NYS APHERD Confrence

This year I attended the state conference at Turning Stone Resort. This was my first time attending the conference but it wont be my last. From Thursday on, the conference was packed with seminars on all sorts of topics. The first couple of seminars I attended was ones discussing various tag games and various activities you can implement in your elementary classes. Other topics dealt with such things as how to implement fitness in your class or how to use cheap equipment such as tennis ball in an effective and fun manner. However, the workshops were not the only beneficial element to the conference. Simply meeting experienced teachers and discussing effective activities they have used in past has been extremely beneficial to me as well as my friends whom are student teaching at the moment. It is also exciting seeing some of the veteran teachers excitement when they learn somethings knew. It was pretty refreshing to know that many professionals are still learning and growing. It truly got me thinking about my future as a PE instructor. Another great aspect of the conference were all the stations set up. The stations themes included various equipment being used throughout the country and ways to incorporate technology while keeping kids active. Many were spreading the word about abstract activities and the way they are beneficial. Overall the conference was everything it was hyped to be. This experience certainly wont be last conference.

The Ultimate Teaching

For one of our teaching activities, we were asked to teach a progression or strategy of Ultimate Frisbee. For my activity, I taught the strategy of the 3 on 2 odd person rush. The key terms used were draw and dump. I broke the class up into teams and set up two fields with end zones. As one team rushes against the other with an extra player, they focused on drawing a defensive player and dumping it to an open teammate. Once they reach the end zone or turn the Frisbee over, the other teams player comes in and a player for the defense sits out. If I were to adjust it, I would implement an activity where everybody was constantly active. If I could not have everyone involved in a game, I would use have students work on progression of passing and catching.Also, if I were to keep this activity, I would clarify the rotation a little more. Ultimate Frisbee is a great invasion game which can use multiple progressions. I can easily see implementing a unit of Ultimate Frisbee in my classroom in the future.

Ultimate Frisbee Transript

Teaching On Thin Ice

My first curve ball as a PE instructor was thrown at me. I was asked to teach a lesson on ice skates. Considering my last time on ice skates was about 10 years ago, I was quiet nervous. The first thing I needed to do was get back on the ice and get a feel of it. There is no way you can teach a lesson on something you yourself look foolish doing. After I got the feel for the ice, the second thing for me to do was learn the proper techniques for what I was about to teach, which was stopping. My friends and peers had plenty of suggestions while the internet was my biggest asset. Being that I needed to implement technology in this lesson, I was able to kill 2 birds with one stone by using a YouTube video. This not only taught myself, but was a big help to my students as well. The most important thing to remember when a challenge arises outside the norm is to remain calm. Almost always there are strategies to teach kids safely in any environment.

YouTube: How to stop on ice skates
YouTube: How to stop on ice skates - hockey stop

Skating Packet- Lab D
Skating Lesson Plan

C9 form for this lesson
Time Coding

Teaching With an International Twist

As our teaching progressed, we were asked to implement an activity from another country. In other words, a non-tradition game which can be used in a PE class. For this activity, I chose Ga-Ga ball, an international game from Israel. This game is a safe variation of dodge ball. To eliminate an opponent, a student must slap the Ga-Ga ball and hit another students legs. The game is played in an octagon shaped arena. Considering progressions, we had students play in a circle with no walls. To begin, I focused on getting low and defending your legs. This implemented the main points of defense in their minds. When I began to implement balls, I started the students out slow. I had them line up with partners and simply asked the to get a feel for the ball. I gave them a few ideas on how to hit the ball, but for the first day I really wanted to students to get a feel for the ball and become more creative on how they hit the ball.

Ga-ga ball packet - Lab c
Ga-ga ball lesson plan

C9 form for this lesson
Feedback Form


Second Day In an International World

As we continued with our international lessons, I had ran the class as if their progressions were moving along as planned. To work on reaction time, I had the class line up facing the wall with a partner behind them. The partner would then throw the ball off the wall and the students would react to the ball. Considering the students were so spread out, it was difficult to give feedback while keeping your eye on everybody, and some took advantage of it. If I were to do it again, I would split the class and have the other half behind the one group passing back and forth, switching after a set time. This activity would only be practical if each of the students are proficient enough for it. The activity did help the students get a feel for defending their legs while working their reaction time to the max. Overall, I think Ga-Ga ball is a great game with easy modifications as well as easy progressions and I can definitely see myself using it in my classroom.

C9 form for day 2 of this lesson

Hunting with Scavengers

Sorry for the blurriness, but the Y axis reads from 0 -225, by incraments of 25 as the X axis reads 0-20 by incraments of 10.

Right from the start, this lesson was unique. Breaking off into groups and allowing us to create our countrys flag automatically gave us a sense of control and unity within the group. The scavenger hunt was a change from the normal PE class, which always grasps the attention of the students. The results of the level of effort and fun everyone experienced really motivated me to try to implement this kind of teaching stradegy in the future. The activity really gave the students a feeling of control, and the motivation of a first place prize pushed everyone to hustle. The sheer results of most heart rates (especially mine) is a good enough reason to support this kind of activity. By using inter disciplinary teaching it allowed the students to connect what is being taught in other classes and allows them to learn as well through the physical. This just bennifits the childrens learning further. It also gets them excited to learn more in their other classes as well. This tactic along with the activity had shown great results in learning, motivation and physical activity. Good stuff!

Teaching In The First.

As I walked into the doors to the first 255 class, the last thing on my mind was getting in front of the class to lead a lesson. I couldn't have been more wrong. Getting up in front of the rest of the class I honestly was not too nervous. I knew we were all in the same spot and we all were bound to make mistakes. I had no idea how to properly run a classroom full of students. I wasn't considering the overall aspects of what a lesson should embody. The first attempt at teaching, I focused on teaching a skill through drills. I also cannot begin to name the number of missteps i had taken. Looking back now on film, I already cringe at some of the mistakes I had made. The feeling now is that of excitement; now knowing how far I need to grow in this profession. I am eager to see what is ahead for me and how I can improve.







A Second Chance At a First Attempt

While the very first day of class took me by surprise, I still took plenty away from it. Simply by conceiving knew concepts, I believe my improvement after my first day was apparent. The main focus on the second day of teaching was to get away from simple drills and engage the students in activities they both enjoy and will benefit from. With my partner, I set up an activity which involved students serving the volleyballs while aiming for Hula hoops. The drill was alright considering the lack of experience I had to deal with. If I were to suggest ways to improve the activity I would consider how many students were active. This is one of the main things to consider when instructing a lesson and should always be maximized.