Super Hero Day @ St Mary's

What an experience working with the kids at St Mary's. I was extra excited because my group, was the gym group. Which meant we had to teach our own game to a group of kids. I was feeling confident before hand because I thought my game would be a lot of fun for the kids, and it was simple to understand. Since our theme was super hero's, I wore a super man shirt and played the game "Super Man Tag". I thought everything went OK, but we seemed to struggle a little bit with controlling the kids. All the kids wanted to do was run around! I had a problem with not being loud enough. I feel like I am being loud enough, but I am really not. John and Nicole were in my group and they seemed to have the same problem. It was difficult because there are so many things going on in the gym making it hard for us to explain a game and be loud. I definitely learned a lot from our lab. Other than the gym part everything went smoothly. I had a cape on that the kids loved. The cape attracted the kids to me, it was really fun. On the play ground I was playing tag with Kevin and about 4 little kids. As the game went on the a kid would touch the metal and claim he is safe because he is touching metal. Soon that would switch from metal to plastic. I thought it was creative of the kids for thinking of making the game more fun. I thought our lab ended with ended in a awesome way. Tracy's sound was great! And Ian's dance was fun. Kudos for Tracy and Ian for ending our lab in such a positive way.

The "Great Debate" At SUNY Cortland

What a fun experience it was going through the Great Debate.  The Debate was about having long handled sticks implemented into the physical education curriculum. We had Groups to to determine when or when not to start the kids with sticks.  My group was against implementing sticks at a early age. We agreed on 4th grade, but I really think we should wait until atleast 6th grade. Most kids are not coordinated, and will end up hating the sport. The others that are coordinated enough can use resources outside the classroom.
What makes a professional athlete determines how much work the athlete puts in over time. Just becuase we start implementing sticks are a young age does not mean we are going to get more professional athletes. What do we do with a kid who is not meant to be an athlete? Let him fail?

My favorite part of the debate was at the end when we did the rebuttal. It was getting intense; every student had the opportunity to speak their mind. There was some great points made throughout the rebuttal.  I agreed with the committee group with using ideas from broth groups.

ROUND 2

Day two at St. Mary's was awesome, except I did not get to play any games with the kids. My job was to observe and interview my classmates. At first I thought it would be a boring task to have to interview everyone. How ever, After talking with my classmates, I had the opportunity to ask them anything I wanted. Since I did not share a game with the children yet; I thought it was perfect for me just to observe becuase now I know what will work and what wont work. I have come to a conclusion that the most difficult part of everyones game was explaining it! Every person said the most difficult was getting the attention of the kids. All they wanted to do was play games.  I have realized that the most important thing to do when giving directions to the little kids is do it with enthusiasm!

How could I forget! I got to lead the St Mary's AAARRRGGGGG chear!

HALL OF SHAME GAMES ON YOU

There are numerous games and activities in the Hall of Shame. I agree and disagree with these games, and the reasons why they should or should not be out of PE. I do not agree with duck duck goose. I could modify the game so that instead of the kids sitting in a circle they could sit like a propeller. There will be four lines of students sitting in formation of a propeller and one student will walk around and tag what ever line they would like. The person that tagged the last person in line will either run, jog, gallop, skip hop or any movement they wish.  The whole line would have to do the same movement around the circle and sit back in line. The last person to sit with the group is it. This game is great becuase there are more movements invovled  than just running, and every person is going to be invloved because there are four groups to pick from. Regular duck duck goose is limited to one movement, and the choosing of one person. During a regular game of duck duck rarely every person is picked to run around.

First Day at St. Marys

I had so much fun working with the little ones at St. Marys. I was quite nervous as the day began but once we got going everything went nice and smooth. The kids we so full of energy, it was great. The kids did not want to play any games that I insisted on. I thought it was pretty cool how Sammie had such an imagination. We were pretending to fish, it was so fun. He had a interesting set up, the hula hoop was the boat, and the whiffle balls were tied to the hoop as his bait. When I was outside with the kindergartners they loved playing hide and go seek, and playing tag. It was cool to see how they were amazed when they would find me.  I loved working with the kids and I am excited to come to St. Marys for our next lab!

Reaction to Chapter One

As a student-athlete I must use my simple motor skills in my every day life. I walk, jog, run, sprint, hop,swing a bat, throw and just about every single day. It is vital for us as soon to be physical educators to implement the basic motor skills in activities for kids so that they can master their motor skills and become more physically fit. There are four long term goals that we want to reach, movement skill aquisition, physical activity, fitness enhancement, cognitive learning and affective growth. If these developmental goals are achieved then possible athletes could develop, child obesity would decrease and kids would be more physically fit than before. I believe it starts with the physical education programs. There are plenty of programs that do not use all seven of the Content Standards for Physical Education, and those programs will suffer. The programs that do follow National Standards will have better physically fit students in a positive environment.

Stix aren't for kids

I think that children grades K-5 should not be using sticks during activity.  Lacrosse, and hockey are the two sports that these children should not be playing. Elementary PE should consist of kids mastering their fundamental movement skills.  They are just learning how to jump, hop, run, skip and gallop. There are numerous activities that kids could benefit from to develop their fundamental. These activites with sticks require some skill. These kids are not ready to catch and throw with a lacrosse stick, let alone play a comptetitive game. Their hand and eye cordination is not ready for this type of activity. Saftey is also in weighing concern. Kids might not try to physically hit another student but, the chances of students getting hit are very good. Hockey is even more dangerous in high school PE classes, imagine how dangerous it would be in K-5 PE. I think K-5 children should be involved in more activities that will improve their movement skills and prepare them to be more athletic as they develop.