are getting down to eye level with the students, getting excited about the activities, having the students sit in a corner when I speak to them so they do not get distracted by anything, and modifying games if I have to so the students understand the goal better. I believe these strategies were very effected. The one strategy I feel worked the best was being excited about the activities. I’ve noticed that if I am excited and pumped to play the activities the students feed off my excitement and what to play the game as well. This is a great way to have the student do what you want because I guarantee it will work 90% of the time. Going to St. Mary's and working with the student have helped me to feel more comfortable and more confident that I will be a great teacher candidate. Being a PE teacher it is your job to keep the children active and by having great teaching strategies I believe you can be successful. I can not wait to go back to St. Mary's and work with the children again.

Check out my refelction on my 3rd lab at St. Mary's!! Lab 3 write-up


Sunday, February 19, 2012

Hall of Shame Games


I looked over the Physical Education Hall of Shame and was very shocked at what I saw. I saw games that I have actually played when I was younger in my physical education classes. As a child I didn’t see these games has being bad I thought they were fun and so did most of my classmates. As a future physical educator I now see this games to show there truly colors. These games I speak of are Line Soccer, Red Rover, Simon Says, Spud, Tag and Messy Back Yard.  One thing that seemed odd to me was that the game dodgeball was not on the hall of shame. Although these games do demand physical active of the students they do not benefit the students. There are ways that these games could be used in the classroom to benefit the student’s development of motor, cognitive and affective skills. For example the game Tag can be structured correctly and could be a great game in a physical education curriculum. If you structured so no student get illuminated it is a great game. This game could even teach motor skills, locomotor patterns, teamwork, strategy, honesty and sportsmanship, and they can help enhance anaerobic fitness levels. An example of great tag game is a game called Aerobic Walk tag. This game is a great was for the student to develop many skills. Today physical education isn’t the whole roll out a bag of balls type of job instead we are there to teach and help the student develop their motor, cognitive and affective skills. As a teacher one should remember we are the ones that help guide students so why not guide them in a healthy and better direction.

One topic I have some opinion about is the negative affect of dodgeball in the PE classroom. I am personally against dodgeball because I believe it is very dangerous and could make bulling easier in a classroom. When watching a game of dodgeball the first students who are hit are the less active kids. Also you see the athletes of the class ganging together to attack the other students. This should not me encouraged in the classroom. However, dodgeball does include many motor skills and could be used if properly to benefit students. Dodgeball consists of running, throwing, and catching. If you as the physical educator modify the game so that students are not being the targets this game could be a great way to keep the students active.



Sunday, February 12, 2012

Rocking out in Phsycial Education!!

Lip sync video to Party in the U.S.A. by Miley Cyrus

In PED 201 we were required to make a lip sync video with our lab group. My group decided to do a song we all new. We had a lot of fun doing this assignment it helped us work on your ability to be in front of a camera and our choreography ability's. Our video is below check it out and tell us what you think!! Rocking out in Phsycial Education!!


Dizzy Cupid



Dizzy Cupid 

Last Monday was my second time at St. Mary's school. I have to say I was a little nervous. Not to sure what I should of expected. I questioned if the children would like my games, would they want to play my game and would I do a good job catching the children's attention. Since my lab group was assigned special project we did not work with the children until the end of lab. The theme for lab was Valentines Days. Almost all of the groups played games that represented Valentines day. I saw one group playing a game called "the circle of love" the kids seemed to like it a lot. Watching the other groups play their games with the kids really calmed my nerves. Watching made me excited to show my game to the kids because I was sure the would like it. In the mean time before my group presented our game to the kids since with were special projects we had to made a bulletin board based on saying active. We choose the saying "be active" to be the title of our bulletin. Then we added sports and loco-motor skills to the bulletin and draw pictures showing the certain activities. My group hopes that the children can look at our bulletin and be encouraged to "be active." After we finished the bulletin we were told to go interact with the kids we all spread out and played whatever the kids were playing. I played some "knock out" and played some soccer. I noticed a little girl sitting by herself so I introduced myself to her and we colored pictures together. She was such a smart and artistic little girl. We drew flowers and hearts. It was finally time for my group to present our games to the children. My games was called "dizzy cupid." It is a tag game the kids get a partner. One is cupid and the other is running away from cupid. Before child that is cupid runs after his/her partner they have to spin around three times as fast as the can. Once they tag their partner with their "arrow" the partner becomes cupid and has to spin around three times before going after their partner. I was very surprise how interested the children were in my game. I have to say I think my game was very successful. This lab helped me see what to expect when working at St. Marys and it also helped me to realize there is nothing to be nervous about if your believe and are really into your own game the children will have the same attitude. I can not wait to go back and work with the children again. Until then lets all try to make the world a better place through physical education. WE ARE THE FUTURE! 
Check out my write up for Lab 2



Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Stopping Child Abuse; Virtus Workshop

Last week during class we had to take part of a workshop call Virtus. To be able to work with the children at St. Mary's it is required to take this workshop. This workshop was not a common one. The topic was children abuse mostly focusing on sexual abuse. We watch two films that explained real life situations spoken by either the abuser or the child that was abused. These poor people, it was heartbreaking to watch. Throughout the film we were taught warning signs of abuse and how to report an abuse. As I watched this film all I could think about was how could someone do something like this! But guess what it happens and by watching these films I learned signs to look out for as I work with children. Even though it was an emotional and disturbing workshop I am beyond glad I took it because now I know what to do to help a child that I believe is going through abuse and I could even stop the abuse from happening to that child. Knowing that I could save a child from being abused because I am now aware of signs makes me glab that there are workshops such as these. I believe that it is crucial to report an abuse if you notice a child displaying signs of abuse. It personally drives me crazy to thing about the scandal at Penn State. If someone just called the hot line and reported the abuse they could of stayed anonymous but they would of stop the abuse sooner and could have avoided many children being abused. What were they thinking not reporting this? How could someone know about a situation like this and not get help? Another scandal that has recently been brought to public attention is at Syracuse University. Even though the abuse happened many years ago it is now being revealed. If someone would have reported this abuse when the signs were being shown this man would have not been able to abuse any more children. As a future educator I will be spending majority of my time with children. It is my job to keep them safe when they are under my responsibility and thanks to the Virtus workshop I will be able to try protect my students from abuse by being aware of the warning signs. Also I have learned the proper way to report an abuse and I will not hesitate to do so. Being a teacher parents and guardians look to you to protect their children as well as educate them I believe every educator should be educated on abuse warning signs and the proper way to report an abuse.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

First time at St. Mary's


Monday was my first lab at St. Mary's school. I have to say I was a little over whelmed at at first, but after observing the students and seeing what we are excepted to do it seemed alittle easier. When we first got there all the children were running around, it seemed to be very wild but as the teacher assistants started to take control and the children started to playing activities everything seem in great control. It surprised me how almost all of the students were interested in playing the activities. When we were finally allowed to interact with the children it made my nerves settle completely. Working with the children made me so happy and it helped me realize why I want to be a physical educator. I can not wait to go back to St. Mary's and work with the children again. I know I'll be nervous my first time teaching the kids but it is all worth it in the end! This is going to be a great experience and I am certain that this will help me become a better educator in my future. Lets change the future through physical education!

First Lab at St. Mary's

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Learn though the physical and the impacts physical activity has on affective growth

Learn through the physical...What does this mean? It took a while for me to break this down and figure out the over all meaning. This statement could be seen in many different ways. However, as for me, I looked at the meaning of the words "learn" and "physical"; learn: to acquire knowledge of or skill in by study, instruction, or experience and physical: involving or characterized by vigorous bodily activity By looking at these two meanings I believe the statement means to acquire knowledge about a skill by using bodily activities. This statement can explain why many people say, "Seeing something be done helps me learn better. " By seeing an instructor physically do what you are learning your body tries to teach itself by repeating what the instructor does. Repeating physical activities to help learn something makes it easier to memorize and learn.


How physical activity impacts affective growth.
Affective growth is learning that increases the ability of children to act, interact, and react effectively with other people as well as with themselves. A child will determine how he/she see their would their environment and the people surrounding them. As a physical educator, one can use physical activities that all children win and there in no student that is the over all winner. By doing this you can help your students affective growth by helping their self-esteem. Once a student feels like he/she are in control of the out come of their life affective growth is taken place. Physical activities cant either help or damage affective growth of a child. As an physical educator is it ones job to choose the right activities that will give each child confidence and allows them to have the sense of control over the game. No child should play games that make them feel bad about themselves. It is the physical educators job to make sure the physical activities impact affective growth of the children.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Feelings about PED 201 first class

I was a little nervous about going to the first class I was not sure what to expect. My nervous calmed down as I entered the class and saw a lot of familiar faces. Professor Yang came into the room and explained the class and talked about our of campus lab. He explain the location and what we were going to do there. Hearing about the lab make me very excited to start working with the students at St. Marys. My passion is to help children learn new things and have fun doing it. I am looking forward to our labs for this class. Anyways, Professor Yang went on and explained everything about blogging and all the other thing on the internet we have to do for his class. I have to say it was a little overwhelming at first abut I'm starting to get a hang of it all. I never blogged before and I have grown to like it! Its kind of like writing a public diary. I believe blogging will help me get out what I need to say about a certain topic and I feel this will help me in the future as an educator. It seems to me this class will help me in general to become a better educator especially working with the students of St. Mary's. Well, that's it for now my first lab at St. Mary's tomorrow can't wait to see how it goes!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Post 1


Blogging for class? Is is a new thing for me but I find it very interesting. I feel this will be good in a way because we can see how our classmates feel about a certain topic and try to compare. Hopefully by blogging it will make the class easier to understand. On another note over this break I tried to relax as much as I can and I also volunteered at my hometown high school by helping the cheerleading head coach with running practices. I also spoke to my old PE teacher from high school and asked her many questions about this career. She gave me great advice and I believe this will help me become a better teacher and be able to help my future students to learn as effective as possible.