Day One of 255

This was our first day in class, and we were surprised with the assignment of creating a lesson, and then teaching it all in the same class period. Even though this was our first class I have the experience from St. Marys in teaching lessons to students. This all came back to me quite quickly. As we taught our lessons a group of teacher assistants recorded are lesson so that we may learn from it later. After watching the video from todays 255 class I noticed some different behaviors that I do while teaching. I understand that my lesson was a little off in quality due to the fact that I had limited time to prepare, but their were some other behaviors I noticed as well. My voice is loud at first then as my lesson progressed I went down in tone. I need to make sure to be consistent in my tone of voice so that I do not lose the attention of the students. Also I noticed when I talk I tend to stutter. I have always had a bit of a problem with this when talking to large groups, and is something I will need to remedy. Over time though with experience I believe this issue will disappear. I believe that observing myself teach in this manner will help me to correct the way that I teach for the better. I will be able to find my problem areas as I have done here and correct them. Observing others teach as well will be an essential part of my development as a teacher. Personally when I observe others teach, be it my peers, or teachers I always try to take a bit of what they do in their lesson and incorporate it into my own way of teaching. I am looking forward to this semester of 255.

Returning to Cortland

Over break I celebrated the holidays with my family and friends. Many different events occurred during this month. I am now in a relationship with a beautiful women named Jessica that is attending SUNY Geneseo, majoring in speech therapy. I also sadly had to stop wrestling due to an injury I suffered just before last semester. This for me is life changing, because not only can I not wrestle, but I cannot participate in physical sports due to the danger it could cause me. This at first was quite depressing, for sports is what I wanted to teach to others. I soon realized that being a physical education teacher involves a broader field than teaching sports. Life long fitness techniques are now my goal. I now realize that this area in the physical education field is the future. I am looking forward to my new classes this semester so I can enhance my knowledge of the field I love.

Lab Six: Christmas Lab

In this lab I was taken from my normal group of classmates and rearranged into a new group. In this group I worked with the Pre-k. This was the same group that I had in my very first lab. In my first lab things did not go as I wanted, because I was not too comfortable working with children of this age, but this time around it was much easier.
My professor gave me an electronic matching game that I could use with the children inside of the classroom. This game was a hit. As soon as I walked into the class with a bag the children seemed instantly drawn to me. In each classroom I had about seven kids that were constantly around playing the game. It was kind of difficult to explain the concept of space to the children, because the game called for an open playing are. The children tended to bunch up around me, so I made use of the carpet we were using. I use a circular carpet with different shapes around the outside. I instructed each child to seat on a shape and that would be there shape. I had never really thought of using a technique like that before, but it really worked and allowed for a nice structured environment.
After the classroom we went to the gymnasium. Here our professor instructed me to create a type of course for the children to do different activities on. We had only about ten minutes to come up with an activity and put it together. With help from my lab assistant we accomplished this goal. The activity was a great success and all the children enjoyed it. I combined a bunch of fun activities like tumbling, jumping, and balancing to make a kind of "mini-gymnastics" course. I gave each child a bean bag and this was considered a present, and when they had completed the course they would go through a tunnel(chimney) and delivery it to Santa. This story was included to go along with the Christmas theme, and help keep the kids going.
In all my Experience during this lab was positive. I will miss going to St. Mary's; the knowledge I have gained from there will most definitely be something I will keep with me forever. 

Motor Development Ch.6

Lab Five: My Reaction

In this lab my group and I were designated as the Gymnasium group. This means that we were in charge of finding games that relate to the movement skill of the week. This past week it was dribbling and kicking of a ball. My other group members performed games that involved dribbling, so I made up a kicking game that I modified for the age group I thought we were going to work with.
The age group I believed we were going to work with was first to second graders. In fact though we were given the Pre-K's to work with. This is alright, but my game may have been too complex for them to comprehend. The students seemed as though they did not have the basic skills necessary to perform my game. This made the time extremely difficult for me. The students also seemed to be quite rambunctious. They did not want to participate, and they also did not pay much attention when I was explaining the directions. I know this is most likely due to there age. My TA told me to shorten up my directions when working with young children, and also to not worry if one or two children are not paying attention. I will most definitely keep this in mind for when I work with children of this age again.
After the gymnasium we went down to the cafeteria to interact and play with the children. Here I worked with the older kids. We played Lego's, and talked about sports. This was easier for me because the kids were older, and they can somewhat comprehend the concepts that as a teacher you are trying to implement. When I go out into the job market I will most definitely take any job that I am offered, but I feel as though I would work better with older students. Not being High School level, but Elementary to Middle School Level children. This is because at these levels the students still have the drive to participate in Physical Education, as well as the basic movement skills required to implement an effective lesson plan.

St. Mary's Video!

St. Mary's "Thank You!" Collage