Halloween Fun at St.Mary's!

The theme of our lab this week was HALLOWEEN!!!

We all came dressed in costume and as soon as the kids saw this, they all became really excited for what was in store for that afternoon. We started off the afternoon by observing the gym group teach a couple of games to demonstrate the locomotor skills of an overhand throw and a catch. It took us a little longer than usual to observe the skills this week because everything was kind of crazy in the gym since there were so many kids in the gym. It was very clear that there is difference between the kindergarteners and 2nd graders when observing the skills. After we observed the locomotor skills we all split up into our groups. My partners and I were in charge of the Special Projects group this week but there wasn’t much work for us to do. Steve went around and observed the other groups teach while taking notes. Andrew was in charge of taking photos. I kind of just floated around from group to group, and when some groups needed some extra help, I would step in to play. Everyone did a really great job and I definitely think that each one of my classmates has improved a great deal since our first time at St. Mary's. For the closing activity we played a game of capture the flag. It was all of the children of St. Mary's against all of us. The students really seemed to love running around and half of them were simply chasing the older Cortland kids rather than trying to capture the "trick-or-treat candy". For the final closing I taught the class a dance to the song "Thriller" by Michael Jackson. Although all of the children could not pick up the dance perfectly, I think that they still enjoyed it and I had a lot of fun teaching it!

This is a picture of the group while

I was teaching "Thriller"!

Cortland Superhero's!!

The theme of this week was SUPERHERO'S! We began the lab by observing the gym group teach a couple activities to have the students demonstrate how they leap, horizontally jump, and how they slide. The group that was participating was absoultely huge and I thought that the lab teachers did a really great job. My lab partners and myself were assigned to work with the cafeteria group. Yet we never actually were in the cafeteria. We started out outside. Here we played some kickball with the kids. It was very different working with the older kids since last time we worked with the pre-k students. I was well prepared for the older students different attitudes. After we played kickball for a little while, we went inside to the big gym. My partners and myself knew that the kids would not want to play a little tag game like we would have played with the younger kids so we suggested playing a big game of capture the flag. Although some of the students were not as enthusiastic about this idea as others at first, they all agreed to play. And it turned out that they all loved the game! Even when we told them they could go play their own games, they all wanted to keep playing capture the flag! It was a great activity to get them moving, breaking a sweat and get their heart rates up. I also think the fact that it was a competitive game helped and they also seemed to enjoy the fact that my lab partners and I participated as well! After playing for quite a while, we cleaned up and I began playing a game of football with some of the boys. They were very knowledgable on the game and I was very impresses with their skills. I also played jump rope with some of the girls which was a lot of fun too. I was definitely tired after all the days activities!

Ahoy there, Matey!

This week was our first real lab at St. Mary’s. I was really, really excited but a little nervous at the same time.  The theme of the week was pirates!! My teaching partners and I were assigned to work with the pre-k students. We met twice the week prior to lab to make sure we were ready for the lab. We planned our lesson, made posters and a treasure chest, and also bought pirate accessories. I picked out a book called “How I became a Pirate” to read to the students while another one of my partners planned a craft and my other partner designed a pirate themed games. Even though we were dressed a little bit ridiculous, I really think that the pre-k students liked seeing the way we were dressed. They really seemed to enjoy the book I read and loved interrupting to ask questions and point out different things they saw in the pictures! Although we didn’t have time for the coloring craft, I really think that the kids enjoyed the games. The last game led the kids to a treasure chest full of mardi-gras bead necklaces and each kid got to take one home. I think they really liked this!

 During this lab we also got to observe the students playing three games right when we got to the school. We were asked to observe the students locomotor skills in terms of running, galloping, and hopping. It was interesting to see where the younger children were in terms of development. I think it would be fair to say that the students had the most trouble with the hopping, but did a good job with running and galloping.

Overall I think that this lab went well! I am excited to go to St. Mary's again in 2 weeks!

Some PE Hall of Shame Games...But why tag???

In 1992, there were 6 games in the official Physical Education Hall of Fame. Some of these games were dodgeball, duck duck goose, kickball, and musical chairs. Some of the new inductees to the 1994 Hall of Shame included “Red Rover”,  “Simon Says”, and tag. I agree that “Red Rover” and “Simon Says” are not appropriate for physical education settings. They do not incorporate enough physical activity and the kids are left standing around too much. I also believe that they do not involve enough cognitive aspects and thus they do not require much thinking. Tag is on the Hall of Shame list for a couple of different reasons. Although it does involve a good amount of physical activity, some tag games are elimination games which everyone knows is very bad in the physical education classroom. Another reason that tag games are on the Hall of Shame is because more often than not, the slower and less fit kids are always “it” or eliminated. Yet I have learned many different tag games that would be appropriate for kids to play in physical education classes. After all, tag is always a lot of fun!! For example, the tag game blob tag involves the entire class moving around the whole time. Students are not discouraged when they get tagged because they become part of the “blob” and thus have the new goal of tagging all their other classmates. Everyone had to be moving at all times which is beneficial. I think a very important job of each physical education teacher is to switch up who is “it” often. Another good tag game I have come across is “temple tag”. In this games there are about 3-5 “its”. When the “its” tag someone, the person who got tagged must stand with their legs apart and the palms of their hands touching about their head in the “temple position”. To be unfrozen from the “temple position” a classmate must crawl through the legs of someone who is in the temple position. This game involves the class always moving, except for the few brief moments a kid may be in the “temple position” before being untagged.

Tag games are a lot of fun and also provide great physical activity is the proper modifications are made!!!

Young Kids Playing a Game of Blob Tag

First Lab at St.Mary's = ALOT of fun!!!

I have to say that I was a little nervous before the first lab at St.Mary’s but it turned out to be a great experience! The first thing I noticed when I got to St.Mary’s was how much energy all the kids had! They were so excited to finally have free time to play and move around.  The lab assistants did a really good job getting the younger kids motivated to play the different tag games that they had prepared and it was really helpful to watch them to get a better idea of what was expected of us.  After we observed for a little bit, a few of my classmates and I went outside to play with the pre-k students on the small playground. I immediately noticed how much energy they had and how they could make the simplest things a lot of fun. I played with about five students who would jump off a surface that was about 1 and half feet tall. They would jump and land right in front of me and then high-fived both my hands.  Even if they did not land on their feet every time, they seemed to enjoy the activity very much and probably could have played for hours without getting tired! They used their imagination and pretended to be jumping off a cliff into a lake. After playing outside with the pre-schoolers for a while we went inside to the gym to play with all the kids that were left. Another lab student and I decided to organize a game of knockout with some of the older fifth graders. At first it seemed like they did not want to play with us but as the game got moving, I think they too began having a lot of fun. After this I played with the house and little action figure toys with one young girl named Mary. It was so neat to see her using her imagination to come up with different scenarios that the figures would be put through like a “tornado that might destroy the house!”.  I had a lot of fun and am really looking forward to going back next week!

Long-Handled Implements in a Physical Education Setting

An important issue in the physical education profession has become whether or not it is safe to introduce long handled implements like lacrosse sticks and baseball bats to students in an elementary school setting. I personally can remember playing wiffle ball with all my neighbors in the road every summer night at a very young age. According to the "Sequence of Emergence of Selected Locomotor, Manipulative and Stability Abilities", children can grasp an object in a controlled manner at the age of 12-14 months. I think this is evidence that kids can hold long-handled objects.  Catching and throwing skills are acquired at 6 years old and striking skills are acquired at the age of 5-7 years. This is all evidence to show that children in elementary school can indeed play sports like baseball and lacrosse. It is very important to carefully explain to your students the safety precautions that come with playing sports with these long handled implements. It is important to explain that the objects should not be swung around when the teahcer has not instructed them to do so and that all students should be aware of their spatial surrondings and those around them.

Chapter 1

Chapter 1 of our textbook described in detail the most basic motor development concepts in the motor, cognitive and affective domains. Elementary school physical education teachers are held the most accountable for teaching their students the basic movement skills as well as how to become fit movers. It is the responsibility of physical education teachers to ensure that children learn at a very young age that being fit and active is essential for living a healthy life. Those who did not receive a good physical education at a young age are at quite a disadvantage. There are many problems associated with children that do not get enough physical activity. In my opinion the biggest problem is probably the large increase in obesity and thus many more health problems like diabetes which is caused by obesity. In their physical education classes students are taught the fundamental movement skills. Some of the most basic movement skills include walking, running, jumping, bending, throwing, kicking, balencing, starting and stopping. These skills that are developed at a very early age are the basis for all physical activity that people do throughout their lives. In order to stay fit, teens as well as adults do many different exercises. All different sports are basically combinations of of several fundamental movement skills. For example the sport of soccer involves running, jumping, kicking, punting, twisting, turning, starting and stopping. Baseball involves running, striking the ball, catching, and swinging. It is essential that physical education teachers ensure that their students learn all the fundamental skills early on so that they will be able to put them to use for the rest of their lives!