Athletic and Physical Education Philosophy

As a future physical educator and coach, my philosophy rests on three pillars. These pillars are built upon what I believe, what I value and why I do what I do. The three pillars are instructional approaches, education first and assessment.

I believe that a physical educator should use a variety of different teaching techniques in their classroom. One teaching technique will not fit every grade level or class that you have. Command is the most common technique used for physical education. It is easy to use and is effective in teaching new skills and controlling the class. Many teachers like the feeling of being in control of their class so command is what teachers use most of the time. In my opinion, the students need to have a chance to have control in the class. Allowing the students to create their own solutions to a question or problem I make up can be very effective. Closing off student's curiosity, problem solving and creativity is not a good idea. Students should be encouraged to use their minds and think of ways to solve problems without the teacher giving the answer. I believe that a teacher needs to vary their instructional approaches depending on the grade level they are teaching. If I am teaching the elementary level I may tend to use guided discovery at the beginning of the units to allow the students to figure out their own way to do a skill. For example, if you are teaching dribbling you could allow the students to move around the gym practicing their idea of dribbling without the teacher directly controlling their movements and ideas. An important factor of choosing an instructional approach is to evaluate your class first. If your class has class management issues a direct approach may be more effective because the teacher has the control. If your class has the ability to work in groups peer teaching or guided discovery could be effective to work on the affective domain a bit. I believe a teacher needs to find what works best for them, but mostly what works best for their students.

Athletics has become a huge part of the society we live in today. There are multiple channels on television dedicated just to sports. I believe that athletics are useful in many ways, but are a privilege for the students to engage in. Sports can teach students many great things that they may not learn otherwise. Teamwork, cooperation, hard work, practice and skills are things that can be learned from athletics. I believe athletics are what people participate in to display their abilities and skills they have learned. But, athletics need to come first in school. I knew several students in school, and you can see it in college all the time, that had athletics as their number one priority. Although there is a chance a student may play a sport for their careers, a very large majority will not end up being a professional athlete. If you aim to be a professional athlete and neglect your work and your dream does not work out, what do you have left? This is why I believe that education comes first. If a student does not have the grades to participate in athletics, they do not deserve to play. Also, I believe that the standards for athletes should be higher in order to qualify for athletics. In my high school, an average of seventy was required to play sports. A grade of C- was all that was required to participate in sports. Athletes should be required to concentrate on their school work and put school first. C- is not a high enough grade requirement to have the students take school seriously. Athletics can be great for students, but academics should always come first.

Physical education has a huge role in the lives of students. But, many people question the need for physical education as a part of the school day. Most people believe that physical educators are referees that have a big book of games to play with their students. I believe a physical educator is more than that. A quality physical educator should be teaching their students physical skills, but also teaching knowledge of games, countries and health. The affective domain is also a huge part of what a physical educator should be doing. Teamwork, cooperation, listening, honesty and sharing are examples of skills that fall into the affective domain. Every class that is taught needs to include the psychomotor, affective and cognitive domains. In order to prove that physical education is worthwhile, physical educators need to use assessment. Assessment is used to show progress of the students in your class. Assessment can be time consuming because it is an additional thing you will have to do. But, I believe that if a teacher is not doing assessment, they are not doing their job. Besides tracking progress, assessment allows a teacher to reflect on their own teaching abilities. A teacher is not perfect and they also need to reflect on themselves and their teaching. A quality teacher should ask themselves, was that lesson effective and what can I do to be better. I believe that a physical educators goal is to help their student become physically educated people. Physically educated people are people that are knowledgeable about their body and ways to take care of their body. A physically educated person is able to find activities that enhance their health and wellness. I value reflection as a way to improve myself and improve the learning of my students. I believe that assessment is vital to showing progress of the students and for becoming the best teacher you can be.

Assessment, education first and instructional approaches are the three pillars to my athletics and physical education philosophy. I believe that a teacher has the ability to positively affect the lives of the students they teach. I hope that I will be able to influence my students and help them become physically educated people.

Educational Philosophy

As a future educator, my philosophy on education rests on four principles. These four principles are based in my beliefs, values and why I chose to become an educator. The four principles that make my philosophy are the faculty and staff, curriculum, passion and teamwork, and instructional approaches.

I believe that every quality school starts with a great faculty and staff. Without a foundation of quality administrators, teachers and the rest of the staff that helps keep a school run smoothly, what would be left? First, I believe that teachers make or break the quality level of a school. I believe that a teacher has the power to influence the lives of every student that walks into their classroom each and every year. Quality teachers have the ability to create passion for subjects that students may never have had otherwise. I remember a teacher I had in tenth grade during high school. For me, history has always been fairly boring and not something I had a particular interest in. How Columbus discovered America has never inspired any enthusiasm or made me want to learn more. But, in this class my teacher made every single day exciting. Every day I went to school I would look forward to history class and the teacher that taught my class. I may not remember exactly what I learned in that class, but I will never forget the teacher I had. A defining characteristic of a quality teacher is what the students remember of that teacher afterward. The low quality teachers that I have had over the years have faded from my memory, and the grades I received with those teachers was lower than with the quality teachers. I believe that quality teachers inspire the students in their classes to do their best and achieve things they might not achieve otherwise. I hope that when I begin my first teaching job, I will have the chance to inspire my students to be the best they can be.

What is being taught in the schools is vital to the success in schools. I believe that in order to provide a quality education the curriculum needs to be carefully created. Every grade level will not be learning the same information at the same time so it is very important to evaluate what should be taught at each grade level. Also, teaching the same information year after year will not be effective for the students or the teachers. A quality curriculum should clearly show exactly what each grade level will be learning over the course of the year. Not only is the subject matter important, but the types and amount of assessments that will be used to track the progress of the students. I believe that assessment is vital to the educational process. Without assessment how can we show improvement in our students and prove to the parents that our profession is necessary. Physical education is highly criticized for being just another place for the students to play games. With assessment and a proper curriculum, physical educators should be able to prove their worth and provide a quality education for the students.

I believe that passion and teamwork are an underrated characteristic of a quality school. The teacher at a school need to be passionate about what they do and love coming to work everyday. If you come to work in the morning and give only fifty percent of your full ability, you will not teach the students that they need to learn. I value a person that works hard and does everything in their power to teacher their students as much as possible. I believe that teachers need to work together to provide an adequate education. Too often teachers stick to what they believe is right and will not accept help from others. But, sometimes the other teachers in the school may have a brilliant idea that could take your teaching to the next level. Additionally, I believe that incorporating different subjects into your classroom can be very effective. Especially in physical education, incorporating math, science, or history in your lesson can be as simple as having a map on your gym wall. During your international games unit, teach the students some history of the games home country and have them find that country on the map. Asking the other teachers what they are currently doing in their own classrooms and incorporating that information will help the students learn even more. Teachers should love what they do and be willing to communicate and work with one another to provide the best education impossible.

The final principle of my philosophy in education is instructional approaches. I believe that a teacher needs to be willing to use a variety of teaching techniques in their classroom throughout the year. In physical education, there are many different techniques such as command, practice, guided discovery, peer teaching, etc. Different units and different grade level may require different teaching techniques. For example, for elementary education it can be important to allow the students to figure out their own solutions to problems and use their imaginations. When teaching a new skill to your students, you may want to use a more direct approach like the command method. If classroom management is a problem for one particular class, perhaps an indirect style may not be effective. Also, varying the strategies you use over the year can be very effective. In my experience, when a teacher does the same thing day after day, I get bored. Being versatile and creative in your teaching and teaching methods can be great for you and your students.

Instructional approaches, passion and teamwork, faculty and staff and curriculum are the basis for a quality school and educational program. I believe that with all four of these principles working in harmony, a teacher can provide their students with the tools they need to succeed and enjoy education.

EDU 355 Lab 11

                                                             (First design of a parachute)

1. Find information on the history of the parachute and how a parachute works. The oldest design for the parachute appeared in an manuscript during the 1470's from an unknown source. Leonardo Da Vinci later designed a more sophisticated design in his Codex Atlanticus in 1485. Da Vinci's design was tested in 2000 and 2008 and was shown to be successful during both tests. Parachutes work using the concept of air resistance. Without air resistance, gravity would cause all objects to fall at the same rate meaning a feather and an elephant would fall at the same exact speed even though an elephant is significantly heaving than a feather, if dropped at the same height. Even though you cannot see them atoms and molecules take up space in the air. So when sky diving you have to push those molecules and atoms out of the way which causes air resistance. Some objects like rocks fall easily because they are generally pretty heavy for their size. Something like a feather would not fall as fast as the rock because the feather is much lighter and therefore does not cut through the air as easily. For that reason, the feather is slowed down by the air and a parachute works the exact same way.

2. Create a parachute routine compose of various activities learned in class.
1. Introduce the parachute and talk about the origins.
2. Take about how to handle the parachute appropriately because it is so expensive and could break easily.
3. Practice how to do different things like ripple, wave and storm while sitting on the floor. The students need to know how to do the different movements so that the parachute does not come under any harm.
4. Cloud/Mountain
5. Headless Horseman- Incorporate different subjects like math,science, english, etc. so you can teach the students information instead of using the parachute as an extended recess.
6. Cook a healthy soup- this can help show the students which foods are healthy to eat and which are not.
7. Jaws
8. Moon Walking- make sure students have their shoes off.
9. The black hole- use a ball big enough to not fall into the center hole.
10. Air conditioning
11. Roll up the parachute- make sure to teach the students how to properly roll up the parachute into the snake like roll.

3. Practice the yoga routine for a week and keep a journal of how you feel.

4. Use stick figures/pictures to diagram each pose in the Salute to the sun yoga routine.

 

  

 

EDU 355 Lab 15

1. Reflect upon your lab teaching experience. Describe your teaching strengths and weaknesses for teaching in this lab. My strengths for this lab were that I believe I had a good lesson focus and stuck to it throughout the lesson. My lesson focus was fitness and I centered the lesson around the heart. I had the students take their pulse at the end of the class, had them show me where there heart is and what sound it makes at the beginning and end of the lesson. My weakness for this lab was lack of quality preparation. I could not decide exactly what I wanted to do so I was going back and forth between different ideas. Also, in the midst of changing/deciding on ideas I got caught up and forget to say my name in the beginning of the lesson. I do not know how I forgot this part but I did and I was not happy about it. Another weakness I had was I did not have enough activities prepared for actually teaching. I had more on my lesson plan but I overestimated how long each of my activities would take. I understand why you need so many different activities for each and every class. An activity may not take as long as you anticipated and that may throw you off while teaching. You do not want to get caught off guard and have to think on your feet because you did not come well prepared. Finally, I need to work on my elementary voice. My overall voice and tone are not necessarily what a teacher at the elementary level is going to need so I definitely need to work on that. 

2. Identify one of your most effective teachers. What teaching behaviors did you admire most in the way he/she taught? One of my most effective teachers I have ever had was Dr. Malmberg here at Cortland. Beofre coming to Cortland I had heard of teachers with a lot of energy and enthusiasm for what they do, but Dr. Malmberg has more energy and enthusiasm than any teacher I have ever had. Every class, even at 8:30 in the morning, he was prepared and enthusiastic the entire time. Dr. Malmberg in my opinion is a master of progressions. Before taking gymnastics with him I had never been able to do a cartwheel. After 30 minutes of 9 different progressions I was able to do a cartwheel. It amazed me that for 20 years I had never done a cartwheel, yet in 30 minutes Dr. Malmberg was able to teach me how to do one. I think progressions are one of the most important tools for a phys ed teacher. Not every student will be at the same level or learn at the same level or in the same way. Having 9 different progressions for one skill is impressive and can come in handy when you need it. Another thing about Dr. Malmberg is that he truly loves what he does and is willing to do whatever he has to do to help out his students. Whenever a student was struggling with a skill in gymnastics or self defense, Dr.Malmberg always was patient with the students and tried to find any way to help that student improve. Also, Dr.Malmberg is in fantastic shape. Even though he is quite a bit older than any of the students in the class, he still showed everyone in our gymnastics class up. From doing handstands on the rings to doing handstands and still talking and teaching at the same time, he never struggled with any skills. I know he was training for a half marathon and hoping to do a full marathon at some point. The man is just in phenomenal shape and puts us college kids to shame. I hope that 20 or 30 years from now I still have as much energy and enthusiasm as Dr. Malmberg.

3. What goals will you set for yourself as you prepare to teach in the education 300 Field Experience. I need to practice working around elementary level students. I had never envisioned myself teaching at the elementary level, but I recognize that one day I may get offered a job teaching in an elementary school. Also, I was not as prepared for this teaching experience as I have for other teaching experiences. I had a lot of things happening in my life this weekend personally, but there is no excuse for coming unprepared and performing well below what I expect of myself. I need to practice what I am going to be teaching ahead of time and plan enough activities that will last an entire class and teach my students at the same time. My main goal is to continue to learn as much as I can and improve my teaching skills and become the best teacher I can be. Nobody strives to be the least they can be, and I want to be the best possible teacher that I can be.

EDU 355 Labs 9&10

Identify a fitness theme and design appropriate fitness stations to enhance various health and skill related components of fitness. A fitness theme could be safety. One station could be about how to safely cross the street or get off the bus and cross the street. Another station could be how to properly exit the bus if need be. Another station could be about fire safety and stop, drop and roll but you could teach different types of rolls at the same time. Another station could be about safety in an activity like rock climbing. You could have the students attach carabiners to their shorts pocket or belt loops and include the IT Rocks activity which could lead right into the focus of the lesson which would be the It Rocks and talk about balance and strength and endurance. 

Identify people that are famous for use of imagination and creativity such as Einstein, Picaso, and Bach. Leonardo Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Mozart, Mark Twain and Shakespeare. 

Design a rubric for assessing the acting out of inanimate objects by students in small groups as described in the activity close of this lab. 

-Do they know what they are acting out?

-How closely are they mimicking that object

-The consistency of the acting out

EDU 355 Lab 8

1. Explain three important benefits of hoop play. One benefits of hoop play is there is a variety of different skills you can teach with the hula hoops. Another benefit is you can incorporate fitness components like flexibility into the lesson. A third reason is you can add in different elements like the clock into the lesson so the students can practice their time telling ability.

2. Give an example of how hoops can be used to reinforce a cognitive concept linked with classroom learning. The hoops can be used to incorporate classroom concepts like telling time on a clock. A lot of student, myself included as a young child, can have difficulty learning to tell time on an analog clock. The more exposure you have to something, the better chance you have to absorb more information and learn that skill better. In this case, bringing the hula hoops in and using them as a clock incorporates time telling into the phys ed lesson. This is a simple but effective way to reinforce the information the students may be learning in their classrooms.

3. Describe how hoops can be utilized to promote effective growth in the affective domain. The affective domain is about values like teamwork and communication. Adding these concepts into your lesson can be as simple as having the students do partner work where they have to move through different color hula hoops while holding their partners hand. Just having the students hold hands mean they have to be patient and talk to their partner and succeed as partners, not just by themselves. Another good idea is to have activities in which the students are unable to talk to one another. Have the students hold hands and pick one color hula hoop and have them move throughout the maze of hula hoops while holding hands but not talking. This incorporates both teamwork and communication, whether the students realize it or not. Communication and teamwork will be a huge part of the student's lives and it is important that they learn the skills early and can practice and improve over time.

4. Utilize the internet to gather information about ponds and related ecology to use in your field experience teaching or future teaching. Ecology is the relationship of living things to each other and to what’s around them. So, if you are learning about what kinds of relationships fish have with other animals (including us!) and plants in their neighborhood, then you are learning about ecology. A pond is a body of water that is either man-made or naturally made that is smaller than a lake. Incorporating different elements of the student's education in the classroom can be a very good idea and can be very effective. For example, doing a lesson that incorporates ponds and the animals that live in the ponds such as turtles, tad poles, ducks and dragon flies would be a good idea that may relate to what the students are currently doing in science. 


5. Make a chart of Mosston's teaching Styles and keep a record of how many of the styles you use in your teaching.  

Name of Teaching Style	What is it?	Number of Times Used
1. Command	Teacher makes all of the decisions
2. Practice	Students carry out the teacher’s instructions and tasks with feedback from the teacher.
3. Reciprocal	Students work in pairs. One student performs a skill and the other gives feedback
4. Self-Check	Student practices a skill and then assesses themselves with certain criteria
5. Self Selection	Students are provided with legitimate options for skill practice with a range of difficulties
6. Guided Discovery	Students answer questions or perform skills in a specific series that leads to the discovery of a concept
7. Problem Solving	Students solve problems with the assistance from the teacher.
8. Individual Program	Student develops a program based on his or her own cognitive, psychomotor and affective abilities.

(http://sunycortlandedu255.pbworks.com/w/page/47317388/Mosston%20Teaching%20Styles)

EDU 355 Lab 7

                             High quality jump roping, set big goals and maybe you will be this good one day.

1. Can a child in a wheelchair enter the front door and the back door? What modifications would you make? It would depend on the child in the wheel chair. If the child had an electric wheel chair or still had a high ability to use their arms then they would be able to go through the front door and the back door. A modification for this could be swing the rope slower so that the student would have a longer amount of time to get through. Also, you could use a longer rope which would make the amount of time they had to get through.

2. How would you apply goal setting to this lesson. You could have the students see how many times in a row you could jump the rope by yourself. You could measure the distance between the two ropes when you have the students jump for distance. You could have a pretest and see how far they can go and have a unit focus on leg strength and components of jumping further and then have a post test to see any improvements. You could split the class into two teams and have each group try to run through the back/front door and see who can get the highest number, and then repeat it to see if you can better your goal.

3. Design a long rope jumping routine for a pair of students jumping at the same time. First you could start off with showing the students how to tie together two jump ropes to make a longer rope. You could have the students take turns practicing turning the ropes to get consistency. Next, you could show the students the front door and back door and practice running through. Then, you could start the tag game with each person running through the front door and chasing the other person. You could then have students jump into the middle and begin jumping rope with the big rope. Any of the students not on the big rope could be practicing on the smaller ropes until it is their turn to jump in.

4. Create a checklist of critical elements to look for and use in teaching basic, two foot jump rope jumping.
- Follows Cues
    1. Jumps with two feet
    2. Jumps Low
    3. Rope Over Head
- Consistency
-Flow
-Transitions between skills

5. Describe how you would go about organizing a jump roping club for your elementary school. First I would ask around to other schools and organizations and see how they went about creating their jump rope clubs. I would ask the schools and organizations what made them successful and the types of skills that they teach. I would send home a newsletter to the parents of all the students and post on the phys ed website so that all of the students and their parents know about the club. Then I would have a meeting about the club after school and see who was interested and go from there.

6. Stimulus Variation- stimulus variation means different things that cause a response in a person. For example, different sizes of balls, different colors of the same sized ball and different textures are stimulus variation. Where stimulus variation occurred in this lesson was that there were different types of jump ropes in different colors and textures. Different types of stimuli help to keep the students involved and interested and can help everyone find something they like.