Sigh....... another class...... another step

all over huh??
final over?? no more studying right??................... [sarcastically......... YA RIGHT!!!!]
looking back, to the first day of this class... I might have said that.
In all honesty, I was totally naive when I was thinking about how much I would actually learn from this class....... [I guess how little would be more accurate to what I was thinking]

I have learned more this year in this class from my teachers and fellow classmates than I ever could have predicted....... to that..... i tip my hat to everyone from 255-604 and thank you.

the truth is, that I feel extremely lucky to have had the opportunity to work and observe and participate with my entire class, seeing how we all have grown as Physical Educators and Physical Learners.... to the simple things like: how one to the other would have dealt with this situation or problem..... the truth is simply that.... the truth.... and I would not have traded that for anything. If anything that I have learned the most... it is that my studying and learning will never be done!!!! [in some interesting way...... I'm glad]

thank you Dr. Yang for the chance to work, learn and grow, and a special thanks to freddy for all those crazy/yet possible scenarios for us to deal with..... and most of all thanks for a great and fun year guys!!!! good luck with observations and hope to see everyone back next semester!!!

Last Blog......... Or Is It??

Last Blog huh??..... Well, didn't you know?? this was just part of some assignment for my class, 255-603, its not like anyone actually fines anything useful out of these tings..... do they??

They do. The truth is, that this has been a great help to me, whether I have any readers or not. So, if someone had this item that after teaching, helped them deal with mistakes, and allowed me a free place to reflect. The simple truth is that I have grown to enjoy these blogs. So, before I continue.... I have decided that for my readers and myself, I will be continuing this blog throughout the year to the best of my ability and hectic schedule.






Goal Ball..... for those who do not know, this is actually one of the most extreme games for the blind and visually impaired. I chose to teach the fundamental aspects of this game to my students this past week. the truth is that this is a very complicated game.... plus factor in.... children.... slightly less coordinated than you or me.... now in a new environment called.... blindness. What can you do?... I chose to first enforce a visual setting requiring reading.... and understanding.

My Lesson plan!!!!!
students would break into three even groups and go to their own designated section, after a determined time the groups would rotate.
The Students were required to....
-read the objectives at their section, if confused, look at the pictures.... if still confused ask each other.... if still confused .... ask me, THE TEACHER, for help.
-one section was actually game play, in a modified game of 2v2 with 2 other students assessing them. this is where I ran into my first problem: do not put children in an environment, with a new game and expect them to play. That's number one, number two is.... none of them have ever played this prior.
Some Solutions..... use some technology.... perhaps a short film of how the game is played that meets your time limit, have a student from the class go home prior to your lesson, give him/her a task to learn the game, confirm prior that he/she has learned it, and use him/her in an demonstration. !!!!!!This also allows you to use a student and make him/her a teaching helper!!!!!

Now here is my other attempt for major success, at each station I placed some visual impairment goggles. Simply put, they do not let you see. I told them prior to separation that they, after learning the skill, feel comfortable they can attempt to do the skill blindfolded/visually impaired.----this is known at teaching by invitation---- I am allowing the students to make their decision to increase the difficulty. This is a great tool to use, especially when your student vary in skill levels so you do not hold anyone back and vice verse.

My last attempt at greatness was a PEER ASSESSMENT.
Just another way to introduce key terms, and grading policies. One thing I have found throughout my own schooling, and my teaching, is that when students know they are being graded right there and then, they tend to work harder subconsciously.

I had to deal with a couple of incidents that were slightly on the extreme side, however students will try to test a teachers patience and do things just for attention. When I dealt with these things, I used a couple of tools I call Rules of Conduct
Where all I have them do, is tell them to please go and read the paper, which are strategically away from the lesson and report back to me afterwards to explain why I asked them to go and read it. If they found their problem, I simply asked them if it will happen again, if they repeat that it won't then they are free to return.
Thankfully I only had one problem that repeated. At this time I approached him and asked if everything was ok outside of this classroom..... after a small talk that will stay confidential I found that there was indeed a problem outside of school. This is another reason why we are teachers. We must see the unseen sometimes, never rush into certain areas, but always be mindful of what could be going on in, around, and away from school.

On an especially high note, one aspect that I as a teacher in training, am graded on was a time coding chart. Time code charts are used to help us manage our time throughout lessons and I am pleased to present to you this.

finally I am just presenting a small slide show of two of the three stations that I included with my lesson.

Pop Quiz number 6

anonymous Facebook Information

Instruction..... How Much Is Too Much?

Class.... it seems that the term class often reminds us of a teaching giving us constant instruction and lectures with us, students, just sitting there and listening and hopefully learning........ hopefully.

But what happens when we think of Physical Ed.? Well we once called it Gym class, but if we breakdown the name, Physical Education most think of instruction in the subject of Physical Activity. When I think about it, I usually feel that any situation should involve learning via instruction and activity, but how much? What is the right amount of intruction, and how much should we allow for the students to learn through own physical self-education?

Using special forms designed by my professors at SUNY Cortland, I can analyze how much Instruction and activity is undergone during my teaching lessons. The Key to the design is to help you learn how to balance the right amount of instruction to the right amount of physical activity. Another key form is the feedback analysis form, which greatly helps us learn how to properly express positive feedback to the students.

Using these forms, I noticed I have been using way too much instruction and did not reach the point of Phys Ed. lesson which is, Action.

For my readers, here is my Lab C Packet, to this date.

Prepared.... Or Not?? That Is the Question!

Teaching, Coaching, Training, Working.....
What do all these words have in common? The fact that all work best if planned prior to the event. True, all can be done on the whim, while still providing a good source of learning. However, can a project that is for a major company truly work great if the foundation is off because of lack of organization or planning? Can you receive the most benefits from training if you work out the wrong muscles consistently due to lack of organization? Can a teacher or coach get the most out of their kids during skills or game related scenarios if the teacher or coach is unprepared? There is no way. Having my father a soccer coach, and myself a soccer coach, I learned that kids will pick a coach apart if the coach is unprepared for a practice or game. Children are not smart and know what they can and cannot do, due to the structure of that particular day. The beauty of that..... teaching is exactly the same way. Students love to push to see what will be possible, and sometimes this is simply due to the lack of challenge for highly skilled student.

There are many ways to be prepared; note-cards, clip-boards, having semi-visual aids [for yourself], and there's the Lesson-plan. Probably one of the most helpful tools to anyone that is planning o instructing a group on activities. A lesson-plan is another designed method to break-down the skills into an organized system from least difficult to most, while giving one's self a reminder on how long each activity should be done and helps him/her doing the teaching to remember the main objectives of the class.

Something interesting is this short music video of how organization can truly be put to work in a proper context.



I feel I must point out that there are more than 100 prisoners in this video, and not all of them are the main dancers. Do you think whoever organized this would have been able to without some planning? Just a question I leave you with today.

Blog #2.... mistake #2??

Today I was given another oppurtunity to watch myself teach during a simple yet complicated skill. The skill was yet again the cross-over dribble. Something great is how simple I made the cues for the cross-over basketball dribble skill. "Bounce-V-Bounce". However, while one such as myself, worked hard not to make anything too complicated, I found myself making another mistake..... too many people standing around not being as involved with the activity.

Someone might ask..... Why is that such a big deal??

heres the simple answers:....

1] gives children not involved chance to goof off

2] it is boring for kids.... think about it, lines..... chidlren are in them all the time, to class, from class, why would a child want to be in a line while inside what is supposed to be a fun activity class?

3] not enough children would be learning..... they would be more reinforcing either what they already know, or what they do not know.

So my solution to the future teachers out there....

When teaching new skills to children, try to avoid lines, and if it is impossible to avoid, make as many lines as possible to get the most out of your kids.

Then follow it up with a game that requires many uses of that skill.

DVD 1st Day preview

To the readers of this new blog,

This is my first entry and it begins with a small yet positive lesson.
That lesson is..... do not allow a teacher video tape you without your knowledge that other people will be able to buy the disc and see how bad you are...... that is of course unless you choose to use what you see as a tool on what others did wrong and what you, yourself did wrong.
- :-) Just kidding…..

I personally felt that one must remember that even though we are teaching ourselves, we are being trained to instruct people that might not possess the necessary skills. I gave way too many cues and was greatly annoyed with the fact that I was not as precise as I would have preferred.

I found that I also tried giving certain cues such as: [1] make a “V” with the ball, and [2] slide body weight like ice-skating. However, I used too much instruction with too many complicated words.

Another thing I noticed I did over some others is that after the initial skill that I taught, was the feedback I was giving to almost every person.