Day 6 of 255

Today in class we were surprised with jump ropes. Jump ropes are great when working on cardiovascular endurance and muscular endurance. While jump roping you also work on your flexibility and muscular strength.  Jump ropes are relatively inexpensive and they are easily stored as well so they are a great tool to use to work on quite a few areas of physical health. We attempted today to do a routine with the jump ropes but it was not very successful.  We did fine when we were practicing in the corner but when it came down to being recorded it was another story. Even though our performance was not grad my group still tried to get out there and jump rope. It was fun and frustrating at the same time.  You are not always going to be successful at what you do but as long as you work at it you will get better at any given task. That is what I am going to leave with that lesson, along with quite a good workout. I wonder what is in store for me in my next class!

Day 5 of 255

Today in lab we were given the opportunity to reteach the first lesson that we taught on the first day of class to our peers. I think that I did very well on my lesson. I changed some things up this time though and most were for the better! This time I introduced myself which is something that I had not done before but that is very important to do. Another thing that I really liked that I did was make a safety statement because they are extremely important, because we want all of our students to be safe. Another thing that I did was give a correct demonstration of the skill that I was working on. I was loud when I was instructing the class. I am glad that I have a naturally loud voice because it is only going to help me in the long run.  I asked if everyone knew what their tasks were and if anyone had any questions in the lesson. This is extremely important because if my students have any questions it is my job to answer them. I also gave a lead in to the next lesson that I will be teaching and I thought that was really good, because it gives the students something to look forward to.

The things that I can improve upon for next time is not jumping into the lesson as a student but always remaining the teacher, because I will be able to see more this way. Which in turn will make it easier for me to assess my students in the future.  The other thing that I should have done differently was no have rushed at the end because my time was running out. I have remember that that is my class and I am in charge of it at all times.  These are somethings that I hope to improve upon next time.  I think that peer teaching is great because it really gives you great feedback and it really does help you to improve. Honestly though the best way that I am going to improve is by simply getting out there and teaching more often, which by the way I cannot wait to do!!

Day 2 at St. Mary's this Semester

At St. Mary's this week I had the Pre-K group and they are my favorite. When I walked into the classroom a girl came up to me and said you were superwoman right? I said yeah that was a long time ago though and she then proceeded to tell me what color shirt that I had worn that day. I was simply amazed. The young girl was recalling events from over five months ago. I was impressed to say the least. It made me happy that she remembered me because it means that I am doing something right. It also made me really glad that I was one of the students who dressed up like every class last semester because by doing that it allowed me to connect with the students even more than I had thought!


After that me and a student in the 201 class did an arts and craft with the children. I taught all the children how to draw a basketball and the majority of them took the instructions very well and their basketballs turned out great. It is important to work on many levels with the children not just motor development wise but cognitive development is extremely important as well.  Asking the students what color their crayons were and what color their papers were is going to help them out in the long run. We are there to help students learn as much as they can as well as to learn as much as we can from the students.  Then Max the other SUNY Cortland student showed the children how to draw a football and the Pre-K students loved it. The other two members in my group read a book to the children and did the arts and crafts with them as well. No student was disappointed to say the least.

Once we were done in the classroom we played few games. One was an obstacle course and the other was a freeze tag game.  The students were very enthusiastic that day so they did not really want to listen very much so I pulled out my whistle quite a bit and that helped out a lot. There are many reasons why the children may be a bit wired but the thing that we have to remember as physical educators is that we are their release for that energy. We are the ones that are providing them with a safe area to get there energy out and to learn how to improve on their skills.  Some of the things that helped me that day because I ended up loosing my voice was my whistle, my group members and the way that I gave instructions. In all it went well, there are somethings that could have gone smoother but this is the real world it is not going to be easy.

The final thing that I did at St. Mary's this week was show them how do dance the Cotton Eyed Joe dance. I started by breaking it down into steps and I progressed into the rest of the song. I did it piece by piece which was really good, but then it got a little bit more difficult when I had the children put it all together. Not all of them could do the dance when it was put all together, but they could all do the separate moves that the dance consisted of.  This means that they are able to do the dance they just need a little more time and practice and then they will have it down in no time. After the dance we said our cheer for the day and we left the building.  My experience only made me more excited to come back for the next lab that was in two weeks. I can only hope that the students that are in my group enjoy this experience as much as I do.

Day 4 of 255

Today in class we learned the importance of projecting our voices. This is an extremely important skill to have! I went to St. Mary's yesterday and it is something that you need to know how to do. I am naturally a loud person but I need to learn how to project even better because I lost my voice and it isn't the first time that has happened. In class we also learned the importance of an instant activity and a safety tip. An instant activity will get students ready to move. It is also something good to do before you stretch so that you can get warm because it is never good to stretch cold. After the instant activity which was a form of freeze tag we did some yoga. This gave us a really good stretch and it got all of us loose and ready for the rest of class. After we did the yoga we moved onto getting into small groups and talking about what would improve the lesson that we taught the first day of class. During the first day of class I taught a lesson on how to properly make a chest pass and a bounce pass. A few things that I am going to do differently when I teach the lesson next time is make a safety statement, give boundaries and incorporate a hook.  All of these things will help me make my lesson even better! I can always grow and learn!! I mean that is what teaching is about!!!

Day 3 of 255

Yesterday was a fun and intense day in class.  Professor Yang started of the class with a story about the Chinese New Year which 2012 is the year of the dragon as well as firecrackers.  He told us that we would be like firecrackers and be intense for a few seconds and then fade away.  This was great because it not only got us active but it also taught us about the Chinese New Year.  You can incorporate so much with physical education.  He also taught us how to say Chinese New Year in Chinese and how to say one, two and three in many languages as well.  We then partnered up with a classmate and we did 20 seconds of intense activity and 10 seconds of resting and catching our breaths and we did this for a total of 4 minutes. The intense workout that we did was with throwing the Frisbee's and it was a lot of fun. Then we did a little bit of yoga and that is a great stretch I will tell you! Then Professor Yang then told us that we were going to group up and defend our goals and try to score on the others goals. It definitely got us sweating and working hard with little or no equipment. Being a physical education teacher you are going to have to adapt most things do to your environment or your equipment. It all comes down to thinking on your feet and trying to incorporate many different things into your lesson in order to teach the best that you can to your students.

Toward the end of the class we went down to the classroom and we were given the syllabus for EDU 255 and it seemed reasonable. Nothing really surprised me because I had had Professor Yang for PED 201 so I knew what to expect. I could see though that some of my classmates were shocked by all that we were going to have to do but I wasn't.  I am glad that I will have my 10 hours outside of the class though by being a TA for Professor Yang.  I am really glad that I get to do it at St. Mary's because that is the place where I grew and continue to grow as being a physical educator.  The above pictures are when I volunteered at St. Mary's last semester when they had their holiday bash. I helped run a car racing game, and I helped also tear down all the games. I just love giving back to the school that has helped me so much. This semester I went back actually and helped one of my friends coach the 4th and 5th grade boys for a practice. It was a blast!! I can't wait to see what upcoming opportunities I will have in the future!!

Yoga and Frisbee Today

Today I went to class and we were given Frisbee's to throw around. We first started out by passing normally to a partner, and then we tried to figure out ways to pass the Frisbee that was different. While doing this I learned how to flick a Frisbee. After the worked on passing we me and three other classmates went and we ran around the gymnasium and passed the Frisbee's and we tried to see how many times we could pass the Frisbee from one side of the court to the other. Making a complete pass is harder than it looks when you are running around and trying to get by a defender. It was a great workout though.

After we worked with the Frisbee's we then all gathered around and we worked on some yoga. You do not need anything at all to do yoga and yet it is an amazing workout, it gives you such an amazing stretch.

The last thing that we did was the name game. We got into a circle and we had to remember everyone's name and the activity that they taught during the first class. It amazed me how well I did with everyone's name. Overall the class was very interesting and we learned that we don't need a lot of things to get someone in shape, you just need to get out there and do something!!

The First Day of Being a TA at St. Mary's!!

So I had a blast being a TA yesterday!! It was so nice to be back at St. Mary's!! When I walked in I saw that my thank you poster was still hanging on the gymnasium door and it put a smile on my face. When I walked into the gymnasium and sat on the bleachers with Stephanie we looked at the new students coming in and we saw that they were terrified. It was funny because I know that was me at the beginning of the last semester. I love the fact that I have grown so much from taking 201 the semester before. I also love that I can now help the upcoming class grow and be a part in their development.

First Day of Class this semester!!

My first day of class this semester was Wednesday and it was packed full of classes!! I was really busy but I really enjoyed what I did in my classes! In 255 today we got there and we were put right into teaching a 4 minute lesson to the class. I decided to teach a lesson about how to make and receive a chest and a bounce pass with the basketballs. I was really happy that I got to teach with something that I was very familiar with, I have played basketball since I was in the 3rd grade. I watched the video of me teaching and I feel as though I looked very comfortable and knowledgeable. I checked for understanding and I also feel as though I demonstrated my skills that I was doing very well.  The  things that I could have improved on was probably putting some movement in my mini lesson and talking louder, other than that I think that I did a good job. The best thing was that I felt comfortable and I had a good time!!! I can't wait for my next class tomorrow!!