Corporate Influence

                I was told once that “money makes the world go round, so don’t be square”. At first I thought that this person was a fool, but upon further review and outside of their acknowledgement I began to agree. As we all know the major money comes from business and enterprise. They run the world and everything revolves around them and their successes and failures, so why would anyone think that business wouldn’t have any effect on our public schools? The answer is, business culture has a dramatic influence on our schools and how they operate. They play a critical role in many different aspects of our schools that we might not even realize.        

           When our students are in their classrooms, working on a project and researching a topic they are utilizing multiple different informational sources. One of which is certainly going to be a book, but where did that book come from and how did the school come to get it. Chances are it wasn’t free and that someone had to pay for it. Even though we are in a huge technological upswing, books still play a huge role in our schools. The schools purchase the books from manufacturers who are making a massive profit. Schools typically purchase based on what’s called a low bid cost. This means that companies put forward an offer to the schools for their books, and schools will vote on the different options typically choosing the lowest bid that still meets their requirements for the books they want.

      

       While this is a process that has been going on for many years, some places are looking to make a change in this process in an effort to reduce costs to already suffering budgets. One option that schools in California are looking at is moving away from paper copies and moving to eBooks, or electronic books. These books will be downloaded to either computers or to tablets that students will have access to, and will be able get the same information. This would reduce costs significantly, and would still allow students access to the information from the textbooks. While some see the financial gains as a major positive, others are purists and believe that taking physical books away from students only further pushes our society towards the technological stronghold.

                

      While books are one aspect of business in schools, what companies want more than money from the districts is the opportunity to advertise in their schools. The money earned from advertising far exceeds the money from products sold to the district. Companies know that advertising and influencing adolescents would net them the greatest gains. The advertising is seen by some as an easy way to bring in massive amounts of income to the districts with no effort on their behalf. However the downside to this seen by some is that we are selling out our students to earn a few dollars. We would be allowing companies to brandish their logos and catchphrases around our schools further allowing them to lay influence over our impressionable students. While I feel that this is an easy way to earn money to support other portions of our schools, it’s almost like selling your soul to the devil.

          

      This doesn’t mean that I don’t think that we should eradicate all corporate influence from schools, I think that it needs to be done so in a responsible manner. I think that corporate influence has the opportunity to benefit both parties, but great care needs to be taken so that we can ensure that our students are not being sold out for a few extra dollars in the budgets. When introducing corporate influence into our schools, it can be done by less intrusive ways, such as through technology. Allowing companies that want their products in the schools to be used through grants and donations. Such as computers and tablets from apple, digital cameras from Nikon and so on. Companies are willing to gift their products to schools, but the schools are the ones who need to advocate for these grants/gifts. This is a responsible and meaningful way of introducing the business world into our school systems.

Finances

Money is what makes the world go round. While this statement is sad it is also true, and without the proper funding schools struggle to create and even maintain basic functioning abilities. Especially in today's economic climate we see a steady and constant downturn of the funding given to schools. Over the past five years almost all schools have seen a steady decline in the amount of federal and state funding. School boards have been face to face with creating budgets that are not only filled with difficult decisions, but they are forced to decide how many teachers we will be losing, what programs are worth more than others, and finally which ones can be cut.

So when you ask, why is important for teachers to know where the money is coming from, I can only ask, why wouldn't they want to know. The budget directly effects the materials they will be able to get, the amount of students in their classes, and even more critically their salary and benefits. Teachers are already seen by most as a vastly underpaid profession, and yet they play a major role in the futures of our youth. As teachers and future teachers, we need to make it a point to find out as much information about the budgets as we can so we can be informed consumers.

Each year a school board passes a budget to be voted on by their local community who essentially will pay a school tax that directly affects the budget of their local schools. If as consumers you have no idea what is going into the budget, all you see is the increase in the amount of money you will be paying on top of your property taxes. To many people, they already feel that their taxes are too high, making it difficult to justify paying even more. They have an even more difficult time ponying up more money when they don't have any children going through the public school system. They don't understand that a 3% increase on their taxes could potentially save 20+ jobs in their district. All they see is that they will pay another couple hundred dollars. They don't have anything physical to attach the extra fees to.

There are other ways that money can be brought in other than the federal and state funding. There are a massive amount of grants available to teachers, if you are willing to work for them, but since nothing is free, you will need to pay in effort and dedication. Programs like Keep Gym In School are dedicated to keeping Physical education in our schools, and they are advocates of keeping kids active. Strikingly enough, they also offer grants to teachers who they find are dedicated and are trying to pushing the boundaries of their physical education programs. Earning money for your program or school, doesn’t have to come from grants either, because chances are there are people in your community that would be willing to donate funds towards your program. The thing is, it is up to the teacher to go out and find those people, because last time I checked people don’t walk around handing out money. However if your program is open and outgoing, you are more willing to find community members who are willing to support you and your ideas. These ideas need to be reviewed and agreed on, and to make sure that you can explain and present them in a way that shows you have done your groundwork.

As teachers we need to be able to explain where the money comes from and what it is going towards, because the old answer of "it is going towards your child's education" won't cut it anymore. More than that, you need to know where the rest of the money is coming from, because if you aren't informed enough to give an educated answer, how are you going to talk to your community members and express to them the importance of this tax. Having my wife as a teacher has given me greater insight into both sides of the issue that most never get to see. I know what it is like to pay high taxes and see a steady increase each year, and yet I also hear about schools laying off dozens of teachers, and even worse closing schools. I also have a more in depth look into what the school budget involves rather than just buying books and paying salaries. Teachers are being forced to take pay freezes in their contracts simply because funding has been cut in half from where it was years ago. So as times get worse and costs go up, pay stays the same. This increased pressure in their personal financial situations should be reason enough to gain as much knowledge about the issue as possible. Otherwise everyone can keep burying their heads in the sand and hope for the best and complain about the rest.

Bullying

           Bullying is not something that is new or groundbreaking, but it is a more prominent topic of conversation today. We often hear that bullies are pushing other children to their breaking points and beyond. When I hear these stories, they have a special meaning to me, because I was a victim of bullying myself for years, and it was the most difficult time of my life. I wasn’t the best at anything, I didn’t live in the same development as everyone else, I moved to the area in the middle of elementary school, I was short, and had a big mouth. I had a lot of things working against me and what made it worse was my lack of friends. It took many years of torment from a few individuals until I was able to break free and become confident enough to get out from under their control.

      

         When I was bullied, it was a mixture of physical and verbal abuse that was continuous at school. I was able to find ways of staying out of sight in order to avoid being made fun of. While these tactics worked for me to make it through a school day, children today aren’t nearly as lucky. Not only are they tormented while at school face to face with their assailants, but then they go home and get online to receive even more abuse. The world of social media has spawned a new wave of ways for bullies to attack their victims and create a relentless attack. The blessing of instant access to each other online has become a double edged sword that creates an attack pit for bullies to attack on a round the clock basis.

            

           If bullies have so many opportunities and avenues to torment, how are we supposed to stop them? Well, a Tulsa public school has done just that, and created a way to anonymously report and describe bullying and where and how it is taking place. This will hopefully allow students to feel comfortable enough to speak up and tell someone, and have the people listening make a difference. Students often feel like they are unable to say anything about bullying, because they don’t know where they can turn in order to find help.

There are ways of dealing with bullying, that aren’t the confrontational and classic “fight back”, because violence rarely solves violence. You can confront the bullying in much the same ways as ju jitsu, and use their force and power and use it against them. We can teach our students to take away the power from the bullies by teaching confidence. But we can’t stop with teaching it, we must help to build it, through creating active relationships and teaching them to not allow the insults to carry weight. While this is easier said than done, it is possible, because I am living breathing proof.

The power of a confiding word is much more powerful than one might expect. Being accessible is the first step that we can take as a teacher to help support our students. We also need to let our students know that there is more to life than school and that there is something to look forward to. Many large companies have stepped forward to pass on the message of “it gets better”. This is a message to help young people who are struggling with their sexuality and the challenges that come with it, and it lets them know that people care and things are only going to go up. This message is vitally important because students need hope and to know that just because things are bad now, it doesn’t mean that this is how things are always going to be. We also need to play an active role in ensuring that we do not allow any form of bullying to take place in or outside of our classroom if we can. I know that from my own experiences growing up, that I will be doing whatever it takes to stop bullying to the best of my abilities.

Diversity

                Diversity is a topic that America has struggled with since its creation. We claim to be a melting pot of cultures, yet the coming together of multiple cultures or beliefs still stands a hard line. As citizens, we must take a look at our own values and ideals when it comes to the issues of diversity. We must ask ourselves, what diversity even means? Is it the differentiation of different races in an area, or does it have more to do with religion? Maybe instead it is the socioeconomic differences where we find diversity separating people. Regardless of the criteria, diversity is the different characteristics that make someone or something different or unique from another.

                Diversity is something that everyone must deal with and eventually accept, because in certain areas of the United States diversity rules. The Western coast of the U.S. is seeing what is called the “minority majority”. This means that there is no single race or ethnicity that holds the majority of the population. While this might not be a shocking statement if you were talking about a smaller scale, however it isn’t.  Instead we are looking at an entire region of the country. This should give people an idea of the massive numbers of different ethnic groups mixing throughout the population. Over the past few decades, we have seen the largest influx of immigration ever. With people coming from all across the globe, it is safe to say that diversity is going to affect everyone at some point. This is highlighted even more in many of our schools. We are seeing students from every race, religion and family structure that have their own specific needs.

                These needs cover a wide array of differences ranging from mastering a new language, moral beliefs, religious practices, to physical and mental disabilities. As a teacher, you may not encounter every single difference; but you will certainly deal with some of them.  Even in my limited teaching experience, I have already encountered multiple students with very diverse differences and have had to make modifications accordingly. However, just because your class is diverse it doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to make modifications. Having diversity in the classroom is a good thing, because it teaches students to be open minded and not make judgments of others based on stereotypes.  Creating an environment that is positive and open allows students to focus on the content rather than each other’s differences.

                Allowing students to think for themselves and create their own choices is something that I foster with all of my students. I try to teach them not only about physical education but about being strong independent citizens. I want them to learn to look through stereotypes and prejudices that others around them may have created. Often I speak to my classes about the important character virtues that they need to learn and live by. I not only teach my students about them, but I try to be a living example of them, not only in school, but outside in my community as well.

                Living amongst a diverse population of students and people is only a portion of how we are affected by diversity. As educators we must also be diverse, but not in who we are, instead by what we do. We need to be diverse the ways and methods that we teach our students. It is known that not all students learn the same way or through the same pathways, so we must diversify how we present the content to them. It is also true that not all students enjoy the same activities; if they did there wouldn’t be so many sports, clubs and groups. Artistic expression is similar in many ways as athletic performance. This is because when people are performing a skill that they are passionate about it is irrelevant whether it is a sport skill, or a show of their voice or dance talents.

As Physical Education teachers, we can diversify our classrooms even more by breaking away from the traditional sports and activities we have played for decades. With new innovations in exercise video gaming we are able to grab the interests of students who may not have been as eager to participate in PE. Things like iDance and DDR allow students who may enjoy dancing and music to have something that not only peaks their interest, but also gives them an excellent workout as well. I look forward to working in a diverse culture, and teaching in a diverse way because I feel that the amount of second hand learning that can take place would be irreplaceable. 

Classroom Visit 4/27/12

Today I went to visit my third graders in their general education classroom. When I arrived they were in the computer lab creating slide shows on power point to present their information they compiled from their 50 states project. I thought that this was interesting, because I know many adults that are unable to create a powerpoint. Beyond the content they were learning I was more focused on the student's behavior. For the most part I observed what I had been expecting to see; that there were my typical students who did a good job following directions and listening. There were also the normal students who were misbehaving and off task.

However I did notice that there were a few students who were normally very quiet in the gym, but were very outspoken and active in the classroom. The teacher commented to me that this was normal for these students, and that they were "un-athletic" but were very "book smart". I wasn't sure how to take this comment, because I feel that your athletic ability or academic intelligence should not be relevant to your experience in Physical Education class. I pride myself in including all of my students, not just those who are skilled movers. This was an important note that I will be taking with me back to the gym, because I don't want students to feel that they can't express themselves in the gym simply because they don't think they are "athletic".

Why a Philosophy?

What is the purpose of a philosophy? Is it something we learn? Are we born with our own, or does it manifest itself within our teaching? All of these are important questions that as educators we need to be thinking about. Not only in Physical Education, but all subjects. As leaders of students, we must have something that creates a basis of why we do what we do. Having a philosophy doesn't necessarily mean that you have a twenty page dissertation to describe what your beliefs about teaching are. It could be summed up in one sentence if you prefer. That is the great thing about your beliefs, because they are yours! You don't necessarily learn your philosophy, but instead it is something that grows and changes with the more knowledge and experience you gain. 

My philosophy is likely to be different from yours, my professors, or your peers in some way, but that isn't what is important. What is important is how you demonstrate and stand behind your philosophy. Because if you believe that students need to learn more about lifetime activities, and yet you teach nothing but the traditional six, you are being a hypocrite and not being true to yourself. I am a firm believer in taking a stand and fighting for what you believe in, regardless of who is with you or against you as long as your reasons are justifiable and true in intention. This doesn’t mean that everyone’s philosophy is necessarily right either. However, it doesn’t matter who’s is right or wrong, what matters is whether or not the impact on student learning is both positive and enjoyable. While I know that my philosophy is likely different than my future co-workers, I know that I will stay true to my beliefs and not be pressured into changing my ideals.

Field Experience Day 9 3rd Grade 4/19/12

Skill Themes and Student Abilities

Working on our volleyball skills again today was a challenge due to the way I had the skill progressions planned. I had planned that the children would self toss the ball and then forearm pass it up and catch it. After discussing the progressions after the lesson, I came to the conclusion that I should have moved around the order in which I chose progressions. This was a great wake up call, because it had me start thinking in a different manner. While we already know that students need guidance with learning new skills, sometimes we forget the smaller details that can have a large impact on our success or failure. 

That being said I didn't take into account the automatic movements that I already possess when I was coming up with the activity. I didn't even think that the motion of tossing a ball up and putting the hands in the proper position would be difficult, but it was. The students struggled with getting their hands back into position to bump the ball, and in hind sight I would have rather them done this activity with a partner throwing the ball to them. Yet another learning point that I will take away from this experience.

Field Experience Kindergarten Day 9 4/19/12

Reflection of Lesson

Today was my final day working with the Kindergarten class in the gym, and was also our first day starting the volleyball unit. With the volleyball unit, the host teacher has split the class periods to focus on fitness as well. This works well, because while the students are still gaining exposure to the volleyball skill themes, they are also learning about fitness and its benefits. I really liked the idea of splitting up the class time to incorporate fitness, because the students only have PE once a week, so this gives them the opportunity to cover more material then they might have had the two not been combined.

We did the fitness portion of the class utilizing 4 stations set up in each quadrant of the gym, separated by the crossing volleyball nets. This allowed for easy to understand transitions as well as maintaining visibility of the students at all times. One thing that I would have changed would be to not have had the students using the jump ropes, because very few of the students were actually able to do the skill properly, and it wasn't feasible to have a teacher there correcting every group of students.

With the volleyball portion, we focused on the overhand smash, because it worked on the students hand eye coordination as well as being a valuable skill in volleyball. To make the skills easier to perform, we had the students use beach balls rather than an actual volleyball. This made the balls much more manageable and the students were able to perform the cues as well.

Field Experience Day 8 3rd Grade 4/17/12

Management Strategies

In the lesson today with the 3^rd graders, the gym was split into four distinct quadrants by two crossing nets that spanned the entire gym. This naturally set the class into a stations setting, and the lesson was based accordingly. The quadrant setup allowed me to easily manage the class within their stations, because I was able to quickly and easily see what was going on throughout the lesson. I was able to monitor behavior and participation as well as give individual feedback quite easily and efficiently.

I think that stations are a great way to manage a classroom, because it allows students to work on their task without having the entire class watching them. It also breaks up the class into many different activities adding in a variety of tasks. This is the same style of classroom management that I used and plan to use again to complete my assessments. Having success in the lesson furthered my belief that stations can be effective when utilized properly. 

Field Experience Day 8 1st Grade 4/17/12

Skill themes and student abilities

Today I worked with a different group of students due to state testing changes in the schedule. This was a good thing though, because it allowed me the opportunity to work with a 1^st grade class, and see the differences in abilities of a different age group. While their skills weren’t far and above that of the Kindergarten class that I normally work with, there were distinct differences. For instance, their coordination levels were developed more, and they were able to move with more ease and fluidity as opposed to the Kindergarteners.

One thing that was similar was that there was little differentiation between the skill themes worked on. The teacher explained to me that he doesn’t differentiate the skill themes between the two groups, but instead he simply looks for more proficiency of the student’s movements. I wasn’t sure how to feel about this, because while their skill levels weren’t drastically different, I did expect there to be differentiation between the two lessons.

Rituals & Rountines

The routines of a Physical Education class vary from teacher to teacher and school to school, and it is a critical element that teachers must pay close attention to. If the routine at the start of your class is for students to leisurely get dressed and then come out and stand around talking, what tone is that setting for the rest of the class? Does it send home the message that we are here to move and learn, or is it fitting the mold that PE is a social hour/recess? Far too long, has this been the case that teachers allow their students to waste precious time that could be spent warming up or participating in an instant activity.

Creating a routine that sets up the mindset that we are here to move is so important, because many Physical Education classes are so short to begin with. We need to make an effort to maximize any time that we have. It isn’t enough to just have something for the students to be doing when they come out, but it must be relevant and interesting. We want our students to be excited to come out and get moving right away.

Aside from preventing wasted time, we must have rituals that promote cohesion and positivity. Having students create squad or group warm-ups is a great way to build leadership roles and other important character virtues. We use these rituals to aid in the management of the class, because when the students have responsibility and clear guidelines, there is less room for interpretation and a decrease in off task behavior. 

Comparing Inequality

When we are comparing school based solely on their test scores, is the objective, subjective, or just silly. In my opinion it is silly and taken out of context to such an extent that we become blinded by testing results. Do we take into account that student who wants to do well and succeed academically, yet when they go home they are taking care of their three siblings while their parents are at work trying to provide for them. What about that student who lives in constant fear due to a violent or dangerous neighborhood. How are they supposed to be compared to the student who lives in a wealthy socioeconomic area who has no worries or fears about any of these other issues? This is simply the tip of the iceberg of how a student’s personal life directly affects their ability to concentrate academically. While it isn’t impossible for a student growing up in a lower socioeconomic status to become successful, it surely takes a lot more effort.     VS.     

If you take the social aspects of socioeconomic status out of the picture, our schools are very comparable and competitive right? Not even close. Schools in areas surrounded by poverty and low socioeconomic status are in turn going to reflect their communities. They are going to receive less money from property taxes because, if the median home price is 60k in one school district as opposed to the one across the lake where the median price is 200k. These schools are burdened even more by the fact that when hiring perspective teachers, the wealthier district is they are more likely going to pay more to start than the state minimums. This often means that the more desirable teachers are going to choose a job that pays 10k+ more a year over the one that starts teachers out at the state minimum. While this doesn’t mean that there aren’t good teachers in these lower economic districts, they are however more likely to leave their position to move to a district where pay is increased and budgets are less restrictive.

As much as we would like to think that we aren’t in this career for the money, everyone needs to make a living that is able to support their families. If this means that you have to change districts to make more money to support your own family, you are likely to do so. As a father, I know that I would do anything I can to give the best possible life to my children, and if that means moving jobs than so be it. This is the un-ideal situation that many teachers are faced with. There comes a point when money is the deciding factor and ultimately you have to do what is best for your own family.

Making sacrifices like these are what hurts struggling districts even more. They already bring in less money from taxes and yet are then penalized by the state when their test scores don’t meet a certain expectation. Since school taxes are based off of property value, the math is simple; a house that costs 200k is going to pay more to their district than a house worth 60k. Less money means poorer building conditions, less supplies, older technology, and less/older equipment. While there are grants to offset some of these deficiencies, they can’t possibly make up for it annually. With all of this in mind, how can we ethically compare two schools of drastically different socioeconomic statuses and expect them to perform equally? We can’t, and until congress can come up with a better plan, schools are going to continue to struggle, and the weak are only going to continue to be pushed to their breaking point.

Show me the money!

Money is what makes the world go round. While this statement is sad it is also true, and without the proper funding schools struggle to create and even maintain basic functioning abilities. Especially in today's economic climate we see a steady and constant downturn of the funding given to schools. Over the past five years almost all schools have seen a steady decline in the amount of federal and state funding. School boards have been face to face with creating budgets that are not only filled with difficult decisions, but they are forced to decide how many teachers we will be losing, what programs are worth more than others, and finally which ones can be cut.

So when you ask, why is important for teachers to know where the money is coming from, I can only ask, why wouldn't they want to know. The budget directly effects the materials they will be able to get, the amount of students in their classes, and even more critically their salary and benefits. Teachers are already seen by most as a vastly underpaid profession, and yet they play a major role in the futures of our youth. As teachers and future teachers, we need to make it a point to find out as much information about the budgets as we can so we can be informed consumers.

Each year a school board passes a budget to be voted on by their local community who essentially will pay a school tax that directly affects the budget of their local schools. If as consumers you have no idea what is going into the budget, all you see is the increase in the amount of money you will be paying on top of your property taxes. To many people, they already feel that their taxes are too high, making it difficult to justify paying even more. They have an even more difficult time ponying up more money when they don't have any children going through the public school system. They don't understand that a 3% increase on their taxes could potentially save 20+ jobs in their district. All they see is that they will pay another couple hundred dollars. They don't have anything physical to attach the extra fees to.

As teachers we need to be able to explain where the money comes from and what it is going towards, because the old answer of "it is going towards your child's education" won't cut it anymore. More than that, you need to know where the rest of the money is coming from, because if you aren't informed enough to give an educated answer, how are you going to talk to your community members and express to them the importance of this tax. Having my wife as a teacher has given me greater insight into both sides of the issue that most never get to see. I know what it is like to pay high taxes and see a steady increase each year, and yet I also hear about schools laying off dozens of teachers, and even worse closing schools. I also have a more in depth look into what the school budget involves rather than just buying books and paying salaries. Teachers are being forced to take pay freezes in their contracts simply because funding has been cut in half from where it was years ago. So as times get worse and costs go up, pay stays the same. This increased pressure in their personal financial situations should be reason enough to gain as much knowledge about the issue as possible. Otherwise everyone can keep burying their heads in the sand and hope for the best and complain about the rest.

Field Experience Day 7 3rd Grade 3/29/12

Assessments of Student Learning

Today the 3rd grade class was beginning their bowling unit as well, and we started the lesson with the students learning the cues and rules of the bowling activity we had planned. Today was also the day we had decided to perform the preassessment for our up coming volleyball unit. We decided to have a seperate station set up off to the side where I would be evaluating one student at a time on their vollying skills.

I decided to do the preassessment this way, so that I would have time to evaluate the data from the preassessment and plan my lessons accordingly. I decided to pull students asside while the others worked on the bowling activity, because it was very unintrusive of the other lesson going on and didn't disrupt any of the other students. We worked as a team to have one teacher lead the other activity making sure that students were staying on task, and giving feedback while I worked on the assessments. I also chose to bring students to the assessing station, because they didn't feel pressure from the other students watching and they were in a more controlled environment. Overall I think that it went well, but I would have liked to move them through the evaluation a little quicker, but behavior issues slowed up the process. I do feel that this was a good way to do the assessment however, because I feel that doing the evaluation prior to the lesson will allow me to plan the upcoming lessons more effectively.

Field Experience Day 7 Kindergarten 3/29/12

Students with Special Needs

Beginning our bowling unit today started with the group learning about how to set up the pins for the bowling activity. All the pin spots are designated with spots marked on each lane, and the ball returns are located in between every other lane. We then moved quickly into the students practicing bowling and gripping the balls. While this was easier for some than others, for the most part everyone was able to successfully bowl the ball down the lane knocking down pins.

In this group we do have a student with Autism, and he struggled with this activity. He was very fixated on the pins getting knocked down and it was difficult for him to leave them alone. He constantly wanted to run up and simply kick them over. He also was uninterested in setting them back up. This was frustrating for his group members that he was working with, because they were constantly waiting to set everything back up. Eventually, another teacher came in and worked one on one with him to try to focus his attention on being productive rather than destructive. Once this teacher came in he was able to focus much more on the task rather than knocking everything over. I feel that if this other teacher had not been there, the lesson wouldn’t have worked out as well. A lot of our attention and efforts were concentrated on keeping him on task prior to this, leaving a lot of the other students without the guidance that they needed. I gained a better grasp on the need for modifications for students that need more attention.

Anxiety Types

When discussing anxiety, you will often read about trait as well as state anxiety. These are two very different types of anxiety that have very different effects on those who suffer from severe forms of anxiety. As humans we all have a natural reaction to certain situations which create anxiety naturally through preprogrammed reactions deep within our brains. Since I am learning about anxiety as I go, I first needed to understand the difference between the two types, because they are always the key feature of most articles. First an example of what each is.

Trait anxiety is a sense of fear or being over-concerned with things that are not of any threat. People with trait anxiety will live constantly with a sense of uneasiness about everything. They will have an inappropriate reaction to common situations such as walking onto a train or dealing with crowed areas or loud noises. They may feel like they are being threatened by these inanimate things and in some cases come to an almost debilitating state where they are frozen by fear or anxiety.

State anxiety is a rushing feeling of anxiety that most of us will face when given a certain situation. Everyone’s reactions are going to be different, but it is to what degree we react to the situation that is important. An example of when you might feel this, would be if a child ran out in front of you car. You would instantly feel a rush of emotions and adrenaline. This feeling will subside in a matter of time, and while this is normal, some people struggle to come back down from this heightened state which is a cause for concern.

This article looks at the correlations between state as well as trait anxiety and physical activity. It states the correlations between those engaging in physical activity and their barriers that they build when preparing to enter a new activity. It shows that anxiety elevated with those individuals who suffered from anxiety, which is to be expected because they are entering something that can potentially contain risks of injury. The article does state that state anxiety had a much more profound impact on activity, and that it should be considered when physicians are prescribing activity to their patients.

Fighting Anxiety

We all have a good handle on why exercise and leading an active lifestyle is beneficial to our lives. But are there more benefits that we are not fully realizing? Since many of us already lead an active lifestyle, we are reaping these awesome benefits, but what about that person who isn't active? What if they are a person that struggles with trait anxiety as well? Well, this article's findings lead us to believe that there are more benefits than the ones we already know about. This article states that it's control group who did 10 weeks of step aerobics/dance vs the group that didn't had increased physical effects, but more interestingly they had a reduction in anxiety. This is interesting because it shows the mental benefits of exercise as well.

Taking a Deeper Look into Anxiety

We all get anxious at some time in our lives, but most of us are able to move past it and continue functioning. Well, what would happen if you became so anxious and so worked up that instead, you shut down. Well this happens more often than you would think. Anxiety is a disorder that affects more than 60 million people here in the U.S. and it can potentially have devastating effects on people’s daily lives.

Since the beginning of this semester, I began a new job as the Lead swimming instructor at a fitness center here in Syracuse. Doing this, I have met all sorts of different people from the community, as well as many of the young kids in the area. One thing that stands out to me often is the increased anxiety of new swimmers and putting their faces under the water. This is something that can and does hold back young swimmers from learning to actually swim without any flotation devices. This sense of fear has the power to literally cripple people and this has sparked my interest in learning more about this subject.

This has driven my decision to do my research study on anxiety and its effect on Physical Education. Being in a few different physical education classes for different observations and to teach, I have seen this first hand and it wasn’t a pleasant scene. I want to learn more about this subject, so that I can potentially help students who may be dealing with this disorder in one of my future classes.

Field Experience Day 6 3rd Grade 3/22/12

Reflection of the Lesson

 

This lesson was the one the validated all of my hard work and perseverance. I have never had such a good overall lesson in my life, and it gave me such a good feeling when I was done that I have still not stopped smiling. Once again I was in charge of the class and my master teacher was merely acting as an assistant. We did a lesson similar to the one that we did with the kindergarten group, except we added in different objects as targets, such as rubber chickens and pigs, large dinosaurs, and a giant stuffed bulldog. To build further on the lesson, each target and object was given a point value, and the students were required to run to a back board and add up their point totals as they went. This was an easy modification that allowed us to bring in their regular classroom materials and incorporate them into our lesson.

After the first round of throwing, the students were sent out to reset all the targets and pins, as well as to gather as many objects to throw. When all the targets and objects were reset, the students waited in their lines and I walked by to see how many objects they had retrieved. Upon walking by I noticed a set of girls who had very few throwing objects in their barrel and asked the class if anyone with a lot of objects would be willing to give them some extra ones. Another group readily volunteered their equipment to the other group would have a better chance to earn points.

 I took this opportunity to stop the class and talk about character virtues. I talked about the virtues that I live and that were taught to me by the Marine Corps, and those virtues were: Honor, Courage and Commitment. I explained what each stood for and how living by these virtues and having these characteristics makes you a better person. The students were extremely responsive to this and I felt that it was an important message and the perfect time for these students to learn it. When I was done talking we started right back into the activity and proceeded to the end of the lesson. While this discussion lasted a few minutes that the students could have been being active, it was such a powerful moment for myself as well as the students, I felt it was perfect. The master teacher even stopped me after the lesson to tell me how great of a moment it was. He also said that it was a great thing that I felt comfortable enough to stop the class and do something like that, and even better that it came so naturally. These are the moments that I live for, and it further instilled that this was the best lesson of my life.

Field Experience Day 6 Kindergarten 3/22/12

Skill Themes and Student Abilities

Today was the start of our Frisbee/throwing unit in the kindergartener class. We had a main activity that was geared towards having the students get as many possible different throws in in the period as possible. There were lines marked off for the students to be paired off and a line that they would be throwing behind. Instead of having just one target, there were over 50 pins/targets set at different distances and of varying sizes. Also to add spice to the lesson, there were different objects set up top of the flat pins that the students could aim at.

 

While the children enjoyed being able to try and knock down the different targets, this gave the master teacher and I the ability to assess their different throwing abilities. Each set of students had a barrel in front of them with many different sized balls and Frisbees to throw at whatever target they chose. Through this activity we were able to give corrective feedback to each and every student as they threw the different objects. This was good, because while there were some students who could throw the balls, they might have had trouble with the Frisbees or vice versa. The individual attention allowed for specific corrections while not singling any students out. I thought that this way of assessing and correcting was absolutely perfect and there wasn’t a single thing I would change. Overall it was a very productive and fun lesson.

Field Experience Day 5 3rd Grade 3/15/12

Knowledge of the Students

I have been given the reigns of this class, and with great pride I am making my best attempts at becoming their teacher. I feel like I am steadily getting to know each and every one of my students on many different levels. I am learning names, backgrounds, abilities and attitudes. This is making things much easier and effective when deciding who should be working together, and which students are going to perform stronger in different activities. Since this class does a lot of working with partners and groups, knowing how to quickly choose teams/groups makes transitioning between tasks much smoother.

Dealing with the behavior issues in this class takes more effort than anything else that goes on during a lesson. As I have stated before there are a handful of students in this class that are known to try and poison the group through misbehaving. This week I used my knowledge of the students to strategically place these certain students in certain groups where I know they will be surrounded by positivity and other students who are going to keep them on task. Since we did a stations style activity today, the knowledge of the students was vital in the lesson going as effortlessly as it did. I now fully understand the importance of learning as much about my students as I can.

Field Experience Day 5 Kindergarten 3/15/12

Curriculum and NYS Standards

The kindergarteners today were finishing up with our basketball unit, and while they have greatly improved their skills over the past few weeks, there is still a long way to go. Most have grasped the physical aspect of the game, but today we worked on the mental side. We did partner activities as a way to build affective skills amongst the students. The first activity after the warm up was partner shooting, where each time a group was called one of the partners would run out dribbling to the short basket in the middle and see how many times they could get their colored ball into the basket. While they were doing this the other partners were counting the number of baskets made in the allotted time. This kept both members involved and created a sense of cohesion amongst the students.

The group was then split up into groups of 4  with 4 areas already set up around the gym with a trash can filled with basketballs in each area. The game was squirrels and nuts, and the object of the game was to have the first student in line run to another groups “nest” and steal a nut, dribbling it back to their nest and putting it in the can. When they returned the next squirrel could run to any nest and so on. This game, while simple, created such a great sense of community amongst the students and many other good attributes. The teacher even commented about the standards and how we are meeting them to some of the students. I thought that it was great that the teacher was informing the students why we do what we do and how it benefits them.

Hooping Around the Pond

Explain three important benefits of hoop play.

Hoop play helps to develop hand eye coordination as the students maneuver the hoop around their body. It also works on developing their foot eye coordination. The main benefit in my eye’s woud be total body awareness, because they are forced to coordinate their entire body to effectively move the hoop around.

Give an example of how hoops can be used to reinforce cognitive concept linked with classroom learning.

Hoops can help younger learners to learn and master colors, by having multiple different colored hoops set up around the gym, calling out a color and the students would have to run and stand in that color. You could also put a number in the middle of the hoops and the students would have to find the corresponding number that is called out by the teacher. The teacher could then take this a step further and have groups of students use the numbers in the hoops to do addition and subtraction problems. i.e. if they are standing in a one and then move to a four they would then have to find the number 5 and stand in that hoop.

Describe how hoops can be utilized to promote growth in the affective domain.

Cooperation and teamwork are easily worked on through hoop play. If there are 3 yellow hoops out on the floor and the teacher yells out yellow, all the students would have to work together to fit into that colors hoops. At first the teacher could start out with multiple different hoops of the same color and then slowly remove certain hoops making fitting into the hoops more difficult. This will create a sense of teamwork by having the students work together to figure out how to get everyone in the hoop together.

Utilize the internet to gather information about ponds and related ecology to use in you field experience teaching or future teaching.

Having a vast amount of animals and organisms living in the same space creates a sense of balance as well as give and take. Using the analogy of students “living in the same pond” could teach them about cohabitating. This sense of sharing is vital for any child to use, and tossing in animals like frogs and fish would make creating games and scenarios easy around a pond theme. 

Imagination lab

Identify a fitness theme and design appropriate fitness stations to enhance various health skill related components of fitness.

For this situation I would choose a superhero theme, with the first station being the Incredible Hulk area where students would work on powerful strength movements. These movements could include a box jump, to work on the powerful leg muscles. Another could be medicine ball throwing.

Another station would be the Superman station where kids would work to be faster than a speeding bullet. This station would be a sprinting station where kids can take the explosive power that they just worked on in the previous and put it into motion through running. The sprinting station will work on their anaerobic explosive power.

The final station would be a Spiderman station where the students would work with jump ropes. This station would work on their muscular endurance as well as be a fun activity using different jumps.

Identify people that are famous for use of imagination and creativity such as Einstein, Picasso, and Bach.

Steve Jobs is known for being a creative innovator, and he dedicated most of his life to pushing the boundaries of technology and thinking outside of the box. He created and designed products that were often looked at as awkward and strange, and yet over the years Apple has become a technology powerhouse with groundbreaking products.

Design a rubric for assessing the acting-out of inanimate objects by students in small groups as described in the activity close of this lab.

Students participation

4 – Student is actively participating during the whole activity.

3 – Student participates, but does so with little effort.

2 – Student participates, but fades in and out throughout the activity.

1 – Student doesn’t participate at all during the activity.

Movements and Sounds

4 – Student’s actions and sounds are both realistic and done with enthusiasm.

3 – Student’s actions and sounds are good enough to guess, but lack of enthusiasm exists.

2 – Student only performs a few actions with little or no sound

1 – Student doesn’t perform any movements or sounds

Cognitive and Affective involvement

4 – Student carefully thinks about movements as well as works well with other group members.

3 – Student thinks little about movements and works only slightly with other group members.

2 – Student doesn’t think about movements and rarely helps/works with group members.

1 – Student isn’t involved in the process or group at all.

Parachuting

Find information on the history of the parachute and how a parachute works.

The first sketches of parachutes date all the way back to 1495 when the great mind of Da Vinci drew them among his many other ahead of their time designs. Similar to Da Vinci’s design, a man by the name Fauste Veranzio created a similar contraption that he used to jump from the Tower of Venice. The design of a parachute works simply to slow the downward movement of whatever it is supporting as it falls. It creates drag against the wind and slows down the fall rate and is made of a light weight material that is meant to expand and trap as much air as possible.

Create a parachute routine composed of various parachute activities learned in class.

Getting the students comfortable holding and maneuvering the parachute is ideal, so to start we will start with the crazy whirlpool effect. Each student will shake their arms up and down as quickly as possible to create wild ripples across the parachute. Next we will create an air dome. The teacher will count to three and on three the students will raise their arms up quickly and then drop down all the way to the floor and sticking their heads underneath as the parachute creates a large dome effect overhead. They will do this again but this time they will jump underneath sitting their bottom on the edge. The next activity will be popcorn, where students will toss a few foam balls into the center moving as rapidly as possible to dislodge the balls from the center.

Practice a yoga routine for a week, and keep a journal of how you feel.

Doing yoga is a great way to relax and get a great exercise routine in. I have been doing yoga at my work for some time now, and I feel better doing this than spending extra hours in the gym. If you practice yoga regularly many people will claim a much more relaxed and overall smoother daily life, and from my experiences this is very true. You can build strength, flexibility while relaxing at the same time.

Use pictures to diagram each pose in the salute to the sun yoga routine.