Going Out With a Bang

          With our last lab upon us, and our last chance to impress the students at St. Mary’s with our games and activities, we wanted to leave a lasting memory in which everyone gets involved and actually wants to participate.  To do this, we had to bring out the secret weapon: the parachute.

          For some reason when students see the bright, colorful, large cloth, their eyes light up.  Watching the student’s heads perk up and watch as my classmates and I unraveled the parachute you could already tell this was going to be an awesome activity in which everyone was involved.

          It cannot be just fun and games, however.  When talking with Dr. Yang beforehand he made sure to stress to me the importance of incorporating as many motor skills as possible, so that was in the back of my head as we started.  The easiest way to get everyone moving was to just walk around in a circle.  From there we skipped, reversed both, and then it was time for the real fun.  For some reasons all kids act like they have never done this activity before, so as I started explaining how we were going to bring the parachute high, and then quickly snap our arms down and climb underneath forming a dome with us inside, they started freaking out.  When under the dome, I would call out colors and if the student was sitting on a stripe of that color they had to run and change spots. We also walked at different levels, both high and low.
          From there it was too cold to go outside so we went downstairs  to the cafeteria and played little games and other small activities.  I chose to work with a few girls playing mancala, before making my over to some other girls playing dress up with paper dolls.  The fine motor skills in mancala really impressed me, especially with how rapid fire it is from player to player, that they can continue talking and take their turn without even thinking.  Also, I loved watching how creative the girls got with the dressing up, and their responses to my antagonizing questions.  When I asked one girl why the doll had bright pink shoes to go with her black dress she responded, "Well it's her birthday and she got the shoes as a present," without even lifting her head up or having any signs of confusion.  

          When we finished up in the cafeteria I went upstairs to join the pre-K in their game.  In the first game, the group had the kids match up rubber chickens, six-sided die, and plastic numbers but color.  At each station they had to do an activity to how ever many the corresponding number was.  It amazed me how well some of the kids did.  The one girl literally had a flawless push up, bending at the elbows, back flat and everything.  Even those who struggled at first, especially with the sit-up, were very teachable when correcting their form.  After that a game of "Simon Says" was played, and since no one likes being called out for not following directions I teamed up with a little girl who seemed to be struggling grasping the concept of only doing things when Simon says to.  By the end she picked up on it and was all smiles, and it was great to know I played a hand in that.
         When it came time to do the group game, I made one of the biggest mistake an educator can make.  I let me competitive side take over and I put the children in harms way.  While playing "Sharks and Minnows" I attempted to dodge a tag made by my group member Luke and absolutely crushed a little girl who came up on my blind side to my left.  I fell right on top of her, very hard, and she immediately burst out crying.  I got her an ice pack and talked with her for a few minutes but I felt absolutely horrible.  While I will take it as a learning experience and move on, I really wish that was not my last memory at St. Mary's this semester.  She was fine by the time I left.
          As we brought it in for the team huddle and breakdown at the end of the lab, I started to think of all the memories I have collected.  I started to reflect on how far I have come as a physical educator in just four months.  Thinking back to when I arrived or my first lab and how nervous I was really blew me away.  I did not know how to talk to children as a teacher, I did not know what to do when things did not go as planned, and now all of that seems second nature to me.  Seeing as how this was my first real PE class here at Cortland, I could not have asked for a better experience.  The little cues I have picked up from my time at St. Mary’s have made me think, act, and plan as a teacher, something I was not aware of previous.  I am going to miss the kids, the environment, and really acting like a teacher.
          It has also made me aware of how important field experience can be, and I am going to do my best to find more opportunities both here in Cortland and at home to improve my skills as a future PE teacher.  Watching how far all of my classmates came was also something awesome to witness.  Each and every one of us improved tenfold in our ability to present our activities and keep the students engaged.  I credit most of that to Dr. Yang, and the advice he would give as opposed to the criticism when something would go wrong. I greatly enjoyed and appreciated my time at St. Mary's.

Check out my Lab 6 for some reflection questions on my time at St. Mary's!

Taming the Wild

                In my first go around with the preschoolers they ate me alive.  I was not prepared, out-manned, and did not know what I was getting myself into.  This time I had my boys with me, brought supplies, and was ready for battle.  The results?  Hit and miss, but much better overall.

                For the first and only time this year the PE 3 were able to take on the pre-K as a group.  The first lab I had at St Mary’s I was fully in charge of keeping them busy as Luke and Kyle had a swim meet.  It did not go well.  It was a great reality check for me however, since I was able to learn that children that age do not have a short attention span, it is non-existent.

                This time around it helped that the kids were able to burn some energy on the playground.  The last lab I worked with them they scattered like bees out of a hive when they got through the gym doors.  We met the kids out on the playground, where they already had their separate games set up.  Some were climbing up the jungle gym equipment and jumping off, some were playing hide and seek, and others were playing house.  I teamed up with a group of girls to play hide and seek, except with different rules then I am used to.  In this version I have to count to ten very slowly before I go and look for opponents, and if I tag anyone or not I am “it” again.  Also, after each game someone gets bored and leaves, which turns in to saying “do you want to play tag?”  This is fun for a round, and then someone gets bored so the question “do you want to play hide and seek?” is asked, and the circle goes on and on.     I was also able to play with a girl who seems to be intellectually disabled, which was my first hands on experience to work with a child in an adaptive PE teacher role.  I learned quickly not to doubt her.  As she began climbing up the jungle gym I asked her, “Oh are you sure you can do that?” and was answered with a face as if to say, “Yes I am, and who the heck are you to doubt me?”  When she got to the top and jumped off, she used her hands to catch herself, resulting in dirt and wood chips to dirty them up.  She looked at me, stuck out her hands, and when I stuck mine out she gave me a double-low-five until they were relatively clean, and thanked me with a beaming smile.  We continued this for several minutes, and unlike the other kids who seem to lose attention in activities very quickly, she looked like she could repeat the climb-jump-clean off process for hours.

                After some more tag games, Luke and Kyle got a large group together to play sharks and minnows so I joined.  Surprisingly almost every child participated and seemed to enjoy themselves.  There were some tears by a few who did not like the idea of being a shark, but those tears quickly turned to smiles when I told them they could simply return to the game as a minnow.  Several rounds of this were played before we went in for snack time.

                After snack time it was time to return to the gym.  The place where I was run over by a bunch of four and five year olds just a couple months before.  This time I was prepared.  In an attempt to incorporate more cognitive skills, I went to the dollar store the day before lab and got supplies.  I bought some magnetic alphabet letters, and some toys of animals.  The goal was to print out pictures of animals, have them find the corresponding animal and bring it over, and also have the kids find the letters that spell out the animal.  For example, a picture was hung up of a cartoon lion, and four large dashes beneath it.  The kids were to find the lion under the cones and bring it over to the picture, and find the L, I, O, and N and the ground and stick it to the poster.  Well, I did not think this through clearly enough, as a few problems arose.  For one, the letters were far too small, and were choking hazards.  Secondly, I did not specify how many letters each student could pick up so they would walk over to us with 10-12 letters in their hands looking confused.  Also, I did not incorporate enough movement and exercise in the activity.  And most importantly, I did not realize that all kids this age could not spell the words.

                If I had to do it over I would spread out the letters enough so that they are not jumbled.  I would make the kids do some sort of movement, be it a hop, jump, skip, back to the posters after they pick up one, and only one object.  On the posters, instead of blank dashes I would outline what letters should be placed on top of them.  All in all though, I was impressed with how the students handled the activity. 

                Well, it wasn’t sweet redemption like I anticipated, but it was a vast improvement.  I had the kid s under control for pretty much the whole time, and that is a very large upgrade from the first time I worked with them.  As much of a pain as it may be sometimes, the pre-K is a blast to work with and I’m going to miss them.

Safe to say, I kept it funky today.

Check out my Lab 5 for details, and more photos below!

The Grouch Still Gets it Done

     I remember sitting in front of my TV when I'd get home from Pre-K and Kindergarten and being captivated by the likes of Bert, Ernie, Big Bird, and the rest of the gang on Sesame Street.  I would have never thought that it would have the same effect on kids of today's generations which are all about computer animation and high tech graphics.  I was wrong.  However, it did not look like I would be at first.
     This week the PE 3; Luke, Kyle, and I, were assigned the task of coming up with games and activities to play with the Kindergartners and first graders that would test their overhand throw and catching abilities  While we were instructing, the rest of the students from our 201 class would grade one or two students on their form in each of these categories.  Thinking about how important it is to catch the interest of the students in order to get their full participation, I needed something clever, so I went out on a limb and picked a game that had to do with Sesame Street, not sure if kids today even still watched it.
     When the kids we were working with came in the gym and settled down after their normal ,"Aw man! Not the college kids!" routine, I sat down with them and asked what they thought about Sesame Street.  A few heads turned, but most of them shrugged their shoulders with no interest and a few even piped up and told me, "That's for babies!"  These are Kindergartners remind you.  Well that had me quite nervous in the fact that my whole first game was predicated around Oscar the Grouch, and "feeding him" by overhand throwing the yarn balls and gator balls into the "garbage can" of panel mats I had set up.  I went to Lowes, K-Mart, and Wal-Mart all in hopes of snagging a large refrigerator box that I could paint to look like a garbage can, but in the end I had to settle on the mats which still worked out well.  
    When it was time to start I did an instant activity, temple tag, just to get the students moving around, their hearts beating, and their minds in the state to be active and participate.  After about five or so minutes of that, it was time to see if Oscar the Grouch could still capture minds like he did when I was young.  I started explaining the game and pulled out a picture of Oscar the Grouch, asking the students if they knew who he was.  It was a resounding, "OSCAR!!!" with much excitement, causing me exhale a big sigh of relief.  After I explained the rest of the game, and told them to "put on their gloves," they were already racing to the center of the gym where the gator-skin and yarn balls were. 
     Unlike the last lab in which there were very few participants, and those that were participating were quite rebellious, everyone seemed to want to play this game which felt great is the instructor.  I had to keep pushing the students back behind the 5 yard perimeter I set up with cones to ensure they were throwing correctly and not placing the ball into the garbage can, but other than that it went smoothly.  
     After about six or seven minutes of that, I modified the game to have Kyle and Luke waive their Oscar heads back and forth like a pendulum and for the kids to try and hit Oscar.  Originally I was going to place a panel mat across the top of the other mats and have bowling pins to knock off to "free" Oscar, but I was not sure the panel mats were sturdy enough to endure a beating like that and I figured a target practice was a better test of throwing anyway.
     While viewing how the game was being run, I got plenty of tips on how to be an effective teacher.  With help from Dr. Yang, I circled the perimeters of the game, always with my back to the wall (or sideline) and always with all the students in front of me.  I also would randomly praise a student if he or she was showing correct form, or I would try and help a student if they seemed to be off task or struggling.  It was great to add even more knowledge to how to be an effective teacher.


     After that it was Kyle, and then Luke's turn, and both of them did very good as well.  We then went outside on the playground and go to just run around and play with the kids in a non-organized setting which was super fun to do.  I played star wars with one of the kids pretty much the whole time, as he would not let me do otherwise.  It was great to make such a strong connection in a teacher role, but also as more of a mentor since I am not yet seen as a grown up in their eyes.  At the end of the day we were given the task of collaborating a whole program game, and an end of the day song to dance to.  We were not aware of this beforehand but adapted quickly and with Dr. Yang's help was able to configure a "bulldozers and builders" game, as well as danced to "the wheels on the bus."  It was great to succeed as a group after being put in an adverse situation 
     
     I would say the lab was as close to perfect as you could get.  And it's safe to say that Oscar's still got it.  Check out my Lab 4 report, and stay funky everyone.

The PE 3 Unite at Last

Today was a really odd day.  Going in, I was anxious and excited.  My group mates, Luke and Kyle, were back and we were going to teach in a group for the first time as "The PE 3."  We had an extra week to get our games ready, and I was more than ready to just hop right back into the swing of things and give my best effort for things to run smoother than my first go around. Unfortunately, things did not go expected (as should have been expected) and life though us another curve ball right off the bat.  For some reason most after school activities were canceled, and the number of students who attended the after school games program drastically declined from our first lab.  Its tough to decide which is more difficult; trying to corral a large group of kids and retain their attention long enough to listen to brief directions and participate in the game, or try and convince a small group that the game will be interesting enough to play so that there is not ZERO people joining your activity.  It was quite the challenge, but a challenge the PE 3 took head on.

Image via Wikipedia

First we went down to the cafeteria.  I went and watched the usual barn burner of a connect-four game which always seems to last long and draw a crowd, but it got a little too heated for my liking.  After I attempted to calm the kids down before a teacher eventually took over, I then made my way over to the legos.  Again it amazed me at how creative and meticulous some of the kids are in their constructions. One student sat across from another and tried to create his face, and surprisingly the proportions and color choices of the blocks made it look somewhat recognizable. The girls on their other hand had their own agenda, and each was building a part to their dream house they were all going to live in.  One girl was creating a car, another the house, and the third a garage.  Even in the 3rd and 4th grades these children's ideas and imaginations were running wild and it was a pleasure to witness.  

I then challenged one of the boys to a game of checkers.  As an extremely competitive person it was tough for me to let him win, but with all the rules he came up with along the way I have a feeling I would not have lasted until the end anyway.  I then attempted to teach the boy how to be a gracious winner and the importance of this, but it did not seem to get through to him,

Image via Wikipedia

Up next it was time for the gym, and my game of Hawaiian Handball.  Since only three girls and three boys chose to participate at the start, I chose to skip my story of how each team was a tribe defending their island.  It was important to keep them interested.  When initially recruiting kids the name "Hawaiian Handball" would perk their interest simply due the fact that they knew enough to be aware it could be fun, but there was still room for intrigue.  We went right into game play after a brief instruction period with my group mates and our TA Matt generously played to add to the numbers.  The game went smoothly expect a few of the rules, like traveling, were not paid attention to by the students no matter what I tried.  There were no safety concerns while playing which was a big plus.  However, the game did not last very long, and the adaptation of playing with their feet similar to soccer had them boycotting to leave so we moved on.

Luke and Kyle's games seemed to go very well, and all in all it was a good day.  The low number of students made it better and worse in their own ways, but working with students always seems to have its up and downs.  We stayed positive and did not get discouraged a very good sign.  All in all, the PE 3 had a solid debut, more than I can say about Miami's big three in their debut.

Even though it was rocky to start, it was another great experience at St Mary's School.  Stay funky and take care everyone

Check out my Lab 3 for more!

Lab 2: Reality Check

Going into Lab 2 I was both excited and nervous.  I was excited in that it was my first chance to work hand in hand with the kids as their instructor, but nervous in that I was doing it by myself.  While I did have my TA Matt with me, who helped me tremendously, I was without my fellow group members who had their conference swim meet.  So, it was up to me to step up.


Before anything, my first task, along with all others not assigned to directing the group, was to observe and asses during the opening activity of the first graders.  Two students, a boy and girl, were chosen by Dr. Yang to be assessed.  The games that were played were tag games, but involved all three skills we were to look at: run, gallop, and hop.  In assessing it was clear that while not perfect, the students lived an active lifestyle in that they did the three skills fairly well.  The boys seemed to be very coordinated and had just a couple flaws in his technique.  The girl was not far behind, with just a few things that if given time to concentrate on could definitely be changed for the better.  The group running the activity did a great job choosing games to show these skills effectively.  


From there it was time to work the the Pre-K group in their play rooms.  This was easy enough.  I got to enjoy playing legos with a little girl who was building a telescope, a little boy who seemed fascinated moving the blocks on the wires of the toy that is often found in doctor's offices waiting areas, and much much more.  It is really interesting to see how captivated kids can be when they use their imagination with simple toys.  When I sat down to play toy cars with a little boy he explained to me that the big tractor was on its way to the farm to collect the hay to feed the cows so that they can provide milk for the family.  I was shocked that a child that age could connect all those dots to a simple toy tractor. 


In the other play room, where the toy kitchens are set up, children are always playing "house."  When I asked to play one of the girls was adamant that I was too big, but another said I could be the "soccer coach" so I sat and showed them how to kick properly using a toy tomato.  When it was time for me to read to the class I asked one of the girls to pick out a book.  She picked out a "Bob the Builder" book but when I asked the class if they were ready to sit on the rug and listen to me read no one was interested.  I did not know what to do since I figured they would just come over, so I simply went back to playing with them. 


Since I was not aware I had to bring my own supplies for my craft, I was 0-2 going into the gym, my last shot.  As I set up my game Dr Yang had me explain it to him and when I finished he asked, "Ok that will last about 1 minute, what else do you have?"  I was floored at this pessimism, but went to the supply closet to think of a game regardless.  Well, he was right.  After my warm up of follow the leader lasted about 2 minutes, my featured game which involved the capturing of opposing bean bags didn't get passed the instructions.  It also did not help that a group of girls decided to rebel and while I attempted to give instructions they chanted, "We're not playing! We're not playing!" over and over again in unison.  This certianly through me for a loop.  I then made the mistake of bringing out the bean bags first and when the students got sight of that it was over.  Any hope of getting their attention was lost, they were 100% focused on obtaining a bean bag.


While the second game went a little more smoothly, I quickly ran out of ideas.  I then was told by Dr. Yang to ask them what they want to do, and when they said tag I was so relieved.  I finished up with tag and I was done.


During reflection I felt real down.  I was shocked at how different everything was druing the real thing.  The kids are much more wound, have a smaller attention span, and are less cooperative than anything I could have imagined.  However after given praise from Dr Yang and my peers fro sticking it out and not giving up I reached a somewhat of an epiphany.  This is what its all about.  If it was easy, everyone would be great PE teachers.  That is not the case.  Now I know I have to work harder, be better prepared, and must stick to it no matter how difficult it gets.  At first I looked at the day as discouraging, now I see it as enlighting and eye opening.  It was a real reality check.


Check out my Lab 2 for more info on how the day went.


Stay funky everyone.

Lab 1: A "Special" Reflection

My first lab caught me a bit off guard.  For one, none of my fellow group members could make it, so it was just me and our lab assistant Matt.  I was then expecting to work in some way with the kids right away, however, this was not the case.  Matt and I were assigned to the "Special Projects" group of the lab in which we were assigned the task of creating a video, as well as a step by step word document with pictures, on how to properly hook up and disassemble the music equipment.  Usually the special projects group also performs the closing song with all the kids, but it being the first day we were told that that was already being done by someone else.  Instead, took pictures of my fellow classmates working and interacting with the students for the rest of the class.  At first I was kid of bummed I would not be gaining any teacher experience first hand, but I quickly came to the realization that this can be just as important.  

A malfunction in the classroom can go a long way in disrupting and losing your class.  While the class sits and waits for you to figure out what is wrong with the music that is essential to your lesson plan, they become anxious, less obedient, and often quite rambunctious.  This has happened many a time while I have been a student and its not as thought the children are being restless and loud to be deviant, they simply are bursting with energy and want a chance to run around for what is likely the only time throughout the day. So doing things such as having step by step directions or an instructional video ready and available to fellow classmates, or colleagues in the future is a great way to assure things run quickly and smoothly so the fun can begin for your class. 

While taking pictures of my classmates working with the students it gave me a good idea of what works and does not work when trying to instruct students.  Seeing others succeed, or fail at first and adapt to the students was very beneficial and offered me a lot of information on how to be successful when it is my turn to teach.  It was clear to see that the younger the students are, the shorter their attention span is so short, concise instructions are key when explaining games.  It was also clear that pre-K students can not handle a full version of the cotton-eyed-Joe dance, but a simpler version would be very fun for them.

All in all it was a great first experience to lab.

Lab 1