Business community surrounding schools

The business community influences the school culture and finances in many ways.  For example the school I am from had 69 students who graduated and one of the neighboring schools graduated around 200 students annually.  The differences between these two schools are not only their graduation number but their communities and the businesses that are in those communities are different and have different impacts on the schools.  The smaller school has a small community where the major businesses around the area are family owned convenient stores and farms.  This does not provide a lot of opportunities for the students in that community.  The students do not have a local recreational center to go to so they can partake in organized activities.  With the poor local business and low population there are not as many opportunities for local sport teams and out of season leagues.  The bigger school is surrounded by a much larger community the businesses around this area range from local privately owned businesses to huge corporations such as Burger Kind and Wal- Mart.  Also in this area there is enough money to afford local recreational centers that have indoor soccer fields and organized leagues that people can join and sign up for. The smaller community does not have the resources or income to give the same opportunities as the bigger community. 
 I do not agree with corporate funding of schools because I believe that public schools need to be funded by the community and a portion of that can be corporate but not enough for the corporate to have an omniscient role in that school community.  If there were to be just strictly corporate funding in schools then that school will be ran to make money for that corporation, students will become advertisement property and instead of playing for a community the athletes and sports of the school would be representing a corporate company instead of a school and what the school means and represents. 
 If there were to be a place for corporate funding in schools the politics of that corporation would have to be set aside.  The main purpose of the school is to educate and give children/ young adults the tools necessary to be successful in today’s society.  That goes beyond contextual information and includes ethical, moral, and character values as well.  No matter the business community surrounding a school whether it be small privately owned business or huge multi million dollar corporations the main priority should always be the student’s education. 

Diveristy!!

Warren Peter Patterson
Section 2
Question 1
Diversity
From my standpoint diversity is the amount of culture and uniqueness that is brought into each classroom and lesson plan.  When most people think of the word diversity they assume that people are usually talking about someone’s race or ethnicity, it also includes all stereotypes from cultural background, to religion, gender, social status, and educational level; all of these generalizations give labels to students that are unfair and detrimental to their learning. 
Diversity does not just affect the students it also has an impact on the teachers as well.  Each teacher is different along with each principal, school nurse, custodian, and all other faculty members that make up a school.  On a personal level I come from a rural prominently white area, there are a few black families and that is it.  The rest of our diversity in our community come from the social class, which includes where people live and how much money there family makes.
As a substitute teacher and completing over 75 plus field experience hours there were
some issues with students saying inappropriate generalizations about other students, for
example the term “throwing like a girl” is inappropriate because it is a subtle rude comment that indicate females cannot throw a ball or whatever the object was. 
Personally I feel that students should be given many opportunities to express themselves individually in an educational setting.  As physical educators it is our job to integrate what the students learn in other classes into our own lessons and own classrooms, this includes even outside the typical math, English, science into the other classes such as art and music.  As physical educators we have the ability and opportunity to teach dance and listen to music while we teach therefore physical educators need to bring relevance to the music that is playing and bring the dancing to life with its history and positive background information. 
 Many games and new technology are helping bridge the gap between the integration of art and music into the PE setting.  With games like DDR this allows students to stimulate themselves mentally with the video game however it also is keeping the student active and has them dancing and moving to beat with rhythm.  Even though it is expensive the investment is well worth it not just for the students but for after school workshops for parents and other faculty members as well.  

Bullying

Warren Peter Patterson
Section 2
Question 3
Bullying
Bullying is a serious issue that all students must face in one way or another in today’s schools.  For students who are quite, not participate, unhappy, or even act out through aggression may all be signs of that student being bullied.  Students today however have a new tool to use when it comes to bullying and that my friend is called the internet.  The internet or cyber-bullying has really changed the face of bullying because now students go home and leave school and have to continue to face this humiliation at home.  Many schools today including some in Tulsa have anti bullying programs that teach students about bullying and help them through stories and other educational activities. 
 The adolescent mind changes as students go form elementary school to middle school then on to high school.  However going from elementary to middle school is a big step and many students have angst and feel pressure to do well from there peers, teachers and parents that they may not have felt before.  Middle school students are maturing or going through the process of maturing and this is a crucial period for kids and it is important that teachers are helpful, informative, and always there to listen and ask questions.   Students all mature at different levels and this gives more chance for bullying to occur.  In Physical Education teachers have the opportunity to teach student how to defend themselves against bullies.  The moral and principal of self-defense should be taught way before students learn the physical aspect of the karate.   At SUNY Cortland physical educators are required to take a self defense class that focuses on lessons that address simple and basic escape maneuvers and tactics.  The skills of self defense can be taught at all levels differently and teaches students how to be physically and mentally tough against bullies and the physical and mental harassment. 

EDU 470 question 8

While being at Cortland I have had a wide variety of teachers ranging from hard raw old school teaching to a technologically based classroom setting and I could sit here for hours explain to someone how one of the styles are better than the other or in which class did I learn more in however regardless of how I learned they all had good teaching philosophies that at the end of the day taught students.  Every teaching philosophy is unique and can have a lot of individuality to it and that is what makes a good philosophy being able to add a sense of individuality to your thoughts and teachings.   The philosophies in the United States are essentialism, perennialism, progressivism, social reconstructionists, and existentialism.  An essentialism approach has the idea to teach the students the absolute needs or the “essentials” to character development, academic knowledge, and patriotism.  Perennialism come from a more context and factual approach, this kind of philosophy is structured around text books, and ideas and concepts.  Progressivism is more of an authentic approach to the real world with primarily focusing their educational beliefs on the concerns, curiosity, and real life experience for the students.   Social Reconstructionists relate to the students refining and “reconstructing” the justifications of society and are trying to teach to make society a better place for everyone.   The last philosophy existentialism is very similar to one of Mosston’s styles of teaching which was self-teaching because both of these styles and philosophy deal with allowing students to find the answer to their questions and pretty much re-discover the wheel and all the mistakes along the way.  Along with the mistakes they learn, the students also will learn the valuable lessons as well that go into “remaking the wheel”. 
I am a firm believer in teaching through the physical and building character through physical education.  I would have to categorize myself under the progressivism philosophy, I support the idea of being taught information that is relevant in today’s world.  I like how progressivism wants to move away from the textbook material and get more hands on with the material. 
My educational philosophy tells a lot about me as a teacher and what my goals are for the students.  My goal is simple I want you to leave my class happy and a better more knowledgeable person.  I want my students to truly learn and build their character through physical activity and by always challenging themselves physically and cognitively.  Students should understand what it means to be responsible and respectful and that is where our roles as educators can have an impact on each student’s demeanor.  This handout I made for my future Physical educational classes. 

Mann the man!!

One of the most important people in education is Horace Mann. He was the founder of common schools and helped to reinforce the foundation of education across the country. This “Father of the Public School” believed that public education work towards two goals that were practical and idealistic. In 1837 Mann held the position of “Superintendent” and had a hand in the creation of the Massachusetts State Board of Education. He strongly enforced improving education for all social classes. He believed that educating the working class would improve the economy by increasing the efficiency of industry and business. Mann thought that lower income families deserved the same amount of education as those who could afford it. One of the ways he did this was trying to desegregate the classrooms, but the role of religion proved to be an issue. He was not only a leader in education reform,  a motivational force to his students. His focus in the classroom was not towards the typical content, instead he concentrated on relevant information that would prepare them for the real world.
In 1838, Mann created The Common School Journal. In it, he discussed the problems within public schools and what he believed in; “his six main principles were: (1) the public should no longer remain ignorant; (2) that such education should be paid for, controlled, and sustained by an interested public; (3) that this education will be best provided in schools that embrace children from a variety of backgrounds; (4) that this education must be non-sectarian; (5) that this education must be taught by the spirit, methods, and discipline of a free society; and (6) that education should be provided by well-trained, professional teachers. Mann worked for more and better equipped school houses, longer school years (until 16 years old), higher pay for teachers, and a wider curriculum”
Mann was a pioneer for all teachers in education and the public school system. He was one who stood up for what he believed in and made changes to better society through new age innovation and learning.

Playing with Polio

During the early and mid 1900’s there was an epidemic that swept over the United States causing many people to get sick and thousands of people to lose their lives.  This epidemic was called polio and it is a viral disease that can lead to full paralysis in some cases.  The outbreak caused national panic until there was a vaccine created in 1955 by a man named Jonas Salk.  The virus spread through direct person to person contact, contact with infected phlegm or mucus, or contact with infected feces. Since the outbreak in the 1900’s the world has seen a decrease in polio patients, and can be found typically in some areas of Africa and Asia and is more aggressive during the summer and fall months.  Most children are immunized at birth for the disease and most people are only at risk if they travel to an area where an outbreak has occurred.  For children who are affected by polio may result in complete paralysis and they would have to be in a wheel chair for the rest of their life, this may affect the persons physical activity however there are many things that can be done even in a wheel chair especially in the physical education setting.  Some games that students who are chairs users can play are Wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis; most students in chairs can also bowl with minimal assistance.  Also to challenge these students during class they can always be checked for understanding by asking them questions, also incorporating cognitive tasks into the lesson to get the student involved will provide some type of challenge besides physically.  Lessons that use stations can be modified to help with the student’s upper body strength, or obstacle course can be set up to allow the student to practice maneuvering around objects.  Figure

Colonial Education

The nature and purpose of colonial education was different if you were a boy or girl.  Christopher Lamb revolutionized the classroom, when Christopher Lamb was in school the program back then was focused around the bible and, moral and social values.  The discipline during Christopher’s classroom experience was based off of physical punishment; the students received welts and bruises when they acted out.  Christopher Lamb became a teacher after his apprenticeship was up, once he had the reins of the classroom he started to change things, for example he took out the need for physical discipline and began using a punishment and reward system.  Education grew from simple home schooling to dames or stay at home mothers who started teaching more than just their own children.  The education changed a little, yet the focuses were still on reading, religion, and values for the boys.  However the girls were taught homemaking skills by the age of 7 years old.  As time went on a law called Old Deluder Satan Law was passed and made it a requirement that –Every town of 50 households must appoint and pay a teacher of reading and writing, also – Every town of 100 households must provide a Latin grammar school to prepare youths for the university, under a penalty of 5 pounds for failure to do so.  All in all the colonial time period for education laid out the foundations for, local control of schools, compulsory education, tax-supported schools, and state standards for teaching and schools. 

A little look at some history!

Schools have grown in a variety of ways over the years from race and ethnicity, the gender, and public growth of the education system.  Education has come a long way since the 17th century in the United States; it has grown from simple trade schools to the laws and rules of the classroom we have today.  The first schools in the 17th century were based around apprenticeships, informal family education, dame schools, and it went as far as hired tutors.  As the 18th century came around the corner the nation grew more concerned about education, and the states got more involved as well.  As the years went on secondary schools began to grow and become more relevant in the education system.  Ethnicity throughout the years has been an issue even with the schools today.  Prudence Crandall was one of the pioneers for bringing education to African American girls in the 1800’s.  She was taught by active abolitionists who were fighting for racial equality; therefore this was a driving force behind her interest in education equality.     She began her own school for girls in Canterbury, where the first black girl was admitted.  The reason this was such a huge deal even though Connecticut was a free state meaning African Americans were not slaves, was that many of the whites in that area wanted the freed African Americans to be deported.   Believe it or not many of the whites were afraid of interracial marriages and wanted African Americans to leave.  Even with the harassment verbally and what not she still was persistent  in teaching young black girls and after her passing the education for African Americans continued to grow.  (image click here)

The Practice Method

The practice method is broken down into a whole practice and a partial practice, this refers to the skills being demonstrated and learned either by practicing it whole or in parts with progressions.  The part practice gets broken down in two three sections, 1.  Simplifies skill, 2.  Allows learners to experience early success, 3.  Permits practice on problematic components without wasting time on those already mastered.    The whole practice is sometimes beneficial over the practice for example, an organized task or interdependent skill such as a cartwheel cannot be broken down into parts or that would be difficult to do so it is easier to teach as a whole, versus a complexity task which can be represented through a swimmer and the freestyle stroke because would be easier to learn if it was broken down into parts.  There are other factors as well such as the capability of the learner, the equipment available, and environment can all be factors in the approach one takes when teaching skill.  When deciding how to teach the skill whether it be a whole or part practice keep in mind that skills that are high in organization and low complexity usually are easier to learn through whole practice, but skills with low organization and high complexity are usually taught with part practice, even with these two “rules” keep in mind that they do not account for all the possible combinations of organizations and complexity.  Figure

Non-Profit Soccer Organizations

I recently did some research on some nonprofit organizations that are affiliated with soccer.  A nonprofit organization “Play Soccer” was founded in 2001 through a similar program in Ghana.  The program started out with 100 kids and since then it has grown to 40’000 kids in 6 countries and still a sport led program.  The program is funded by a bigger brother program the PSNI (Play Soccer Nonprofit Organization) the program is budgeted at a low cost budget with volunteers.  The PSNI provides supportive organizations, quality-training, and basic resources.  The program takes place after school and on weekends when the kids are obviously most available to play and all the kids who are there seem to be fully participant in the program.  Another nonprofit organization is “NEYSO”.  This was founded in 1978 in San Antonio, Texas and completely supports youth sports, soccer is a focus of theirs, and they also work with special needs teams as well.  There are two other organizations that work with this one, one being the South Texas Youth Soccer Association, Inc. (STYSA), and the other being the United States Youth Soccer Association (USYSA).  An interesting rule these programs enforce is sportsmanship.  They have a zero tolerance rule with mouthing off to referees and not playing with class.  I find a lot of outside high school organized sports lose the idea of sportsmanship and care to much about winning rather than playing the game.   I think soccer is a great sport for kids, it has a great tactical approach to it and demands a strong fitness level and it is such a fun game to play.  Therefore any organization that can use soccer to help kids in rough situations or give kids a better opportunity at something has a successful program in my eyes.  Another reason Soccer is a great game for kids is that it is a reasonably affordable game realistically kids just need a ball and making goals are simple.  Soccer also has a lot kids on a field at once ideally the game should be played with 11 players on each side however the game can be modified to be played with 12 or 3 players on each side and the kids will still get the fitness out of the game, teamwork, and can still have fun.  (image location click here)

Teaching philosophies

While being at Cortland I have had a wide variety of teachers ranging from hard raw old school teaching to a technologically based classroom setting and I could sit here for hours explain to someone how one of the styles are better than the other or in which class did I learn more in however regardless of how I learned they all had good teaching philosophies that at the end of the day taught students.  Every teaching philosophy is unique and can have a lot of individuality to it and that is what makes a good philosophy being able to add a sense of individuality to your thoughts and teachings.   The philosophies in the United States are essentialism, perennialism, progressivism, social reconstructionists, and existentialism.  An essentialism approach has the idea to teach the students the absolute needs or the “essentials” to character development, academic knowledge, and patriotism.  Perennialism come from a more context and factual approach, this kind of philosophy is structured around text books, and ideas and concepts.  Progressivism is more of an authentic approach to the real world with primarily focusing their educational beliefs on the concerns, curiosity, and real life experience for the students.   Social reconstructionists relates to the students refining and “reconstructing” the justifications of society and are trying to teach to make society a better place for everyone.   The last philosophy existentialism is very similar to one of Mosston’s styles of teaching which was self-teaching because both of these styles and philosophy deal with allowing students to find the answer to their questions and pretty much re-discover the wheel and all the mistakes along the way.  Now the question is usually asked which philosophy is best and any good teacher will explain that no one philosophy is best however it’s the way the teacher can pull different meanings and lessons from each philosophy and bring that into their classroom and give the students more opportunities to learn.  Click on me for the image 

Do physical activity not drugs!

Drugs in schools are always an obstacle that students and educators must face.  An article on Exercise and Substance Use Among American Youth found in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine by Yvonne M.  Terry-McElrath discusses the relationship between drugs and student athlete’s performance in the classroom and exercise.   The study shows how students who did not use drugs or alcohol including tobacco had higher grades and increase in exercise performance.  The study also states that students who did use drugs and alcohol used less when they were exercising and participating on the athletic team.  Seeing how substance abuse patients use exercise and physical activity to help control and decrease craving for their addiction, while students are using physical exercise to fill the need for drugs and alcohol.  Now do not get me wrong rehab patients and high school athletes are completely different and are not directly related, but there is a connection between the physical activity and the drug use.  As the reports show besides dealing with alcohol and high school students the drug use both decreased as physical activity increased.  Many people get discouraged when they hear the words physical activity or physical fitness, however many activities that are lifelong healthy activities are recreational and fun, it is more than just going to the gym and working out.  Activities such as hiking, kayaking, golf, tennis, or even dance are all healthy activities that can be used by anyone especially substance abuse patients.  In many of the studies above athletics and physical activities took the place of using drugs and alcohol and have turned their physical activity into a new positive habit. (Picture)

Written Assessment!

Today was my first time giving a written assessment to actual students instead of my peers.  Today my trip to Newark Valley Middle School my partner and I had a written affective assessment that addressed 3 out of 4 dribbling cues and an example of how they demonstrated good sportsmanship during the lesson.  Managerially the assessment went fine we had all the students spread out along the mid court line and one of us passed out the pencils and the assessment while the other explained the directions.  We gave the students about 5 minutes which did not seem to be enough time for some of them.  The answers we received were very interesting and varied from basic one word response to 3 to 4 sentence reply.  Once the first class got done with our assessment they were given a free period so I went and worked with some of the girls with jump rope and we ended up playing a game that had 3 girls jumping rope at once counting to see how many successful jumps they could get as a whole.  The next class that came in we were able to set up and explain team handball which involved bouncing a ball into a goalie free net and having the option to shoot the ball at the basketball hoop.  During the game one of the students had a problem with how his team was not playing defense well and he chose to come over to me and yelled that it was “bullcrap”, I asked him what he said and he realized he wasn’t allowed to speak like that and he responded with saying that it was wrong how his team wasn’t passing him the ball and wasn’t stopping the other team from scoring.  I explained to him that he cannot help his team when he is arguing and needs to cut or some sort of offensive move to get open.  The student caught me off guard because I was not expecting him to be so upset it seemed liked everyone was enjoying the game.  I thought I handled the situation appropriately and it reminded me of my 255 class and skill acquisition class because when we had teaching assignments our peers would imitate disruptive students, and in this case that definitely helped me.

Physical Activity Can Decrease Depression In Substance Abuse !!

Physical activity can be very important with the recovery process in substances abuse patients.  In an article found in Mental Health and Physical Activity Journal called A pilot study of aerobic exercise as an adjunctive treatment for drug dependence written by Richard A.  Brown they discuss how physical activity can help patients with recovery and help with not relapsing.  One way they address using physical activity in the recovery step is that physical activity can help improve moods and as a result physical activity will decrease depressive symptoms and which will also decrease risk of relapse.   Two predictions of relapse are sleep disturbances and weak cognitive function, proper physical activity has been proven to lessen sleep disturbances, and increase cognitive function.  The article also addresses teen usage and how physical exercise increased physical fitness, decreased multiple drug use, and made the teen’s abstinence rate increase.  The teens and many of the other substance abuse patients in the study used walking and jogging to replace their habitual drug abuse habits.  They found that using physical activity gave them a positive feeling about their self- efficacy which helps with the recovery process.  The study did not just focus on the physical aspect of recovery but also included group exercise and activities along with an incentive system.  The group activities focus more on the cognitive and behavioral techniques that are related to everyday changes they have to make their in personal life, they also increase motivation to be physically active.  The incentive section of the study was receiving money for attending the meetings and receiving money for completing their self monitoring form they obtain each session.   The physical aspect of the whole study was to exercise moderately to intensely (brisk walk) over a six month period and also exercise no less than 3 times a week for 20 minutes a day for the 6 months as well.  The study was somewhat of a success however a few problems that can be taken into consideration are the control of the group and their level of participation, along with the group size and amount of people participating.  The exercises also have to be cost efficient and reasonable, physical activity is a very important piece of the recovery process and can be very effective in helping with not relapsing.

Hoooper!!!

Monday at Newark Valley Middle School our students were beginning their fitness testing unit, and Monday was the start of the pacer test.  This test is used to measure the students cardiovascular and cardio respiratory fitness level.  The test is set up with two lines or makers 20 meters a part then a musical player will be on beeping and counting, the beep speed increase as the amount of laps or one count are completed.  The 5^th grade girls that were tested did a very impressive job some students scored above 50 and some were even above 60!  After the pacer test we had 4^th graders and our host teacher asked us to come up with a game involving hula hoops and a ball, so I remembered the game Hooper which I saw being played during my 256 Field experience over our winter break.   The game is played with a lot of the same rules as ultimate Frisbee with the three steps and passing and tactical approach.  We paused the game a few times to go over spatial awareness and moving without the ball to get open.  Hooper is a little different then ultimate Frisbee because in the endzone’s there are two goalies that have hula hoops and their team has to throw the ball through the hula hoop without physically stepping into the endzone where the goalie is.  The goalie in this game is allowed to move however must stay in their own endzone.  Our host teacher liked the game a lot and complemented on how the goalies were interactive instead of simply standing in a goal like other games such as handball, floor hockey and soccer.  

An Introduction into Substance Abuse and Physical Activity

Everyday people are victims of substance abuse and it is a very difficult situation to overcome, however physical activity can help the process.  Physical activity has many positive effects on individual moods and behavior so one can assume that it would also impact people with substance abuse problems in a positive manner as well and can help with the recovery process.  The article Exercise preferences of patients in substance abuse treatment in Mental Health and Physical Activity by Ana M.  Abrantes discusses the relationship between patients in substance abuse programs and physical activity.  The research they conducted said that 71% of the patients were not regularly participating in physical activity however 95% of patients showed interest in programs that were exercised focused.  Physical activity was shown to help with moods, self efficacy for abstinence, decrease the crave for using substances, and helps with the coping aspect of substance abuse.    The programs have different opportunities for patients that range from walking to swimming to organized sports.  I find this interesting because substance abuse is extremely serious and addicting, being able to use physical activity and exercise to help the recovery process is quite amazing.  Having physical activity as a hobby is great way to deal with stressful situations and has many positive attributes that benefit patients even programs are over.  Another great thing about using physical activity is that it is extremely flexible, for example, it can be done with or without others, inside or outside, in a small place or large place, and can be in expensive and still effective.    !!!Keep checking my blog for updates on substance abuse and its relationship with physical activity!!! 

Reference
Abrantes, Ana M. "Exercise Preferences of Patients in Substance Treatmentabuse." Mental Health and Physical Activity 4.2 (2011): 79-87.

Post Assessing Dribbling at Newark Valley Middle School

Today I went to Newark Valley Middle School to finish up our post assessment of dribbling and to observe a classroom.  The classroom we observed was a 7^th grade health class which had a guest lecturer and they discussed the term consequence and reputation.  The discussions were very interesting and one response a student had for a good consequence was when someone eats they become full.  I thought that was creative and funny for a 7^th grader.  The discussion for the reputation led to one student commenting that if someone were to steal or lie they would taint their reputation, I thought the vocabulary, using the word taint, was very impressive for a 7^th grader.  Once the health class was over we post assessed the same class we had Monday for the basketball skill dribbling.  We warmed them up with some stretching in between the game Pac man Tag.  The next activity was our post assessment which was a continuous dribbling game of knockout and when a person knocked out they went to the other area and every time they got knocked out they just kept going to the other area.  After getting our post assessment data we asked our host teacher if we could let the kids go outside because it was such a nice day.  So we went outside for the remainder of the period and played freeze tag with the class, however towards the end of class when we had to line up and go inside two girls who were sitting out did not behave.  I looked over at them and saw one of them drop a stone and the other one put it in her pocket, I asked if she could put it down and she said it was for her boyfriend, my response was well it has to stay outside because we cannot bring stones into school.   She ignored me and walked away so I informed my host teacher and she escorted the little girl to the office.  The lessons we taught and saw today were well organized and ran pretty smoothly for being a Friday with elementary and middle school students.  

Basketball Assessment

Today at Newark Valley Middle School my partner and I decided to our lesson focus on basketball dribbling   skills and begin pre-testing them as well.  Today as a whole I thought our class had a lot of fun because we were so enthusiastic and engaged with the kids.  They were 5th grade girls playing simple dribbling games such as Dribble Blink where they basically have a staring contest while dribbling the ball, Traffic Light- speed dribble, walk dribble, or triple threat stance on the teachers cues Green light, Yellow light, Red light, and the last game we played was Dribble Knockout which was continuous because we used both sides of the court to make sure the kids were always playing.  At first I was a little nervous playing these games with kids just because I thought they would feel too old and may not have fun with it however, I brought a lot of enthusiasm and had fun playing with them so I think that is why the games ran so smoothly.   We pre-tested throughout the class while one of us was teaching the other was observing and assessing the students.  Overall the skill level of the kids was at a competent level for being in 5th grade.  It was obvious that some of the girls had experience with dribbling the ball versus some of the others that were at beginning stages of dribbling.  There was improvement throughout the lesson, some girl who was struggling with dribbling with her head up in the begging was dribbling with her head up stationary by the end of class was participating in the blinking game and won! 

Kan Jam!

Kan Jam is a fun game that has grown extremely popular around college campuses; it was originated not far from Cortland.  The origination of Kan Jam was in buffalo by Charles Sciandra and Paul Swisher in the mid 90’s, and went on sale in 2005.  Swisher was a Physical Education teacher and began selling the game in his local home area and used the game in his physical education program.  Eventually Swisher sold his share and the game was tweaked a little more and it set off around 2007 with selling over 14,000 units and now is the go to game when sun is shining.  The game is played with 2 plastic sheets rolled into a barrel, the objective is to throw a Frisbee at the “can” and if it hits the can you get 2 points if your partner hits the Frisbee and the Frisbee this the “can” 1 point is awarded, if your partner hits the Frisbee down into the can the 3 points are awarded, and if the Frisbee enters the slot or the top of the can without anyone touching it then the game is over and the team that threw the Frisbee wins.  So here are some cues to throwing the Frisbee, Step with same foot as throwing hand with shoulder facing target, Extend the arm and flick wrist with your pointer finger ending pointed at your target.  Catching the Frisbee (which is not needed in Kan Jam ) begins with getting your body in front of the Frisbee and clapping your hands together so the Frisbee is in between both hands.

Rules and Routines!!!

Children can get out of hand in a hurry in the gym and in the classroom; this is where proper routines and rules should be in place.  Having proper managerial procedures can help run a class much more effectively.  One thing I learned when I was shadowing an elementary physical education teacher was to give directions in order and if they do not get that then simplify it more and give them the directions one at a time.  For example if a group of students were given the directions to line up, put the equipment away, and be quite, the students may be confused and may be a little chaotic.  The directions should go in an order such as put the equipment away, line up, and be quite, then students get the directions in an order and there is less confusion.   Also try to limit student’s distractions, if students are playing with equipment when directions or instructions are being given can cause other students to lose focus and cause students to start chattering.  On a personal experience I was explaining to 5^th graders how to throw a Frisbee through a hula hoop, I was getting a little frustrated because with my loud deep voice I still felt I was continually talking over everyone, after my directions were given my host teacher pointed out that if the students put the equipment down (hula hoops) they will be less distracted.  Reflecting on this scenario I agree if the students had the hoops on the floor they wouldn’t have been having a conversation about hula hooping.