School before play!!

Today I had the opportunity to return to St Mary's to assist the pre k teachers. I would like to reflect on how my morning went. I introduced myself to all the students and after that I was free to roam around the room and either play with the kids or help them with assignments. I was able to learn the morning routine which is important because when i student teach I will have to adapt to different teaching styles and environments. The students started off doing a work sheet. They had to write there names in three different spaces, the first was written for them, the second they had to connect the dots to each letter of their name, and finally they had to write out there whole name. I worked with one girl for about a half hour. She had a tough time focusing, and told me she couldn't write her name. So what I did was I told her to retrace the letters again to her name to get the motion down so she could complete the work sheet and eventually we got through her whole name.
Another work sheet they worked on was counting. They had a picture of lets say a apple and they had to count how many apples there where and write the number on the line. Their were about 10 different pictures. I had to help one child write a three, so on the back of his worksheet I showed him and he went to the front and applied what I had showed him. It seemed after each child finished their worksheets they were aloud to play. Examples included puzzles, toys, and a kitchen set. When I was walking around the room I saw Illianna trying to put together a puzzle and eventually about four more kids showed up. It was great to see their reactions when we put the puzzle together, one girl actually screamed and was told to quiet down. But the kids ran over to the teacher and showed her the completed puzzle. It was like the first time they put it all together and they were thrilled. The last thing I want to talk about is a young girl named Lyla. She comes into the class room balling her eyes out, and she walks over to her desk and starts her worksheets. At this point she is still crying. So I walk over and introduce myself, (she wanted nothing to do with that). So I went on to plan B and asked her what she was going to be for Halloween. Couldnt get her to crack. So I walked away and was helping another student with work and all of a sudden I hear "Im going to be a purple unicorn" I look back and sure enough it was Lyla. So I started to joke around with her and she was laughing and started to become more comfortable in the class room. I would walk away from her and say "Lyla" and she would look up, and I would look away as if I wasnt their. And she was looking all around the room trying to figure out who called her name. So i did it again and she caught me looking away and she started to laugh. So I kept doing this until she was in tears from laughing not crying. It was a great feeling to get her to open up to not only me but the other students. In conclusion I learned a lot today, about classroom procedures, personalities from the kids, and teachers, and much more. I would definitely love to go back and work with them again.

Where are my frisbees?

Today at Saint Mary's our group worked with organizing materials and keeping an inventory for the St Mary's PE teacher. Today I felt like I learned alot in regards to keeping myself organized. Its an aspect of teaching I feel people definitely over look. Its crucial to know where all your equipment is at all times, so you can keep your lesson going quickly and smoothly. As future educators it will be important not only to order the material but to keep track and count it as well. At the end of each class you should have the same number you started the class with. Example- going out to the field with 5 frisbees, coming in their should be 5. Be vocal and say "we need 5 frisbees in this bag before we can go back in". This allows you to be sure you have everything to use in the future. Taking care of the equipment is the most important aspect I believe. If your teaching in a lower level income area, you may only have two basketballs, but those two should be treated with responsibility and returned at the end of class. I would recommend cages, buckets and other storage products to use when you become a Physical Educator. Finally I believe today was a great experience, because that is something we will have to do in the future.

Kickball in the PE hall of shame, or is it?

From about the beginning of 7th grade to the end of 8th grade my middle school PE classes consisted of either kickball, dodgeball, our fitness test and Punt, Pass, Kick. Take out the fitness test because it is mandatory , those three games are all we played. I got sick and tired of playing kickball outside every time it was nice out. I felt like there was no variety at all. But I look back and think to myself would the game be more fun if the rules were changed. I believe it would have only taken a slight twist in the game to make it more fun and enjoyable. A red light should come on when your a teacher and you say "ok guys its nice out lets go play kickball". And everyone rolls their eyes, and sighs. CHANGE IT UP. Environmental Manipulation- dont be the teacher to keep all the same rules and guidelines. So here are somethings i would do. Picking teams I would have birthdays from Jan- June on one side and July- Dec on the other side. This changes it up not the boring ok "ones on this side twos on this side. I would then introduce a new set of rules.

1. 2 outs instead of traditionally playing (3 outs)- Quicker Innings
2. A new pitcher after every out. - Involves everyone (not just your best player always as a pitcher)
3. When kicking, each time you need to switch up what foot they use. So if the teams are 7 on 7, when the first 7 are completed kicking with their right foot, change it so everyone's second ups are kicking with the left foot.
4. NO MONKEY ball- you have to touch the base for an out to occur.
5. Run Rule each inning- 5 runs then the next team is up to kick.- keeps the game flowing and it avoids one team dominating another.
6. Have other balls available in case one goes far foul so, your not just waiting around to retrieve the foul ball.
7. Each player is allowed one pass ball in regards to kicking (ex a bad pitch) after that no matter where the ball is you need to kick it.
8. 3 foul balls= an out
9. Each inning there is a position change, starting with pitcher, he then follows an order of first, second,ss, third, then the outfield. (many kids are neglected playing postions that others tell them too, each kid should play everywhere).
10. My PE teacher did this rule which was awesome, if your shoe is untied while your kicking it an automatic out or if your show flies off after making contact with the ball= automatic out.

In conclusion if we played with different rules instead of traditional kick ball rules there would be more participation and enjoyment. I came up with a quick list of 10 rules but you can do whatever you would like. Be creative and DON'T BE AFRAID TO CHANGE IT UP.

Invisa Girl and the three bandits

The theme of the week of was superheros, and the two hours were filled with excitement. Our group oragnized a game called Zaniny Zoo. We created task cards that incorperated different superheros and different movement tasks.We put our task cards in a hula hoop in the middle of the gymnasium. There were 4 lines of kids (North, South, East, West) and the first child from each line would go to the hula hoop, pick up a task card and do that movement back to his or her line. The kids seemed to fully enjoy this game.I feel the theme its self was a big reason for particpation. And Evan, Amy, Tyler, and myself did a good job of demonstarting the task. We were all over the place on the ground,in the air. I was sweating profusely after this game which is good because thats what I want my PE class to be like. Finally fun was the key all the children were having a blast, because it was a new adventure everytime arrving at the hula hoop.

Week 1 at St. Mary's

Week 1 at St. Mary's was an excellent experience for me. I had the privilege of working with the pre school children. The students were full of life and energy, which is great because it allows us to have fun with them. We played sharks and minnows with the kids and it seemed as if they enjoyed themselves. It was a challenge at first getting the whole group together for directions, but we finally got them quite to explain the game. Once we initiated the game the kids started to have fun. Eventually parents started to come so the game only lasted about 15 minutes, however in that period of time I learned a lot regarding that specific age group and other key elements such as motor development, and loco motor movements. Overall it was a lot of fun and I feel the kids learned a new fun game. Finally i think it will be very interesting when we work with the older kids to compare these different skills.