"Blaze" Heats up St.Mary Students

As the kids seen us coming they were excited as usual, but today was something different. We had a special guest coming to bring a spark to St. Mary’s. "Blaze" the Suny Cortland mascot came running into the gym and the kids went ecstatic. The excitement that "Blaze" brought to the school was something I have never seen. All the kids were immediately attracted to the big red dragon storming around the school. In one instance I had seen a little boy, Luke, sad and somewhat depressed. As "Blaze" came along a big smile came on his face and he was much easier to work with when teaching him activities and games to play.
"Zany Zoo" was the game we choose to play with the older kids. The game involves 4 different teams evenly paired. Two hula-hoops are placed in the middle with a variety of movements on pieces of paper. The kids then run to the hoops and pick up a piece of paper, having to act out the movement back to their spot on line. Which ever team finishes first with each member acting out a movement that team wins. I couldn’t believe how interested they were in participating in the game. They loved how they had a variety of movements to pick from when choosing the next task on the pieces of paper.
Being here for a couple of weeks now I figured out how to grab the attention of the kids and make my teaching more effective. The best way to attain the attention of the kids is relate whatever you are teaching to what the students like. By using themes like "Superheroes" and "Halloween" we grabbed the attention of the kids much easier than playing a game with a boring old name. A great example of this is when "Blaze" came running in it grabbed the attention of the kids and made it much easier to teach them. This week was really fun and "Blaze" was a great addition...

"Red Rover, Red Rover, This Game is Over!!"

Reading about the game “Red Rover” I was stunned when I heard what it consists of. The fact that kids run at other kids at full speed can never lead to something good, and the fact it was played in a school setting startled me. Even being a Football and Lacrosse player my whole life and constantly being in rough hard hitting games I think this is uncalled for in a Physical Education setting. Not only do I think this game is dangerous I also agree with the reasons it is in the “Hall of Shame”. During the game there is two teams evenly matched. One side link's arms and the opposing team waits. The team whos arms are linked would pick a student from the other team to come on over. That student had to run as fast as they could to break a link between any two opposing team members. Most of the time during the game you are standing there holding hands for 15 minutes. This game teaches nothing about Physical activity.
One thing I don’t agree with is the fact of how they say some of these “Shame Games” single people out and lower kids self esteem. I think it is good to teach kids about competition. Not only is competition a critical part in Physical Activity, and sports it is a critical aspect in life. When these kids enter the real world they will realize not everyone is going be a winner, and sometimes it takes losing to realize that. It’s a harsh but true reality of how the world is, and the sooner they learn this the better they can adapt.

Superheroes Take Over St. Marys

The superhero theme was a great success! The kids really enjoyed the theme and loved the fact that we were dressed as superheroes. One of the kids told my fellow group mate, Tim, that they never knew Superheroes were real until now. This just shows how much these costumes grabbed the attention of the kids. Instead of going in as we usually do in our plain khakis and collared shirt we all wore superhero costumes. We also adapted the games we played with the kids into superhero themes. The typical game of “sharks and minnows” was manipulated to “Heroes and Villains.” We changed the “Shark” aspect to the “Super hero” and made the “Minnows” into “Villains.” The attention we got was completely due to the fact of how we adapted the games to their interest.
We also used another type of strategy to gain the attention of the kids. We used competition. Even when working with the young Pre-K kids the competitiveness is very high. Our group created a relay race that included the motor skills of skipping, hoping, and running. As a kid myself I participated in a similar relay race. I remember the competitiveness was an aspect that made me more interested in the game.
Something really special is getting to know the kids. My little buddy Paul would do anything I told him. He follows directions very well, although his motor skills aren’t as great as the others. He also sometimes loses track of what he’s doing and jumps from one thing to another.
Overall the kids had a great time with the theme. The next theme is a Halloween theme and I really hope they enjoy what we have planned for them!!

Quick Fact....

According to Dr. Avery D.Faigenbaum, EdD, CSCS, children as young as 6 years old who participate in a well-designed resistance program can acquire strength gains due to increases in neuronal activation, intrinsic muscular adaptions, and improvements in motor coordination. As a result children should participate in appropriate weight bearing and muscle-loading activities on a regular basis.

Physical Education- The St.Mary's Way!

Knowing your Students...(Reflection)

As we have been getting to know the students better, we have been adapting the games being played to the ability of the students. For the younger age group, like Kindergarten and third grade students we play more simple games. The reason we play these uncomplicated games is due strictly to their ability. At a young age their motor behaviors aren’t as coordinated yet. For the older students we can play more complex games because their ability to cooperate and learn the games is much higher.
I also noticed some differences between the fine motor skills of boys and girls. For the boys the fine motor skills were much more messy, and uncoordinated. As I watched, Colin the way he was drawing, and holding the marker was somewhat wrong. He used his full palm to draw a picture.

PED 201 Monday Lab Team

First Time at St.Mary's

My first time at St.Mary's school was a lot of fun!! Teaching the kids new games, and playing games with them was awesome! Its cool to have kids look up to you like the St.Marys students. As the year goes on I hope to learn even more about the kids and help them have even more fun during their physical activities.