EDU 355 Lab 13/25

Lab Thirteen/Twenty Five: Scooter Activities/Experiencing the Health and Skill Related Components of Physical Fitness

Health Related Components of Fitness-

CARDIOVASCULAR FITNESS

FLEXIBILITY

STRENGTH

MUSCULAR ENDURANCE

Skill Related Components of Fitness-


EXPLOSIVE POWER

AGILITY

REACTION TIME

 BALANCE

COORDINATION

SPEED

Field Experience Day 6

FIELD EXPERIENCE DAY SIX February 28th 2012
St. Marys School - 6th grade

TOPIC: Reflection on Lesson

Today the students came in and the plan was for them to have run club. The students and my host teacher made an agreement to change run club to tomorrow in order for their classroom teacher to come participate. Because of this sudden switch my host teacher did not have a back up lesson plan. What he did was have the students raise their hand and call out a warm up game they wanted to vote on. The vote that won was the game ghost and goblins. After the warm up we set up a variation game of dodge ball. It was with a ton of large blue mats and cheese mats up on each side of the gym for the teams to hide behind. The rules were that if you are directly hit with a ball (meaning it did not touch anyone or anything prior to hitting you) you are out. The students who are out sit in order of which they become out. All balls must be thrown shoulder level or lower. Players who throw a ball and hit the other sides backboard get two players back in. If you catch a ball you get one player back in. My host teacher went over safety and the rules and the teams were all ready to go. We ended up playing about 4 rounds. For the longest time I had this opinion that any type of dodge ball game was inappropriate for PE class. However, reflecting on this class I have to say I changed my mind. Every single student participated, and the amount of time they were out for was miniscule to the amount of time they played for. They practiced dodging, jumping, throwing, catching, leaping, and running. According to the type of game if modified correctly I believe can be influential. The students faces were all red, they were laughing and using teamwork, the girls were all into it and it seemed like they really were having fun. Although some may say no 'real' learning went on today; I have to disagree due to the fact that I saw the students learn from previous mistakes and correct them in the following rounds. All in all the class was active and had a good time!

Field Experience Day 5

FIELD EXPERIENCE DAY FIVE February 28th 2012

St. Marys School - 5th grade

TOPIC: Curriculum and NYS Standards 

Today in my school the students had a 'run club' day. The point of this day is to have the students move consistently for 20 minutes. The course is set up with 6 cones along the square of the gym giving the students an idea of where to run. There are also 6 inflatable things that are used for hurdling over during the run. Now from what I have seen, this PE program has a very strong curriculum. They focus on different units that incorporate basic loco-motor skills and the older grades begin to focus on basic skills for certain sports and activities. Right now they are in a floor hockey unit. They never reach game play which in my eyes is a good thing. The progressions are small and help the students learn many basics necessary for hockey. My host teacher has explained that the next unit is gymnastics and what they use for this unit. A lot of things they will work on deal with skill themes and movement concepts such as balance, leaping, running, turning, twisting, rolling, stretching, with partners, solo, over, under, high, middle, low etc. In my opinion the school is on the right track for meeting the NYS standards. The run club for example is a great way for these kids to focus on fitness. The units they use are great for skills. The PE program does incorporate safety every class. Some areas they could work on could be the affective domain and personal living skills. They are very physically focused which is great, but that other part is a necessity especially for young kids. 

EDU 355 Lab 16

Lab Sixteen: Lesson Planning Through the Four Stages of Game Play

1. Today I observed elementary students during class learning and playing floor hockey. When looking through the four stages of game play it was easy to determine what stage represented their level of play. The students we at Stage II: Combining Skills. They worked on moving with the puck, passing to others, aiming the puck toward the goal. Their skill level was right in the middle. There were a few students who made these combinations look very easy. However, some of the students have difficulty holding the hockey stick correctly and comfortably and the skills they worked on did not fall together that easy. Some recommendations for steps that could be taken to improve their level of play would be to size up the sticks. Rather than having each child go and grab a stick, have them laid out according to size already. Then have the students line themselves up according to height. There will always be someone to tall or short for the supplies that are there, but I think this could really help even it out. Once the students feel more comfortable with the size stick they have another thing they could work on would be walking with the puck in straight, curved, zig-zag lines while keeping their eyes up. Next they could try light jogging while keeping their eyes up. Although the students did work on moving with the puck, the emphasis was not on keeping their eyes up. Another recommendation could be having the students learn the basic rules during this stage. That way while they practice they are getting a feel to why they must perform in that certain way.

2. I would use the four stages of game play by Rink (1985) as a rubric with students in my own PE classes by creating each stage as its own rubric. While students are in the stage one for example, the rubric would have certain criteria that needs to be met before they may move on to stage two. Each criteria can be in a checklist format and once the student completes the checklist they are able to move on and continue working with their skills. Because all students learn and progress at different rates we could start with a pre-assessment of stage one to see who can start at a higher stage already. Another way is to have the four stages broken down all onto one sheet where the student checks his progression. Each stage can have multiple steps to complete. Once they complete all the steps for a stage, they must ask the teacher to come sign them off by performing a certain task allowing them to move on.

EDU 355 Lab 11

Lab Eleven: Parachute Fitness and Yoga for Personal Health/Wellness

1. Find information on the history of the parachute and how a parachute works. Da Vinci sketched the first parachutes in 1495. Fauste Veranzio made a device similar to Da Vinci and used it when he jumped from the tower of Venice in 1617. Andrew Garnerin jumped for the first time using a parachute without a rigid frame in 1797. The first jump from a airplane using a parachute happened in 1912. The military didn’t support it in belief that a human would black out within a few seconds of the jump. A parachute works as it creates a drag to slow the person down. A drag is a push on something from the air or water. The parachute is light in weight and covers a large area. This means that the parachute catches more air, creating more of a drag.

2. Create a parachute routine composed of various parachute activities learned in class. After the students and I go over safety, the first activity I would start with would be the headless horseman. I thought this was hilarious in class and we were all really having fun. I think it would be good to start with something exciting and entertaining such as this activity in order to get the students interest. Next we would perform ripples, waves, and storms by shaking the parachute from the wrists and then progressing to the elbows. I would then have us cook a healthy soup by putting different items onto the parachute while talking about nutrition.

3. Practice the yoga routine for a week and keep journal of how you feel. Last semester in Self Defense we performed yoga routines. I have been keeping up on my yoga since then and have learned multiple different ways to practice this. Yoga has helped me to relax and concentrate on just the moment rather then what will be happening next. It truly is a great way to center yourself.

4. Use pictures to diagram each pose in the Salute to the Sun yoga routine.

EDU 355 Lab 15

Lab Fifteen: Improving Teaching Skills: Presenting an Introductory Activity

1. Reflect upon you lab teaching experiences. Describe your teaching strengths and weaknesses for teaching in this lab. When teaching only 8 minutes, it is hard for me to pretend the students are already into the body of the lesson. I think that I had a weak instant activity. I had the students play 'sticky popcorn' where they start jumping on their own and when I call out a number they must find partners to jump together with. Watching them perform this activity it made it seem kind of boring. The main activity was a strength for me. It really focused on fitness and getting the heart rate up. The students performed 'jumping jack count down' where they run a certain amount of laps and then perform that number of labs plus a 0 amount of jumping jacks (ex: 4 laps = 40 jumping jacks) I think I could have made the activity better by challenging the students to a certain time limit. Perhaps saying something like 'let's try to get these laps and jacks done in 1 minute'.

2. Identify one of your most effective teachers. What teaching behaviors did you admire most in the way he/she taught? When it comes to my education, I have been blessed with a handful of influencing teachers. One that comes to mind is during my senior year of high school my psychology teacher. He was also my history teacher in the 10th grade. What I admired most about the way he taught was the fact that he was very personal. He knew we were human beings, and looked at us almost as his own children. He cared about our success rate and would go to any limits to ensure we were successful. He cared about each one of us and took time to get to know us if we were interested. Because he was so personal, I had no problem asking for help when I did not understand something. It also made it very easy to enjoy the class and enjoy participating in his activities.

3. What goals will you set for yourself as you prepare to teach in the Education 300 Field Experience. Growing up I was never into a variety of sports. What I enjoy is the lifetime activities such as swimming, biking, roller-blading, lifting, hiking and a lot of others. Being active and healthy is what drives me in this career. I did beginer gymnastics as a child and then became a cheerleader for 12 years. I was wrapped into the one activity that I loved, I never tried other sports. One of my fears of going into this career is the lack of knowledge and skills in these sports. Some goals I have set for myself is to really get to know the basics of each sport I plan to incorporate into my curriculum. I want to be very well-rounded in my education.

EDU 355 Lab 9/10

Lab Nine: Carpet Sample Fitness
Lab Ten: Exercising Imagination and Building Inanimate Objects

1. Identify a fitness theme and design appropriate fitness stations to enhance various health and skill related components of fitness. A fitness theme that may be used could be 'Reach for the Stars'. The gym would be decorated with different types of stars and objects that are found in the sky. For the fitness stations they could be as followed: Station 1 Balance- balance from one star spot on the ground to the other hoping from one foot to the other. Station 2 Power- Throwing balls from the line with power aiming at the star targets on the ball. Station 3 Stretch- Give each student a star and have them hold it above their head, point towards different directions to have them reach for the star while stretching. Station 4 Strength- Have students try to form a star in groups of 5 with their bodies in push up positions, once they have made a star they must perform 5 push ups. Station 5 Cardiovascular Endurance- Have students pick a card, however many stars are on that card are the amount of seconds they must jump rope for.

2. Identify people that are famous for use of imagination and creativity such as Einstein, Picasso and Bach. Some people that come to mind are Phil Knight who invented APPLE and Walt Disney.

3. Design a rubric for assessing the acting-out of inanimate objects by students in small groups as described in the activity close of this lab.

Do all students have a role to play:   Y    N
Do students make the actions and sounds realistic as possible:    Y   N
Can the class guess what they are acting out:    Y    N

Field Experience Day 4

FIELD EXPERIENCE DAY FOUR February 14th 2012

St. Marys School - 5th grade

TOPIC: Students with Special Needs

From my understanding, watching and teaching these kids, I have not been able to notice any student will a disability. Clearly I may be wrong. However, from where I stand they are all very close to being at the same level physically. This truly gave me a great insight on this school. I am unsure if the students are separated into an adapted PE program if they do have special needs, but I am almost positive that is not the case. My host teacher is the only PE teacher at the school, and his schedule is based on classes. The entire class comes in, participates and learns, and then the entire class leave. I asked my host teacher if there was a possibility to come into a class at a different time where there may be a student will special needs so I could observe. Because this is a private school and the students are paying to be there, I feel as if the school does a great job keeping the children at a good pace and ability levels. I did notice some students are very hyper and talkative, but other than that there was nothing that caught my eye. 

EDU 355 Lab 8

Lab Eight: Communication and Cooperation Using Hula Hoops

1. Explain three important benefits of hoop play. Playing with hula hoops is great for enhancing hand-eye and foot-eye coordination as well as body awareness. The hula hoop is constantly rolling during some activities which incorporates the student to follow and keep up with it. These activities also promote patience and exercise communication skills. Because hula hoops are great to use with partner work, it helps students understand the use of teamwork when trying to accomplish a goal together.

2. Give an example of how hoops can be used to reinforce a cognitive concept linked with classroom learning. The students can practice with making large letters or shapes combining each hoop with others. This is a great way to enhance spelling and creativity for students.

3. Describe how hoops can be utilized to promote growth in the affective domain. With certain activities such as twister, ring pass contest, and finding your way out of the maze, it really aims towards teamwork and patience. The students may feel uncomfortable with certain things such as getting close to others, holding hands, or working with a partner but these hoop activities are fun and relieve the stress of all those worries.

4. Utilize the internet to gather information about ponds and related ecology to use in your field experience teaching or future teaching. Sticking with the hula hoop theme, something I thought of could be a word maze. Each hula hoop would have a laminated card with a picture on the front and the term on the back. All of the terms are about ponds and ecology (wetlands, predator, insect, adaptation) The students can go through a series of progressions to cross over the pond. They must look at the picture and name the correct term before passing! If they can not recall the name, they may do a skill and then ask a classmate for help.

Field Experience Day 3

FIELD EXPERIENCE DAY THREE on February 10th 2012
St. Marys School - 2nd grade

TOPIC: Management strategies

Today in school my host teacher had given the students free time. He said the entire week was wild and they needed some time to just play. Next week we are starting a new unit of floor hockey and the students were all very excited. Although the children were having a great time playing on their own, I think I would have tried something different. When it comes to managing a class, I think these days of 'free time' are a great way to make sure the students are on track still from the beginning of the year. There are many activities that can be done during a transition between units that can keep the students active and on task but also more relaxed. My host teacher holds his class very well. Although I do not fully agree with each activity choice, the students clearly respect him. His management skills are effective and positive. When students need to talk to him, they raise their hand, or walk over to him. If something is going wrong during the lesson the students usually come up and explain the issue. His strategy for when students get into small arguments is to send them out to get a drink of water one at a time. He said usually that works and they have 30 seconds to relax and move on. He has rules posted on the wall and also a warm up poster that holds a spot for a paper of warm ups (switched each day). I truly think the children are all well behaved. It may be because it is a private school, I really am not sure. But there has not been many behavior issues yet and everyone is usually getting along. Some routines the students follow are always asking to get a drink or go to the bathroom. They also come in and start the warm up right away and when they are finished they sit along a line and wait for the rest. At the end of class the students put away all equipment and line up to leave. I think these routines work very well! I am defiantly keeping some ideas for my own career!

EDU 355 Lab 7

Lab Seven: Jumping Rope for a Healthy Heart

1. Can a child in a wheelchair enter the front door and back door? What modifications would you make? Yes the child can participate in the activity. Some modifications that can be made are making sure the jump rope swingers are going at a slower pace in order to have the student get through the front door. When attempting the back door the student can try to roll over the rope with his wheelchair.

2. How would you apply goal setting to this lesson? At the beginning of the class we can all set a personal goal of jump roping however many times they think is possible. Through each progression remind the students that the set that goal and if it needs to be adjusted higher or lower to do that. We could also wear pedometers if accessible and make a class goal of how many steps will we get in class today will practicing jump roping.

3. Design a long rope jumping routine for a pair of students jumping at the same time. The students can play a game where one student jumps in to jump rope while the partner counts how many times they get. Once they miss a jump the other partner gets a chance to jump and see how many jumps they can get.

4. Create a checklist of critical elements to look for and use in teaching basic, two foot rope jumping. Make sure student is swinging with wrist, not whole arm. Make sure student if jumping with both feet at the same time and landing at the same time. Make sure the feet are not coming off the ground more than a few inches. Make sure the rope is being fully extended while swinging.

5. Describe how you would go about organizing a rope jumping club for your elementary school. Wherever the club will be held I will put up posters of advanced skills students may try. I will have a large variety of jump ropes for the different types of students. There will be a pre-assessment for the me to see where each student is in order to put them into correct groups according to ability. Each child will create their own jump roping routine with music and demonstrate at the end of the club.

6. Explain what stimulus variation is and give an example from today's lab when it was used. Stimulus variation is a way of enhancing children learning by helping them remain attentive. It is a way of maintaining students ' attention. Positive results of learners who given a task in a more interesting lesson can perform well and there will be no disciplinary problems. In lab today you taught with stimulus variation by keeping us moving and switching different activities fast. We used different themes like shadows, shapes, letters, snakes, front and back door. Each activity was very different which held our attention, but they progressed in a low to high level keeping us challenged. 

Field Experience Day 2

FIELD EXPERIENCE DAY TWO on February 7nd 2012
St. Marys School - 5th grade

TOPIC: Knowledge of Students

Today was a different experience than last week. The difference between the 2nd graders and 5th graders is enormous. These students were very aware of what was going on. They came right into the gym and began the warm up that was on the board. Once they finished they waited for attendance to be taken and listened well for instructions. Rob and I got to hop in with scoring and refereeing during the volleyball game. It was not much, but at least it was more than observing. The students seem very energetic and excited to be there. It truly makes it that much better being somewhere where the kids enjoy activity. I witnessed something very cool today. During the game one of the students 'carried' the volleyball. That team was defending him saying it still counts, and the other team came over to me asking who gets the ball. I looked over to the boy and asked him if he carried the ball, and he was very honest in saying yes I think I did. I was shocked and very impressed. Because we were playing a volleyball game the entire class time (besides the warmup) the knowledge I noticed were the rules that they knew for volleyball. However the lack of knowledge I observed was the fact that every student ran toward the ball. It was a big clump each time the ball got hit. If it were me, I think I would have done more of a rotation for the students. They were using a medium sized Omniken ball and this may be why they all try to help because it is so big. But still I think the students need to realize about taking turns and being in the correct spots. Altogether the students really are great here and I feel so lucky to work with them. They are respectful and listen well.

EDU 355 Lab 5

Lab Five: A Spectrum of Ball Handling Skills

1. Use the internet to search for information about turtles and how they live. Turtles have been around for about 230 million years. There were turtles on earth before the dinosaurs came along! They live everywhere on earth except the Arctic and Antarctic.

2. Identify the fitness components being addressed in squad square fitness. Where are these components located in the New York State Conceptual Framework for K-12 Physical Education? In the squad square fitness the fitness components are  muscular and strength endurance while performing the curl-ups and hand walks. Also cardiovascular endurance is being practiced during the step-ups and ski jumps. During all the activities coordination is also being addressed because the squad must be in rhythm with each other. These components are located under the elements of health related fitness and elements of human wellness. They are emphasized mainly in the elementary level, but progress throughout all levels.

3. Prescribe a series of ball handling skills for a second grade boy or girl that is afraid of catching a ball. What kinds of objects might you prescribe for throwing and catching. To start off the student will practice throwing and catching to themselves. They can start off with objects that are smaller and softer, like a bean bag or yarn ball. Have them practice tossing the ball slightly above your head and catching. Progress to higher tosses. Have them grab a ball that can bounce now. They can try to throw up, let it bounce, then catch it. Next could be throwing the ball to the wall and trying to catch it. Once they are comfortable catching smaller softer balls with themselves it will be easier for them to trust catching and throwing with a partner. Foam balls are also good for practice.

4. What are some guidelines you would follow in pairing students for throwing and catching? Having a stimulus variation will help students prepare for the various game conditions they will encounter in everyday play and sport activities. Make sure they always keep their eyes on the ball and call out their partners name before throwing. Progress from softer balls to basketballs in order for high success rate.

5. How would you help a special needs student learn to catch that displays motor control and lack of fine motor control dexterity? If the student is lacking fine motor control dexterity, I would use a larger ball. We could start on the ground with rolling the ball to each other so they see we are going back and forth. We can move to standing and bouncing the ball to each other. Eventually progress to throwing the ball.

Field Experience Day 1

FIELD EXPERIENCE DAY ONE on February 3rd 2012
St. Marys School - 2nd grade

TOPIC: Reflection on lesson

Today went really good! My host teacher was so fun and excited to have us. He made me feel very comfortable and at ease with the experience. While I was watching the lesson so many things popped into my head. The kids came in and were all dressed in pajamas! It was spirit week this week and Friday was their pajama day. It was so adorable. They all came in and sat down to wait for directions. When my teacher began talking, the students already knew the activity of the day due to how the gym was set up. They listened well and all seemed very excited to be in PE. At the end of every month PE class holds a running day. Today was the running day from the end of January. So there were 4 cones set up in each corner where the kids had to run around. They run for 12 minutes total and then are allowed to some free time. They briefly talked about what to do if they get tired, or seem to not feel good. All the kids raised their hands to answer and they understood to walk until they felt ready to run again. For the most part the kids ran the whole 12 minutes with only short breaks. It was pretty impressing to me. Great fitness time for them! Music was being played and they were all smiling each time they passed by us. Once the buzzer went off that was the cue that they can have free time. Most of them ran out to get a drink of water. I did not see one student not playing. It was truly great. They all were participating in whatever activity they enjoyed. Some throwing a football, some hula hooping, some practicing gymnastics on mats, and more. I really learned that the children respect the teacher and behave very well. They have routines in place and the kids are familiar with how the class runs. I am so excited to go back on Tuesday to learn more!!

EDU 355 Lab 4

Lab Four: Improving Manipulation With Bean Bag Challenges

1. Explain how a unit based on lessons of this nature would serve as a foundation for acquiring specialized throwing and catching skills. Using objects such as bean bags give the child a better chance to catch and throw properly because larger objects are more difficult to control. The bean bags are soft and light so it is less feared by young ones. During most of these activities the child is not aware of the catching and throwing, when in reality that is exactly what they are practicing. 

2. Identify a theme that could be applied to health hopping appropriate for young children. I really enjoyed the Lion King theme but if I had to choose my own theme I think I could use the 'Olympics' as one. Each station could be a different Country and activity that relates. This could be good for young children because they get to learn about the Olympics and also see different names of places that participate.

3. Design a checklist of critical elements to look for when observing a child performing a loco-motor movement. When a child is performing the loco-motor movement such as jumping a checklist could look something like this: flexion of both arms and knees, arms extended behind the body, arms extend forcefully forward and upward, arms reach full extension above the head, take off and land on both feet simultaneously, arms brought downward during landing.

4. List 2 bean bag games you can also use. The students can hold their bean bag in their hands with palms open and facing down. They must try to catch the bean bag on the top of the hands without letting it fall. Then move to more advanced where they must throw the bean bag and catch it on the body part named before hand. Example: This time let's try to catch it on our backs! Another bean bag activity could be throwing and catching with bean bags. The children can have one partner and they are facing each other about 10 feet away. There are contents that will hold the bean bags such as hula hoops or small buckets. They will have a certain amount of bean bags and they must successfully toss and catch the bag and put it into their spot. Once they are done they must run and meet in the middle to clap hands and say DONE!