Lab #3- Show me your muscles!

For lab number three at St. Mary's the theme was sports and my group was the gym group so we all had to prepare a game that had to do with leaping, jumping, sliding, and sports. The game I chose was called Oodles of Noodles. In this game, I laid out hockey sticks all around the gym. The students had to slide around the gym and when they got to a hockey stick they had to leap over it and then continue sliding. Once I blew the whistle all the students would stop and pose in a sports stance, such as throwing a ball, shooting a basketball, or kicking a soccer ball. Then, the students continued to slide around the gym, but this time they jumped over the hockey sticks. The students seemed to have fun with this game. They understood my directions and listened well when I explained the game to them. When I started the game only three kids wanted to play, but as the game went on more and more kids came over to join, because they noticed the other kids were having fun. As I was watching the students perform these locomotor skills I noticed that a lot of them struggled with them and a lot of them were definitely on the elementary level. A lot of the students had a hard time leaping and they even had to ask us what a leap was. We described it to them as taking a giant step. My group’s games all went very well and the kids seemed to have a lot of fun. After we finished the games we started to play tag for a little, but one boy ran into another boy and one of them got hurt pretty badly. So, we started to play soccer instead. There were a bunch of kids playing and many of them were getting really into it. I was able to see their competitive side come out a little. Later, we went down into the cafeteria and I ate a snack with some of the students and also colored with some of the girls. It was really entertaining and enjoyable to listen to them talk about school, their friends, and their family. Our third trip to St. Mary’s was very successful, and I can see myself improving each time I go there. I feel more comfortable around the students and talking in front of all them. I’m also starting to learn some of their names and learn unique things about each child. I’m looking forward to our next trip to the school; however it won’t be for a couple of weeks due to our spring break. At our next trip to St. Mary’s I will be in the pre-school room which should be a lot of fun. I can’t wait to work with the younger kids!

 Lab #3 Write Up and Assessment Sheet!

The Great Debate Showdown

I thought the debate we had in class was awesome! I have never done anything like that before in a classroom. Each group made some great points that I would not even had thought about before. It was pretty cool that the whole debate was recorded and also that many pictures were taken and put on the blog. It was really fun tweeting during the debate, because I was able to see what my other classmates were thinking about during the debate and who they thought was going to win. I was also able to find more classmates on twitter and follow them because of the live twitter stream on the computer. I was part of the skills theme advocate group. We believe that every student should learn all the basic locomtor skills, because they are the basis for all other sports. If a child knows all these basic skills and can perform them well they will be able to participate in any activity of their choice I thought our group did a great job and we made many valid points. However, the other groups and even the board of education were able to fire it right back at us and ask us questions that were a little tricky to answer. In the end, the board of education concluded that both lifetime activities and the skills theme advocate group were both correct in different ways and they thought that both groups were very important. I'm very glad that we did this debate in this class and that I took part in it. I was able to learn new things about the stick group, the lifetime activites group, and I even learned some things about the locomotor skills as I was creating the powerpoint with my group. The debate was a lot of fun and I wish that I did more things like this in other classes of mine.

PE Hall of Shame

I have actually never played any of these games in my Physical Education classes. However, I have played tag but it was always a different kind of tag game. I remember I used to play red rover and spud during recess, but my friends and I would organize the game ourselves. All these games in the Hall of Shame are really fun games and I used to enjoy playing them. On the other hand, in a Phyiscal Education class the teacher should be teaching the students new games that they have never seen before. Outside of class students can organize their own game of spud or red rover, as I used to and they don't need a teacher there to do so. I believe the game of tag can be altered so that it doesn't need to be in the Hall of Shame. A teacher can alter the game of tag, so that everyone is "it" and if a student gets tagged twice they can just do fifteen jumping jacks or ten sit ups and then come back in the game. This modification will allow everyone student to be playing the whole time. Also, in a game of tag the teacher can have the students hop, skip, leap, or jump rather than just running. By doing this, it will allow the students to work on their locomotor skills and the students will be able to improve.

Staying Healthy This New Year

Check out how I use the internet to stay healthly and fit!

Party in the USA!

Check out my lab group dancing and lip syncing to "Party in the USA" by Miley Cyrus. I was a little nervous performing the dance since it was being recorded, but the video turned out great and I had so much fun! Watch the dance!

Love Is In The Air- Lab #2

The second time we went to St. Mary's I felt more comfortable and I wasn't as overwhelmed as I was the first time. This week the theme was Valentine's day and we played a lot of games that had to do with love and Valentine's day. When we first got there we assessed two children on their skills of running, galloping, and hopping. I noticed that the two students had a hard time doing some of the locomotor skills for a long period of time. When Billy and Susie both galloped they never kept their arms bent, they were kind of just all over the place. Also, Susie wasn't able to gallop with both legs. I believe galloping to be a hard locomotor skill for many young children to do. After we finished assessing Billy and Susie we split up into our groups. This week at St. Mary's my group was the special projects group. we created a bulletin board. We titled the board "Be Active" and wrote different sports all over the board. We also wrote other ways to stay active, such as doing locomotor skills such as, running, galloping, and hopping. We also drew pictures of sports equipment and  people playing sports. When my group finished the bulletin board, I played with some kids in the gym. I played knock out with some of the boys. It was interesting to see their different personalities. Some of the boys were very competitive and were being sore losers if they lost in the game. I had to remind some of them that it was just a game and that we would play again once the round ended. Other boys were very encouraging and would say "Good job" or "Nice shot" if another student made a basket. A couple of the older boys were even helping the younger boys during the game. It was very interesting to watch. At the end of the day it was time for me to present my game to all the kids. I was a little nervous, but I was able to talk loud and get the attention of all the kids. The game I played with the kids was called, Aerobic Walk Tag. In this game everyone gets a partner and one person is "it" in every duo and the other person is the one who walks away. The person who is "it" counts to five and then starts walking after their partner. There is no running allowed in this game. Once the other person gets tagged then that person becomes "it" and the other person walks away. I also had the students hop, gallop, and leap after their partner. Later, I had the person who was "it" spin three times really fast and then start chasing after their partner. This made the game more fun and kept the kids interested for longer. The kids surprisingly all listened well and played the game. Overall, Lab #2 at St. Mary's was very successful and went well. I feel more comfortable at the school now and I am excited for Lab #3. It should be fun and interesting since my group is the gym group. The kids at St. Mary's have a lot of energy and are always ready to play. They have been a pleasure to work with so far.

Check out my Lab #2 Write Up and Assessment sheet!