Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Lab 4


I think some difficulties are finding games that will entertain the kids but are still good for observing. For example with catching and throwing it was challenging to find a way that they wouldn’t just be throwing it to win the game but to really be showing the steps in a throw including the step with the opposite foot and hip rotation. I also think it’s difficult to get the older kids to play games because they seem to just want to do what they want to do. I also think another difficult challenge is that some of the kids know that if they don’t want to do something they don’t have to. Therefore it’s harder to get them to really focus on what you want them to do. I think that when observing the catching and throwing it was hard to see the kids step as they were throwing.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

John Edward's Speech

10/22/08
Today we saw a presentation by John Edwards who is a communications grad student. His speech was interesting because he brought up the topic that communication has changed so much. One of his examples was that people used to socialize on their front porch and talked to their neighbors. But this gradually changed to people socializing on their decks in the backyard. Also today people text and use computers for communicating which isn't as direct as talking to someone in person. He said that one of the most common things that people say is missing in a work environment is communication. This is related to teaching because sometimes students don't ask enough questions and therefore do the assignment wrong which is an example of bad communication. He also mentioned that when you start communicating with someone it forms relationships. But each person has different kind of personality which can make communicating difficult when crossing with personalities. He said that for good communication you must study, practice, master communication, and teach. I thought his speech was interesting and true how communication has changed so much and how we need to work on asking more questions for better understanding. Sometimes people forget how much they need communication throughout there day.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Mini Conference


The presentation that I attended at the Mini Conference was about Polar and their influence in electronics in physical education. He presented ideas that you could use in physical education to better the program. One thing he presented was an electronic grade book. Within this little electronic thing you could record attendance, participation, and what they did that day in class. This way when time for a report card or parent conferences you have the dates and things that the students did. He also suggested that we should start looking at heart rate in the physical education setting. He suggested getting watches so that you could see the students heart rate and use that to see how hard they are working in class. The presentation was interesting to see the different things that you could use to make physical education that much better.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Second Post


In the beginning we observed kidegarden and first grade students hopping, running, amd galloping. When we observed I found that I never really saw either of the students switch from left to right foot. Also one girl wasnt swinging her leg enough to produce force. At the end we played a game of blob tag that most students seemed excited to play. I noticed that the students had a strategy to playing. They wouldnt start to move unless someone who was tagged came near them. Then most kids would scatter off because they didnt want to become part of the chain.

One effective teaching strategy that I saw was trying to get the students attention. Most of us say raise your hand if your listening. Then when everyone raises their hand and is quiet you are able to explain the game. One strategy I think we need to work on when were trying to observe the students is finding games that enable to see the skill well. When the games are competative its hard for the kids to do the skill efficient because they are so eager to win and even though they are supposed to hop if their trying to get away they will run instead.