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.