The Oh So Great Debate

During this last class we had a really interesting debate about what part of physical education was more important to base a curriculum off of. The three categories were Sticks in Sports, Basic Movement Skills, and Life Time Activities. All three of the teams in the debate had good arguments although some were stronger than others. It was very interesting to hear what the class had to say and it was really cool for the fact that it put us in a situation that will eventually be part of our lives as a teacher in a school district, presenting ideas to the B.O.E.
Although my job in the debate was just to video tape the whole thing, I still feel that I got a lot out of it because I had to really watch and pay attention to each of the teams arguments. Its very important to know the advantages and disadvantages to all sides of an argument and paying attention and listening to what each team had to say gave me that opportunity.
If you ask me,  I think its most important to incorporate basic movement skills with life time activities in to a curriculum because the basic movement skills will allow students to become educated in moving that is used in all sports and physical activity. While teaching students sports with sticks such as baseball is important, it is not as important in educating the students to have healthy lifestyles and to teach them sports that they can stay active in for their entire life that will ensure their healthy lifestyle.

Thinking on your feet

So, I think it is pretty safe to say that lab this week was somewhat of a brutal experience at first. When we got there, my group and I found out that two of the people in our group who had planed not only 2 games that we were planning on playing but also a closing dance were not able to make it for their own reasons. This forced Max and myself to really think on our feet and improvise to make sure the lab went smoothly and we kept the students active at all times. Because this week was a theme of Valentines Day, we related all of our games to the holiday.  This lab somewhat confused me because we've been told that the students normally do not want to play a lot of tag; during the two hours at St. Mary's this week, the children were loving tag and kept asking and asking to play more and more tag games. This worked out pretty well considering one of the games I had ready for the class was a tag game. Eventually we left the gym for some time for snack time and the children also engaged in building with leggos and playing other games such as checkers and mancala. I felt really good about my self during this segment when one of the students grandfathers was talking to me and gave me and the rest of my peers some credit when I saw his reaction that my shirt said SUNY Cortland Physical Education. It seemed as if when he saw this he had felt very comfortable to know that his grandson was in good hands. This made me feel really good about myself and the fact that I am part of such a great program. To close off the lab we were in the gym and played a great game that the kids enjoyed which required the students to work on the locomotive movement skills of hopping, galloping, and running. It was fun to watch the kids play a game that we came up with on the spot that ended up with the them having a good time.
I am beginning to feel a lot more comfortable with talking and giving directions. I still have a lot to learn and experience but this is a great place to start and have under my belt in the future.