Letter to the super

Dear Dr. Superintendent

I am writing to you today for many reasons, as you know our students need more physical and mental stimulation while in there physical education class. I feel I can accomplish this goal by adding in a step aerobic unit. Step aerobics has many positive benefits, such as, social interaction, increased heart rate, increased flexibility and stamina. Also while performing step aerobics students can burn up to 300-500 calories in just one class. Also while doing the step aerobic routine the students have to think what foot goes on the board and what moves come next. This constant cognitive stimulation will help the students react faster. Step aerobics has been around since the 1990’s it is a minimal impact activity that increases the heart rate. There are many opportunities for students to partake in this activity such as using the Wii, taking classes or purchasing DVD’s. All these item’s cost money, so the students are un interested, I feel if we offer step aerobics during class students will understand the importance of this activity.
There is minimal cost in this step aerobic unit. What would be needed to purchase is step boards, these step boards range anywhere from $9.00 to $46.00. There is no need for the school to create a special room for this activity either. The students can set the step boards up before class and put them away after class. There is no need for videos or DVD players because I am a trained step aerobic instructor. I have created routines and activities for about 3 years now. All we need are step boards and a boom box. This activity is very feasible, not only does it help the students with there physical endurance but it helps them socially and mentally.
Not only can we offer this activity during school, we can use the step boards and run after school work out programs for students that are interested. Also we can run programs that faculty and community members can pay and sign up for. This way we can get a little bit of money back to pay off the step boards. Not only are we creating healthy students but we can create a healthy community. This is an inexpensive and creative way to give back to the school.

255 daily burn

III. I really don’t like the daily burn. It is very confusing I don’t know what they want me to put in and what I should be looking at. I don’t feel I need to track when I work out or what I eat. I am already at a healthy fitness zone, and I know what to eat how much to eat and when to eat. This program would be good for a person who need’s out side motivation to watch what they eat and how to work out.

iv. I would use this website as a guide line for all students. I wouldn’t tell them to lose weight or to gain weight. I would have this website for them to look at to see for them selves to get into a healthy fitness zone. Some students maybe more interested in building muscles or cutting carbohydrates. This website will serve as an outside source for information. For them to have there own outside the class room motivation this website will help. The students can have a constant reminder and assistance all on line.

V.I think one tool that would be most reliable for the LS#1A would be pedometers and heart rate monitors. These’s are the most accurate tool measuring the students fitness in the class room. Out side the class room students can make up there data and the calorie intake. Also the students will be able to track there step count. There are some wonderful sites that track step counts. Everyday they can log in there step counts and see how far they are walking across the United States or the wall of china.

255 final

1. The website is from CBC.ca, North America, Canada, Saskatoon

2. I think it’s really sad how the students are being sent to this school, not knowing how to read and write when in 8th grade. It is interesting that the study shows that when they are physically active they are able to get a mental work out too. It refreshing to see administrators and principles behind this findings. I don’t know if I agree with the physical fitness in the classroom, because most teachers are not as educated in physical activity as we are.

3. The teachers are putting the physical fitness in the classroom, totally getting rid of physical education in a gym. I feel that minimal physical activity in a classroom would be appropriate. But the bulk of there physical fitness should be in the gym. Being a physical education teacher we are trained to teach physical fitness.

4. Students that participate in physical activity in class are easier to deal with. The behavioral problems drop and the teacher can actually teach. I feel like the old physical education will not have these outcomes but the new physical education that we are trying to get into will have these same benefits and outcomes if the teacher actually cares abut there students. The NYS standards are pushing toward these goals but they don’t give you the proper material, they are just guide lines to follow. The teacher can follow them or not, so the teacher is the main source of pushing the standards or not.

5. BDNF, is a protein also know as brain derived neurotrophic factor. This protein help’s with the growth of neutrons. The more neutrons we have the faster our reaction time and mental capacity increases. Two books that talk about BDNF are : Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by John Ratey and
“Nature's Ritalin for the Marathon Mind” by Stephen C. Putnam

Step aerobics stepping into school's???

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Letter to the super

Show your self off

Today I went to the portfolio showcase. It was really cool to see how everyone did there portfolio, some where done very clean cut and boring. While others had bright colors and cool cut out which really brought out there personality. The one girl I talked to was very nice, while iI was looking through her portfolio I realized we had taken some of the same classes, so this gave me ideas for my own portfolio. It was also refreshing to hear there stories of how hard it was but they made it through. A lot of the people there kept saying save everything, everything and anything can go into your book. Everyone there was very personable and excited to show off what they had accomplished. I'm glad I went and saw what I need to strive to be. I have some work a head of me. But sooner or later I will be on the other end of the table showing off what I got.

Being a leader in the Community

For 255 we were told that we had to do 10 hours of leadership experience. It was a great opportunity to get into the community and show them how excited I am to be a teacher. My first 5 hours was being the captain of my all night volleyball team. This took a lot of efforts and phone calls to get together. I first had to assemble my team i asked many many people and finally I got a team of 3 guys and 4 girls. Next I had to make sure that everyone had a team shirt, and if they didn't I made them one so they would feel included. Next I got the team together before the event to go over strategy's. Once the competition started i had to make sure our team was at our games on time so we could start. When we were playing i was constantly cheering them on and saying how well we were doing. It turned out that we won 3 out of 5 games. It as a great night, there was a lot of laughs. My next 5 hours came from ABCD Day, I was able to work with children with disabilities, this was a very exciting day because i want to work with students with disabilities after college. It was a lot of fun all of the children were happy and excited to be there. After the ABCD Day i knew i wanted to be an adaptive teacher those children need all the help they can get and i willing to devote my life to there to help them live a little easier. These 10 hours at first seems like forever. But doing something that I enjoy doing made the 10 hours fly by. I am on my way to becoming a teacher and I can't wait.

The final teaching lab..... HORRAY!!

Lab D was probably the hardest and easiest lab that I have done this far. What was hard about this lab was the fact that i had one week from lab C to lab D, so i was constatnly working on the lab C packet and then trying to get everything ready for lab D. Also what was hard was trying to think of technology to use. I really wanted to use pedometers but the ones th schools have were broken. I thought it would have been cool to see how many miles we steped. What made this lab easy was the time. We finally had 20 minutes to do a whole lesson, we could actually enjoy teaching. Over all I feel my lesson went well, what I really need to work on is my voice. I need to be louder.









LESSON PLAN
20 Task's
Time coding
Feedback

Folow your own teaching path...

For lab C I taught free running, it was out of the normal activities that we taught but it was so much fun. Free running pretty much ruled my life for the 2 weeks leading up to the teaching date. I was so nervous about teaching, I don't know why i was so nervous but i was. It felt really good to get the feedback after class that i did really well. 255 has had its ups and downs but its a lot of hard work and if you fall behind you have to double the work to catch back up. I'm ready to move on to lab D and teach step aerobics.




Task Progressions
Lesson plan
Time coding
Content developing
Feedback

More time to teach :)

This time we had 7 minutes to teach, we all so had the ability to choose and pick what we wanted to teach. We had 5 tasks but we can pick and choose what we were going to teach and when. For this class i was much more prepared. I had a whistle for me signal of attention because I always for get to mention what it is. The whistle reminded me. I also thought of a few hooks to use when I told the task. I felt much better about this time teaching. It is getting easier and easier.

MP3
transcript

Feedback

Being a prepared teacher

It really shows if you are prepared or not to teach. With this particular skill i had to idea what it wanted me to do. I had to do the progressions for the backwards 180 but instead i did the actual backwards 180. I forgot to say the cues and signal for attention. Everything I plan on saying never seems to come out. I need to make a cue card or something. But the ore i work on teacher the better i am getting. Each video keeps getting better and better.

Transcript
Feedback

Ready--Set--TEACH

The second time teaching I feel that it went a lot better. This time I was more confident and used my teaching techniques. I know when I am at camp or I am coaching all these techniques come natural but once I am put on the spot and in front of a camera they fly right out the window. I just have to get used to the camera and being put on the spot. But its nothing I can't handle.I do feel that all these teaching tools are helping but sometimes they are a bit overwhelming. I know we are still new to this but there are so many things we have to remember. It just means more study time for 255 :).

Transcript
Time Coding

Creating music....with bubble wrap!

Today in class we were able to play with bubble wrap. Doesn't seem to be too exciting, but it was really fun. Bubble wrap defiantly brings out the inner child in all of us. Our activity was to create a beat or a song that Incorporated the bubble wrap. My group which consisted of Mile, Harris and I used an NBA theme. We popped the beat to the defense song. It was a really fun. I love the fact that we can use the simplest items and create a whole new environment. We also learned about the time coding, I'm not sure that I understand it fully but I did give it an attempt. http://docs.google.com/View?id=dcn22j7_1g8sh3sds

Building to success

(http://avonsidedisplayteam.homestead.com/files/pyramid.JPG)

The other day Regina and I had to create an instant activity. Our instant activity was about trust, team bonding and creativity. We had the students try and replicate a pyramid design that we printed out from the gymnastics book. There were two of these pyramids for the students to create. Once the successfully did both they could move on to the next station. Once all four stations we're completed we met in the middle and made 4 big pyramids. It was a great time watching the group think and talk over how they were going to create the pyramid. Over all i think is was a success everyone had fun and we all walked away being more comfortable with each other.

Teaching take 2

I know I have to become louder and more clear in what I am saying. My body language shows me that I'm a bit timid and nerves. Also I for got my signal for attention. Over all I know I need to work on becoming more confident and being louder so that everyone can hear me. But over all I think I did okay for only the second time teaching. There is a lot more to learn so I'm ready.

1st time teaching....bum bum bum....

First time teaching in front of a camera can be kind of nerve racking but I feel that I did pretty well. I knew the material that I was teaching, and i also had progressions and activities planed out. But there is always room for improvement I feel that I need to work on my vocal abilities. I need to talk louder and clearer. Also I need to be assertive, i need to take charge and make sure everyone is doing what they are supposed to be doing. If I improve on these aspects I feel that my students will have better time in class. If I am having a good time the students will notice my attitude and feed off of it.

First day of lab jitters

When we came in to St. Mary's we had no clue what to think. There were so many questions like would the kids like us, where are all the toys and equipment?? Once we got started with the kids and the games the jitters went away. The kids are full of enery and the willingness to play. As we went through the lab the more fun we were having. I was kind of upset when the lab was over because I was having so much fun playing with the kids. THe one thing i learned from this lab was to always be pre paired with games and activities, because the children just want to play and play and not have any stopping in the middle.

Its a Merry time for lab

MERRY CHRISTMAS, if you couldn't guess but this lab was Christmas theme. My groups task for the day was to clean and organize the closets. Even tho this task sounds boring it was actually very fun. We organized and cleaned for almost two hours but all the while there was laughing and smiling. After we had cleaned up the closets and made them beautiful it was time to take pictures of what we had done. After the pictures it was time for our group to do our song. The only problem was no one in our group owned an Ipod, but instead we did an interactive chant. The chant involved Santa, Mrs. Clause and Rudolph. The song was an old camp song that i remixed to make christmas themed. The kids seemed to enjoy the shouting and movements. So over all the day was fun and full of laughfter.

Turkey day was full of stuffing

This lab was thanksgiving themed, my group was finally able to work in the gym we played basket ball dribbling game. It was a game that involved keeping focus while not looking at the basketball. The children had to look each other in the eye and try to make each other laugh while trying to keep the basket ball under control. It was really fun making the kids laugh by making silly faces and doing silly dances. One of the girls i was playing with she would not laugh or smile no matter what i did. She was very good at muck. Afterthat game we played another game that involved kicking a bouncey ball into a turkey that we put up on the wall. It got the kids to try an kick the ball off the groung, it took them a few try's but after a while they got it. I can't wait for the next lab!! :)

The circus rolls into town

This week in lab it was circus themed, it was funy to see the other groups dressed up as clowns. This week we were with the pre schoolers. They make me laugh, if you are wearing anything out of the ordinary they want to touch it and try putting it on them selves. A few of the girls took my bandana and tried it on, then they tried to put it back on my head, it didn;t work out so well but it was still fun. The children kept asking us to play different games with them. I went from play doh to mr. potato head, to playing with cars. Pre schoolers i feel will never run out of energy. The zipped from one end of the room to the other with no problem. After snack and a story we headed into the gym to play a game. We played dirty back yard, at first we just played to regual game, then we changed the rules to every time you throw you had to make an animal sound. Some of the children threw better while making the sounds, it gave them an extra boost. Dirty back yard probably was not the best game to play to view throwing and catching. But the children had fun and so did I. Out ending somg was the chiken dance, the music wasn't working so we had to sing it and dance it. It was a blast trying to sing the chiken dance.

The next morning it was my turn to go to St. Mary's before school porgram. A few of the pre schoolers remebered me from the day before and were very excited to see me. The day started out with the children practicing writing there names. The teacher had writen there name out in bold print and then in doted lines then stuck the paper in a pastic sheet. This way the children could take markers and trace there name. I helped a few of the children write there name, and gave them hints on how to write other letters. For example one of the boys asked me "how do you write the letter F" So i told him "Make a line straight up and down, then at the tippy top make a line come straight out, then in the middle make another line." Then he made the letter F. It felt good helping them with there letters. Afer they were done with there name they went to another station in which they had to do thier numbers. After there numbers they could either practice there colors or shapes. Once they were all done they were able to play with the cars or play doh. St. Marys has a great program and the teachers really do care about the students which makes me want to become a teacher even more.

A Spooky good time

This lab was Halloween themed, we were stared out in the cafeteria. We were hanging out with the older students, I sat down with them and started making paper bubble notes. A few of the students started to ask how it was made and what they were used for. So i taught a few of the kids how to make them. The most exciting part was watching them take this plain piece of paper and turn it into something of there own. A few made peace signs, while others colored in the whole paper. One of the girls got the concept of folding it and started to teach the other students. A few of the other kids started to teach me how to make a paper boat, but we ran out of time and had to go into the gym. Once we were in the gym i got a group of boys to start playing taps. Taps is a basket ball game that involves, jumping throwing and catching. The game was going smoothly until a few of the boys decided to try and play taps across the gym. One of the boys tried to teach me to dribble the basketball between my legs while i walked. That didn't work out so well, and also he tried to teach me to spin the ball on my finger. I almost made that work but after a while we decided to go play some knock out.While we were playing I noticed that one of the girls was very talented and got most of the college kids out. Our ending song was thiller, all the kids had a blast pretending to zombies. While making there zombie nosies and moving like zombies would. Over all it was a spooktastic time.