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.