Christmass Lab 6 Ho-Ho-Ho

This lab 6 was a blast! The Christmas theme I feel was really enjoyable for the students, especially the younger students. When we first got to St. Mary's the students were more interactive with us and it was fun talking to them about Christmas and what they asked for. After we interacted with them for a while we went to our stations in which my lab group had Pre-K. During our session with he Pre-K we had the students color in a Santa clause, Christmas tree, and a snowman, after that we had them tape there colorings onto a poster in which they can keep up in there class until Christmas. I feel this was a good gesture to give back to St. Mary's and it is also good for the students to come in and show off there work to parents and peers.

      After we did readings and activities in the Pre-K room I had some parachute games in which were all Christmas theme names such as snowball fight, igloo, Santa in the chimney. These games that I put on for the students were awesome. Just looking around and seeing the smiling faces on there face was a sense of accomplishment. It made my lab partners and I feel good.

      I feel that the parachute games were a real hit and I will definitely use it when I go out and teach in a district. All in all the labs at St. Mary's was a real treat, it taught me many things that I will carry over to other classes and gave me an experience that I know now that I definitely want to be a physical education teacher.

      I can not wait to help assist labs next semester for 201, should be a real good time!

Thanksgiving at St.Marys (lab 5)

Another amazing day at St. Mary's!

Lab 5 write up

        Lab 5 at St. Mary’s was a blast. It was a thanksgiving theme and the activities that were put on by everyone went really well. My lab partners and I had the gym group. We had a total of 28 students and at first it was kind of overwhelming. However as time went on we started to get use to it and adapt to the large class size. This was one of the biggest afterschool program.

With the huge after school program I felt that the activity I taught went okay, it was not great. It was hard because the amount of students. Some would just not want to do anything and did not want to listen. And when you have some students like that it makes the other students feel the same way. But I tried to work through it and I though in the long run it went well. The activity that I thought went okay was mash potato dribble. The students had to go around and find potatoes and once they found one they had to look under the potato and there was a number in which they then had to dribble the basketball on the potato to mash it up for thanksgiving dinner. The problem with this was trying to get the students to run around while the music played. The students on the other hand seem to stay in one place and did not run around with the ball while the music played, this caused little action time during the activity which I did not want to happen. But you learn from your mistakes and move on.

After we taught our games to the students we went outside and played tag and kickball with the students. It was fun because since I been going to St. Mary’s for the past couple of weeks you start learn names and how the students act. And they start to respect you more when you ask them to do something.All in all I think lab 5 went well, though I felt my game was not that great I still had a blast, and I cannot wait for Lab 6 in 2 weeks!

Chapter 1 (201) movement skills

Chapter 1,

   Movement skills are the main part of the development of a physical educated program. The movement skills you learn from your younger years help you to gain and progress more complex skills as you move through time. Physical education programs can develop basic skills (fundamental) at a younger age and as you grow the basic skills become more complex and then in turn you start to become a physically educated person. And to be physically educated, having the fundamental movement skills and then being able to refine them prior to specialized sports is a big aspect in achieving  the developmental level of a physical educated person.
  A lot of movement skills you learn when you are young are sometimes overlapped when you start to do more complex movement skills that can fall into the category of  locomotion, Manipulation, and stability.  And learning to move is based on acquiring increased movement skills and enhancing physical fitness through increased physical activity.Movement skills such as walking can help you become a more physical educated person as you grow older, because walking can then lead to running, and running in turn can lead to playing a recreational sport that involves more complex movement skills that are specialized and that you might not of been capable of doing at the begging of your years. And sports such as football, hockey, and or wrestling are all examples of selected specialized movement skills related to sports.
   As time goes on, developing movement skills and knowledge of such skills will enable you to become a more physical educated person. And we as teacher candidates should be aware that the movement activities children engage in, play an important role in their physical fitness as well as in movement skill learning. And it is sometimes easier to learn through movement for some children then in class room settings with no physical movement.

implements and children

Lacrosse implements and children.

This subject is a controversial topic that can go both ways. However as a personal stand point, I believe implements such as lacrosse and or hockey sticks are a great thing to accomplish at a young age. Yes, it might take a little bit longer for children to grasp the concept of both an implement and motor skill put together, but in the long run there going to achieve both using an implement such as a tool to play a sport, and develop their motor skills and movement skills while using these implements. Yeah, you might say this is a bias view since I play both hockey and lacrosse, but on an honest level, looking back at it I believe it helped. Not only was I able to play a complex sport, but during that complex sport I refined my motor skills while growing from one age group to the other, and at the same time I learned hand eye control and manipulative skills that I might not have learned in playing soccer or some other sport not involving implements.

                I feel implements in sports and or physical activity in the long run gains an extra step then someone taking small steps, and then finally trying to use an implement after thoughts steps. If you use an implement at a young age it will acquire more focus and time, but at the end you have achieved both motor skills and the use of an implement, meanwhile if you just did physical activity without an implement. Yes, focusing on motor skills are very important at a young age and involving an implement might over whelm a child, but if you know how to teach a child and are a good teacher, there should be no problem killing two birds with one stone. Also, if kids grow up using implements and there motor skills are not acquiring life-time goals, then you take the implement away and work on what needs to be done to fix that development. Once that development is met, you put the implement back in the hands. Now the child has a better understanding of what he can and cannot do, and hopefully has the confidence to use implements during a young age for physical activity and or sports. With that said, I feel implements should be looked at as positive views on how kids develop during their younger years.

Amazing first day at St.Mary's

Lab 1 write up


      The first day at St.Marys was amazing. At first walking in and having all the energetic kids running around made you think what you are in for. But right after we got into groups and started interacting with kids it was worth the nerves that I had in the begging.
      At first when I was watching the kids I saw that they were all interacting with there classmates. They were laughing, playing with silly bands, and playing some hand games. Everyone seemed to be in a good positive mood. They seemed happy to get out of the class room and into an environment in which they know activities will be held shortly.
     Some of the activities that went on were a tag game that was taught by the lab leaders. There skill levels were still developing as you can see when observing the students. On the other hand you can pick apart some students that had a little more skill levels then others, and students that might be able to skip or run in a better sequence and more proficient then there classmate.
    One student in particular that caught my eye was a student named Sasha. The students manipulative skills when playing with the toys were incredible. The student had the ability to perform task that are hard to most of the class mates and age groups around her. The student put beds and chairs into a play house, opened up small doors, and set  up a kitchen table with Small toys that including milk, oranges, and bread. As you can see in the pictures I  tried to interact with the students and engage with them in there imaginary ways.
      The overall success of the first day was great. I enjoyed my time and never looked at the clock in a way in that I want to get out of this place. I can not wait to go back next week!

Old PE v.s New PE

After reading chapters 3, 18, and 19 and then reading the “Hall of Shame games” it really makes you think about the Old PE vs. the new PE. The general games that were in the text book were well organized and unlike the “hall of shame” readings it went above and beyond what the Old P.E was all about. Like old P.E, teachers would just role the ball out, and with this they had no organization, planning, goals, no values, and no objectives. In the general games that were listed in the chapter, it focuses on objectives and the goals and what skills the students would be working on during the activity/game. The pre-planning and planning really makes an activity go smooth and if just pull the Old P.E teacher pedagogy you are not getting everything to the kids that they need to fit all the NASPE standards. But if you have lesson plans and you execute them correctly then you can relate to the Standard 1 on the NYS standards in which Students will have the necessary knowledge and skills to establish and maintain physical fitness, participate in physical activity, and maintain personal health.

 One game that really caught my eye in the reading was “rip-tag”. This game included every type of students and it is a tag game that you are never eliminated. The purpose is that everyone is a tagger and they have scarfs on their waste and if your scarf comes off you go to a hula hoop and pick up another one. This allows students to stay active in the game and is a big part of the NASPE standards. The one standard it really focuses on is standard 3, in which a student’s “participates regularly in physical activity”. Also during the game the students are learning to dodge, change direction, and change of speed while moving within other players. One “Hall of Shame game” that does not live up to activity of “rip-tag” is dodge-ball. Dodge-ball unlike “rip-tag” eliminates students and then they have to wait on the sideline until someone gets you back in or if it is at the end of the game.  Yes, you do practice the dodging, but if you are not an elite athlete you are not practicing dodge and change of direction because you are either out or in the back row having the athletic students eliminate everyone. Also it puts pressure on the kids that never really felt comfortable in P.E because of all the other athletic students.  This puts pressure on them because of the embarrassment of getting out or the hiding in the corner. Unlike “rip-tag” on page 438 in the text book, the students never really feel embarrassed because there not being eliminated and they get to get back involved in the game if their scarf comes of by another tagger.

Dodge-ball to me as a young child was a blast. I loved the competitiveness, the throwing, and the winning of a game. However looking back at it and studying how to become a great P.E teacher it does not fit in the curriculum unless it is altered. Today the old P.E is vanishing, and dodge-ball is being dismissed in schools. But if I had a chance to alter it and play the game in my gymnasium I would do several things. First I would change the elimination phases of the game. If some student was hit by a ball, instead of them going off to the sideline I would have them switch teams. This would go on for both teams, and now students will not feel pressured and will have the capability to participate regularly in physical activity as standard 3 suggest. Another thing I would alter in dodge-ball would be to incorporate Standard 5 of NASPE into play. Standard 5 states that students “Exhibits responsible personal and social behavior that respects self and others in physical activity settings”. In order for this to be incorporated I would have students only have a target zone to hit other opponents from the waist down. And if there is a head shot, the student should take personal responsibility to apologize to the student they hit in the head. Also I would make a rule in my class room of no negativity towards other classmates which would affect their experience during physical activity.

While reading both the chapters in the text and the “hall of Shame” games it made me realize that today we are headed in the right direction in a new world of P.E. Unlike old P.E the new P.E is trying to move forward and eliminate sport activities and incorporate activities that involve life time goals and daily living and incorporate lesson that are evaluated and show that they will work then just “Throwing the ball out”. These concepts will help children grow in positive ways and learn more than just being competitive and playing physical sports. Though I like dodge-ball as a recreational activity, I do not believe it should be incorporated in a curriculum. Dodge-ball should be an after school activity and should involve the students who “Want” to play the game.  The “hall of Shame games” should stay where they are, and better and more effective programs and curriculums will soon rise and make the new P.E the best P.E. We all are elite athletes and athletes who advance in phys Ed class, but do we as teacher candidates really want our class to turn out like the old P.E and for us to be recognized in the “Hall of Shame”? I do not want that? Do you?

Here is a link in which an article believes that there is a place in a school curriculum for dodge-ball. The author suggests that it is an elimination game, but you can alter it in to being something more.

http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-10765874_ITM

Intense first Lab at St.Mary's

Lab 2 write up

What a day at St.Marrys last Monday,

     Going into St.Marrys for our first lab the other day was kind of nerve racking. I was hesitant on whether the students would like the costumes my group and I wore. But after dressing up and walking in the students seemed to enjoy it. This made my nerves calm down and made me ready to start interacting with he students. My group which is name the locomotors were with the Pre-K. We read a book with them, had snack, did a little bit of coloring and participated in an activity called "pirate Ship" and "Treasure Map". I feel that the day went smooth, and the transition to one location to the other was pretty well planned. However the coloring was cut a little short since the students had to use the bathrooms to get ready for snack time. When this happen my group and I did not really know what to do next so we waited until they were finished up with snack to keep interacting with them.
      While snack was going on, I left the room to start setting up the gym for the activities I had planned for them. It was fun knowing that I was in charge and it was an activity I could change and make it age appropriate for the class. Getting the equipment out and setting up made me realize that this is something I would love doing day in and out.

      Once snack was over the student came into the gym, I had them sit in front of me to start the activity. One thing I noticed when pre-k students sit is that they have to be so close to their peers and barely give them any breathing room. So with his I had them put out there elbows and if they were touching someone next to them they had to slide over until the elbows did not touch any more. Once I got everyone situated, I began describing the activity, they seemed interested because my group was dressed up and we had a poster and treasure chest next to us that they were dying to get in. After I finished explaining the activity and checked for understanding we began to have some fun. The students while playing the game loved running around, and laying on the floor and hopping up and down. They all were laughing and enjoying the moment during the game. After that activity was over we did one more in which it worked on directions and pathways. This game was not as enjoyable to the other game but at the end of the treasure map game, there was a treasure chest in which they could take beads and gold.

      One thing that I would have done better when I was teaching is that I was talking a little too fast. This in turn can caused students to miss an important step and may cause a injury. Also I when I line students up to go to another location I will have them stand on a straight line in the gym and not just say “Stand in a straight line behind one another”. The visual line on the gym will help them get organized better and faster and be a more efficient way to get the students rolling and not wasting time in transition.

    All in all I think it went well. I had a great time and I also think the student did as well. I did learn some things to do next time, and as we keep interacting and engaging with he student I feel you can only get better by learning more and more each time.

Lab 2 write up link.

https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1qZxMiLp_QT2QuRg5d3Ta0xg2p3idtSEC0X3GWKRUTtc