Why We Need PE!!!

Physical Education is so important, especially in this day and age. Our society today is becoming more and more obese and as physical educators we are given the opportunity to do something about it. I found this video that shows why physical education is needed. Enjoy!!!

CAST Experience

Throughout this semester, Emily and I were Cortland Adapted Swim Team Coaches (CAST). We were placed with a student and we worked with them one on one in the pool each week. I had the opportunity to work with several different children over the course of the semester. They were Devin, David and Derek. Devin was a very experienced swimmer and did not need much help. He just needed someone their to tell him to slow down and drink water. David was the child that I spent most of my time with. He was new to swimming and was scared that he was going to drown. Therefore, I always had to be in the pool with him. I started him out slow by letting him use a kick board and a fun noodle to keep him a float. Once he became more confident I started to take some of the props away until he could finally swim on his own. I started him out by just swimming about a quarter of the length of the pool, then to half and finally the full length of the pool. When David didn't come, I worked with Derek who has gone through several surgeries and has a few different disabilities. I really enjoyed working with him. He has an odd way of swimming but he gets to the other end and he gets there quick. Overall, this experience has been very worthwhile. It definitely helped me grow as a teacher and I learned to have more patience. If I find the time next semester, this is something that I would love to do again.

Lab C Packet

Lab C-Tinikling

Lab D

Lab D

Lab D Block Plan

Fitness Warball

Lab D was an interesting experience. For this lab we had to incorporate technology so I decided to teach a game called Fitness Warball. I focused on the cues for throwing, catching and most importantly teamwork. The lesson itself turned out to be very good. Everyone looked like they had fun. I still have a lot to work on. I tend to use a lot of filler words such as um, alright and okay. It's hard not to say those words but it is definitely something that I need to work on. I also tend to stutter sometimes because I talk to fast. It's just a bad habit that I can't break. If I slow down what I say I think it will be better for my students to understand as well as myself because I can think before I say something. Another thing that I could work on is that when I am teaching older students I have to realize that most of them can already throw and catch and I shouldn't spend so much time going over the cues for those topics. I could have just quickly reviewed the cues and went right into the game.


At that age, most students just want to play. They don't want to hear the teacher talk about something that they already know how to do. At the end of the lesson, I tested the students on the cues for both throwing and catching that I went over in the beginning of the class. I told them that I expected them to get at least a 7 out of 10 on the quiz. Since I was short on time I started going over the quiz before I collected it which is something that I would not normally do. One of my students hurt their hand during the game so they couldn't write so I had to write down their answers for them.
What I thought was going to be the longest fifteen minutes of my life turned out to go by very quickly. In fact it went by so fast that I forgot to say and do things that I kept telling myself not to forget. I forgot to give a signal for attention and I should of explained the safety statement more instead of going into so much details for the cues.
From the first time I taught in this class I have saw such an improvement. I feel more confident and comfortable when I am teaching and I'm loving every minute of it. This class has definitely helped me get on my way to becoming a better teacher.

Also if you would like to look at my transcript or time coding, here they are. Here you can see the students in action and playing Fitness Warball.

Explorer Scavenger Hunt

The Explorer Scavenger Hunt was a very creative idea that got us out of the classroom and learning about the different parts of campus. I liked how DJ and Freddie incorporated history into the lesson and made each group represent a different explorer. I was in a group with Emily, Michelle and Brandon and we represented Ponce de leon. I also liked how each group had to make their own flag. It brought out everyones creativity. Another thing I liked was how Freddie dressed up and acted the part along with using the explorer's language.
My favorite activity was the racquetball courts. We didn't get to do the singing at poolside but I know other students in my class said that they enjoyed that one as well.
I feel that I can take a lot from this activity. I thought that it was very creative and incorporated a whole history lesson. I feel that this can be done with any subject. If I was teaching the lesson I would probably have the students still send me the picture of them at each site but instead of sending them clues via cell phone I would give everyone a piece of paper with all of them on it in a specific order. I felt that they should of had both cell phones going rather then just one considering their were five different groups all waiting for clues.
I think this lesson should only be done with a class that you know is well behaved and listens to directions. Although I liked this activity, I would not recommend doing it with all classes. I would definitely do it in a space where I could see all of my students and where they wouldn't be disrupting other classes.
I could definitely see myself doing a lesson of this type but I don't know if I would do it in the same manner.
Yes, I believe that interdisciplinary teaching is effective and beneficial to the student. If the student is studying Explorers in history class then doing an activity like this one will only reinforce what was learned. I think it will be very helpful to the student.
Overall, I liked the lesson. As I said before, it was very creative and I liked how we used heart rate monitors. The activity was fun and I would want to do something like this again. This activity kept me decently active because it seemed as if we were running from park to the field house to the stadium to the tennis courts. We were running from one side of park to the other. Our clues were spaced out so for the majority of the time we were active. My step count was 1728 and my heart rate was in the target zone when we were running from one side of park to the other.

Tinikling: Day 2

This time during Tinikling, I focused on keeping the students in beat with the music. First, I had them sit in a circle and review the cues for both the strikers and dancers with no music and then I had them do it again to the beat of the music. I had the class split into two groups, one group was the strikers and the others were the dancers. Once they got the beat down, I had them stand up and try it with the music. After Emily did her lesson, I went again and added in the bands. I just had the strikers hold them with their hands rather than put them around their ankles. I had them do it without the music and then I added the music in at the end to see how they would do. I liked how they were all in groups because it gave me the chance to go around to each group and give them all feedback. I felt that this was the easiest way to make sure that a I to see everyone or at least most of the class try out the dance.

I noticed that I gave a lot more feedback this time then the last. However, after writing my transcript I realized I do have to work on my fillers.

Here is an example of Tinikling:


and a copy of my lesson plan!