Lab 6 at St. Mary's

The last day of St. Mary's went very well most of the time. I say most of the time because there was a few mishaps that happened between some of the kids but it was not that big of a deal. Today's lab was an easter theme and my group along with other groups came in with bunny ears to lighten up the atmosphere. My group was down in the cafeteria and we played a relay game where the kids had to run to a bucket in the middle of the floor and pick an easter egg, open it up, and do what the piece of paper said that was inside them. The game went great and all the kids had a blast. We also used music and I think it is a really good idea to use music in future classes becasue it helps the kids get more into it because the atmostphere is good and gets students in the right mood. However since we had the bunny ears, some of the little girls starting fighting over them and a few girls started crying and I had to deal with that problem. Other than that the day went great and the whole lab was a great close to this coarse.

Lab 5 at St. Mary's

Today was another day with Pre K. Once again I find dealing with the Pre K kids is much easier than the older kids. I think the reason for this is because the younger kids are still so innocent and haven't developed that wise attitude most kids get as they get older. The Pre K kids I find to be easier also becasue they are so into whatever activities we are doing for them. They love very simple things to as long as your game is easy to understand, and does not take long to set up and get started, then the kids will be completely into it. Today we played "zany zoo" which is great for these kids because they love acting like animals. The game is simple, easy to explain, and a lot of fun. We also had to read a book for the young kids. I think this is the hardest activity to do with these kids because they get so excited and start to get a little out of control. When you are sitting on the chair the kids start to climb all over you, but once you get the story started they sit down and listen nicely.

Lab 4 at St. Mary's

This was the fourth lab at St. Mary's and I think it went the smoothest so far of all the labs. Today's theme was about food and our game was called "popcorn". This game involved the kids all splitting up into three groups. One group would be behind a tall wall of mats, and the other two teams standing on the other side of the mat ready to catch flying balls(popcorn). The team that is behind the mat will be the ones throwing all the balls over the wall. The point of the game is for the kids on the side catching the balls to catch as many for their team as possible. Today went very smoothly because by this point I really knew the kids well and pretty much knew all of their names. When you start to know these kids better and understand how each of them act, it is easier to work with them and figure out what each would want to do. You can also prepare for different situations that you can expect to happen from past experiences.

Lab 3 at St. Mary's

Lab 3 was definitely one of my favorites because the theme worked really well with everything. My group did the activity "Empty Bucket" which is kind of like our last game, "Zanny Zoo". This involved kids picking different tasks out of a bucket and then performing them. We had told the kids that they were training to become super hero's and that they needed to try really hard to become one. The kids loved this and were very excited to participate and become super heros. When ever there is a good theme that kids are really excited about, the activity runs much more smooth. An important thing that I noticed at St. Mary's is that the key to getting a kids attention and getting them to play a game is to give them a reason to play. When the theme is fun and interesting the kids are more interested in playing. Overall, our game went great and it was once again very usefull to have more than one person helping out. My group of 5 was able to each attend different kids and show them the right way to perform tasks such as a slide, hop, skip, or jump. This is very important especially when other people are trying to asses them.

"I have a dream" by Martin Luther King Jr.

Reading the speech analysis of Martin Luther King Jr's speech "I have a dream" really gives me good advice for being a good speaker. When I become a Physical education teacher, I will be speaking in front of many classrooms and possibly even conferences depending on where my career takes me. One thing that is important in presentation is the was you present. Of coarse the material is important and the base of the whole concept, but if you cannot get your point across to whomever you are trying to teach, your philosophy will be lost and forgotten and nobody will remember what you did. Already I believe that I have good presentation skills. I tend to get really nervous when I have to speak in front of a crowd, but with me, the butterfly's go right away when I get up there. I think it is the anticipation that gets to me before a presentation. Once I get up in front of whoever I am presenting to I feel much more relaxed and I am able to talk with confidence and with a loud projecting voice. My tone is something that really does not need much work, however how I say things needs to be improved. Some good advice from this article is to use certain words that describe your theme as much as you can. It will, in a way be a subliminal message to the people listening. Also use metaphore to enhance the listeners/readers attention by describing things with much more detail. Mr. King did this in his speech with statements such as "joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity” [paragraph 2]. Overall, Martin Luther King Jr. was probably, in my opinion, one of the best speakers in history. However, our current President Barak Obama is very good too. I look up to him because he really knows how to appeal to every type of person in America, whether they are old, young, black, or white, it doesn't matter.

from http://sixminutes.dlugan.com/2009/01/18/speech-analysis-dream-martin-luther-king/

Lab 2 at St. Mary's

Today is the second day that we are teaching at St. Mary's, and it is more structured than the last lab. The first lab was more for getting to know the kids before we get into really teaching them activities. Today was the first day that we really go in as teachers and get the kids going in games. My group was the second group to go, and we had a game planned called "Zanny Zoo". I really enjoyed this game a lot and thought it was a lot of fun. We first learned how to play the game in class before lab so that we were ready with how to execute it, and so that we could make and adjustments and variation before St. Mary's. It was good that we had this time because we definitely needed to make sure we knew how we were going to structure this game and lay it out. In lab, we set up the game, and I volunteered to be the one to lead the game. I know that I need to volunteer to be the leader as much as I can so that I get the most experience I can out of these labs. Anyway, I taught the kids how to play the game and it went very well. Right off the bat I knew some techniques with getting the kids attention. I knew that I had to be loud, stern, confident, and really make it look like I am really into the game that I am teaching. If the kids know that I dont want to play the game, then they wont want to either because they will think that it is a boring game. While the game is going on it is very important to make sure things stay under control. I really need to make sure I develop the skill of running a whole class because in the future, chances are I will be the only teacher in the class, meaning I am responsible for everything that happens. For now, lab is much easier because we have groups of 4 working together and we can have each person take care of certain groups of kids. It is much easier to keep an eye on everybody. One example of what may go on behind your back is when I caught one kid hitting another kid. There was no major fighting but the kid gettting hit was really getting annoyed and luckily I was there to stop it and help the kid out.

Lab 1 at St. Mary's

Today was the very first day that we attended lab at St. Mary's school. Initially I was really excited to start teaching the kids and really getting involved with what I will be doing for the rest of my life. But at the same time I was very nervous for many reasons. One, I was nervous that I wouldn't be good at handling the kids at all, and that they would be all over the place. I was also worried that they all hated me for some reason. Second, I was nervous to perform my teaching skills in front of the experiences lab instructors, my professor, and all the teachers that were there at the school. I know now that this is the beginning and I should expect to mess up, and that the kids are not always going to listen to me. When I first arrived at the school, I saw all the kids running around and I was still nervous, and I wondered how I was going to be able to bring them all together. However, after a few minutes watching the kids, and other instructors doing there job, I became much more calm and confident that I could do this job very well. I then went and did exactly that. When it was our turn to do a game, I came up with one right away, took charge, got the kids together, explained the game in a simple fashion, and executed it perfectly. The kids loved my game and they all behaved perfectly. I felt really good after this and knew that I had just developed a good foundation for my teaching career, and that there are many good labs to come.