Monday, January 30, 2012

Other Interesting Courses

So far this semester is going good and I really like the classes I am involved in. There are two classes in particular lately that I have good feelings about. The first is Stats and Assessment. In this class we learn statistical concepts, assessment techniques, and other evaluation methods to prepare future educators, coaches, researchers, and physical activity specialists to evaluate physical education and other exercise programs. I like this class because it is something I have yet to take in my college career and it is something that is going to be very useful. You can never limit yourself to just one aspect of teaching and stats and assessment is a critical component if you want to teach effectively; wether that be in a classroom or in an exercise facility.

Another cool class I'm taking is a coaching clinic for soccer. This class helps me learn more than just knowing the rules of the game. It is designed to help the student establish a coaching philosophy, history of the game, coaching strategies, playing styles, conditioning, motivation, and a lot more. Soccer has long been one of my favorite sports and I want to build on what I already know so that one day I can be an effective coach. Coaching is definitely one of my desires and is something I want to be involved in for my future.

Friday, January 27, 2012

Second Teaching Experience for 255

For class today we had our second teaching experience. The first time I taught the chest pass and bounce pass for basketball. This came on the very first day of class and was a surprise to everyone. A week later and a few classes under our belt, we were ready to go back and teach the same thing we taught the first time - but now with new skills and confidence. Here is how my second time went today!

I felt confident after I had finished my teaching and after watching the video I can say I am happy with how I performed. There is always room for improvement but let me start with the positives first. I felt I was dressed professionally, had a strong, clear voice, used demonstrations, used cues, and had a good intro. I also had my eyes on the students while they were doing the drills and felt I got everyone involved. The intro was one thing we really worked on this week so that we could grasp our students attention. I felt I could have done a little bit better with time management. We had barely gotten into bounce passing drills when I was notified that there were 30 seconds remaining which left me rushing to get a few passes in as well as a closer. I am excited to see what I can achieve next time with even more time. As teachers though, no matter how much time you are given, you need to make the most of it. 

One more thing I want to share is a quality about my Professor. What really makes my Professor really stand out is his presence. When he is speaking it is impossible to not have your focus on him. That is a quality I really want to develop. I feel that is maybe one of the most important qualities of being an educator. Having people focused on you and what your saying is all important.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Being Vocal

Today our Professor drove home an important point - be loud!

Todays lesson had us focus on getting ready for our teaching on friday. We will do our presentations that we actually did the first day of classes. We are trying to improve upon our original work and build on it. We got in groups today with about 4 people and worked on having an opener that gets the classes attention and gets them ready for activity. I felt that helped because working with a few people is definitely a confidence booster because it lets you feel comfortable with what you want to present to the class.

When the class was almost over we split the class in two and sang (yelled) at each other. "There aint no bugs on us, there aint no bugs on us, there might be bugs on you guys but there aint no bugs on us." It was a goofy song but it was meant to drive home a point. By the end our professor had us basically yelling the song and the point was that as physical educators we need to be able to have our voices project loud enough so that the whole class can hear you. That way you don't need to bring everyone in every time you need to say something - that is just a huge waste of time - and we don't want to do that.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Class Number 3

I think a really important idea when teaching a class is that when the class starts - you begin activity as quickly as possible. For my 255 class, Professor Yang wastes no time in getting us involved in activity. He doesn't leave us confused by not giving us enough information, but instead he provides the right amount of information to keep our attention and than sends us into activity . Within no more than 5 minutes of the class starting, our heart rates were already jumping and I could feel myself start to sweat.

On the first day of my 255 class, Professor Yang surprised us by having us jump into teaching right away. Here is the video of how I did. Assessing myself I felt I did pretty good; but obviously there is always room for improvement. When Professor Yang teaches, he uses lots of cues and examples but as I mentioned before, I believe his strong point is how well he keeps the students attention with the efficiency in which he gives instruction and the energy in which he presents it. I realize that is something I need to work on. Efficiency allows students to not lose focus and energy is vital because your energy rubs off on your students.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Valuable Learning

For my second class for 255, I had a sweat going at 9 in the morning so you know that we weren't wasting time. It was a valuable class, as I feel all of them are going to be this semester. With only a space (the gym) and frisbees, we were able to do a multitude of activities that not only got our heart rates up, but made us sweat, move, and think.

We first matched up with partners and worked on practicing different ways of throwing the frisbee. Than we practiced throwing the frisbee by moving in different directions and than finally adding a defender. We than quickly partnered up and playing a rhythm game they made us all think quick! Now that everyone was warmed up, our professor surprised us with a yoga session which is when people started sweating.  Music was playing the entire time and I think its very good to have music playing during activities. It naturally brightens the mood and makes me feel alive and more energetic. People can relate to the beats of songs and it can energize them. As a closer we went around in a circle and worked on saying everyones name by saying the names of the people before you and the activity they taught last class. It got hard for some people as they had to say about 25 peoples names and the activities they taught two days prior.

The reason why this class was effective in learning physical education techniques was because with a simple space, we were able to achieve effective results. We got people moving, heart rates up, made people sweat, think, and smile. Our professor drove home an important message: never complain about having a lack of equipment. That is so true. You don't need equipment to get people moving. That is vital for physical education. Everyone deserves to have effective physical activity.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

255 First Class!

Today was an interesting day for our first class for EDU 255! EDU 255 is titled "Basics of Effective Instruction in Physical Education." This class is very important because it is really going to shape us into future physical educators. This class is going to challenge me to think outside the box and expand on my teaching abilities. I have Professor Yang as my instructor and I knew he wouldn't waste one minute in class - even on the first day. He had cameras set up and 4 sets of balls as we walked into the gym. He told us we had to make up a 4 minute lesson plan on the spot of an activity and present it to the class. There was a set of basketballs so I chose to do chest pass and bounce pass. This is important because it helps you develop quick thinking on the spot. Professor Yang makes you feel prepared because he is constantly challenging you to think outside the box and do something different than what is considered "normal." Blogging is also an excellent way to stay in touch with what is current in the sports, fitness, education, and health field. It also helps you meet people and share your thoughts. Check out the video of my 4 minute lesson! The link is below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSFuBFMkGLo&feature=plcp&context=C3191d0fUDOEgsToPDskJmIWAiN2igZ8gWcOTgwS4A