Testing Out The Technology!!

Today for EDU 255 we met up in the Exergaming Lab! This was only my second time in the lab so I was excited to get another chance to see all the great systems. We all got a chance to try out the iDance system! This is a lot like DDR (Dance Dance Revolution). There were 8 electronic pads to play the game and practice mats that look just like the electronic ones but don’t actually control the game. This gave everyone in the class an opportunity to be active and participating the whole time! I surprised myself and I was actually a little better then I had anticipated! The great thing about the iDance system is that everyone can play at his or her own level. So if 3 people wanted to stay at a lower level they could play with the rest of the class that may have wanted to challenge themselves at a high level at the same time. The screen just splits and it displays both levels. This was defiantly a challenge either way and I can totally see how after a few rounds you can work up a sweat! Not only is can this be a great workout but it really works on coordination! Professor Yang had us try an easier level while trying to bounce to the beat while playing and this was a tough challenge for me! It really works on your coordination and concentration! Technology is a great element to incorporate into your PE lessons because it can really hook students into your class and get them to want to come back for more! Technology is becoming a big part of society and so why not connect it into your classroom?! Students are using technology all the time at home so to connect something that interests them and that they knowledgeable about is a great element to have in your lesson. Although it may seem like it could be expensive to incorporate and have enough for your whole class to be involved I doesn’t have to be that way! Even if you only had one or two iDance mats you could put down poly spots around on the floor for the rest of the class to practice on and then rotate! There are so many great options to involve technology and enhance your lesson!

Technology brings ‘new P.E.’ to schools

Mentality of a Rockstar!

            Today in EDU 255 Professor Yang had us watch a YouTube video of Queen. This was a concert from 1985 I believe that was one of the concerts for Aids in Africa. It took place in a HUGE stadium full of fan for many different genres that were playing that day. When Queen was playing on stage the crowd was wild and totally into the song he was singing. It didn't seem like there was one person who wasn't getting into the song, singing or clapping their hands, even the people a quarter mile away from the stage. Queen had a crazy performance and no one would have expected them to have a cloud like they did. After watching this video I was thinking "how In the world does this relate to us Professor Yang?!?". Then Yang went on to tell us that putting on a performance is basically what teaching is. If all of us could get the students involved and engaged like the crowd was at that concert that is teaching like a Rockstar. Also not only teaching like a Rockstar is his goal but having their mentality. Rockstars practice and rehearse over and over many times before their concerts so it may make sense that we are practicing and going over what we are teaching. This was a great little lesson that I took from class today. It makes so much sense! If you have a lesson when the students don't want it to end and are really engaged in what your teaching, you have taught like a Rockstar cause who wants to leave an awesome concert of their favorite band?! 

Stacking Up!

    Today in EDU 255 we started off class in the gymnasium and Professor Yang gave us some feedback about our class the other day when we played Ultimate Frisbee. He suggested the technique of “stacking”, like you would in a basketball game. So when you are on offence everyone should stack in an angle toward the part of the court that is the biggest in front of the person with the Frisbee. Then down the line each person runs and cuts in their own way to avoid being covered by defense. This technique was new to a lot of us so it took some time to grasp but in the end it ended up working well for our teams. Not only was this a good tactic for passing the Frisbee but also this technique wasn’t as tiring as the typical just run around to get open. The game of Ultimate usually last a long time you want to use as less energy as possible while still playing good offense and defense.

                  Then we walked down to the classroom. We reviewed important topics to remember for our upcoming lab and discussed the importance of having many resources. One of the main things I got from today was to make sure to have your objective, cues, feedback, and assessment all line up and be consistent. Proffessor Yang gave a great example in class. If you were working on the tennis swing and your objective was the low to high, your cue should be low to high, which means your feedback should concern this technique, and the students should be assessed on the low to high technique as well. Not only does this keep everything in your lesson consistent but this clearly shows students what they will be assessed on and what they should focus on.

First Look at Technology and PE

                Today for EDU 255 we met in the classroom for a change. We got a good chance to review some helpful tips for upcoming Lab D. We also got a chance to look at some examples of bulletin boards that we will also have to complete as a part of our lab. We saw some great examples and some “just average” samples as well. When creating a bulletin board it’s not only important to make it look interesting to draw people into it but to be informative as well! A good put together board should take a good amount of time to create if you want to accomplish those two main goals.

             Next we got a chance to go into the exergaming lab! This was my first time in the lab so it was really interesting to see all the equipment that SUNY Cortland is lucky to have! There were a lot of unique pieces of equipment I had never seen before. Professor Yang explained all the great opportunities for gaming that some people could use if they were assigned exergames for their lab D. There were punching bags that light up like DDR, DDR, a bike that is connected through a PS2 that controlled the speed of your car that you could race and many other unique equipment for activity and physical activity. Mike and Devon got a chance to play on race on the bike that moved your car and after they raced they were saying how after a couple races that could be a great workout!! Just after one race Mike’s legs were feeling it! This just shows how great video games can be to get kids moving! Also maybe not just at schools but having technology in the homes as well! If kids were forced to use the steppers while playing “Call of Duty” or the game would pause, I’m sure that the amount of time played on the game would be significantly reduced. Now that I have gotten a chance to see the technology that is available for physical education I can’t stop thinking of the millions of options of activities, either with or without technology!

Getting Back into the Swing of Things!

After a long break from EDU 255 we met this morning and got back on track to head for our Lab D. We unfortunately could not meet for two whole weeks because of spring break and then last week was the national AAPHERD conference. This morning we started class off right by playing a game of the class favorite, Ultimate Frisbee! After a sweaty first half of class we went down to the classroom to talk about the upcoming Lab D. We reviewed who was teaching when and what we were teaching. I’m really excited for this lab because all the activities that will be taught stray from the “typical” P.E. games. For example I get to teach yoga, other people will be teaching iDance, Zumba, Table Tennis, and more!! I’m happy about getting to teach yoga because over the summer time I enjoy doing it on my own! After talking about Lab D Professor Yang surprised us with an interview he had with someone from the conference. Professor Yang asked him questions about how he used to teach and how he learned and adapted to his new ways of teaching. This man, gave us all some great advice and it was interesting to hear what he had to say about his teaching styles. He works at a school in California and used to be more focused on coaching then teaching physical education therefore he taught “on the fly”, but now he focuses more on his teaching for middle schoolers. He talked about how now with different strategies in PE have actually improved the fitness level dramatically in the last 9 years. Even though in his classes he strayed away from playing basketball, volleyball, and all the other usual sports, the athletic ability of the students has increased more than where it was before! The last piece of advice he gave us was that we should surround ourselves with people who are smarter than us because in the end it will help us become better educators. We were lucky that Professor Yang got a chance to interview him so we can learn from his advice.

Lab C (Shinty Lesson)

 

               Today in EDU 255 it was finally my groups chance to teach our international game from Lab C! My group consisted of Stephanie, David, and I. The game we got to teach was Shinty. Shinty is a game that originated from Scotland over 2,000 years ago. My job was to teach Kindergarten, Stephanie was teaching for 4^th grade, and David ended on teaching for 12^th grade. Our group wanted to make sure we really included information about Shinty and its origins.

                  I started off my Kindergarten lesson by breaking them up into small groups and giving each student an index card with pictures related to Scotland. Then there were small pages on different parts of the gymnasium that they had to go by the order on their index card and do the action that the station told them. Then I gathered them together and talked about the pictures that they saw and how the related to Scotland then linked Scotland to Shinty. Next I talked about the cues/hook that helped the students understand how to hit the ball. I ask everyone if they have every seen a grandfather clock because the pendulum that swings back and forth is the way we want to swing our arm to hit the ball. The cues I used were 1. STEP (next to the ball) 2. BEND (your knees) and 3. Swing (your arm toward your target). Then everyone grabbed a ball and we just worked on those skills by hitting the balls to the wall. After everyone seemed to have a good grasp I moved on to a game that incorporated hitting the ball. There were two teams and their goal was to hit the opposite team’s balls off the little cones that were spread out throughout one side of the gym. Then lastly I brought everyone back together for the closer and asked a few questions concerning the cues and Shinty information.

                  Overall I was really happy how my lesson turned out! I was comfortable about what I was teaching and that caused me to be a lot less nervous, so I feel like this helped my confidence teaching. I really tried to incorporate the theme of Scotland and Shinty through my lesson even though for Kindergarten we didn’t get to play any of the actual game and I think did a pretty good job accomplishing this. Teaching toward a Kindergarten level was defiantly a new challenge for me!

                  One thing I that I should work on for next time is not concentrating so much on the time. I had listed on my lesson plan that I was going to do 3 activities and now I kind of wish I had done all 3 and not just 3. The reason I only did 2 was because of my worry of running out of time. Also Mrs. Buchanan commented about a couple phrases I had said in my lesson that could be taken the wrong way, like “guys”. This is something I will make sure to concentrate on for next time. One other thing that I would change about my lesson would be to add some music!! I was planning to have music during my lesson but I had forgotten my iPod. Next time I will make sure to double check before I leave! Also after reviewing my lesson I realized that I spend a lot of time talking and explaining. While I guess talking and explaining is a good thing, I think I did a little too much. I was really trying to make sure the students would understand the cues and information about shinty I lost some of the movement in my lesson. For a total I only had 44% activity!! Next time I MUST remember to do less talking a get the students move involved because I mean this is PHYSICAL education!!

                  Lab C was a great learning experience and we are all improving every lab! 

Shinty Lesson Plan 

Transcript of Lesson
Time Coding of Lesson
Video Collage
Shinty Resource Packet 
C-9 Assessment