Mini-Conference at SUNY Cortland

We had a NYS AHPERD Mini-Conference last friday, October 7th. This opportunity was very enjoyable as well as beneficial for me. At the opening of this conference I took part in a flash mob. It turned out to be pretty successful and we even got some of the crowd involved like we had wanted to. To see it Click Here! While at the conference I was also able to take part in a session called "life of an athlete". This session discussed the consequences of drugs and alcohol on an athlete. The major thing I took away from this was how alcohol disrupts the training of an athlete. If an athlete gets intoxicated two days out of the week then their training fails. For example, If a person is training heavily for a sporting event and then goes out on friday and saturday and becomes intoxicated, training up to 14 days prior to drinking will be lost. This really opened my eyes because it can be seen right here, in a college setting. Student athletes who spend all those hours training and go out on the weekends are ruining their hard work and are just hurting their teams in the end. In addition, I also attended a session where I learned how to merengue along side my peers as well as Physical Education teachers. This was defiantly an enjoyable experience. We learned a number of progressions starting with the counts, steps and turns. By the end, we were able to go through an entire routine. I had to go out of my comfort zone a little, but it was well worth it in the end.

Lab 2 St.Marys

Lab 2 was a lot different from lab 1. This time we actually got to teach the kids a game. I was excited yet nervous to teach in front of the students. I had the boys and girl sit criss cross applesauce in front of me while facing the stage, that way they weren't distracted by the kids engaged in activity on the other half of the gymnasium. I introduced the game friendship tag (elbow tag) and I had integrated the various motor skills into the game. They kids had ball. When teaching in this setting I think its crucial to keep the kids interested in the activity. Changing up the game with a few tweaks here and there can be a huge help to getting all the students involved in each activity. One thing that my group actually did was motivated one of the students. This little boy did not want to play one of games but instead another game. I remember one of my peers actually said "once we get through this one game we might have time to play your game after". This immediately got the student engaged in the activity we were about to play. In addition to keeping the students engaged it is all important to come prepared. If you aren't prepared to teach your game then the chances of it running smoothly are pretty slim. So make sure you have all the materials needed, know what your going to say and make sure you keep the instructions short and sweet so you don't confuse the kids.

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Using "shamed" games

In my PE class I wouldn't use these "shamed" games. They are in the Hall of Shame for a reason. I feel that games like dodgeball, red rover, or tag don't teach kids the fundamentals. When it comes to actually playing these games, not everybody is active. For example, if we are playing dodgeball the weakest kids are going to be the ones who get out first. After they get out what do they do? They sit or stand on the sidelines until they can get back in. Its called physical education for a reason. These games do not keep the students actively engaged in class. I do however believe that these "shamed" are fun, I remember playing them in grade school. Looking back I realize how inactive kids were in PE class. These games are not meant for PE.