Being a leader doesn't come easily...

Ok I know I said the last post would end the semester but it wouldn't be right if I didn't tell you how I have applied what I learned this year. Ok so currently I am president of our GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Straight) group on campus called SPECTRUM, this leadership position is time consuming and lots of hard work. The organization meets every Thursday at 5pm in the voiceoffice in corey union, their we speak of debatable topics and issues. We also plan for upcoming events we will be planning. All are welcomed! So how does EDU 255 help. Well the club does not practice fitness, but it is about selling what you want others to listen to, getting others motivated, and overall being a strong, powerful leader. In EDU 255 we learned that motivation and making your audience interested is key to the next step learning and teaching. We plan many events that will continue into next semester, we strive to be a voice on campus, and I'm glad to be president and part of such educational, and professional organization. I use what I use what I learn in 255 to strengthen my view on things and to get others to join the struggle. The work put out for my club is well over ten hours!!! Look out for SPECTRUM next semester we'll be doing big things!!!

Wrapping up the year!

Ok so this is officially my last post for this semester, this year. What can I say besides that I have learned more then expected. not only about myself, but others. I learned new activities I thought I would never try and I met a lot of great people. I went to my first conference ever and learned how to better my teaching performance. I learned to use my voice as a signal for attention, I gained confidence, I learned that knowing your lesson plan should be automatic. i learned about writing tasks, cues, and objectives. I went from not knowing what i was doing when teaching to looking and teaching like a brand new person, and the only thing i expect is to get better! The list goes on but the real question is do I still have the drive and motivation to be a physical education teacher? The answer is YES, YES, and YES!!! If 355 is like 255, then it should be a journey worth while and full of fun!

Going back to my roots!

Yesterday November 24, 2008 I taught my peers merengue, heres the lesson. A dance I grew up on, so it came naturally to me. I did not know if I could teach it in 15 minutes,but I thought giving it a try wouldn't hurt. I incorporated some spanish to give the lesson a cultural focus. My visual aids included flags and key instruments that revolve around this form of music. Even though the music and dance go back to I don't even know probably when I came out the womb I still did not know how merengue originated. Preparing for this lesson plan and doing research I found out. So not only did I have the opportunity to teach a dance that is important to my culture, but I also learned along the way. So back to the teaching I taught step by step basics of merengue, the great part was I felt like the class was interested and engaged any word I spoke they listened. I let them have fun and add their own spice to the dance, this was the opportunity to get creative. It did not stop there they got to hear the music and learned to count to eight in spanish and to finish up the lesson, I let them view a video of men playing merengue on the side of the street in the Dominican Republic. Doing all this made me feel good and proud of who I am that being Puerto Rican, and I'm glad everyone was engaged. This lesson allowed me to share my culture with my students. I believe the lesson was a lot of learning, but many of my peers told me afterwards that they enjoyed my lesson and learned a lot of interesting facts. They thought it was cool that I spoke spanish and that it look like I knew what I was talking about. The lesson to me was meant for the students to be enriched by the culture and just have fun, I gave a small assessment a 3 question quiz to see if they took something away from the lesson. This lesson will definitely be used later on during my teaching career due the reaction I received from yesterday's lesson, but next time i will be sure to include more feedback. Merengue is a part of my culture and I believe sharing it with others will make individuals appreciate the differences among each other.

In search of new land

We will conquer! Last Friday October 7, 2008 we began a new journey conquering lands and preaching to others how important physical education and fitness is. We set out on a voyage across the land and seas in search of the buried treasure but we were not alone. We were told we would be going on a scavenger hunt in groups of four. We were to wear heart rate monitors and watches that recorded are heart rate. the hunt was timed and not only that but we incorporated technology(cellphone)- to send pictures and video. We began are class by creating flags for our group and after displaying them to others. We then were given a sheet and set free. No one wanted to lose so we ran to the hints and locations. the whole time we were determined, we laughed, caught cramps, and sweat till our shirts were drenched. It was a race to the finish line. The heart rate monitors beeped like crazy when we ran at top speed. I was tired but not ready to give up. Throughout the scavenger hunt we were asked to complete a number of task my favorite had to be singing to the pool side staff "twinkle twinkle little star" and painting a unique flag. The lesson forced students to stay active will still having fun. we practiced teamwork one person would read the clue and the others would take turns figuring it out. Students enjoy lessons when they work in groups and have freedom for exploration and experimentation. We were given little direction and the the rest was up to us. students benefit through discovery learning and tend to hold the material longer. Not only can i benefit from such a lesson but incorporating other subjects such as they did can also help. The lesson incorporated history, language, art, thinking and communicating. So not only are the students learning things in their major subjects but it is also being incorporated into phys. ed for the student to learn and enjoy. And because the students are having fun they maintain the knowledge and benefit in their classes later. This lesson definetly kept me active and moving, I was tired but i did not want to give up on my team or myself. To prove how active I was my heart rate was charted and if the graph above is unclear then click here. For the majority of the time I stood in the healthy zone with little breaks in between. i thought this lesson was worth while, competitive and fun. but remember competitiveness is not always good to encourage in class, some kids may feel left out and inferior. But overall I think I burned some calories while being a kid all over again!

Round 2...Ding, Ding, Ding

So october 29th comes around and me and my partner are assigned to teach are second lesson for Fistball. This time I am less nervous and know what task need to be completed. I even went over time because I felt so comfortable, take a look at my time coding form. My peers seemed to be enjoying themselves. We spoke about were Fistball originated and identified the color of Germany's flag and reviewed specific cues. But here's the catch I was once again linked up to a mic which recorded every word I said. I hate hearing myself speak. I did though give more feedback then the first lesson but, I did not do as well as I wanted to; I forgot some of the objectives I had planned to cover! And I understood that some of my instructions were not clear. I was surprised when two of my students began to be disruptive due to professors Yang's instruction, he wanted to see my reaction and if I would have a form of punishment. I simply called them out and told them to hold the ball, but it took me a while to catch on to the prank. These are things I must prepare for, besides that I enjoyed teaching the lesson and felt as though my peers/students had fun too. Heres everything i said during this lesson-->Transcript.What's next?

Why Teach a Multicultural Game?

Yang had the class work in pairs and teach the class a sport from a different country were not accustomed to. But why? I know why, many new culture's our entering our teaching system and being isolated or forced to assimilate and adopt our culture. What about theirs are they required to push it away. instead as educators we should use culture as enrichment and use it to our advantage. We should adopt parts of their culture and use it in our class, we should want to learn more about different cultures and be interested in learning something new. We should respect and accept all differences. Teaching a multicultural game or games reminds up that we are not the only country around and other people from around the world have cool things to teach us. I think this lesson was a great idea. Me and my partner chose fistball a game that was formed in early roman years but is now spread out across the world. We focused on Germany. And so far, so good the class seems to be getting a hang of the game can't wait to teach lesson two and provide visual aid and history. The lesson is not yet perfected but with time comes progress. If the class is excited as I am this game should go well and everyone will be enjoying themselves. I'll keep you updated on what happens next......

Feedback = Motivation

We were told to teach the same lesson we taught in 255 the first time which was basketball this time incorporating feedback. I had no idea how important feedback was. When feedback was given my peers did a lot better with the focus of techniques in specific skills. I then had to complete a feedback sheet, and listen to myself as I gave feedback whether it was good job Joe or great getting low and keeping eyes up Jane. The more specific the feedback the better my peers improved. Also with feedback I notice motivation, the students showed me they wanted to do it correctly and at their very best. The motivation deserved recognition. It's amazing how each concept when teaching ties into each other and if you do a good job your students go home wanting to learn more, enjoying the game or sport, and learning their strengths and weaknesses. Teaching is a learning experience for both the student and teacher! Feedback is key for better outcomes.

My first P.E. Conference

October 10th was SUNY Cortland's annual mini conference hosted by the P.E. majors club APEM. I was asked to help work the conference so i walked around wearing a sign that said "Have any questions? ASK ME!" Boy was that fun I was a hit in the conference everyone wanted to wear one of these signs and smiled when they saw me. Ok so besides the work I did there I also got to participate in the opening act with Yang's 255 classes. This got the crowd moving and only took about 5 minutes. After we sat in the stands and were introduced to a ketnote speaker who spoke words that could make anyone's heart melt and be passionate about the job they do or the job they want to obtain. I ca not lie I shed a tear here and there. He is a well recognized adaptive P.E. teacher who has won many awards for his outstanding job in touching souls. We then all split up and went to different workshops the conference offered. I chose three which included a multucultural game, technology being offered to better P.E. classrooms, and cup stacking.All three presentations were worthwhile but i have to say cupstacking was my favorite and I all received free cups. what more can I say! I will bring cup stacking into my classroom. This was and experience I can just imagine how extreme large conferences are. Attending this conference is the reason why in November I will be attending Turning Stones Conference. Can't wait.....maybe I'll get more free stuff!

Seeing myself teach...

So a couple of days ago my instructor handed us a dvd from the first day of class. This dvd contained a surprised short mini lessons we were told to teach on the first day of school. I have never seen myself attempting to teach until that day. I finally got to see how serious and passionate I am about the profession I am trying to obtain. My mini lessons was the fundamentals of dribbling a basketball. I had flaws here and there I'm not perfect and may never be but i will improve as the year progresses. Seeing myself and giving myself corrective feedback will only make me stronger. i noticed I gave to many cues I just needed to cut down to a few of the most important, and my instruction could have been specific yet easier to follow. Another thing I would have changed is the activity I used to teach the skill of dribbling. I should I have chose something more fun that would have caught students attention more and had them fully engaged in the game. My closure was a little rough, so I know i need to improve there. This is what stood out to me the most! I want to be able to teach while still maintaining the level of fun a physical education class should have. But over I thought my teaching session was not so bad, with a few corrections and a little more time to learn I will be able to do wonders. I'm not going to lie the I laughed at myself, the clip was pretty funny i actually almost look like a teacher!!! Can't wait to see what the next teaching session will look like...