Field Experience Day 16 - April 20th 2012

Lacrosse

In this lesson, the students were introduced to lacrosse and the ground ball pick up. Some of the students had previous knowledge of the skills that were being taught because they played outside of school. We began by identifying parts of the lacrosse stick (head, neck etc.) and how to hold it properly. Also, general safety and procedures were addressed before any equipment was handed out. Next, we allowed the students to obtain one lacrosse stick and one lacrosse ball. We described the way to pick up a ground ball, with cues to help them (get low, knuckles to the floor, scoop it up like shoveling snow). Ground ball Tutorial The children were allowed to practice on their own. After they were able to get the basic movement pattern down, we were able to run a simple game that let them practice their new skill while employing a bit of competition.

Ground ball

NYS Standards and Curriculum:
This lesson does cover quite a few of the NYS standards. Standard 2 was definitely emphasized with the "personal responsibility." A lot of these students have never used lacrosse sticks before and so it was very important to make sure they used them responsibly. We made sure the students understood that they must respect the equipment as well as their fellow classmates.They were educated in personal safety and how to handle the equipment with care. There was very heavy emphasis on being aware of your surroundings and playing fairly in the last game we played. It involved getting ground balls and placing them back in their respective bins. They had to be honest and courteous to their teammates and classmates.

Standard 1A was also addressed by introducing the students to this skill (picking up a ground ball) it will get them started on being competent in the game of lacrosse.

Field Experience Day 15- April, 17th 2012

Students with Special Needs:

In an earlier post, I mentioned a boy who came into the gymnasium before out Pre k class. Just in observing him , it seemed as though his physical education was just him, playing by himself for a half hour or so. When we questioned our host teacher, we were informed that he is the only special needs student in the school and that that is his physical education. This is definitely unacceptable for this student. None of the NYS standards are met, purely because he is given no instruction, but instead, he plays on his own.

IDEA

It must be difficult for a smaller school with only one physical education teacher to justify dedicating a large portion of time to one, individual student, but it should be done. Maybe the school could include the student in the other physical education classes of students his own age (LRE) in integrated settings. At first I thought that the school may not have to comply with these policies but after looking at  the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), I found that it mandates these things for public as well as private schools.Info About IDEA

Field Experience Day 14 - April 6th 2012

Reflection Of Lesson:

Leaves can be fun, but they are not really appropriate for school days

We remained outside today with the other pre-k class. I have never been involved in this class before so I had a bit more difficulty learning about the students. It was interesting to see the similarities between the students though. Even though this is a whole other group of students, they all seem to want to do dangerous things and get as dirty as possible.

Being a helper in this class, it would be most beneficial to speak with the teacher before hand to ask about the procedures. These would include rules of the equipment, where they can and cannot go and specific procedures for entering and exiting the fenced in area. There was a group of children playing in leaves in one of the corner, they were throwing them all over themselves. I saw it from across the space and as soon as I spotted it, so did the host teacher and immediately put a stop to it. There were also children playing in the dirt. I do believe that it is good for children to play outside and get dirty, etc. but not in the middle of a school day. I'm sure their parents would be very displeased.

I was also playing with a group of 4 girls and it was so sad to see 3 of them turn to the 4th and tell her that they did not want to play with her anymore. These are pre-k students and they are already leaving people out. I have not seen such bluntness in a while though. I suppose it is the honesty of being a child. I did not say anything to the girls but now I wish I had said something about including classmates. I found this article about how bullying can being in young children, so we, as teachers, need to be on the lookout.  Instead I spoke to the girls about how it is not good to pretend you are hurt if you are not (they were all holding their ankles and saying "ow ow ow") because it can cause people to be worried and then very angry if there is no emergency. I hope that they thought about it for at least a little while after that.

Field Experience Day 13 - April 6th 2012

Reflection of the Lesson:

Safety is Important

Today was a Friday and it was beautiful outside so our host teacher took the kids outside to play on the playground. There was no lesson taught but being around and playing with the children was able to show me a lot.

First, it is very important to go over the rules of the play ground before going onto it. Some of the equipment can be dangerous for kindergarteners and so it is always good to make sure they are aware. One thing that the children were doing was jumping off one of the apparatus to the ground. It was quite high up and some of the students needed to be told twice. It would be beneficial to have a consequence for disobeying the rule. This would be beneficial because of maintaining authority and for safety reasons.

Playground Apparatus

Another thing that crossed my mind when I was out on the playground was what the emergency procedure should be if someone was to get hurt on the playground. The playground is only about 50 yards from the school but it may be just far enough to make it difficult to contact someone. We were out there with the host teacher but if you were by yourself, how would you contact help. These were kindergarteners. If it was me, I think I would send one of them (the one I trusted the most I suppose) to run in the school and tell an adult. It is clear that you cannot leave all the students by themselves to get help, but you cannot take them all with you either (especially if time is of the essence). Here is an Example of "Playground Guidelines" that a school created that covers everything from surveillance to maintenance.

Field Experience Day 12 - April 3rd, 2012

Assessments of Students Learning

Indiana Jones

Today in class, there was an Indiana Jones Obstacle set up for the students. It was similar to the kidnastic routine that was last time except this time there was Indiana theme music playing in the back ground. Also, the host teacher added a "snake pit" made of jump ropes and some "hot lava" using the cones. Some of the children knew who Indiana Jones was so it was extra fun for them.

Today was the day of our pre-assessment of the students doing the forward roll. We decided to make it one of the stations in the obstacle course so we were able to observe and assess the students as they made their way around the course. This allowed us to see it multiple times. This assessment strategy is suggested by NASPE in assessing elementary students. We assessed them based on a holistic rubric that we created for the forward roll: We were able to see each each of the students around four times and it was an excellent way to keep them moving while still assessing their current level of proficiency. We will take this pre-assessment and plan a lesson to teach so that the students can learn and improve to a higher level of proficiency.

Holistic Rubric Pre Assessment- Forward Roll

1-  Student  is unable to perform the forward roll. The student is unable to use the cues.

Cones

2- Student is able to perform the forward roll with maximum concentration. Rigid.

3- Student is able to perform the forward roll correctly with minimal   concentration. Lacks fluidity.

4- Student is able to complete a forward roll using all three cues correctly. The motion is effortless and fluid. 

 

Field Experience Day 11 - March 30th, 2012

Students with Special Needs

There does not appear to be any students with special needs in the pre k  physical education class that I regularly participate in. However, there is a boy that is in the gymnasium before the class and since we are usually there 10 to 15 minutes early most days, we can observe him as well. In my host school, it does not appear that there is a very good physical education program for students with special needs. This boy appears to have autism, but is high functioning. As we come in, he is usually off in a corner playing with some equipment while his aid sits on the bleachers and watches him. The boy appears to be content with playing by himself.

He also appears to be scolded often for lying about certain things. Whether is it about telling another teacher that he has permission to play with certain equipment when he does not, or about breaking another piece of equipment. I believe these are characteristics of his age rather than of a possible disability.  I have not yet had much experience with students with disabilities in a gym setting. 's I like to reference PE Central's Adapted Phys. Ed page.  I will be taking 356 next semester and hope to learn a lot. In the past I have been a volunteer for the Cortland adapted swim team and taught private swim lessons to a boy with severe AHDH.

Special Olympics Logo

Although I have not seen it, I do hope that the times when we see that boy before our class it is just a play time for him and not his "physical education." Because that would not be sufficient. Physical Education should be available to all students. Recently, I was in Indianapolis for a swim meet and at a banquet one night we were able to listen to a first hand testimony from a girl who has been actively involved in the Special Olympics for a few years. She participates in many sports but bowling is her favorite. The way she spoke about her activities was truly inspiring and it would be a shame if others did not get the same opportunities just because of a disability. It should always be a priority.

Field Experience Day 10 - March 30th, 2012

Today we were able to observe a pre-k classroom after our regular field experience.

Classroom Observation

Meeting Time

The classroom is decorated with very bright colors and all of the walls are covered in posters, words, and art projects. On one walls was filled with jelly fish and ice cream cones that the children made. The others have all of the numbers, letters of the alphabet and birthdays of all the children in class. There is a special corner with the month, days in school, the weather and letter of the week. This pre-k classroom is different than the gymnasium because it is much more decorated and colorful. BUT, the classroom is much smaller than the gymnasium so it would make sense for it to be more difficult to fill with artwork and such. The gymnasium is similar in the sense that there are posters, charts with student progress, and words of encouragement on the walls. Educationally, the classroom appears to be more controlled in the sense that it is smaller and more easily managed. There they are learning while sitting, but in the gymnasium, the students are learning by moving.

The atmosphere in the classroom today was a little bit tense, the children seemed to be a little antsy, perhaps because it was Friday. I would imagine that it is difficult to keep pre-schoolers on task for most anything. The portion of the lesson that we observed was their "meeting" where the teacher and students discuss the days of the week, month, weather outside and how many days they have been in school. The teacher has them recite the days of the week, and their prayer. All of the students sit around a circular carpet in their designated spots. The teacher is sitting in a chair on the edge of the carpet while she talks with them.

Arts and Crafts

These students have a basic level of language and literacy. They are able to count and know the months and days of the week. It appears to be appropriate for the level of education that they are at. The teacher was able to engage the students by speaking in a higher voice and constantly drawing them back into what she was saying by calling on a students, repeating herself or pointing to an example. She was able to have them all in view and constantly monitor their attention. There were a few boys that were sitting next to each other and because they were fooling around during her lesson, she had to separate them slightly. It seems as though the boys sit next to boys and girls sit next to girls. After the lesson we were able to join them for snack time as well and then they were allowed to play with "Friday toys and dress up." The teacher had to remove one of the dress up accessories because the students had difficulty sharing. It seems at this age they are quite self centered.

This insight will help me because it shows what to expect out of this age group of children. Also, it was good to see how the children acted in a classroom versus a gymnasium. There is definitely a greater level of freedom in the gymnasium that can be very beneficial to the students if it is managed correctly.

Being in this classroom brought be back to my elementary experience. I had forgotten the basic knowledge that is taught to these children. There was a large emphasis on place values and counting. I feel that a lot of people forget learning this because it comes to naturally for them now. This also applies to the gymnasium. For the elementary school is where these children learn the building blocks of movement. They may not remember it when they are older, but without it, they cannot progress to activities with more difficulty.