Field Experience Day 5- February 28th, 2012

7. Assessments of Student Learning:

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This past Tuesday we were able to see a part of our school's physical education program that starts in kindergarten and continues until the upper grade levels. It is called "Run Club. Run club is something that the instructor has chosen to implement to teach the children about pacing while running/jogging. The students are asked to try and continuously jog around the gym for a set number of minutes and while doing this, the main goal is to try and stop (and walk) as little as possible. This is achieved by not running extremely fast in the beginning (PACING: How to Pace). I was able to participate in run club with the kindergarteners. At this age, they do not run for very long (only 6 minutes) but it gives them some experience with trying to pace. There is a talk before hand about how to do it and what should be done if the students get tired. In kindergarten, this modified version of run club (which happens once a month) is used as a beginning teaching tool. As the students get older, they are observed by the teacher and their progress is tracked on a chart in the gym. Those students who were able to run/jog for the whole duration are able to be in the "run club" those who are not yet there will track their progress on the chart and see where they have improved. This chart allows the instructor to see changes in fitness and knowledge of pacing. It can give solid evidence of growth or digression.

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Many of the kindergarten students ran extremely fast and had to walk shortly after, they would continue this cycle the whole time. It shows that they have not yet grasped the concept but I think it is a good thing to explain and teach to them early on in their physical education. Pacing during activities is an extremely important skill that even some adult have trouble with. Addressing this part of physical fitness so early on is very beneficial.

Lab 16: February 27, 2012

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1. I observed kindergarteners in a class setting during their floor hockey unit. These students began with Stage one: the control of an object. The first activity had them walking slowly around the gym with their own floor hockey stick and gator ball. They were told to practice controlling it. The speed was changed a bit but it remained individual. A few activities later, the students were told to hit the ball with good form wherever they wanted in the gym (provided the coast was clear) and then chase after it. This is still and individual activity that works on themes such as possession. These students did not progress any higher than stage one. Some recommendations for improving their level of play could be: (1) continue to begin practice with games that incorporate individual ball manipulation (2) Begin to assign partners and progress to partner passing (3) incorporate games that have two students working together with passing to achieve a goal (4) watch the skill levels of the students and do not progress too high in the four stages.
Support of Rink's 4 Stages

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2. I would use the four stages of game play as a rubric in my physical education classes by taking out the important information in all four stages and placing it in block format. Stage one would be assigned to a student if the only part of the activity they were able to be proficient in was "control of an object." Stage two would be assigned to a student if they were able to be proficient in stage one and stage 2 "combining skills." Stage three would be assigned to a student if they were able to be proficient in stage one, stage two and stage three " Offensive and defensive roles." Stage four would be assigned to a student if they were able to be proficient in stage one, stage two, stage three and stage four " Modified and full games." The four stages will act like levels that the students have achieved. To assess them, after a unit has been taught, I would do activities that progressed up through these stages and observed where my students landed along the spectrum.

Lab 11: February 22nd, 2012

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1. The word parachute literally means "protect from fall" deriving from the french words paracete and chute. It was named in the late 1700s by a french aeronaut and is typically made out of some strong, lightweight material. It was originally made of silk but is now more typically made of nylon. A parachutes job is to slow down an object as it falls through the atmosphere by creating drag. Parachute can be used for supplies, people and for fun in the gymnasium!

2. Using a parachute in class, the students would begin with the children picking up the parachute and walking clockwise in a circle. Next, the students would switch directions and walk the other way. Next: stop and make small ripples, then big ripples, then small ripples. Finish the routine by lifting the parachute up high and bringing it down behind your back and sitting on it.

3.  Practice the yoga routine for a week and keep a journal of how you feel. Simple Yoga Poses

4. 

Lab 15: February 20th, 2012

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1. Today in lab we each taught an 8 minute lesson within our squads. My lesson was about fitness concepts and I chose to focus on the heart and the importance of cardiovascular fitness. How the Heart Works  The purpose of this lesson was to teach the children how to take their pulse and allow them to discover that doing more activity made their heart work harder and get stronger. I was to do this lab again tomorrow I would attempt to make my activities more exciting. I do think that I did a good job in explaining how to take the pulse and why the heard needs exercise just like your arms or legs. I thought it was good to ask the students questions such as "what is physical fitness?" "how do you exercise your heart?" etc. As with most lessons, I think that it would be beneficial to be even more prepared for different situations. I believe that you can never be too prepared, so it is always helpful to run through your lesson once more even when you think you have reviewed it enough.

2. One of my most effective teachers was a professor here that I had my freshman year for "Anthropology of Gender." The reason that I loved having class with this particular professor is because she was so passionate about the subject that she was teaching and it really showed. She had extensive knowledge in her field and she loved sharing it with us. I probably did the most reading and writing for that class but I really love going to class. The teacher was always willing to explain a topic if necessary and offered herself for help whenever we needed it. I felt comfortable in her class and she was very approachable.

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3. Over the summer I work with elementary children every day, BUT I work with them/teach them in a pool setting. I am shocked to see how different it seems when they are on dry land. In my pool/lessons I control every aspect of their movement because I have to, if children don't follow the rules in the pool there are consequences that can be life threatening. In a gym, children seem to be much more at ease and indulge in more freedom. As I prepare to teach in the field experience I hope to gain more confidence teaching children on solid ground and learning a new set of behavior management techniques. My biggest fear is probably students misbehaving and me not knowing the correct thing to do to salvage the situation. I hope to learn these things while in the field.

Field Experience Day 4- February 17th, 2012

6. Skill Themes and Student Abilities:

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Today we started the lesson off by practicing the skill theme: throwing. The underhand toss to be exact,  using bean bags and hula hoops. My host teacher had each of us take a group of children and practice. We were instructed by the host teacher that wanted us to encourage the children to bring the arm under the shoulder and possibly discuss a step into the throw. But because they students were in preschool, it was better to focus on only one part of the throw. After that we were given free reign to instruct and interact with the students as we liked. I tried to get some of the children to throw certain color bean bags into certain hoops to add even more accuracy. Incorporating color with the throwing is another thing to reinforce what they are learning in the classroom. Some of the children were able to do the step with the underhand throw and be successful at getting the bean bag in the target while other had difficulties controlling the throw. It was a first hand look at how different the children are in skill level.

Later in the lesson, I was dribbling basketballs with some of the girls and even between 4 preschool girls there was variation in skill. Cues for Dribbling a Basketball Two of the girls were able to dribble the ball about 5 times while the other 2 could only hold onto it for one or two (while having their eyes on the basketball the whole time). With the same basketballs and same girls we played a passing game where we would bounce the basketball to pass. 2 of the girls were able to catch the ball off of the bounce while the other two were unable to control it. These girls are all in the same grade and yet they have different abilities.

Lab 9&10: February 15th, 2012

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1. My fitness themes would be muscular endurance, flexibility and core strength. There will be 3 stations: one would be the "inch worm" station where students would walk around in a designated area using the inchworm method. Another station would focus on flexibility. Students would do the "butterfly" stretch. The last station would focus on core strength and balance. Students would balance on their bottom only with their feet in the air.

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2.  Gustav Klimt was the artist behind painting such as "The kiss" His combination on oil painting and gold to create beautiful artwork. Another extremely creative person is Andy Goldworthy. He is an artist from Britain who creates his artwork using natural things (leaves, rocks, ice, sticks). Many of his pieces of work are temporary.

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3. For a rubric that assesses a group acting out inanimate objects I would have the it be on a scale from 1 to 3. A 3 would be: all members of the group are involved and contribute ideas/positive feedback and other members of the class can correctly guess the object that is being acted out. A 2 would be: all members are actively involved and only come contribute ideas/positive feedback. A 1 would be: not all members were involved and they do not contribute ideas or positive feedback.

Field Experience Day 3- February 14, 2012

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4. Management Strategies:

Today was the first day of the student's floor hockey unit. The students warmed up with a tag game involving hula hoops as lily pads.  These students are all in kindergarten and there were a few students that had difficulties playing fair. There were were issues regarding students that did not freeze when they were tagged. Our host teacher dealt with the situation quickly and fairly. He immediately talked to the boys, found out that they were upset and spoke with both (reinforcing that both the tagger and the runner that they must play fairly and play by the rules). One of the boys was not very happy after and chose to sit on the side and the teacher let him. I think that I would have encouraged the students to continue playing but I understand that you cannot always focus on one student when there are so many other students in your class. An instructor must always have eyes on the whole gymnasium.

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As we progressed into the lesson, my partner and I assisted the host teacher in the beginning field hockey lesson. We first had all the students with their own field hockey sticks and gator balls. They were to move freely around the gym while softly hitting their gator ball. I think this was a good way to give them practice without making it like a practice (full of drills). Progressions were used to increase the difficulty but the students still were able to move where they wanted in the general space.

The next activity allowed the students to practice hitting, the first progression had all of the students facing a wall so that they could hit the balls in one direction and not get in other peoples way. It was a little difficult for the teacher to view everyone at once but for the activity it would probably be the best way to set them up.

The class finished up with a game of temple tag before they left to have a little competition before leaving to go back to the classroom.

Lab 8: Feburary 13th 2012

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1.  Hoop play can be very beneficial in elementary physical education. First, it is a form of stimulus variation. This change up allows the children to practice similar skills (throwing, catching, etc.)  with a different object.  It allows children to develop hand-eye coordination, foot-eye coordination and body awareness. The hoops can be helpful in creating different learning experiences that can reinforce lessons learned in the classroom.
2. The hoops can be used to represent lily pads in a pond if the children are learning about ecosystems. In a pond ecosystem, lily pads are very important for frogs to rest on and use as shelter. The children could be frogs using the lily pads for rest and shelter (from the taggers). 
3. The hoops are a fun alternative to playground balls or beanbags, so it is a good way to teach your students that new equipment must be treated with respect. The students must handle the hoops gently and respect the personal space of others.
4. Ponds, and backyard ponds in particular can be very helpful for the environment. Apart from being fun to take care of and pretty to look at, back yard ponds can create an oasis for animals that may have had their environment taken away such as birds, newts, salamanders, frogs and toads. A pond is a great way to show a food chain. Video about Aquatic Ecosystems



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5. Mosston's Teaching Styles:

• command-yes
• reciprocal-no
• practice-yes
• self-check-no
• inclusion-no
• guided discovery-yes
• divergent-no
• individual-no
• learner initiated-no
• self-teaching-no

Lab 7: February 8, 2012

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1.  A child in a wheelchair can enter the front door because the student would be able to follow the rope around (the rope goes down past your nose). They would be unable to enter a jump rope from the back door though. It would be easier if the child entered the jump rope from and angle. I would make the jump rope longer so that there was more space to move. Also, it would be important to have the rope spinning at an appropriate speed.

2.  For this lesson, goal setting could be included by having the children see how many time they can do some of the activities with a time limit on them. An example of this would be "double rope over body while sitting", you could see how many times they could get it over their head in 15 seconds and then try it again to see if they can beat it.

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3. A rope jumping routine for two students jumping at the same time could be: 10 basic two foot forward jumps, then 5 vertical jump using a scissor kick only. Next, the two students will lay the ropes in front of them in a straight line and jump side to side across them 10 times. Repeat twice.

4. Critical Elements for two-foot Jumping Rope: 1) start with rope behind heels 2) big swing over the head 3) jump before the rope hits toes 4) jumps on the balls of the feet -shock absorbers-

5. If I was to organize a rope jumping club for my elementary school I would first like to ask the children if they would be interested in doing more fun things with the jump ropes. If the children seem to be excited about the idea I would contact the principal and ask permission to send a letter home to the parents asking about interest. Parental cooperation and support would be crucial. If the support and interest is there I would send a letter home to parents for them to sign their child up for the after school club.

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6. Stimulus variation is when lessons contain the same types of skills that are being learned but the implement used to teach them is changed. An example of this would be throwing and catching with different objects. The instructor could start the children with bean bags, scarves or balloons. They could then move to sport balls. The change in objects is the stimulus variation.

LAB 5: February 6, 2012

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1. Turtles are four legged reptiles that breath air but lay their eggs underwater. The eggs are slightly soft and leathery. They are the most ancient of all reptile groups, older than. Most turtles live around water but the largest turtles are completely aquatic. Something that is unique about the turtle is it's hard shell. The top part of it's shell is called the 'carapace' and the bottom part is called the 'plastron'.
2. The fitness components that were addressed in squad fitness squares were: muscular endurance, cardio vascular endurance. These components are located in the Elementary level of the Conceptual Framework: Mastery of fundamental motor/movement skills.
3. If a students is afraid of catching a ball I would choose activities that keep the ball in a small area. For example, the "water fall" activity would be excellent because it involved a partner and it has the students toss the beanbag or other object to each other very gently and in a small space. It would be helpful to use objects that are not as intimidating, such as: scarves, bean bags, balloons and Koosh balls.
4.  I would choose to pair off students by height (possibly), but most importantly,  skill level. There is some positive benefits to having a students help another student progress at throwing/catching but for children this young it would be best if they were partnered with someone of their own skill level so that they are able to develop at a more similar rate.
5. In order to help a special needs child learn to catch I would employ the help of objects that stay in the air longer than a normal playground ball or bean bag. Also, I would choose objects for manipulation that are larger in size. I would use things such as balloons, scarves or yarn balls to make easier for the child to understand the basic components of catching before we moved on to more difficult objects.

Field Experience Day 2: February 8, 2012

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 On day two, our host teacher had the children play "Mighty Nice to Meet you" tag, as a warm up so that the students would get to learn our names and we could start to learn some of theirs. This tag game was a great example of a very good tag game because it was a great way to get to know the students in a quick and fun way. The children got warmed up and we were able to be involved and participate.

1. Reflection on the Lesson:

Today in our kindergarten class, the students worked on balancing, throwing and catching. The students used bean bags as the object that they were asked to manipulate. The instructor began with a quick "clean up game" using the bean bags so that the students could run around, get warmed up, and handle the bean bags. After, that, the instructor ran through basic balancing acts. The students we asked to balance the bean bag on their head, elbow, shoulder and foot. If the task was too easy, they were asked to switch to the non-dominant side, or walk while doing it. This variation allowed those students who excelled to have a new challenge and those students who struggled to have more time to practice. Next, the instructor did a few activities where the students were asked to throw the bean bag at different levels to themselves (there were no partners involved). The same variation that occurred in the balancing occurred in the throwing/catching. Those students who excelled were given new challenges and those who did not were given time to practice the basic skill. There were some issues regarding the students holding on to their bean bags. The instructor always told them to "squeeze them tight" when he was talking. It may have been more efficient to have the children place the bean bags at their feet or under their arm.

Field Experience Day 1: February 3, 2012

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As I walked into the Elementary school on day one, the first thing I noticed was all of the colors. Colors in the classrooms, in the hallways and in the gymnasium. The second thing that I noticed was that everyone was dressed in pajamas! It was the end of their spirit week and all of the children were dressed in their finest sleep wear. My partner and I were introduced to the secretaries, principal and our host teacher. He was eager to explain the procedures of the class we would be observing and gave us some ideas of what to do with the children. This particular physical education class was for kindergartners and they were allowed to play with whatever they liked. The instructor brought out a lot of equipment and let them have free time. We were encouraged to play with and interact with the students. Although this was not a lesson, it was a good chance for us to get to know the students a bit.

2. Knowledge of Students:

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As I was able to interact with the students I was able to pick up on some of their strengths and weaknesses. Student 1 was able to throw a ball with high velocity, but poor aim. Student 2 was only able to catch a ball if it bounced first. There were a few girls who chose to spend the whole time on the climbing nets against the wall. They were able to climb up very high, but needed encouragement and some direction on the way back down. The knowledge of students abilities is very important for any instructor. This knowledge will allow them to construct a curriculum that will benefit all students and accommodate all needs. As we continue on throughout the field experience, we will continue to observe, interact and learn the names and abilities of all of the students.

Lab 4: February 1, 2012

1.   A unit based on lessons of this nature would be excellent foundation for acquiring throwing and catching skills because the bean bags are a good baseline to work off of. The bean bags allow for manipulation while remaining a safe and controlled object. This type of unit also covers a variety of different ways to throw and catch. With partners they can practice short light passes and catches or individually they can throw the bean bag in the air as high as they can. The individual and partner aspects are a good combination.

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2. A good theme for "health hopping" for children would be "Aladdin". This movie has a lot of characters that are easily recognizable for children (both boys and girls) and many songs that most children recognize (Whole New World, Friend like Me, etc). Example: The bicep curls station could have a picture of the palace guards because they have big muscles.

3. Locomotor Movement: Gallop
-Face forward
-Lead foot first
-Back foot contacts lead foot

4. (1) One possible bean bag activity that could be done would have to do with balancing. In a general space the students would have to walk around. The instructor would indicate a certain body part such as head, hand, foot etc. and the students would have to place the bean bag on the indicated body part and try to continue moving. This will encourage the students to be creative and test their cognitive learning by naming different body parts. (2) Another bean bag activity that includes balance and body part identification could have the students be in groups of 2. One partner is the tosser and the other partner is the catcher (they will switch each time). The teacher will call out a body part (head, hand, foot, back etc.) and the catcher will have to try and catch the bean bag with that body part. It will exhibit maximum participation and creativity.