Last Day at St. Mary's

The last day at St. Mary's was a very enjoyable day because we used the easter theme.  Many people were dressed up as bunnies, had plastic eggs and many other easter props that made the students really enjoy the last day.  The game that my group and I led was basically capture the flag, but it was capture the bunny.  We had many plastic eggs all around and split the gymnasium in two sides where we told the students that it was 10 points to capture the bunny and 1 point to capture an egg.  This game had the students running around and having a lot of fun, I also thought it was a very good game because at no point was any student not moving around.  If a student got tagged them had to go to the "bunny dungeon" where they had to open up an egg and either do the activity of jumping rope, dribbling a basketball or throwing a tennis ball at a target.  After the students completed the task, they were allowed to re-enter the game which made the game go very smoothly.  After the game we finished off the day with the older students playing basketball the rest of the time.  Overall my St. Mary's experience was very enjoyable where I got to work with students from Pre-k to 5th grade.  All grades had their ups and downs but overall they were all very fun and enjoyable.  The thing I took back from St. Mary's is that no matter what activity you are explaining you need to be as excited or more excited that the students to get them interested in the game.

Fifth Day at St. Mary's

Today at St. Mary's we did not observe the locomotor movements of the dribble(basketball) and the soccer kick because my group and I led a game that allowed others to observe.  The game we led was zig/zag soccer and was a very good learning experience for me.  The game I thought felt more like a drill and I think the students felt the same way.  This game allowed the other ped201 students to view the locomotor skills, but it was not enjoyable for the students.  I learned from this game that if it is not fun to teach, it will not be fun to play.  After the game I stayed up in the gymnasium and finished the day out with some multiple goal soccer and variations of basketball games that included horse, knock out (elimination) and a game of three on three.  Overall this was the best lab for me because I believe I learned the most from it and really showed me that teaching can be difficult at times, but no matter what you have to stay persistent.

Fourth Day at St. Mary's

Today at St. Mary's we observed the locomotor skills of catching and throwing.  The younger students who we observed could perform the skill of throwing much better than the skill of catching.  The students when throwing for the most part would use their entire body but some of the students would not step with the opposite foot.  When catching the students did not do so well because either they were not catching the object or they were not doing it with all the aspects of catching.  When teaching the students how to throw and catch I felt the students could throw the objects further than they were so we made the targets more demanding so the students were really throwing the objects.  When the students were catching I tried to explain to them to act as if it were an "egg" so they would bend there arms and make a successful catch.  I learned from this lab that as teachers we need to make the activities for the students that are made suitable for their skill levels

Third Day at St. Mary's

Today at St.Mary's we observed the students perform the leap, slide and jump.  The two students that we observed were Anthony(boy) and Rowan(girl) who were both 6 years of age and in kindergarten.  Both of the students I thought were pretty much similar in skill because both were able to perform there skill but not all of the time.  The jump was and leap were the easiest for the two, but the slide was not as consistent as the jump and leap.  After playing with the younger students I got to play with the older students in the gym.  With the older students we got to play kickball which was a lot of fun because the students really had a lot of fun.  In the beginning of the kickball game we allowed the students to kick with their dominant foot, but to switch it up at the end we had them kick with their opposite foot which made things more interesting and got them using both feet.  After the game the younger students came back up to the gym where we finished off the day with some intense elimination or some people call it knockout.

Second Day at St.Mary's

Today was my second day at St.Mary's and it was just as much fun as the first.  I knew what to expect so it was more enjoyable and I was more prepared to play activities with the students.  Today we view Shaymus who is in first grade and Kasey who is in kindergarten and we watched them perform the locomotor skills of running, galloping and hoping.  While watching these two I began to see that Shaymus was the better of the two at the skills because he could perform them more consistently, while Kasey on the other hand could do the skills sometimes but for the most part she could not perform them correctly.  During this lab I also learned more effective teaching strategies that I can use to make the activities more fun for the students and make it more fun for them.  Bringing in music, dressing up and using props are a very big part in making the activities run smoothly.  Today we also led a game called "Stinky Letter Stew" which consisted of the students either running, galloping and hoping with letters to the stinky stew.  The students enjoyed the game and I thought it was good because it incorporated locomotor skills with learning the ABC's.  

First Day at St. Mary's

Today was my first day at St. Mary's and it was a very exciting day.  My group started in the gym with the students who were in kindergarten and in first grade.  Right away we started playing because they just got out of school and wanted to get to running around.  We started off with freeze tag and temple tag which was a blast.  The students loved the game but it was a little crazy for my first time because they were so excited to be playing the games that it was very loud in the gym.  After playing these games for a little while we played full body rock/paper/scissors which was fun but it did not last as long as the first two games.  After that we went downstairs into the cafeteria where I played legos, colored and played connect four with the students.  It was fun and I got to know the students more and talk to them.  After that we went back into the gym where we had free time with the students in kindergarten, first grade and also the older students which was also fun.  The rest of the day I played knock out and mostly had basketball games with the students.

Dodgeball in P.E. ?

In physical education today the topic of dodgeball in schools is a very hot topic.  Dodgeball has been apart of physical education for a long time, but now it is being questioned for the use in p.e. class.  I believe that dodgeball should not be in a p.e. curriculum for many reasons, but the only positive outcome of dodgeball will be physical movement or motor aspects.  In dodgeball motor aspects are learned through dodging the balls, throwing the balls and after a good game of dodgeball, one is usually tired from a good work out.  I believe that is the only positive aspect dodgeball has to offer where the affective and cognitive aspects both are negative in dodgeball.  Dodgeball may seem fun to some people or to the more athletically advanced students in the class, but to others dodgeball can be a students worst nightmare.  The students who are getting out first are not really getting the learning concept if they are only in the game for a minute.  Dodgeball also uses human targets where some students may get frightened and where some more athletically advanced students can "bully" the not so gifted students and use them as easy targets.  This can be detrimental to the students socialization in the class and with their peers if they are getting out first or even picked last.  I believe the game of dodgeball should not be used unless new concepts are added where students stay in the game longer, students are not being used as targets and where everyone can enjoy the game with their classmates.  Some of these new concepts may consist of using your weak hand to throw, using cones as targets, only hitting players below the waste or using a very soft light weight ball.  Until these changes are made I believe dodgeball should not be used in the physical education curriculum.