Last adventures of St Mary's

                         It was all about the holidays at St Mary's for our last visit. Santa and all his helpers were there playing with the kids. Elves were playing games others doing crafts and drawing pictures.

In my last trip to St Mary's i worked with all the age groups. I played with dinosaurs in the pre k, played tag ball with some older kids and everyone played capture the presents. We even had the parachute out for our last time which the students love.

I have learned a lot from my time at St Mary's and i thank the whole school for allowing me to be part of their time.I enjoyed working with the kids and will always remember it. So i say good bye to St Mary's and look forward to my next teaching experience and will use what i have learned to make myself and excellent teacher. 


What have i learned you ask?

Turkey Time at St Mary's

It was turkey time at St Mary's this past week. All the pilgrims and turkey games were in full effect.

As our time at St Mary's is coming to  a close we came back and had a Thanksgiving theme. I played Turkey ball and soccer with the older students also some two hand touch football. The older kids are into classical competitive type sports and games much different than the younger students. We finished the day with the turkey hokey pokey and another fun day of St Mary's came to and end but this time we left in the dark thanks to day light savings.

Next time we go back it will be our final day but it will be one of the most fun times of the year it will be the holidays.

Observations

St Mary's SCARE

Our 4th trip to ST Mary's was the most exciting so far. Not only was there a giant whoopee cushion walking around but a clown, doctor, cowboy and a wild man.

Our 4th trip was for Halloween so of course we dressed up for the occasion. The kids loved the costume especially the whoopee cushion i might add (me). The response that i witnessed was the best so far, getting more comfortable with the kids helps but i think the costumes adds to it as well. Reading to the kids was a riot because you could only get a page our two without a comment coming up then its a chain reaction. Also be careful while asking a question because with the pre k it can lead to chaos with everyone trying to answer.Working with the pre k is a relief because they are always excited to play what ever game you can come up with which makes things a lot easier. This was my best week i believe to date and i hope to improve for the next lab.

See my observations of the festivities here.

Escaping St Mary's

It was a day full of super heroes at St. Mary's on Monday. Leaping from buildings, flying through the streets and returning the money to the Cortland Bank that the evil SUNY Cortland Students stole.

The kids were into the games this week and had lots of energy. I think that i personally improved how i interacted with the students and they listened more. Also our class as a whole is getting better and we know how to get the kids to respond to our instructions. The kids got really fired up in the last game we played where us college kids were the villains and the kids were heroes. The kids got vicious when playing the game and took it seriously it was quite amusing i got hit a few times in the action. I escaped the adventure intact and wait till our next lab which is Halloween. 


My teaching strategies, i believe, are improving and this is what i observed.

"AHOY" from St Mary's

ARRRGHHHH!

AHOY MATIES

Our second trip to St.Mary's was even more exciting than the first. We came back as pirates this time. In my travels i heard pirate tales, saw treasure chests and games of all kinds. We ran away from sharks, went from ship to ship and sang an old pirate jingle. The young pirates had fun with all the activities and showed off their skills well. They followed directions and participated in the activities and made their captains happy.

On a more serious note I learned the importance of executive control and will implement it even better next lab. Getting their attention and getting your directions across clearly and quickly is important since they have such a small attention span. Also them listening to you and reacting to your commands is the key to effective teaching. That will be my main personal goal for next lab.

Lab 2 Reflection

Chapter 1:Quality versus Quantity. Why not Both?

After reading chapter one and going overall the things PE should be doing and incorporating i reviewed my PE program in my head and lets just say its not up to par. We had PE every other day so one week was 3 and the other was 2, that is not enough activity. Our budget was low and the program wasn't creative i honestly didn't learn any new skills after the 7th grade or earlier. We played mostly team sports and once we tested on them once we never practiced them again. Life time sports were near non existence. The point is my  school failed horribly like most schools do. They do not full fill the goals and standards of a Physical Educator. The chapter shows the many dimensions of what we as future Physical Educators need to do and a low budget cant get in the way of teaching kids to be healthy. We need PE at least 4 times a week ,it should be everyday, and we need to take the concepts we know from the book and put them into a great program that shows PE is integral to life.

PE Hall of Shame: Not so much the game themselves rather how they are taught.

The hall of Shame Games are very infamous indeed. For all the good movers and physically active kids these games were fine but for those who were on the fence about PE these games were a bad memory. If you take the old games at face value and how they used to be played a lot of them shout be forgotten however, some of the games can be modified to fit the standards of PE. Games like Tag, dodge ball and kickball were some of the best games we played at a younger age and made me look forward to recess and activity. Taking those games is not the answer all they need to be is modified. For example dodge ball instead of having the students throw at each other have them throw at a target in the back or if you get out have easy ways of students to get back in or remain active. Also use smaller and safer balls. Also tag can be modified in a multitude of ways. Such as movement patterns,area, number of taggers etc. A lot of these games aren't bad just their original forms and could be incorporated into a PE program.

Young Kids and Stick Sports. A problem?

As i was searching the web for any information i could about young children playing stick sports, such as hockey or baseball, i came across an interesting article. The article talks about organized team sports for young kids and how they are becoming somewhat boring and non-educational for the kids playing them. How does that have to do with kids using sticks and i think they tie together nicely. What im trying to convey is that i believe that young kids from the ages of 4 or 5 to 6 or 7 should participate in sports like hockey and baseball but, in a different way .Introducing these sports at a young age can be both good and bad depending on how they are carried out. For example if a 5 year old is playing hockey s/he will have an extremely low level of skill at the game so running a practice or program like you would for middle school age kids will have a negative affect on the lowest skill level players. As the article says they would get very little puck time so to speak and would be bored and be less inclined to play the sport later on. I think this is more prevalent in baseball because while one kid is at the plate having a hard time hitting the ball if ever out fielders and the other players will be bored and not getting any exercise which is the key. We want the kids to keep moving. The Motor Development text book shows that around the age of 5 is when all the motor skills are becoming accurate so kids should start using them at that age.

So basically what  i think is that kids should play stick sports because it will get them using these motor skills and improving them however, i believe they should be non-traditional versions of the games or having kids in much smaller groups not teams per say. Having these smaller games where everyone is active and participating, instead of sitting around and waiting, they will be more inclined to keep coming back to play  and it sets up a good foundation for the rest of their lives. Also they all will have plenty of puck time or throws or swings so everyone is improving.

First Day of St Mary's

Monday was my first day of working with the kids at St Mary's and it was a blast. Working with them really brings to light my passion for what i am doing and reassures me of my choice to work in this field. We ran around playing tag, shooting hoops and various other activities (such as dancing shown above). One student in particular i worked with was shooting  a basketball on a regulation hoop. He was really just chucking the ball as hard as he could to reach the height because he wasn't strong enough to reach it shooting with proper form. The kids were full of energy and responded well to us for the most part. Next lab when we actually go and run our own games and activities it will be an experience.

Lab Write Up

geting my move on

I am really starting to get into my classes now and get a broad sense of what it will be like here at SUNY Cortland. The teaching atmosphere is great and i always envision myself teaching what i am learning to the students of my future.I cant wait to have a job of my own teaching my curriculum. past all the student teaching and all the other trials i have toget past to get to the real work, teaching the young how to live fuller, longer and more productive lives while having fun.

Facilities

For every one who has access to any type of school weight room should use it. Having a well equiped and large facility is something no one should take for granted. It is far cheaper than any professional establishment and much closer. Take advantage of them and live a healthier life while your young to set a good pace for when you are older.

First Day

Had my first class of  Motor Development today. Just setting up my Twitter which i never wanted to have to do and getting a feel for my courses. Looking forward to getting to work.