My Journey at St. Mary's

My Journey at St. Mary's

Dash!!!

This week was our final day at St. Mary's. We all made collages to show our thanks to the school and the wonderful students who participated in our activities.  We started off the day with parachute activities which the students seemed to love.  They were amazed as to how big the parachute was, and so was I for that matter.  We played many different games with the parachute click here for samples.   http://www.ultimatecampresource.com/site/camp-activities/parachute-games.page-1.html.  After our adventure with parachute games we then split off with the students our groups were assigned to work with.  Our group had pre-k.  Mallory, Matt and I went into a class room while Ryan and Steve did an art activity with the other students.  When I was in the class room I played hyper dash with some students.  They LOVED IT!  I think they liked the game because it "talked" to them.  They would listen for the cues from the hyper dash and match the colors up. One student even said on camera, "I'm sweating!” and had to get a drink of water.  I thought that was really cool especially because we were in such a confined space on a small carpet in a class room.  After playing hyper dash Mallory read them a story about an Astronaut while Ryan and I set up our games.  My game was called builders and bulldozers.  The point of the game is to have some students be builders and others are bulldozers and bulldozers knock down the cones I set up in our area of the gym and builders set them up so there is consistent activity.  At first I wasn't sure how the game would work, I thought the students would get bored easily but I was wrong.  The students loved the game and could probably play it all day.  I changed some cues throughout the game and had students skip to the cones and even had them knock down the cones with their knee just to change up the environment for them.  Ryan's game involved the students making ice cream cones and cotton candy using balls and cones which they seemed to really enjoy.  The day went by really quickly and before I knew it we were leaving St. Mary's, I have been proud in the way I have grown as a future educator and St. Mary's was an awesome experience!

Monsters, Crocodiles and Tag!

       By far my best experience at St. Mary's so far this semester.  My group worked with the Pre-K students and had a blast. First we went outside and played on the playground.  I played freeze tag with a couple of the kids until they decided to play red light green light.  I then saw that Mallory had made up a game with a couple of the girls on the jungle gym set.  The point of the game was to not get "eaten" tagged by the crocodile.  The girls seemed to love the game and always wanted to be the crocodiles. After a while some boys joined in to play and they were sharks.  It was a fun game because it worked on moving around on the jungle gym and taking turns being "it".  We then went inside and I read a book called "A Monster's Day at Work".  I picked out the book because it had a lot of great pictures and I figured the younger children would like the monsters.  When I was reading I had everyones attention and the students were asking questions throughout the story. When the story was over some students asked me to read other books, I probably could have sat there all day reading to them.  I thought it was amazing how they just went from running around like crazy outside, to being inside and paying such close attention to everything I said.  After being at St. Mary's this semester I know that I definitely want to teach,  I love being in the role model position in class and seeing the kids smile is the best part of the job!

Check out my lab five!

Dashing into PE!

Exergaming and physical education go hand-in-hand.  As a physical educator it is important to cross other curriculums into your classes.  For example, go around the school and ask other teachers what they are teaching in social studies, math, english etc. When you can include other subjects in physical education, students start using different parts of their brains to solve physical and mental problems. I would use the Hyper Blast to help my Pre-K students with math.  This game includes math skills and can get students physically active. The point of the game is for students to listen as the Hyper Dash calls out a number, the children then cover that number with the Hyper Dash and wait for a new number to be called.  This game can be used in physical education many different ways, for example races.  Yes I know students should not be standing around waiting on lines and we want students to be as active as possible but this is a great game to use if you are in a confined space (classroom, cafeteria).  Students can listen for the Hyper Dash to say the number four, hop to the piece with the number four on it, hit it, listen for the next number, skip back to the line, tell their partner the next number they have to find and go on.  That example has students using locomoter skills and  while incorporating math! The game also advances into addition, subtraction, multiplication and division so older students can use it as well!   Overall Hyper Dash is a great game for any teacher to use, not just physical educators.  This is one of the many different ways technology can be brought into classrooms and used to educate todays youth!

Future Yankees at St. Mary's!

      

      This week at St. Mary's we concentrated on throwing and catching skills.  My group had the older students, fourth and fifth graders.  Our games went over pretty well but it was a struggle to get the students involved.  The older students at St. Mary's love to play basketball and at first they didn't want to play our games.  Ryan, Mallory and I each told them if they participate in our games then we would play basketball after our lessons.  Luckily this incentive worked and we had about ten students stay and play.  I was pleasantly surprised at some of the students arms, they were advanced at throwing and catching.  Cortland must have a great little league!  

       We were in the gym for a long time with our students and it was nice because we had time to interact and get to know them.  One student in particular John, loves me and he listens to everything I say so he takes it upon himself to have his friends listen and follow directions.  I thought that was pretty cool!  While John was playing basketball he got upset because another student who was guarding him accidentally elbowed him.  I saw the incident happen and it wasn't on purpose so I took John and Thomas aside individually, and we worked the problem out.  I was excited we solved the problem and the tears stopped pouring out of John's eyes. Thomas apologized for elbowing John and our solution was that Thomas and John would be on the same team so they did not have to guard each other. When they started playing again it was like they were brand new kids on the court, they were both happy and passing the ball to each other!  It was a very exciting week at St. Mary's to say the least, I can't wait to go back in a week.  Solving Thomas and John's problem reminded me of summer camp and has gotten me really excited for this summer where I will be working at the Hampton Country Day Camp as a camp counselor!!

Be sure to check out my lab four!

Head, Neck and Body music video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z4C3COHVbY

Learning to Teach PE Like a Rockstar: The Sommersaults "Head, Neck, and Body" Remix

Learning to Teach PE Like a Rockstar: The Sommersaults "Head, Neck, and Body" Remix: Check out The Sommersaults "Head, Neck, and Body" Remix based of Chapter 8 (Rudimentary Movement Abilities).  Video to debut soon!

Slow start to the 2012 National AAHPERD Conference due to a power outage in Boston, but yesterday's Exergame lab was a huge success! We had a very big turn out and informed many physical education teachers about the power of exergames in the classroom.  Many teachers had PEP grants and were ready to bring many systems into their classrooms including the eye toy, iDance and an excellent interactive kick boxing game. I'm looking forward to the conference starting up again tomorrow morning and getting some power back in the hotel room. Stay tuned for more updates for the Conference!

THE GREAT DEBATE!!!!

The Great Debate started off slow and heated up quickly.  The Sports with Sticks group tried to bring up some points as to why children should learn how to play sports.  They brought up a couple of good reasons to why children should learn how to play sports at a young age but seemed to leave out the relation to physical eduction.  I believe students should learn how to play some organized sports at a young age but I feel that the decision is up to the parents of the child over the physical educator.  As a physical education teacher you may see some students only one or twice a week, three times a week at most for fifty minutes, you need to have the students physically engaged in all the activities in order for them to get the most out of physical education.  Playing sports with sticks most of the time requires students sharing equipment and waiting on lines.

As a board of education member we made a decision that the skills group should be taught in a K-6 grade setting and lifetime activities group should be taught from grades 7-12.  

At a young age children need to learn locomotor movements because you can apply all of the movements  to other athletic activities outside of the class room. Skills such as hoping, skipping, jumping, leaping, sliding, and running are very important to teach while students are young because they can apply those movements in other activities and sports.  Once a student hits seventh grade I believe teaching skills will get repetitive and they will lose interest in physical education.  This is where lifetime activities come into play.  When you can play activities in class that students can relate to outside of the class room it will encourage them to be active. Students love being active and are filled with energy, as a physical educator at the secondary level you did your job if your students are leaving class tired and sweaty.  Using games that require limited equipment that keep everyone in class involved and use skills mostly everyone had developed by the time they have reached 7th grade is important. 

The debate went over very well in class and everyone actively participated. I loved how it was live streamed to the rockstarpe blog and we were able to tweet about certain questions or comments that came up during the debate. It shows you that technology can and should be used in physical education setting!

A Home run at St. Mary's!

    This week theme at St. Mary's was sports and I was part of the special projects group.  We came up with a group game, a song and a cheer.  Our group game was called "Have you ever".  In this game all the students and college students formed a circle, one person was in the middle and since the theme was sports they had to say a sport they have played and then switch out of the middle.  For example when Jack was in the middle he said "Have you ever climbed a rope" all the students who have switched places and the person left in the middle then said a sport he/she has played and the game went on.  Ryan lead the class in a group song called "Baby Shark" the students at St. Mary's seemed to love it since everyone was involved.  Mallory ended the day at St. Mary's with a group cheer which went over very well.  

    During the first part of the day at St. Mary's our group brainstormed ideas for a new bulletin board.  We decided we should take characteristics from our "great debate!" and make a bulletin board.  We will use images to relate to different characteristics of physical activities.  The board right now has words written on it and we figured it is easier for younger children to see a picture of someone swimming and relate to it, rather than just seeing the word swimming written out on paper.  We also did inventory of the physical education equipment at St. Mary's.  I was pleasantly surprised at the variety of equipment St. Mary's has to work with although I was disappointed with some of the quality of the equipment and quantity.  It is important to know as a physical educator the amount of equipment you have to work with.  As we did inventory we also took pictures of each set of equipment so it is easier to identify equipment when it is put away in boxes or bags.  

    I love how in 201 we really get involved in the school.  Whether it is doing inventory, cleaning up class rooms or even reading to the students.  We get involved in mores ways than just teaching physical activities which is great because in reality going above and beyond your expectations is what is going to land you a job.  Going to St. Mary's has really gotten me excited to get more involved in the major.  I cannot wait to teach a full class eventually.  Teaching is such a rewarding job and I know I will always look forward to going to work in the future.  


Thank you for reading my blog, now before you leave be sure to check out my Lab three report!

Steal the Bacon fried from PE?!

The game, Steal the Bacon is in the physical education hall of shame.  As a student I loved playing steal the bacon mainly because I was fast and good at the game.  When your young you don't really realize how the game singles out students and could really hurt someones self esteem each time their number is called and they lose.  This game essentially singles out students to see who is the fastest in the class.  Steal the bacon is in the hall of shame for many reasons.  Student who numbers aren't called are sitting on the side not doing anything physically active, when your number is called you are singled out in front of the entire class and somebody wins and loses each round in the game.  I believe steal the bacon should be in the hall of shame for that reason. 

However you could always alter the rules and change the name of the game as the teacher, and I believe "steal the bacon" could be acceptable in class.  For example, all the students on the sideline could be doing jumping jacks, pushups, or even crunches then once their numbers are called they could run into the middle and grab whatever object the teacher decides to use as the bacon but they do not necessarily receive a point for bringing the object back without being tagged, instead they have to answer a question the teacher has and then they will get the point.  For instance if I call out numbers two and four and team one gets the pin and runs back to their side without being tagged I would then ask them a question, only the two students who just went can answer the question.  I as the teacher then have the ability to make the question as hard or as easy as I want and if I know my students well enough I could ask a question to a students strength or weakness.  I feel that the question part is a good idea because then as a teacher you are controlling the score of the game and you are also able to get everyone to involved in the game more. Steal the bacon just doesn't cut it when it comes to NYS and NASPE standards of teaching, singling students out and having more than half the class sitting on the sideline just doesn't make sense. I feel that my idea for that different version of steal the bacon could meet the standards, all the students were active and as the teacher I controlled the outcome of the game over the students.  

Another game that could be played in-place of steal the bacon could be "Everybody's It Tag".  In everybody's it tag all students are "it," when a student gets tagged they step out of the playing area and do an exercise for example jumping jacks, pushups, sit-ups etc.  If two students tag each other at the same time they both have to step out and do an exercise in order to get back in.  This game doesn't single any student out and the entire class is involved in the game. I believe everybody's it tag meets all three NYS and NASPE standards for education. The game can be altered in so many ways, you could have students hoping, jumping, leaping in order to test students on certain skills.   

As a physical educator it is your job to get your students to be as active as possible in a safe comfortable atmosphere. Singling students out is not a proper teaching technique and should be avoided at all costs. As a teacher you have to realize you will learn along with your students, if one version of a game doesn't work, change it up!  You are not being a good teacher if you play the same games year after year, variety is important and adapting games to students needs and wants is very important.  Physical education has a bad reputation in schools and it is our job to change that!

Valentine's Day PE Style!

I was in the gym group this week at St. Mary's.  We had the challenge of creating games for kindergarden to first grade students to participate in relating to Valentine's day and basic locomotive skills.  Overall I thought our group did a good job, being the first group to go.  I started off the activities and I think it's safe to say my game didn't go as planed.  I only had about eight students participate out of about 20 students.  Retaining their attention span was probably the hardest part.  I felt that my game was based more towards older students and i have learned from my mistake.  Ryan and Mallory's games seem to have run smoothly.  After we were finished in the gym we went to the cafeteria for snack time and to play heads up seven up!  After heads up seven up we went outside to the play ground because it was such a nice day out.  I'm looking forward to redeeming myself next week at St. Mary's!

Check out my lab two!

The Sommersaults first lip sync!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ho-0m3AlFY

Virtus Blog

Sister Harriet sent a very powerful message to our class.  We watched a video about sexual predators and victims of sexual assault.  It was very sad to hear the stories from the children who were abused and also very scary to hear from the abusers, and their train of thought of luring in children to trust them.  She also told us how as an educator in New York state, you are obligated to report any suspicions of abuse for the students in your school.  We should call the hotline number before the police because you are anonymous through the hotline.  It is always better to be safe than sorry, I couldn't imagine living with a guilty conscious over something i didn't report.  With the recent scandals at Penn State and Syracuse University the media has shown child sexual abuse related to athletics.  As a future physical educator and coach, locker room procedures have to be done properly to assure the safety of yourself as the teacher/coach and your students.  Teaching is a very rewarding field, students safety in school is a districts number one priority. As a teacher never put yourself in a situation where it is your word verse a students word because it will be very difficult to defend yourself as the adult.

Chapter one

"Effective physical education can positively influence both the cognitive and affective development of children."  A student learns more than basic sports games in his/her physical education class.  Students learn a variety of physical activities, learn how to be fit, and how to live a healthy and active lifestyle.  Physical activity has a great impact on affective growth.  The definition of affective growth is learning that increases the ability of children to act, interact and react effectively with other people as well as with themselves.  Affective growth is also known as "social-emotional development."  Children participating in physical activities will learn socialization skills and their emotions will vary.  Students depending on what they are learning in class can experience being happy, sad, mad, confused, stressed etc.  Students who are introduced to a strong physical education program at a young age will be positively influenced to keep active throughout their life.

First Day at St. Mary's

I was very excited for my first day at St. Mary's, I didn't know what to expect.  When we first arrived we watched the TA's do a relay with the students going over locomotive skills (hoping, skipping, jumping, walking and running).  We were then allowed to join in on the parachute activities and actually get involved playing with the students.  When we broke up into groups we played with building blocks, legos, coloring books and more!  It was nice working with the students outside a physical education setting. The staff was very friendly and I enjoyed helping out. I am already looking forward to our next visit!!!

Lab One Write Up

First Day of class

Our first day of class was very informative.  We received a lot of information at once.  I am very excited to see my progression as a student and educator.  I feel that blogging is a great way to get information about yourself out into the professional world.  After this class I feel that I am now officially a physical education major and I am excited for my future in the class rooms!

Creating a new blog!

It took me a while to figure out how to blog, but I did it! I am very excited to start blogging about my physical education experiences. I know it will be an excellent way for me to see my progression as a teacher.  Over break I had two interviews with a summer camp out in East Hampton.  I was just recently hired and I am already looking forward to this summer! I also took an educational psychology class this winter and learned a lot about children's learning habits.  Last but not least I went to the gym everyday to stay physically fit and practice what I preach!