Prezi!

This is my Prezi on my best and worst times in movement! Check it out hope you enjoy!

Prezi!

This is my prezi about my best and worst times in movement! Check it out hope you enjoy!

Prezi!

Professional Portfolio!!

Check out my Profession Portfolio online and give me some feedback!  Anyone and Anything can help!

http://kcogportfolio.blogspot.com/

St Mary's Lab 5

Today's lab wasn't quite what I expected AT ALL to say the least.  In lab we only had half the gym, then for my game only half of the half of the gym.  This made teaching and making the kids understand the game 10 times harder.  There were so many distractions between basketball practice and about the 40 kids in the gym, it was hard to keep their attention.  I got through my game, but not every kid participated which was hard.  This was a really good experience to have though, and to show me how hectic things can get.  However, then we went downstairs into the  cafeteria.  I enjoyed myself so much down there when I was coloring with this kids.   I was bonding with many of the kids, and even some of them even made me pictures.  I got some of the kids to talk and remember my name, and I found out theirs.  Overall today was a great experience and showed me just how hectic a class can get.  I cant believe this is all coming to an end!

Lab 4

I had a great experience for this weeks lab.  this weeks theme was halloween and we all dressed up.  I was dressed up as a clown and all of the kids loved it.  I had the cafeteria group and we had a beautiful day so we were outside playing kickball.  Many of them don't play fairly or by the rules, which was hard to play with them.  Then we went and performed our games which went very well.  Many of the kids actually participated, which was a good sign.  Then shannon and I played double dutch with the girls for a while.  It is nice to see they are starting to recognize us and want to come play with us.  Next week I have the Gym group so I am excited to see how that goes!

St Mary's Lab 3

Skill	Materials	Directions	Performance Criteria	Child 1 Girl	Child 2 Boy
1. Leap	Use a clear space	During a game or activity, watch a student leap. Tell the student to take large steps leaping from one foot to the other foot.	1.         Take off on one foot and land on the opposite foot.	yes	yes
			2.         A period where both feet are off the ground (longer than running).	yes	yes
			3.         Forward reach with arm opposite the lead foot.	no	no
2. Horizontal Jump	Use a clear space	During a game or activity, watch a student jump. Tell the student to jump as far as they can.	1.      Preparatory movement includes flexion of both arms and knees with arms extended behind the body.	sometimes	yes
			2.      Arms extend forcefully forward and upward, reaching full extension above the head.	no	yes
			3.      Take off and land on both feet simultaneously.	yes	yes
			4.      Arms are brought downward during landing.	yes	yes
3. Slide	Use a clear space	During a game or activity, watch a student slide. Ask the student to slide facing the same direction.	1.      Body turned sideways to desired direction of travel.	yes	yes
			2.      A step sideways followed by a slide of the trailing foot to a point next to the lead foot.	yes	yes
			3.      A short period where both feet are off the floor.	no	yes
			4.      Able to slide to the right and to the left side.	yes	yes

While watching the gym group perform their lesson, we watched the skills of Leap, Horizontal Jump and Slide.  We were watching a girl and a boy, however the boys did change during the lesson.  As we were watching these skills I did notice with these skills that the boys excelled more than girls.  Both the girls and the boys while doing the leap, neither of them used their arms.  The boys were able to perform every other skill, yet the girls had trouble with some.  The girls didn’t fully extend their arms above their heads in a horizontal jump and didn’t have a period where both feet were off the floor in the slide. 

This week at St Mary’s I was in the Special Projects Group.  So because of this I did not get to work much with the children this week.  As the special projects group we made posters on actions like sliding, jumping, hoping, skipping etc.  This was actually quite difficult.  The PE teacher at St. Mary’s asked us to use feet to demonstrate to the kids how to perform these skills, and he will laminate them and the kids can actually step on the posters and use them.  To try to explain and make the footsteps, for things that we just do out of habit was hard.  Another hard aspect was using words children could understand.  Some kids came up to us and were watching us do the posters.  We would ask them if they knew what certain words were like a lunge and they had no idea.  We literally had to break the skills down step by step, so basic.  It was actually quite difficult and tested our skills and minds.    We tried to make the posters pop with different colors to make them interesting for the students. 

Lab 2

Today observations in Lab 2 with Pre-k

Dodgeball Decision

      
    Dodgeball is one of the most debatable topics upon the Physical Education Field.  The decision over whether to allow it in Physical Education Classes is up for discussion all over the country.   Many people see it as an exclusive dangerous game, while others see it as another game played in Phys. Ed class.  Here is my opinion to this highly disputed controversy of Dodgeball:

I believe that Dodgeball should be allowed in Physical Education Classes.  With this argument, I do believe there is certain modification, rules, equipment and regulations that need to be applied.  However in the long run I think that this is a game many people enjoy to play for physical activity.  In my Phys. Ed Class in high school we played a variation of Dodgeball called “Pins and Rims”.  This game had 2 teams set up on opposite sides of the gym.  Then there was balls set up in the middle, just like in Dodgeball.  However, on each side there were 2 bowling pins set up.  The team who knocked down both bowling pins of the opposite team first, won.  People could still get eliminated if they were thrown at and hit by the ball, like in Dodgeball.  However, if someone on your team hit the backboard one person could come back in, if they made the basket everyone on their team could come back in.  I believe this variation of Dodgeball would be completely acceptable in a school setting.  This is because people are not the main target, a student could roll the ball and knock over the pin on the other side and not even throw at another student.   Also it allows people to be aiming at the basketball hoop to get other teammates back into the game.  In my high school people enjoyed this game so much; my softball team organized a tournament to raise money for our organization.  Over 20 teams were enrolled in the tournament; everyone in my school loved this game of “Pins and Rims”.

Now looking into my developing career as a Physical Education teacher I have to look at every aspect of safety and pleasure for my future students.  After thinking about all these factors, I do believe I would play Dodgeball in my Physical Education Class.  I believe this game is a great source of physical activity for children.  This game instills skills for throwing, running, aim, hand-eye coordination, teamwork, strategy and success.  This game puts many skills from other sports such as baseball, basketball and track and field.  In my class I would never do a whole unit on something such as filler for in between units or on a rainy day where our activity could not be played.  Also I would only play this game in a high school setting, never an elementary or even middle school setting.  I believe the children should first learn these skills through sports then play games like this and utilize their skills.  Many kids enjoy not such a structure at all times.  I believe to use a game like this; many kids would enjoy and participate because it is not a full unit that they would be tested on.  Also I would use variations like the game I explained earlier so there was more to the game then just hitting each other.  Also I would use the right equipment such as very soft, squishy balls not balls such as volley and soccer balls which have been used or even the rubber balls.  Also I would insist on certain rules they must follow.  I would insist on no hitting another student in the head or you are immediately eliminates.  Also you must stand behind a certain line so that the throws would not be as hard.  Another thing I would do would let students choose if they wanted to play this game.  I would give them options such as walking the track, go into the weight room, or play another game with another teacher. 

Although I do think this game should be played in schools, just like many other games played it does have its negative aspects.  This game is not the most physically active games that could be played in Phys. Ed Class.  Another aspect is that students could be targeted in some variations of the game.  Many people say that Dodgeball is seen as a dangerous sport that is to violent for children.  However when you look at other sports played in Phys. Ed class they have many of the same dangers as dodge ball.  For example, when playing baseball or softball in Phys. Ed Class if a strong boy that plays baseball comes up and hits a line drive into a girl who does not know how to play the sport.  Say she gets hit with a very hard hit, hard ball.  I believe the consequences could be a lot more severe than those in Dodgeball played with safety regulations.  Another example would be floor hockey getting hit with the puck or soccer getting hit with a hard kicked soccer ball.  I believe those dangers are just more dangerous if not more than any softer, squishy ball thrown in Dodgeball.  However, all these sports are seen as acceptable in school settings, why is Dodgeball the only one being subjected?

I believe that there is always going to be controversy over the safety in kids in school settings with how our world has become with law suits and such.  However, if this game is played with the right equipment, rules, variation, and regulations I believe it is a fun game for children to play.

PED 201 Lab 1

My first day observation at St. Mary for Lab.

Chapter 1-3 Fundamental Skills

·         There are many reasons why fundamental skills and assessments are specifically important to our profession of Physical Education.  Reading through these chapters brought attention to many of the skills we as PE Majors, need to be able to see and help kids with.  Fundamental development in physical education is usually an individual act first, and then becomes a group appropriate approach.  With these children we need to help provide them with these necessary skills to help them be able to guide for efficiently and fluently in the world.  While we’re teaching them these skills, we are also helping them with their health and teaching them a healthier lifestyle to live by.  As the book stated, there is very little “natural athletes” in the world, we need to teach them these skills for them to develop and more forward and proceed to increase their levels of difficulty.  Many people don’t take physical education as seriously as other classes in school like English and math.  However it is just as important if not more, because it deals with your body and how it functions.  The three biggest concerns among children are childhood obesity, in school and community violence and student safety and precocious puberty.  Many of these concerns can be stopped with the help of PE teachers instilling fundamental skills, and forming them into exercises for kids to engage in.  Movement does not only enhance children’s health and fundamental skills to guide them through life, it also enhances their perceptual and cognitive learning characteristics.  Motor characteristics can vary through rate of growth and developmental ability and motor control.  When we teach children fundamental skills with games and assessments, we can evaluate if they are in the standards within their age and growth groups.  With building these skills and having tests to assess the kids we can help stop completely or at least help with things like the childhood obesity epidemic.   Cognitive characteristics relate to ability to express thoughts and or ideas and be able to think abstractly and how they interact with peers.  If we help enhance these skills this will help them with things for the rest of their lives ranging from school to social interactions.  Fundamental development and skill building is a huge part in a child’s education.  When we teach them these essential skills they will be able to do things further in life.  Without teaching children these skills and value of health, their future will not be very bright.  

picture1

 picture 2

picture 3

/http://www.aahperd.org/naspe/
http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/index.html
http://www.pbs.org/teachers/earlychildhood/articles/motorskills.html
http://donnette.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/29144.jpg?w=450   -picture 1
http://www.stadium2000.co.nz/images/fundamental-skills1.jpg   -picture 2
http://vanderhawk.net/Images_main/walkability_CDC_Obesity_Stats.gif  picture 3

Intitial Reactions

My initial reaction to making a blog was that I knew nothing about the blogging world and always thought to shy away from it due to pursuing my degree in Education.  I am not a very technological person, so I am curious to see how I will work with this.  Over the summer I worked at a Daycare Center, where the ages ranged from 3 to 12.  I also in the beginning of the summer was working at my old high school with my Physical Education Teachers working with 9^th – 12^th grades.  So this summer I was able to work with a very wide range of age groups.  I think this gave me many new activities, ideas, and experiences that I can use in my teaching career.  I was able to work on motor development exercises with the younger ones, which was amazing to see them progress and develop these skills.  Also every Friday we did an exercise day where we use games to interact the kids in physical activity.  Since I am a Physical Education major, my boss let me run many of the activities.  I also worked with a certified personal trainer that came and we did exercises with the kids.  This engaged the kids in fun games without them even realizing that they are being physically active and try to pull them away from our technological world.