Working With The Womens Ultimate Frisbee Team

This semester I volunteered to help coach the SUNY Cortland Womens Ultimate Frisbee Team.  My main job was to assist Holly Norsen in teaching the girls how to play.  She was in charge most of the time so I mainly followed her lead.  The girls made a lot of improvements throughout the semester.  One down side was I did not get to see the girls play in a real game.  Due to weather and other issues, the only tournament some of the girls played in was in Georgia over spring break.  I was not able to attend this tournament.  Over
all I enjoyed this experience and learned a lot about a sport that is becoming more and more popular.

EDU 255 Final- Prezi

Here is a presentation I made using prezi.com about an interesting article on how exercise affects learning.

<div class="prezi-player"><style type="text/css" media="screen">.prezi-player { width: 550px; } .prezi-player-links { text-align: center; }</style><object id="prezi_hcozo-wjacn9" name="prezi_hcozo-wjacn9" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="550" height="400"><param name="movie" value="http://prezi.com/bin/preziloader.swf"/><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"/><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"/><param name="bgcolor" value="#ffffff"/><param name="flashvars" value="prezi_id=hcozo-wjacn9&amp;lock_to_path=0&amp;color=ffffff&amp;autoplay=no&amp;autohide_ctrls=0"/><embed id="preziEmbed_hcozo-wjacn9" name="preziEmbed_hcozo-wjacn9" src="http://prezi.com/bin/preziloader.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="550" height="400" bgcolor="#ffffff" flashvars="prezi_id=hcozo-wjacn9&amp;lock_to_path=0&amp;color=ffffff&amp;autoplay=no&amp;autohide_ctrls=0"></embed></object><div class="prezi-player-links"><p><a title="Brain Gains" href="http://prezi.com/hcozo-wjacn9/copy-of-edu-255-final/">Copy of EDU 255 Final</a> on <a href="http://prezi.com">Prezi</a></p></div></div>

It can also be found at: http://prezi.com/ue9hgdxfz6ru/edu-255-final/

EDU 255 Final- Daily Burn

I am very impressed with dailyburn.com.  The site is very easy to use.  It has everything mapped out for you in order to do a workout plan of your choosing.  In the workout section, it provides recommended workouts while also allowing you to add you own workouts.  I was really surprised that they even had the exact type of protein shake that I drink in the nutrition section.  I do not currently use anything like this.  This is partially because I didn't know sites like this existed.  I usually just keep a rough estimate in my head of my workouts and how healthy my diet is.  I will definitely consider continuing to use dailyburn.com so that I can really keep track of my progress.  This website is perfect for meeting NYS Standard 1B.  The standard requires that students come up with their own fitness plan which is exactly what this site does for you.  It takes your goals and current physical status, then maps out how to reach those goals.  I would use the forums section to let students post their progress.  This is an easy way for me to see if students are staying on track.  I see Youtube as a great electronic tool for seeing if students meet NYS Standard 1A.  I would record them doing a skill in class then post in on my channel.  Students can go on anytime they like and watch themselves.  I would also provide the student with analysis of what they did well and what they need to improve.  By using a spreadsheet, I can keep track of student progress.  By using these and possibly other cues, I can tell just how well a student can do something such as dribble a basketball.  I would use something similar to this for other sports.  A certain grade would be passing and all students would have to achieve this score.  Technology is making it easier and easier for people to be physically educated.  It just takes a little bit of effort to find these things and put them to good use.

Lab D- Just Dance!

This was probably the funnest lesson I have taught all year in this class.  I taught the game "Just Dance" on the Nintendo Wii.  I am not the greatest dancer, so I was a little worried when I saw I had to teach dancing.  Once I got up in front of the class, I just had to do my best and not worry about how bad my dancing was.  I got some ideas from a student who taught this game last semester, but I tried to put my own spin on it.  I chose the song "Le Freak" by Chic.  I felt that I was theoretically able to relate this song to a history lesson on the 70's that students may be learning.  Through the poster about the 70's I was able to bring that aspect into the lesson.  There was a lot of waiting time.  I guess that should be expected when you have to wait for the game to load up.  I need to be louder when the music is playing.  I thought I was louder than the music, but when I did my feedback analysis it was tough to hear what I was saying to students.  It seemed like I gave a lot more feedback than I have marked down, but that might be due to not being able to hear everything I said.  The challenge of mirroring your partner seemed tough for some students.  They didn't go in the same direction of their partner, or got lost for a second.  I was not expecting to do that last section of doing the dance without the screen.  As the song went along, some students got lost so I tried to improvise some moves without knowing what the real order was.  That was a good little addition, but I was not prepared for it.  Overall, I think I have really improved in this class.  I feel much more confident getting up in front of a group and teaching a certain skill.  I still have improvements to make, but I feel that I have come a long way.

Time Coding(part 1)
Time Coding(part 2)
Feedback
Content Development
Lesson Plan

Lab C- Goalball

Teaching goalball was a different experience for me.  I had never seen or played this game, so it was something totally new to me.  I had to watch YouTube videos and search for rules to the game.  I decided to use one of them just to show the class what we were working towards.  In this lesson I did not use any music.  Students had to hear the ball coming or they would have no idea where it was.  This may have taken away from energy from the class, but it was necessary.
Looking at the video, I could have spread people out more on the defensive practice so that there would be no chance of people diving into each other.  On the first drill using the blindfolds, I did a poor job of explaining the drill.  Students didn't realized that they could take off their blindfolds to catch the ball from their partner which led to a big mess.  I corrected it, but should have pointed it out earlier.  Since somebody taught before me, I didn't get a chance to set the nets up early and then forgot to in between lessons.  Setting them up for the last part of the lesson wasted some time.  I thought using the whistle for the part of the lesson was beneficial.  One of the rules in goalball is that players have to wait for the referee's whistle in order to throw, so students got to learn that rule.  It also added structure to the class.  Everybody was orderly and on the same page.
I am feeling more and more comfortable every time I have to teach.  I am finding that writing up a script of what I want to say really helps.  I can get all my thoughts down and review them for a couple days.

Time Coding(part 1)

Time Coding(part 2)

Activity Progressions

Lesson Plan

Content Development

Feedback

Lab B2- Entering and Exiting Long Jump Rope

Lab B2 was an interesting one. I was less nervous than usual while teaching entering and exiting the long jump rope. I went a little longer than I was allowed to, but I guess that's OK. I liked my hook of seeing the cave and I got a couple of giggles from it. I was nervous about doing the demonstrations because explaining and doing the skill at the same time seemed difficult but I did fine. I still need a lot of work on my feedback. While watching the video, I watched myself watch a student, then not say anything. There was definitely something I could have said every single time that happened. Also, I still need to remember to keep my back to the wall, not the students. At one point, one group tangled together and was fooling around. It took me a little long to notice, but when I did I think I handled it well.  I knew that pretty much everybody knew how to do these skills, so I tried to give them some specific cues that they performed well.  In the first part of the lesson, a girl joined the class.  The group she joined now had 5 people in it and the other group had 3 people in it.  I asked Trent to join the other group so that both groups had 4 people.  I think this worked out a lot better because everybody was able to have equal activity time.  Overall, I think I did well, but I still need to work on giving feedback.

Transcript

Time Coding

Feedback

Jump Roping Lab (B1)

I am starting to feel more and more comfortable getting up in front of the class and teaching.  It had taken a good amount of time to prepare, but it's definitely worth it.  My hook started off pretty good, then I kind of forgot what I wanted to say when I wanted to check for understanding.  When doing my time coding, I noticed I spent the first minute and thirty seconds on instruction.  Considering the total length of the lesson, my instruction shouldn't have been that long.  Students seemed a little bored with the first task.  I probably should have cut that a little shorter and moved on.  I need to work on my feedback skills.  First off, I used a lot of general feedback instead of reinforcing the cues.  I also need to remember to keep my back to the wall.  Danielle actually made me realize I wasn't doing that.  Even after she pointed it out, I still had trouble doing it.  I also need to project my voice a little bit more.  I am happy that I got the activity time up to 55%.  If I cut down on the instruction like I said before, I can get this percentage even higher.  I think the students really enjoyed making up their own routines.  I made it a point for half the class to perform their routines at once.  I didn't want to single out anybody, but I also wanted to give everyone a chance to show off what they can do.  Jenna asked me a question during the second skill.  While answering it, I turned my back to some of the class.  I think it's important to answer student's questions, but I should have positioned myself better so that if something happened I could have seen it. 

Transcript
Time Coding Form
Feedback Analysis

Rink Chapter 9 Questions

2. Five general principles that are implications for teaching from motivation theory are teachers must find ways for students to meet their needs in positive ways, students must perceive what is to be learned as meaningful, use a variety of teaching strategies, tasks should be designed to permit each student to function at an optimal level of challenge, and tasks should be designed to allow the student to function with autonomy.

3. - Learn students names and use them: Students feel more attached to the teacher when the teacher knows their name.  They will also get a greater sense that you care about them.  It gives a more personal touch, and can also help when the teacher is trying to get specific students attention.
- Be enthusiastic and positive about what you are doing: If the teacher isn't excited about an activity, how can they expect the students to be?  Enthusiasm will get more students interested in the lesson.  When the teacher doesn't show positivity, that can only lead to a poor performance by the class.
- Project a caring attitude toward all students: All student have issues that need to be dealt with.  Teachers can not give off the impression that  they think less of any student even though they really might.  If a student feels comfortable enough to talk to a teacher about their problems, they have the right to be listened to.
- Reinforce basic and shared beliefs of honesty, tolerance, respect, risk taking, and effort by modeling behaviors, as well as reinforcing them when the occur in the class: Racism, sexism, general disrespect, etc. are all a major part of our world.  Teachers should not promote any of these ideas in the classroom.  School is not a place where students should be getting negative ideas from.  Instead, teachers should promote things such as honesty, tolerance, and respect to help promote students personal growth.
- Do not reinforce behavior destructive to self or others by doing nothing about it: All teachers need to deal with general behavior problems.  By setting a good example and correcting bad behaviors in class, teachers can help modify these behaviors into acceptable behaviors.
- Do no allow yourself to become threatened by student misbehavior: For the most part, students bad behaviors are not personal attacks against the teacher.  Teachers need to deal with the misbehavior in a professional manner.  If a teacher feels threatened, there is a lot of work to be done before any learning can occur.
- Make it a practice to intentionally treat all student with equitably.  Develop an awareness of your patterns of communication to different students: Teachers can not give off the impression that they have favorite and unfavorite students.  Regardless of skill level and behaviors, teachers should make a point to get around to every student.  Developing a relationship with all students will help the performance of the class as a whole.
- Learn to be a good listener and observer of student responses: All students have something to say whether the do or not.  Knowing your students can help performance in the class.
- Chart your life for personal growth: Teachers are people to.  They have goals and things they want to accomplish in life.  Having a positive outlook on yourself as a person will help teachers help students reach this level.

Rink Chapter 7 Questions

4. Six behaviors teachers can engage in during activity that have the potential to directly contribute to lesson objectives are maintaining a safe learning environment, clarifying and reinforcing tasks for learners, observing and analyzing students responses, providing feedback to learners, changing or modifying tasks for individuals and small groups, and maintaining a productive learning environment.

6. One way to get a off task student on task is to provide feedback on student performance.  This can be done in a few ways.  The teacher can give direct positive feedback to the off task student when they are on task.  Students like to receive positive feedback, so when you give it to them, they are more likely to do more on task behavior in an effort to get more positive feedback.  Another way is to give positive feedback to on task students around the off task student.  The off task student will hear their peers getting positive feedback, and will be more likely to get on task.

7. (1) This class is doing a very good job of dribbling with the fingertips.
(2) This group needs to try not to catch the ball in the palm of your glove.
(3) Johnny, bend your knees a little bit more on your free throws for more power.

Lab A2- Volleyball Setting

I feel like this lab went much better than last time.  I was able to prepare at home so I knew what I wanted to have students do.  We talked in class about having a hook that would get students interested in the lesson for the day.  I decided to connect setting a volleyball to looking out a window at a snow storm.  I think that gave students a good cue to remember when performing this skill.  When I wrote out my transcript, I realized that I said "alright" a lot.  I didn't even realize I was doing that.  Not saying that so much would probably be a good thing.  I totally forgot to do a checking for understanding in the beginning.  Because there was an uneven amount of students, there was a group of three.  I didn't say anything to them, but they knew how to set themselves up so that everybody in the group got a chance to practice.  Littler kids might now know how to do this, so I need to remember to give them more direction.  I think I could have walked around the group more and given people more positive feedback.  I did stop them to give them corrective feedback, but it is also important to make sure students know what they are doing right.  This gives them more confidence in what they are doing, and will probably lead to better performance.  I thought the competition at the end was a good idea because this is a relatively easy drill that everybody can be successful at. This proved to be true when every group had approximately the same score.  Overall, I thought I did much better in this lab than last time.  I was able to ignore the camera better and had more confidence in what I was doing.

Time Coding Form

Physical Education at the Hendrick Hudson School Distrct

After searching through the district report card, there is no mention of Physical Education at all.  There are a bunch of statistics on math, science, and graduation rates but not even one tiny chart about Physical Education.  This is pretty shocking to me.  I know that when I was in high school you had to take a total of two years of Physical Education, but it did not count towards your overall average.  On the other hand, if you failed, you had to retake it.  That doesn't make any sense, but those were the rules.

Rink Chapter 2 Questions

2. A student in the cognitive phase might be somewhat hesitant when performing the skill.  They are still new to the skill and haven't mastered the basic movements yet.  Performance will look awkward and most likely won't be too effective.  The student will be really focused on what they are doing, but any little change in the environment will throw them off.  A student in the associative phase has mastered the basic fundamental skills of the movement.  They understand what has to be done, but still  need a significant amount of feedback to reach the next level.  Students can focus on a specific area or two that needs work and generally be successful.  The automatic stage is the final stage.  At this level, students can do the skill without thinking about it.  It comes with ease.  The student can perform in a wide variety of environments.  Now they can being to focus on external factors without having to concentrate completely on what they are doing.

4. Different skills should be taught differently.  Closed skills are aimed towards stability of the movement.  You must use progressions for these skills.  Open skills involve an incredible amounts of different environments so it is impossible to teach them all.  Students should be taught how to perform the skills, then must adapt to the environment on their own.  Discrete skills can be taught by repetition.  They have a clear beginning and ending and there is little change in the environment.  Serial skills are similar in that they are a combination of discrete skills.  In order to do serial skills successfully, students must be taught the individual discrete skills first.  Continuous skills don't require as much precision and are carried out for a longer time.  Teaching these requires the foundation of discrete and serial skills.

Rink Chapter 1 Questions

1. When it is said that teaching is a goal-oriented activity, that means that we are trying to get students to a certain level of performance.  Teachers want students to uphold standards such as the National Content Standards for Physical Education Programs.  Students all come into the class at different levels.  We want all students to improve, and at least reach an acceptable level of performance.  Teachers have to make these goals realistic, but challenging at the same time so that students do not get bored but also have a high chance of success.

4. The process teachers use to teach content is important because teachers need to make sure everybody in the class gets equal exposure to the skill.  The process needs to be educational, but also make itself something of interest to the students.  If students do not develop an enjoyment of physical activities, they will be less likely to participate in class.  When this happens, they will fall behind their classmates who have interest in the activities.


5. Movement task-student response is a critical part of Physical Education.  Students need to know what is expected of them.  They need instruction on what is to be done during class.  It is the teachers responsibility to convey this.  The student response is where a teacher can tell if a student understands what needs to be done and if they can do it.  If the response is negative, the teacher may need to redefine the task for the student.  When the response is positive, the lesson can go on and possibly provide the students with tougher challenges.  If this did not exist, classes would be in chaos.

First PED255 Class

In my first PED255 class, all students had to teach.  We were given a few choices of sports and had to teach a five minute mini lesson.  The tough aspect of this was that nobody was prepared to teach.  Each student had to come up with something on the spot!  I choose to teach a little bit about volleyball.  I took volleyball last semester so I felt comfortable in teaching some of those skills.  I don't think I did too bad but there were definitely some things I can improve on.

While typing out my transcript, one thing I noticed was that my voice was not very intriguing.  It kind of stays at the same level without much excitement.  Also, at the beginning of the lesson, I didn't give a great intro/hook.  I could have used more a better progression into the drill, although I thought the drill itself was pretty effective and provided a challenge.  After watching the video, I realized I didn't give much positive or constructive feedback.  I kind of hung around and just let my peers do what they were doing.  In conclusion, I do have somethings to work on, but I feel like I am on the right track.