Finale: 255 Final Completion

The website dailyburn can be a very useful tool for those looking to record and keep track of their progress. The tools to keep track of workouts, calories, progress and give help is very useful. Probably the biggest idea it uses is that of competition or motivation. By joining in groups and seeing others progress it pushes people to push themselves. In a classroom that can be enormous. Having friendly competition between students or classes can gain greater results for all. In my classroom i would use it to see what students are eating and doing so i can show them exactly it is they are doing. From experience you never really understand how much your eating or the exercise you are doing until you see it written down. Being part of the rockstarpe group is interesting but during the summer i train in a different way and also am not always on the same schedule so it is hard to keep up with updating online which can become repetitive. For those just starting a fitness plan it is a great way to stay on track.

As ive said this can be very useful educationally. To get Phys Ed on NYS Regents this can be used as a tool to show our students growth in fitness plans. By having them create online plans and having time to exercise during class will help us progress immeasurably. I could create a class group and have students share ideas of exercises or give them a break down of how many different exercises i would want. Making sure they have cardio, weight lifting, stretching, etc. Then each individual student would have their own goals we set up over time. Seeing what each student needs and tailoring it to their needs.

That leaves NYS Regents LS 1A. How do we see how our students are progressing towards their goal of 6+3/3. My solution is a video camera. You set it up 1 or 2 every class when watching students motor skills. This allows you to take a closer look at students with problems or if you cant see them all in class. Also you can give more feedback to help because you have had more time to break down their actions. This also can be used for testing. Record the students perform the action a whole class then watch later. This gives teachers more time to interact with each student and not worry about missing anything. It is another tool that can be used to improve lessons and learning. With the the recording it lets you take a closer look to fill out an assessment sheet to see if the students really are competent. For example if its a motor skill like shooting a free throw you would watch the video and compare your initial scores and see if you missed anything and fill it out again on a sheet like THIS. You would grade your students and assess them like you normally would. With some sort of rubric with points and each unit would have their own point total you would add it all up in the end to give a grade. A certain score would constitute competent while another would be proficient on any given activity. It can be adapted when it comes to grading but the use of a video camera can be helpful to anyone.

Technology is the new world. Such as websites like dailyburn.com or videos, computers, projectors. Anything can be used you just have to figure out how.

Prezi Presentation: A New Way to Present

This is my first attempt at using Prezi. There is so much you can do with the program that this is just scratching the surface.

Exercise Squared on Prezi

What I Have Done So Far

Last Challange: Lab D

The last lab i had to teach in my time my time in 255 was Omnikin. A team based game that is played with a monstrous sized ball. This lab posed problems i had not encountered up until this point. Their were problems acquiring the equipment i wanted and planned on using in my lesson. This was unfortunate but is a natural occurrence in the world of teaching so it helped me grow even further.

Let us take a look.
Here is the transcript of what i say.

Not having the rquipment made me adapt what i was going to do. As i have learned its not the tools but the teacher that makes a lesson. You don't need to rely on the tools you have to rely on your teaching. I got different equipment and taught the skills and concepts i wanted to. This is what it means to become a teacher.

As i continue learning and refining how i teach i will remember this is where it all began. These were the big first steps in the right direction. From the first time teaching until now i feel like i have learned and improved exponentially. My whole mind set and demeanor has evolved. As i move forward i want to continue getting better and learning new things.

Every Journey Starts Somewhere: Parkour Resource Packet

Having the opportunity to teach something you are interested in or passionate about is always exciting. I got such an opportunity for my Teaching Lab C. I got the chance to learn more about Parkour than ever because i had to teach it. The best way to learn something is when you have to teach it. This experience also allowed me to put together a Resource packet for a possible parkour unit in a school. This is a starting point and can be added to changed and adapted as time goes on. 

Take a look and see what you think for yourself. Resource Packet

Lab C: Parkour For the Future

As you can see above parkour was the theme for my Lab C teaching. This was by far the best lab i have taught and i had the most fun doing. Preparing for this lab and seeing it through to the end has given me great confidence also, i have found another interest in doing so.

Before i discuss how i felt i did during the lesson why don't you take a look below and see for yourself (the video is in two parts).

Now here is what i think of my Lab C. I believe i have grown greatly from our first lab to now. I know what i need to do and how to get there. I understand how to break things down and convey what i want to the class. I mover around more, i speak much louder than i use to, i give more feedback and i am able to apply intratask variation more effectively. The confidence and being able to envision where i want the lesson to go i believe has helped me grow exponentially. The ability to see the finished product allows you to understand how to get there in the beginning.

Don't get me wrong there is always room for improvement. I need to slow down more and choose my words more precisely so i don't talk so much. I still want to get all the information in my head out at once and i need to slow down and just say what i need to. I will continue to work on all the other skills teachers need and i will just keep growing. I hope to carry this into lab D and perform even better.

To see my Time coding sheet click here.
For my feedback information click here.

Lab B2: Jump Rope Finale

Sadly Lab B2 was the last of our class teaching jump rope skills. With in learning how to teach our jump rope skills we also became much better at jump roping. If you dont think about it you may not realize that in the process of us becoming better teachers by learning how to teach our given skills we became much more proficent in jump roping itself. You learn just as much from teaching as you do from being taught.

In this lab i further progressed in some areas of my teaching. I moved around the gym more giving more congruent feedback and also increased the activity time of my lesson. cutting down on instruction time was one of my goals. Having a goal for every lesson is important so i don't try to fix everything at once because that can lead to missing them all. Of course there is always room for improvement.

Next lab my main goal will be to slow down when i give instructions. I try to speak a mile a minute and get every detail and word i think of out there to help the class. I need to slow down and be selective with my words to give the best instruction. I also want to project my voice more when giving feedback so i can be anywhere in the gym and students on the other side can here my feedback so they know i am paying attention.

My time coding form can be found here.
Also my feedback form to the class can be found here. 

On an end note jump roping was a lot of fun. As seen here above there are thousands of ways to jump rope and adding the freedom of personality into a lesson is always a good thing. Now it is time for Lab C which i am excited for and am anxious to teach.

Until next time.

Challenges Every Day

As I move along in 255 and all my other PE courses i find new challenges to over come everyday. Physical and mental challenges come my way all the time. Some people frown on challenges and just wish everything was easy. I on the other hand welcome these challenges because they help me grow as a future educator. Having everything handed to you doesn't prepare you for the real world. Being able to problem solve and think on your feet is vital for a healthy and successful career in PE. You never know what you will get.

Moving on to another topic i would like to discuss is a story i read on the Rockstarpe blog. Apparently NY is thinking about requiring license plates to ride a bicycle to generate money. This is an awful idea. Yes we need money but there are other things we can do to dig ourselves out of the hole we dug. Making physical activity less appealing to those that already don't like it is awful for our field. If all someone does is ride a bicycle now they may not even do that. This is just another sign that we need to support and advocate many different ways to stay active throughout our life. At this rate you might have to pay by the mile every time you run.

Jump Rope Extravaganza

Lab B was my next adventure in 255. This time i had to teach a skill using jump ropes. My skill was the front cross. Now this took some thought on how to teach it and to relate the cues. It was interesting to see how i could do with an actual lesson. Lets take a look below.


    

To read what i said in more detail you can find my transcript here.

How do i feel about lab B?

In lab i think i worked on my voice some more projecting and i cut down on my instruction time. I still need to cut down on it a little more and this time i believe i would have been very solid had i gave more specific feedback and moved around the gym more. More positives would be my hook a good hook can have a big influence on how your lesson will go also my energy was close to where i wanted it. As always these labs are to help me get better and learn. After each lesson i see what i can do and what i need to work on and i believe i am improving my methods every time.

A good demonstration that you can explain in different ways to try to get the movement understood is vital to reaching every student. In my lesson i went over it and tried to explain it in different ways or to try new ways to approach the skill.

To see how my lesson broke down time wise you can click here for my time coding sheet.

Also to see my feedback form you can check here.

Lab 2

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Spendin Time on Chapter Nine

Question 2: State at least five general principals that are implications for teaching from motivation theory

First off teachers need to create a positive teaching environment and by doing that they can then find ways for students to meet their needs in positive ways.

Second using  a variety of teaching strategies is a must. Doing the same thing every lesson can get boring. Command, command and then some more command can turn students off and can decrease productivity.

Use external forms of motivation with care. Having external motivators need to be used with care and in certain ways. Having them skill based can leave students out. It can be a very powerful tool if used properly.

Another principal i hold highly is to help students attribute their success and failure to a cause that they control. Effort, focus, listening to directions. When they think its something out of their control they can get frustrated and give up.

Lastly i believe an integral part to effective instruction is humor. Having humor creates the best environment for learning when done correctly. It relaxes everyone and is responded to well.


Question 3: Describe nine ways that teachers can promote the personal growth of students through personal interaction. 

1. Students names. Learning the names of your students and using them makes it a more personal and inviting relationship. Students are more prone to enjoy the class and participate with the basic form of recognition.

2. Be enthusiastic and positive about what you are doing. Very self explanatory in that if you are not exciting about what you are teaching the students will read that and not want to do it either. Being enthusiastic will get your students more excited.

3. Have a caring attitude towards students. Caring makes every students feel better, every person for that matter. When you show that you care they will respond positively. Care when they are off-task as well responding in the appropriate way can work wonders.

4. Reinforce basic school etiquette. Building a honest, respectful and positive environment and reinforcing it can carry over to out of the class room. Teachers must remember that what they teach gos much farther than the classroom.

5. Stop destructive behaviors ,don't ignore them. By ignoring you are promoting them because you show no consequence. Making it clear what is acceptable and what is not is vital to classroom harmony and student growth.

6. Do not be threatened by student misbehavior. Taking misbehavior personally and reacting negatively will be counter productive and can lead to problems for you and lack of student growth. Do not take it personally and work with the student in a positive manor to allow for them to grow.

7. Treat all students equitably and be aware of how you communicate with different students. Try not to only gravitate and give feedback to your best and worst students alone. The students in the middle cant be left out. Trying to reach every student should be a goal.

8.Learn to listen and observe students responses. Understanding your students and knowing what their reactions and small mannerisms mean can go along way. That way you know how motivate and help them because you understand what they need or want.

9.Challenge and track yourself. Knowing your goals and trying to grow as a person can help you help others. Setting goals for yourself to accomplish as well as following your own progress as a teacher and a person will help you grow.

RunningThrough Chapter 7

More questions answered from the text below  for reading pleasure below.

Question 4: Teachers have direct effects on a class that can be both positive and negative. Some positive behaviors teachers can perform  are as follows. Maintaining a safe learning environment because no productive class can take place in  any other environment. Making sure tasks are clarified and reinforced to the learners. Observing and understanding student responses and body language. Responding to the learners with feedback to questions and your observations. Modifying a given task to help increase productivity and skill gained for a group or individual, making it easier or harder. Lastly having an overall productive learning environment.

Question 6: There are different ways to get off-task students back no track. One way is to change the task for the student to make it more challenging if that is the problem or vice versa.  Giving feedback to the student specifically but towards the whole class may get them motivated and excited again. By using certain types of feed back you can increase productivity and re-focus the class or individual students.

Question 7: Examples of types of feedback. (1)A statement that is general, positive, directed to the class and evaluative "Nice job jump roping today, the only thing we need to work on is turning those wrists". (2) Team B none of you are touching the bases, when you pass them you need to step on them." (3) I like how you stepped forward when you did your chest pass Ben, just make sure you aiming at the chest of who you are passing to."

Lab A revisted: Instruction Junction

This week in 255 we had the chance to try lab A again. This time around you could prepare to an extent of what you wanted to do and how you wanted to do it. Having the ability to watch yourself teach you can pick up on what you did well and what you need to work on.

Before we get into what i think you can watch the video for yourself below.



Now that you have seen my second attempt let me delve into what i take form it. Firstly what i did correct. I believe i spoke clear and loud so everyone could here me and never put my back to the students. I checked for understanding, demonstrated and spoke with my hands as well to further get my point across. I also did not cover to much information or say alright a million times like last time. lastly i never say uhm.

However there were some things i was disappointed in. For one there was not enough activity time only 40 percent of the time and that was largely due to my excessive instruction time which took 50 percent of my time.That is far to much in a physical education setting and is going to be my next thing to work on. I'm sure there are other things that i hope my peers can help me see so i can improve even further.

On the other hand i had fun participating in my fellow classmates lessons.

All in all another great chance i had to improve my teaching skills.

Here are links to my Time coding sheet and  Transcript.

Chapter 2 Questions

This is my answers to the questions from chapter 2

Q3. What are the requirements for learning a motor skill? 
There are a list of requirements for learning motor skills. First the learner must have all the prerequisites in motor and physical abilities also developmental readiness. They must have a clear idea of how to perform the task and accurate motor program. Motivational/attentional disposition to the skill. There needs to be Practice. Finally make sure you give feedback.

Q3. What do each of these requirements mean for the teacher of motor skills?
For the prerequisites the teacher must do a task analysis to see what the prerequisites will be for the given skill. To full fill the clear idea of the task the teacher must make sure the students comprehend what is being asked and how they could do it. For the Motivational/ attentional  disposition to the skill the teacher must have original and exciting activities. Make sure there will be ample practice for skill development. The teacher needs to give feedback.

Q4. What is the difference between the way closed skills, open skills, discrete skills, and serial skills taught?

Open skilled should be taught by varying the environment because they are skills that do not take place in the same conditions. Closed skills are ones that take a place in the same environment and do not vary much so they should be taught in those settings. Discrete skills would be taught with few extra actions because they are quick and have a clear beginning and end. While serial skills are multiple skills in a row and would be taught with activities that would work on one part at a time and adds them together through more activities.

Chapter 1 question assignment: Take 2

After reading chapter one we were asked to answer some questions, not summarize the chapter. So without further ado here are the answers to before mentioned questions.


1. What is meant by the idea that teaching is a goal-oriented activity? When they say goal-oriented activity they mean that we have an objective in mind. we are at A and by the time classes are over we want our students to be at B, in the context of psycho motor, cognitive and affective domains. We teach our students with the goal of having them grow over the academic year and reach the standards we have in place whether it be state or national.

4. Why is the process that teachers choose to use content important? The process will change depending on the goals and content of the lesson. How you teach the given task needs to be molded to the actual task. For an example dribbling a basketball has certain freedoms to it. The space you have to dribble, the different ways you can dribble the ball, the time etc. Now a lay up in basketball has more of a proper technique to it. Can only be done on a hoop and a certain way. There is less space and freedom and can be harder to correct. So depending on what you are teaching changes how you are teaching it.

5. Why is the movement task-student response unit of analysis so important in physical education? It is important because it is the key to motivation and effective teaching. The movement task needs to be clear , understandable, and appropriate. The teacher has to be enthusiastic and able to get the students involved in the lesson. Then comes the student response, the teacher must build rapport and keep giving coherent instructions, that are on task, and flow together to keep the students involved. The teacher also needs to asses the students to give feed back to breed improvement and growth to work towards before mentioned goals.

Teaching Basics For Physical Education: Chapters 1,4 and 5

Reading chapters 1, 4 and 5 of the text was just a refresher of what i have already learned through trial, lecture and experience. The chapters highlight the qualities one needs to be a successful physical educator. From getting attention to keeping it. Having age and skill appropriate tasks that are challenging and rewarding. From reading the chapters you can see just how many different areas one must cover. It may seem overwhelming but it is what this profession does everyday.

The pedagogy is essentially a PE cheat sheet. Ways and methods to get attention and way to engage the students. Also almost a checklist if you will. There are certain proven methods that have been used time and again, but when i read these methods i think of ways i can make them my own, adapt them.

 All the information in the chapters and pedagogy are a foundation and building block for teaching. By learning these basics you can start to adapt and develop your own style of teaching. It is important though to always remember the basics because they allow you to have more flexibility in your teaching, but can never be left out or you can fall into a poor learnign enviroment.

There are many factors to consider when it comes to teaching and at times it may seem overwhelming, but eventually it becomes more natural. However it never becomes automatic because teaching is always evolving so the educators must as well.

Snow Days; Another blow to fitness

When there are snow days in school every kid is full of excitement. No dull classes orsame routine. They do not have to get up early or get on the bus. I think of another side when i put my physical educator hat on. As in most school districts like mine PE is an every other day class. So on a snow day half the students miss there PE class which could be 1 of 2 for that week. If that is the only time that student gets physical activity it really makes our job that much harder. Where am i going with all of this you ask? A snow day just brings to mind more reasons why PE should be an every day class.

Its always the first to be sacrificed and always last in importance.We need more activity time and snow days just give us more reasons to do nothing. A stretch, possibly, but sometimes you have to look at the big picture. We need to cut down on things we can control that limit our activity because when its a snow day most people wont go out of their way to get that heart rate up. Also we can make winter activities seem more exciting. Snow shoeing, cross country skiing, meaning incorporate more things into your program.

Thinking of different scenarios and settings that you can mold lessons to can be a powerful thing. Students may decide to do one of the cool activities they learned in class that they can do in the snow or rain etc.

Just food for thought.

PED 255 Teaching Blindside

Well on the first day of 255 we had to teach a 5 minute micro lesson. To see how i did before i critique myself watch the video shown above.

First thing i will discuss is the things i did well. I spoke to the students making sure they could hear what i was saying. I spoke clearly and demonstrated what i wanted them to do. For the 2 minutes i had to prepare i had a pretty clear idea of what i wanted to try to do in order.

Now some things i believe i need to work on. I could have spoken louder and checked for understanding a few more times. I spoke clearly, but if it were younger students it i may have spoken to fast. I also could have had a little more energy.

See some stills of me in action below. Also if you want to see my transcript click here.