Elementary school teacher? Could be.

When I decided that I wanted to be a physical education teacher, I never really thought that I would ever end up teaching at the elementary level. I always envisioned myself teaching in high school and coaching at some level. But, being at Cortland and attending conferences like the Cortland Mini Conference and the NYS AHPERD conference, my ideas on what level I want to teach at have changed. I always thought that it would be near impossible to control young children inside the gym. But, I have learned that it is not all about what students are in the class, but how the teacher handles the classroom. This past semester I had the opportunity to work with students at Dryden Elementary School (http://www.dryden.k12.ny.us/schools/DESSite/). Every Thursday for six weeks my group and I went to Dryden and worked with the kids in the gym and outside. This was the first time I ever had to teach and lead activities at the elementary level. I had observed elementary class while I was at OCC, but I never actually taught. Going into the Dryden experience, I did not know exactly what to expect, how many kids we would have or what age of kids we would have. I learned quickly that you may have a lot of kids to work with ranging from first grade up to sixth grade. The first week was very rough and preparation and creativity was lacking. But, as the weeks went on I became more confident and found out that working with young kids can be a lot of fun. You need to have fun with what your doing and enjoy your time with the kids. They will most likely have fun if you look like you are enjoying yourself. This semester I will have the opportunity to observe and assist an elementary teacher. I am excited to be able to work more at the elementary level. It is a lot of fun to work with elementary aged kids and I look forward to the opportunity.