Final Day At St. Mary's

Our last day at St. Mary's was different than any other.  We took physical education to a whole new level with the students and got them dancing to Beyonce's Lets Move In School Campaign song.  The students really had a blast, and it was one of the better cardio workouts I have had in a long time.  We also utilized the parachute on the last day so the kids could have even more fun before we left.  I truly feel that the interaction at St. Mary's greatly benefited both the students of the school, and my classmates and I as future instructors.  It was an excellent experience, and really proved to me that Physical Education is the field that I want to be in

Prezi- Worst Moment in Movement

As a physical educator, I believe it is important to evaluate my worst movement, to ensure that my future students never will have an experience that I did.  As an athlete, I have been so used to excelling at every sport that I tried.  However, when I attempted to ski for the first time, I was absolutely horrible.  This goes to show that at some point in a students educational career, they are going to fail.  It is the job of the Physical Educator to minimize these experience, and prevent the embarrassing consequences that come along with some of them.  Some ways we can do this are through the use of progressions, and utilizing teaching techniques that will build up the level of confidence in the students.  Self esteem and confidence is everything when it comes to learning new skills! Enjoy the presentation!

Worst Moment in Movement on Prezi

Easter At St.Marys- Using Dance To Get Students Moving

As the semester continues, each week I notice such progress at St.Mary's.  This week, the students were very focused, and demonstrated what I thought was excellent form in both the dribble and kick.

 I noticed the students absolutely had some background in soccer.  They most likely worked on this skill in their physical education class recently.  Students, especially the observed male students were swinging the opposite arm, hopping on the non-kicking foot, and keeping their trunks back while striking the ball.  It was an excellent job by the students.

After the games were played, I decided to get the students dancing and moving a little bit with the "Bunny Hop" song to go along with the easter theme.  It involved the loco motor skills of jumping, hoping and moving back and forward during the skills.  Simple dance, yet it is also fun.  I believe that dance can really act as a key part in physical education.  It helps reach a new spectrum of students, and can be a great cardiovascular workout!

Royal Baby Group / Fuccillo Babies

Here is our final product for the PED 201 (Motor Development) skit.  Thanks to Jessica Evans, Dan Russo, Nick Ottati, and Ian Schwan the video came out great.  Enjoy our presentation on Parental Factors Affecting Pregnancy!

St. Mary's Dinosaur Train

Dino-Lab at St. Mary's this week was a completely new experience for me.  This was the first time this semester that I would be working with the Pre-K students at the school.  The after school program consisted of crafts, book reading, and even a song all before my group went into the gym with the students.    During the first portion of the lab, myself and Mr. Dan Russo, and Mr. Ian Schwan set up a craft which the students really enjoyed.  They colored in characters from the show Dinosaur Train, and then we taped them on a poster-board to display in the school.  Even though this portion of the lab was not physical education related, it was still an excellent experience to be able to connect with the kids in a way that I am not as used to.  I believe that as an educator, we need to be able to reach the kids from many directions, all to improve them as a whole.  Aside from the crafts and reading, the games in the gym were a lot of fun for the students.  The main aspect of teaching that I am taking with me from this lab is being LOUD and TO THE POINT.  Especially with younger students that are not very familiar with you as a teacher, attention can be lost very quickly, which leads to confusion, which leads to a game possibly not going as planned.  As always, it is important to adapt and be ENTHUSIASTIC!!

Western Lab 3

Howdy!  This weeks Western lab at St. Mary's School went extremely well.  The students of the school are starting to really become much better listeners, which is due to better teaching techniques by us Cortland teacher candidates.  I learned that the students need to begin moving as soon as we get there.  It is important not to waste time, because we only have their attention for so long.  This was the last week of the semester that I will be teaching a tag game.  Now that I am moving on from the K-1 class, I believe the students are more able to take part in organized games, other than simple tag games.  The tag games got me used to teaching, and now I feel that I am ready to start teaching more complex games.  Also, I feel that I will be really enthusiastic about teaching a more complicated game with some friendly competition thrown in, making sure that nobody is being singled out of course.  The western lab reinforced a main idea that I keep coming across.  The students run off the amount of energy and enthusiasm that we bring with us to teach.  Next week, I'm going to be bringing 110% again to ensure that quality Physical Education is taking place!

Chapter 2 Presentation

From presenting on chapter 2, I learned so much about the human body, development patterns, and the science behind growing.  I also was given the opportunity to present in front of my class, which was a huge confidence builder for me.  I am glad that I was able to teach the class a few important key points about the chapter, and gain presentation experience at the same time!

St. Mary's Lab 2 [Ninja Lab!]

This week's lab was a lot of fun.  I thought that the cartoon theme went over really well, and I am happy with the games that my group taught to the students.  I learned a lot about the students during this lab.  First of all, the students enjoy the games a lot more when we, as instructors, are enthusiastic about what we are teaching.  The fact that we had on our ninja turtle gear displayed really added to the excitement in the gym.  Also, I found that the louder and more clear that we are when teaching, the better the game will go.  It is an excellent idea to practice our games during pre-lab because it really makes me feel more comfortable while teaching the students at the school.  I felt determined and confident while teaching, which is a positive step. I am glad that I had the opportunity to work with the gym group again.  One thing I noticed that needs improvement is the motor skills of the younger students.  I noticed that they had difficulty maintaing the skills for a longer period of time.

St. Mary's Lab 1

During lab 1 at St. Mary's, I felt very confident working with the kids.  At first it was a little nervewracking, having to set up a game in front of all of them.  After watching my T.A, and fellow groupmember, I got a lot of useful tips that helped me set up blob tag.  First of all, I noticed the importance of being very loud when adressing the students.  Many of them just want to play individually by themselves, so you have to ensure them that the game is going to be fun, and that they should really take part in it.  Also, I noticed that the more simple the directions are, the better the game will go for the kids.  When being enthusiastic and excited about a game, the students will also become excited.  A simple set of rules, and a quick demonstration can really help the kids have a better understanding, which will allow them to enjoy the game and have more fun.

Chapter One- An Overview of Developmental Physical Education

Fundamental skill development and assessment is critical in the profession of Physical Education.  Our main job as prospective teachers is to promote healthy lifestyles and improve the overall well being of all of our students.  Physical Education is crucial in our schools for the reason that 25 percent of our population is considered to be obese.  According to the chapter, we need to take steps to get this epidemic under control  One of the first things we can do is set benchmarks and standards for our Physical Education students.  Setting a starting point, or an "expected" level is just the beginning, but it's still a start.  Without students being taught and assessed of fundamental skills at a young age, they will never properly progress into developing more advanced skills.  Fundamental skills at a young age a critical for advancement.  Without advancement students will not develop the opportunity to obtain the skill level to use the sports in a lifetime setting.  Assessment comes into play in order to test the benchmarks that we must set.  This will show the teachers the areas that each students needs work.    

Creating My Blog/ Winter Break

While creating this blog, I noticed that this will be an effective way to get out a lot of information and thoughts about Physical Education.  Everyone in class can share their own thoughts publicly.  This is the first time I am posting to my own blog, so it seems a little confusing at first.  After navigating around the page a little bit I already am getting the hang of it.

Over Winter break I participated in a few things that will improve my Physical Education.  I went to my local elementary school, and worked with the Physical Education teachers there in running an intramural after school program.  I helped many kids with the skills that I learned in some activity classes that I took here at Cortland.  Overall, it was a great experience to watch the experienced Physical Education teachers, and be able to give help to the students.