Santa's Sleigh Stops at Saint Mary's

Our final lab experience for the Fall of 2010 at Saint Mary's was an amazing experience that included a number of Christmas and Holiday touches !!! I cant believe it was our last lab already but OH how much I have learned from my times at Saint Mary's. Our last lab was so much fun for a number of reasons but mainly because of how happy all the students were with the way we were all dressed up and showing the Christmas spirit. It was great to see the students really embrace our costumes and even the older students enjoyed them and joked around with us Cortland students. My favorite part of the last lab however was the parachute games and how much the students loved to play all the different games we had planned. Taking something so simple like a parachute and being able to do so much with it really defines Physical Education in some aspects. I think it is great because it shows how something so simple can go so far and have such an impact on so many students. I will truly miss all the fun times I had at Saint Mary's but I will take forward so many good learning experiences on in becoming a Physical Educator !!!






Merry Christmas Saint Mary's

A THANKSful day of GIVING at Saint Marys

What a lab of giving and thanks at Saint Marys this past Monday. I know I am thankful for having a great lab experience in which we did a number of things that showed what we are happy for every day. We played a number of games and drills in which we watched the students perform basic kicking skills and stationary bouncing skills. We observed two students who both seemed to struggle alot with stationary bouncing skills. However the students both did alot better with the kicking skills. It was good too see that the students understood basic kicking and were enthusiastic to practice and have fun with the games and drills we had set up for the students. I wish we could spend more time at Saint Marys but we only have one more lab left but I am looking forward to celebrating Christmas with the students and seeing how excited they can and will get for our Christmas lab that we will have prepared for them.

Happy Thanksgiving Saint Marys !!!!

A Spooktacular Time at Saint Mary's School

Our Expirence at Saint Mary's for Halloween was a fun and fantastic time... We played many games and working with the Pre-K kids was a blast. They are very good at listening to directions and not wanting to be outcasts and do different things that the older students do. The students really like our costumes and asked many questions about what candy we were going to eat and where do we trick or treat. My favorite part of the night however was listening to all the children explain what they were going to be for Halloween !!! I hope our next lab that comes up is going to be good and as fun as our last lab....

Happy Halloween !!!

Justice Leauge unites at Saint Marys

Super Saint Marys

Everyone at Saint Mary's on monday got a good dose of Superhero fun during our lab expirence!!! Many of the students loved the Superhero theme and were anxious to tell us who their favorite superheros were. We played a number of games in which the students showed how enthusiastic they were for us to have chosen the Superhero theme. I know during my game the students went to several different stations in which I had different superheros. At each station they did a different superhero pose in which the students loved the idea of being multiple superheros. I also learned that using music is a great way to grab the attention of the students and that having the students repeat the directions of my games back to me allows me to know that I am efficiently giving directions the correct way !!! I cant wait until this Monday in which we are using the Halloween theme... I am curious to think what the students are going to think about our costumes and if they will have the same amount of energy if not more for this weeks lab !!!

If you're a PIRATE and you know it !!!!

Ahoy my fellow mateys ... what a cannon blast of fun lab was at Saint Mary's school this past week. Between walking the plank and college kids dressed as pirates I don't know where to start. Each of the four groups did an outstanding job of weathering the storm whether it be the chaos of kids screaming or teaching great games. The gym group did a great job in making tag a fun and easy game for all the kids to play. A simple game with so many variations the children enjoyed "toilet tag" and also "partners" tag. Another great game that the gym group played was leap frog. We also cant forget about turtle tag either... These games did a great job in showing the locomotive abilities of children and we clearly saw running, skipping and hopping. In the Cafeteria group we got a good lesson on how to play with Lego's and checkers again.A great game that the cafeteria group played in the gym was called "Twizzler" in which the kids did a twizzle like movement. In the Pre-K group we worked on coloring inside and outside of the lines. We worked on color associating with shapes and puzzles. The best part however was the book which was "How I became a Pirate" by Melinda Long and David Shannon. We can not forget about the special projects group either though... the pictures were great and the closet looks cleaner than ever before. A key term we learned about was executive control and also executive learning. These two terms relate to attaining attention of the children than teaching them something and knowing they understood and can perform what you taught them.  All in and all it was a great "heave ho" or push forward in making our Physical Education experience one that will last for ever !!!

Aaarrghhhh !!!

Arrghhh a Pirates day at Saint Mary's

Monday we had our first real lab expirence at Saint Mary's school. It was full of fun and after the exhausting time I realized I have alot to learn in order to become a good Physical Education teacher eventually. First I realized I wasnt being loud enough , than I couldnt get the childrens attetion and lastly I forgot certain points to my game in which I wanted to highlight. However I am not upset and I cant wait to go back and build on these expirences. I am so excited though by how we seem to have themes every week and the children really thrive on that fact. Some of the children were afraid of the pirates theme while others loved it and would have dressed up like pirates too if they had known. I also learned some key functions like executive control and executive function. I didnt think much of it when Professor Yang first told me because it seemed simple and I was over confident but after a minute of trying to explain the game I was teaching I knew what it meant to be able to make children understand and do what we are trying to teach to them. I am excited as well to learn new ways to teach children in ways in which they all understand and more easily picked up on. Thats all for this weeks lab write up... now off to walk the plank.... arghhhhhhh !!!!

Chapter 1 - Learning through Movement not just Movement

After reading Chapter 1 I realized that my P.E class in high school wasn't a very good experience in how P.E should be taught. I guess I kind of feel a little robbed in the sense that because I was an athlete sports were fun for me so I didn't struggle with it as much. But after looking at how P.E is supposed to be taught I couldn't help but feel sorry for the kids I knew growing up that didn't participate in P.E. and I always looked at them funny and thought they just couldn't do it because they were not good enough. However now I realize that the way P.E class went did not encourage this children to be active and want to try and learn new and lifetime type sports. I love the concept of learning through movement opposed to learning to move. I think it is so smart to have cognitive development Incorporated into physical play and activities. This helps children that don't do so well in school stay on top of school work because it makes it fun. I also think it helps children that are smart because they can use their skills and ideas through sports to feel apart of the game and feel as if they are more than just a target in a game of dodge ball or an easy out in kickball. Chapter 1 does a good job explaining aims and goals of Physical Education and this is important in making sure that we reach these but not in the traditional old school Phys. Ed class setting. As times change we as advocates for Physical Education need to change as well to make sure everyone is included and our goals and aims are met.

DodgeBall can be Positive (+)

After reading the articles and looking at our book it is hard to see how Dodge Ball really fits in to an effective thing to teach in a Physical Education setting. However not everything we do in our Physical Education classes can always be something in which it is aimed towards our principles. I believe that Dodgeball is a reward for participating in other activites in PE in which many children consider boring or not fun after a certain age. Now the problem with this is that traditional dodgeball is not okay because it is too risky and is not a mainstream sport. In an article http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-10765874_ITMI found the argument is made that many injuries occur in basketball, baseball and football in which children are targets and also in those sports in many cases there are eliminations of players based on how good the players are to play certian postions or play at all. I support having dodgeball as a reward based idea. However though we need to change the way dodgeball is played to protect children. Also we need to make it more enjoyable for everyone who is playing and not have traditonal roles in which one student is the one getting hit by the ball and another is the one hitting the other child. Like we discussed in class using other objects as targets highly reduces injuries and discoruagment to certain children who are usually targets. Also adding a number of modifications inlcuding team work , specific roles and other things could strongly improve the outcome of dodgeball. By changing how dodgeball is played you could identify that it is a great way for children to develope fine and gross motor skills in throwing and catching.

How children playing with sticks can be dangerous

In my opinion sticks can be very dangerous when related to sports or not related to sports... giving children sticks when their motor devlopment and other movement skills are limited is not a very good thing in my mind to do. I have seen on a number of ocassions accidents happen with baseball bats, hockey sticks and golf clubs. When I was 9 one of my best freinds walked near another child swinging a golf stick in a crazy motion and my freind was struck in the side of the face breaking his jaw and cheek bone. Depending on the age group some children can handle playing sports with sticks and no better than to swing the sticks in dangerous motions and what not. However according to this internet source article I found many eye injuries in sports are caused by blunt force trauma from sticks such as hockey sticks or lacrosse sticks. Even with proper eye protection and goggles injuries still accur at alarming rates when dealing with sports and eye injuries. Of the 40,000 eye cases reported each year one third of them occur while playing sports. Im not sure what age group exactly should be allowed to start using sticks and playing in stick sports because you have to learn some day and somehow but I believe we introduce these sports a little to earlier relating to our physical development and gross and fine motor skills.

First Lab at Saint Mary's

Yesterday I had my first lab experience at Saint Mary's school. It was an exciting and very fun time for not only me but also my peers who also attended lab as well. Many of the children were very reluctant to talk to me when I engaged them in a basic conversation at first, but as time went on many of the same children warmed up and enjoyed playing games and just showing me what they could do. I look forward to many more lab experiences and I am excited to learn new games and ideas in which I can share with the children and eventually one day lead my own ideas and games to a number of children. One thing that was a little different to me was seeing the children fall so much and trying to remember if I myself fell that much too when I was little.The motor development from one child to another in some instances is very obvious. Many of the children would fall and get right back up in no time and be playing as hard if  not harder than before the fall. 

Lab Write Up 1

 

Cortland Expirence

I cant wait to learn more and expand my learning at SUNY Cortland !!!

First Day of PED 201

The Motor Development class seems like it is going to be a good expirence and I look forward to class tomorrow morning ... the facilites at Cortland are amazing and Im glad Professor Yang gave us a tour of Park Center !!!!