What Are You Up To?

What type of physical activity or exercise did you do this week?
For me my weeks consist of about 90% physical activity. Being a physical education major at SUNY Cortland most of my classes keep me physically active. At this moment i am taking Football, Softball, and Soccer all were you participate in game play and learn how to become better educators by learning advanced ways to teach the skill. On top of my daily activities classes, which their called i work out at least 5-6 times per week for about an hour. Maintain strength is very important considering i play lacrosse for Cortland. This adds about two hours each day, 6 days a week for even more exercise, between practice and games. Fun filled week right? As i said 90% of my week is exercise and physical activities. All which are going to better my health and help me live and long and healthy lifestyle.  

What Type of Learning Works Best?

There is new reasearch that shows starting to directly teach children at young ages can backfire in the long run. In the article, "Why Preschool Shouldnt Be Like School", by Alison Gopnick two studies are conducted in order to find out what works best, direct instrucution or discovery based instrucution. One of the studies was from MIT and the other at UC Berkly, both very prestigeous universities. An overview of the studies was that "In the first study, MIT professor Laura Schulz, her graduate student Elizabeth Bonawitz, and their colleagues looked at how 4-year-olds learned about a new toy with four tubes. Each tube could do something interesting: If you pulled on one tube it squeaked, if you looked inside another tube you found a hidden mirror, and so on. " "With the other children, the experimenter acted more like a teacher. She said, "I'm going to show you how my toy works. Watch this!" and deliberately made the tube squeak. Then she left both groups of children alone to play with the toy." The children who were taught how to use the toy simply knew just what the toy could do in that one instance. The children who discovered the toy on their own found out other capabilities of the toy. The children who discovered what the toy coudl do on their own were much more successfull. They werent just shown what they were shown and left it at that, they discovered the other capabilites of the toy through their own discovery. I believe it is good for teachers to teach directly in some matters but in other matters they must let the student discover information themselves. Letting students learn through discovery can make the children more creative and expand their imagination through their own experience. 
http://www.slate.com/id/2288402/?gt1=38001

Truly Amazing!

After watching the video on Gallaudet University women's basketball team, i was truly amazed by these athletes. In any sport verbal communication is a key to success, but for this team they rely on anticipation of one another and cohesiveness to be a successful team. Gallaudet University is a university for the deaf or hearing impaired so the amount of women basketball players with these impairments are harder to find. This doesn't affect this team though. Coach Cook has backed up his coaching philosophy and continues to work very hard to coach these players. This is a man who didn't know sign language and has faced the challenges of teaching an all deaf team. He has worked hard to learn sign language and can no almost have a full conversation with his players.  After two years of taking over the program, Coach Cook turned a team with 63 consecutive loses to an NCAA Division 3 team in the national tournament. His hard work and his players hard work have truly payed off. When people say that the hearing impaired are incapable of participating in sports or cant be good at sports, they need to look at the Women's Basketball team at Gallaudet University. The video can be seen here. 

Tenure or Renewable Contracts?

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After viewing the video from NBC regarding teacher tenure i leave with a somewhat confused view about teacher tenure. I believe tenure is a great way to make teachers feel secure about their careers and not have a looming consequence constantly on their shoulders but i also feel some teachers take advantage of tenure. As they said in the video many teachers see tenure as a way to relax and this may cause teachers to not put in 110%. But many states now are seeing that many teachers aren't performing at the correct levels so a few states are adopting "renewable contracts". These renewable contracts offer teachers a two year contract, but the teacher is subject to performance evaluations. I feel that this is a great way to make sure teachers are on top of their game and are making sure they put in 110% at all times. Although this is a great way to make teachers become more consistent with their teaching i feel that without job security for teachers they may go into work with a bad attitude reflecting it on their teaching then the students suffer. Also the video states this costs even more money and documentation then before and the overall reason for this is to save money. As future educators what do you guys think? Should we use renewable contracts or tenure?  

You Kidding Me?

After reading the post, License Plate For Your Bike?, i was stunned with the desperate way New York is trying to gain money. To put a price on riding a bike is the most ridiculous thing i have herd in a very long time. As said in the post, "The plates would cost $25 for the "family" version and $50 for the "commercial" tags", I want to know the reason why bikes should be registered and licensed. For the sole purpose to gain money? Many people use cycling as a great way to exercise with out the pricey gym memberships, and the confinement of being in doors on a treadmill. In my community on Long Island, many families go on family bike rides after dinner on a nice summer day. Its a great way to get the kids exercising and the family to bond. NOW these people have to pay to bond and exercise with their family?! These legislators say, " Bicycles are considered moving vehicles in New York and more bike riders are using public thoroughfares and someone has to pay. "  I want to know what they are doing with the money they receive simply from tolls every morning when people from the Island have to make their morning commute to the city everyday, and the constant hike in MTA and LIRR fares, just to use the train. Charging $8 to go over a bridge per vehicle i think is insane and now they want to charge people who want to leisurely ride their bikes around their own neighborhood. What are police going to pull over a kid on a bicycle or an adult on a bicycle for breaking the law? Whats your opinion on this?  

12 Hours a Week....... FUN!

After watching the video of Sam and his mother and the commitment they both put in to the sport i do not in any way oppose to what they are doing. At the young age of 11 i do not believe a child needs that much training but in Sam's case he enjoys his gymnastics. Many parents force the sport on their child and the hours of practice along with it. This type of parental pressure can drive the child away from the sports when they get older. I also agree with what Sam's mother said about how gymnastics is not as easily accessible than football in the neighborhood. And that its something they use to bond with each other.   Another thing I really liked was how Sam stated, " I like it a lot, it takes a lot of work, but after your done with a competition it feels really cool." That type of mentality is going to take Sam very far in his future gymnastics career and it really supports his decision to put in the time he does put in. The video shows how Sam is interacting with his friends and coaches and the ability of these young kids. I feel Sam isn't being pressured and he has the support of his family so the 12 hours of work is not a bad thing. What do you think?