Entry #56

Final Journal

Student teaching has been great.  For any aspiring teacher, student teaching is the best experience to get a teacher prepared to have their own class.  I have learned more about myself than anything else during my time with Dan River High school and Forest Hills Elementary.  I have learned to manage a classroom, handle students throughout a classroom setting, and work with other teachers. 

Going into my Master’s degree I was not sure what to expect.  I was not completely sure whether I wanted to work with children for a living.  I have gained great respect for teachers and people who work with students all day.  I have grown a passion to teach students health and physical education.  I have learned throughout the student teaching that students like to learn in an environment that they feel comfortable in and also feel as if their opinion is valued.  I feel that I can provide that environment for students on a daily basis. 

                I could not have chosen a better set of host teachers and school placements.  Both placements challenged me and both host teachers helped me along the way with anything that I needed.  Through them I learned that doing the bare minimum is not acceptable for a teacher that is aspiring to be a great teacher.  Both my host teachers demonstrated that work ethic when I went in to observe their classes and they instilled and inspired me to be a great teacher. 

                Hopefully I can get a call on a job soon.  I am anxious and looking forward to having my own classes and getting to work with students.  Not once during my placements did I feel that I was doing a job.  I had fun coming to work every day and getting to know my students and help them learn things about health and physical activity.  I think the most strenuous part of student teaching was writing the daily journal after each day of teaching.  Of course lesson plans weren’t the most fun, but it definitely prepared me for my classes. 

Entry #55

Entry #55

School Placement:  Forest Hills Elementary

Cooperating Teacher:  Crystal Boyd

Grades/Subjects:  K-5 PE

Date:  12-4-14

Summary of Today’s Activities

Today was a very busy day.  The day started with bus duty in the morning.  The kindergartners came into class and I started off the class with asking them to develop a snow dance.  They all said they wanted to snow so I had four volunteers come to the front of the class and determine one move for the snow dance.  Afterwards we performed the snow dance together.  Then we went into our Christmas games.   I had every grade level today.  The students warmed up by playing musical hula hoops and then we went into the dog sledding activity.  With the kindergartner and first graders we played Snowball fight.  With the second through fifth graders we played a game called Snow Monsters. 

Reflection

                Dr. Brenner came to observe me during my first and second grade classes.  I feel like everything went as planned and the students had a great time playing the Christmas games.  She told me today that I passed my Comprehensive exam and that pretty much solidifies me graduating next week.  I am very excited and tomorrow cannot come quick enough.  Tomorrow is my last day of student teaching.  The ladies in the cafeteria said they have a special lunch planned for me.  I have met some great people and students at Forest Hills Elementary.  Hopefully I can have a similar experience at the next school that I had at Forest Hills. 

Entry #54

Entry #54

School Placement:  Forest Hills Elementary

Cooperating Teacher:  Crystal Boyd

Grades/Subjects:  K-5 PE

Date:  12-3-14

Summary of Today’s Activities

                My morning started off by helping the ladies in the cafeteria with their Christmas decorations.  My job was to hang up the snowflakes from the ceiling in the cafeteria.  By the time I was done, the first graders were walking into the gym.  The students had the same activities the kindergartners had yesterday.  Therefore, they warmed up by playing musical hula hoops, played dog sled relay and then ended class with the snow ball fight game.  The first graders then came to the gym and we played the same activities except I exchanged the snowball fight with the game Snow Monsters.  The students were considered elves and I had a set of students that were considered “Snow Monsters”.  The snow monsters had taken over the North Pole and the elves had to take the toys back from the North Pole.  If the elves were tagged they had to sit and the next person on their team had to attempt to get to the North Pole without getting tagged.  They then had to get back to their toy bag without getting tagged.

Reflection

                The students were very sad to hear that this was my last week with them in the gym.  At the end of class many of them hugged me and told me that they would miss me.  These students at Forest Hills have been great and they have been great to teach.  They have taught me a lot along the way and I have learned a lot about myself while teaching the students.  Today I walked in on a conversation that Ms. Boyd was having with one of the students.  Evidently, the students’ father was just released out of prison, but her mother will not allow her to see her father.  The student was very upset and said that she wants to see her dad.  It’s crazy to think that some students have to go through these types of things in their life.  As teachers we have to take into consideration what these students have to deal with at home and we must take the time to get to know our students.

Entry #53

Entry #53

School Placement:  Forest Hills Elementary

Cooperating Teacher:  Crystal Boyd

Grades/Subjects: K-5 PE

Date: 12-2-14

Summary of Today’s Activities

                Today we did not have much going on in the gym.  We had a lot of classes rehearsing for the school play so the only classes we had in the gym today was the kindergartners.  The students came in and we warmed up by playing musical hula hoops.  We had three winners and then we went into our next activity, which was relay dog sledding.  The class was split up into teams and we had a relay race on scooter boards.  The first person in line was the puller while the second student was on the scooter board.  The team that pulled their teammates the quickest down to the other end of the gym and back won the game.  After the dog sledding relay, the students played a snow ball fighting game, in which the students had to hit the other team with yarn balls (snow balls).

Reflection

                Since this is my last week at Forest Hills Elementary, I was a little upset that I would not be able to have some of the classes this week.  I was looking forward to playing the Christmas games with them, but I understand that they have to rehearse for their school play.  It is a little upsetting that they get pulled out of physical education class.  It definitely makes the day go by slower, when I am sitting around in the gym working on my ePortfolio.  Either way, I can’t really complain much because my school placement has been great and my host teacher has been great.  I have had a great experience and I am looking forward to having my own classes hopefully soon.

Entry #52

Entry # 52

School Placement:  Forest Hills Elementary

Cooperating Teacher:  Crystal Boyd

Grades/Subjects:  K-5 PE

Date:  12-1-14

Summary of Today’s Activities

                Today we had the 3^rd graders.  Since Christmas is almost upon us, we will play Christmas games with the students for the next few weeks.  We started the day with the Musical hula hoops game.  Students pretended to be Christmas characters while walking around the gym.  When the music stopped, the students would find a hula hoop to stand in.  Afterwards, the students chose a partner and one partner sat on a scooter and the other partner had a rope and pulled them around the gym.  The last game we played was called Snow Monsters.  The class was broken up into 5 teams.  Teams one through four were considered elves and the fifth team was considered snow monsters.  The elves had to get to the opposite end of the gym (North Pole) and take a toy (bean bag) and bring it back to their toy bag (original spot with hula hoop) without getting tagged by a snow monster.  The team with the most toys by the end of the round would win and then become the snow monsters for the next round.

Reflection

                The third graders had a blast with the Christmas games.  Ms. Boyd told the students that this would be my last week with them and they were all really upset.  They asked if I would come back and of course I said yes.  I hope I have made a good lasting impression on the students and faculty of Forest Hills elementary.  I feel like my time here has flown by, but I’m excited for what the future holds for me.  I have had a great experience with the students and I have learned a tremendous amount from Ms. Boyd and I have learned a lot about myself and what I am capable of accomplishing with elementary students.  

Entry #51

Entry # 51

School Placement:  Forest Hills Elementary

Cooperating Teacher:  Crystal Boyd

Grades/Subjects:  K-5 PE

Date:  11-25-14

Summary of Today’s Activities

                The only class I had today was the kindergarten class.  I set up stations for them instead of letting them have free time, because I was told that kindergarten has a tough time with having free time.  When the music started the students would perform the activity at the station and when the music stopped the students would stop, clean their station, and on my cue they would rotate to the next station.  We had a station in which the students had to toss a beanbag on a mat and then hopscotch through the mat and try to avoid the beanbag that was on the mat.  The next station was a bowling station in which they tried to knock down as many bowling pins as possible.  Afterward the students rotated to the corn hole station in which they attempted to toss the beanbags through the hole on the board.  The last station was a jumping station, in which the students had a ball that was suspended from a rope that was attached to the ankle.  The students would jump and try to avoid the rotating ball.

Reflection

                Since we only had one class today it was somewhat of a boring day.  I am looking forward to seeing all of the students next week and hearing about their exciting thanksgiving break.  I am also excited because Christmas is almost here and we get to start our Christmas games with the students next week.  Ms. Boyd gave me some good ideas for Christmas games that she normally plays with the students and then I also researched some games and plan on using some of them with the classes next week.  Next week is the last week of student teaching and I can’t tell you how excited I am to finish my Master’s degree.  

Entry #50

Entry # 50

School Placement:  Forest Hills Elementary

Cooperating Teacher:  Crystal Boyd

Grades/Subjects:  K-5 PE

Date:  11-24-14

Summary of Today’s Activities

Today Ms. Boyd and I only had one class.  A third grade class came into the gym and warmed up with the Turkey Tango.  Since we didn’t want to be ahead and start Christmas games with them, we allowed them to have free time for 15 minutes after the Turkey Tango.  The students had the choice to shoot basketball, jump rope, or use the scooter boards.  After free time was over we played Spider Ball with the class.  Two foam dodgeballs were thrown out and the game started.  The students had to hit each other with the ball until the last person was standing with both balls.  Once the students were hit they had to sit in the spot they were hit and if a ball happened to roll in their seating area they could throw the ball and hit the remaining students in the game.  After Spider Ball, we played Teacher Ball.  This was another variation of dodgeball, but Ms. Boyd and I were the only people throwing.  The last student standing would win the game.

Reflection

Ms. Boyd and I spent most of the day planning for next week’s lessons and watching and helping with the rehearsal of the school play.  The students had sort of a free play day since we weren’t seeing the other classes for the rest of the week since Thanksgiving was coming up.  I’m looking forward to next week since it is the last week of student teaching and also because we are playing Christmas games with the students.  When watching the rehearsal for the school play, I did notice that students were really misbehaving and talking while the music teacher was trying to instruct.  The students responded very quickly when I told them to listen and be quiet.  It is good to see that I have that respect from the students outside of the classroom.  

Entry #49

Entry # 49

School Placement:  Forest Hills Elementary

Cooperating Teacher:  Crystal Boyd

Grades/Subjects:  K-5 PE

Date:  11-21-14

Summary of Today’s Activities

Today was another full day of classes.  The only grade level we did not see in gym class today was fourth grade.  Every class started their day off with the Turkey Tango.  Kindergarten then played Rollie Pollie and Battleship to review the underhand roll.  First grade played Hot Potato and Matt toss to review the underhand toss.  Second grade played Catch 3 and Catch relay to review the concept of catching an object.  Fifth grade reviewed the bounce and chest pass in basketball and I introduced to them the proper way to shoot a basketball.  The practiced the motion in games called Popcorn shooting and Line shooting. 

Reflection

The principal for Forest Hills elementary observed me today when I was the fifth graders and it was a complete success.  Her ratings for me were mostly fives and she gave me some great advice on what to do next time with the games.  She really enjoyed the Turkey Tango with the class.  I was a little nervous going into today, because the current teachers told me she was pretty tough with observations.  Evidently, she thought I did a great job with the class, so I am very proud of the work I did today.  The end is almost near and the students keep asking me to stay.  Ms. Boyd told every class this week that I only had the two days of next week and then the week after with them.  It is going to be sad to leave, but I am extremely excited to receive my Master’s Degree.

Entry #48

Entry # 48

School Placement:  Forest Hills Elementary

Cooperating Teacher:  Crystal Boyd

Grades/Subjects:  K-5 PE

Date:  11-20-14

Summary of Today’s Activities

Today was a full day with all grade levels except for fourth grade.  The kindergartners showed up first and they reviewed the underhand roll.  We played a game called “Rollie Pollie”.  Five students were in a circle in the middle of the gym, while the other students were on their knees on a poly dot surrounding the circle with five students.  The students on the perimeter rolled their ball and attempted to hit the student’s feet.  They then played a game called “Battleship”.  A group of three students were set up on a wall mat on the floor with four bowling pins on each corner of the mat.  The students attempted to knock the other teams bowling pins down to sink their battleship.

The first graders reviewed the underhand toss and we played Hot Potato and Matt toss.  The second graders reviewed the concept of catching and played two games called catch relay and catch three.  The fifth and third graders reviewed passing a basketball and was introduced the concept of shooting a basketball.  We played two games called Popcorn shooting and line shooting.

Reflection

Today flew by since we had all the classes today.  Some grade levels have been rehearsing for a school play, so it has been taking them away from my class.  All of the classes seemed to enjoy all of the games.  Today was the first time I had kindergarten all week.  I had to review the underhand roll with them because I have noticed that kindergartners have a hard time retaining information.  I was actually impressed with how some of the students remembered some of the cue words.  I had to sit out a student from second grade, because he kept making a weird noise while we were playing and I had told him once before to stop making the noise.  I am excited for tomorrow since it is Friday and also because the principal will be observing me in the morning.

Entry #47

Entry # 47

School Placement:  Forest Hills Elementary

Cooperating Teacher:  Crystal Boyd

Grades/Subjects:  K-5 PE

Date:  11-19-14

Summary of Today’s Activities

Today might have been one of the coldest days of the year.  Speaking of that, bus duty was very fun this morning!  After bus duty, the first graders came into the gym and we reviewed the underhand toss.  We then played a Hot Potato game, in which students had to start tossing a ball to their partner once the music started.  When the music ended, the student who had the ball had to do five of an exercise, which was chosen by a student in the class.  For example, after one of the rounds the students who ended up with the ball had to do five jumping jacks.  After the Hot Potato game, the students played Mat toss.  A few wall mats were set up standing in a circle in the middle of the gym.  On my whistle, the students had to toss their beanbag in the middle of the wall mats. 

The second graders came in next and we reviewed the concept of catching an object.  We then played a game called Catch 3.  Students were separated into two teams and one team started with the ball.  The team had to complete three consecutive caught passes in order to receive a point.  If the ball was dropped, the opposing team would receive the ball and try to complete three passes.  We then played a game called Catch Relay.  Three zones were set up with cones and a student from each team chose what zone to stand in.  If a teammate caught a ball in the closest zone the team would get one point.  The further the zone the more points the team would receive.  The students counted up their points at the end of the game to figure out the winner.

The fourth graders came into the gym at the end of the day.  We reviewed the concept of passing a soccer ball and I introduced the concept of shooting a soccer ball.  We played a game called Target Shooting.  One student from each team had to kick their ball towards their target.  The target was a bowling pin standing up on a bucket.  If it was knocked down, then the team would receive a point.  We then played a game called Line soccer.  The class was separated into two teams and each teammate was given a number from one to fifteen.  When I yelled a number out the students would meet in the middle and attempt to shoot their ball in the goal.  If they scored they received a point for their team. 

Reflection

The students in all of my classes are really enjoying the games and I feel like they like them because the games have been different each and every week.  The students, at times, want to play some of the same games just because they were really fun.  I have noticed that many of the students enjoy variety.  For the past 2 weeks I have instructed about basketball, underhand toss and underhand roll, soccer, and catching.  Although it has been the same concepts, the games have been different so that students don’t feel the monotony of instructing about the same thing every week. 

Entry #46

Entry # 46

School Placement:  Forest Hills Elementary

Cooperating Teacher:  Crystal Boyd

Grades/Subjects:  K-5 PE

Date:  11-17-14

Summary of Today’s Activities

The day started with a bone, chilling morning doing bus duty.  Ms. Boyd and I spend most of the morning talking about the lesson plans for this week.  One of the third grade classes came to the gym in the late morning.  The students performed the Turkey Tango for a warm up and then we reviewed the passing of a basketball.  I then introduced and instructed the concept of shooting a basketball.  I then had the students choose a partner and they both worked on shooting.  We later played a game called Popcorn Shooting.  One student was in the middle of wall mats that were standing in the middle of the gym.  The rest of the class was standing on poly dots surrounding the wall mats with a nerf ball in their hands.  The objective of the game was to make as many shots in the mats.  The student in the mats had to shoot the balls back out to the class.

Reflection

I have to say that bus and car duty is not my favorite activity of the day.  I understand that duties come with the territory of teaching, but days like these make me want to take a vacation to a tropical island.  Anyways, today was a slow day since we only had one class.  We spent most of the day planning for the upcoming week.  The third graders had a lot of fun playing the popcorn shooting game.  I wish I would have explained in the beginning that not everyone was going to be able to be in the middle of the mats during the game, because I had some students complain that they had not gotten a chance.  Either way, I made sure everyone had a chance, but next time I would do it a little differently.  

Entry #45

Entry # 45

School Placement:  Forest Hills Elementary

Cooperating Teacher:  Crystal Boyd

Grades/Subjects:  K-5 PE

Date:  11-14-14

Summary of Today’s Activities

Fantastic Friday was upon us today.  All of the classes that were in the gym today started the class with the annual “Turkey Tango” dance.  The kindergarten class reviewed the underhand roll and we played a bowling game in which three bowling pins were set up for each team and the students had to keep up with the number of bowling pins they were knocking down.  The first graders reviewed the underhand toss and we practiced the motion with a partner and then played a poly fishing game in which the students had to toss beanbags on poly dots.  The second graders reviewed the “catch” and played a game called jail ball.  Each team had to help their teammates get out of jail by throwing them the ball and then the person in jail would have to catch it and throw it back to the original person.  The fifth and third graders was introduced the passing of a basketball and then we played a game in which the partners had to pass the ball back and forth for ten passes.  The quickest team to ten passes won the game. 

Reflection

Today I had a student in my third grade class bring a picture they drew in their free time.  It was specifically made out to me and it said “I love gym class”.  The picture was him playing basketball in the gym.  It is little things, such as a student bringing a picture that has made me realize that I am going into the right profession.  I feel like I am making a difference in students’ lives.  Obviously, making a lot of money is not the reason why many of us go into the teaching profession.  We certainly get to shape and influence the lives of our students.   

Entry #44

Entry # 44

School Placement:  Forest Hills Elementary

Cooperating Teacher:  Crystal Boyd

Grades/Subjects:  K-5 PE

Date:  11-13-14

Summary of Today’s Activities

Today we had all of the grade levels except for fourth grade.  We started each class with teaching them the annual Turkey Tango dance.  Afterwards, we reviewed the underhand roll with the kindergartners and played a game called Pin Bingo.  The first graders reviewed the underhand toss.  We played two games called Team Juggle and Poly Fishing.  The second graders reviewed the concept of catching an object and played a game called Jail Ball.  The third and fifth graders reviewed dribbling and I introduced the concept of passing a basketball.  They then played two games called Space Invaders and Mystery Passing Game.  In Space Invaders, there were students set up in hula hoops with a ball and the others were considered taggers.  When the whistle blew, the students in the hula hoops had to pass the ball to the other students in hula hoops.  The taggers were only allowed to tag someone in a hula hoop with a basketball.  If a student was tagged with a ball in their hand, then the tagger becomes a person in a hula hoop and the student who was tagged became an invader.

Reflection

Today I was not supposed to have the fifth graders because they had to rehearse for a school play, but the rehearsal was cancelled.  I was glad to see them in class today because I really enjoy teaching them and they are always really enthusiastic when in PE.  It is also easier when every class comes into the gym, so that I do not have to teach two lessons in a matter of forty five minutes the next week I see them.  I had to sit a few students out for a few minutes because they were acting really silly during games.  I also had a student get hit in the face with a basketball and he wanted to sit out for the rest of class.  I showed him that many students were not catching the ball and getting hit and they were not sitting out.  He noticed what I was telling him and he went back to playing the game with the other students.   

Entry #43

Entry # 43

School Placement:  Forest Hills Elementary

Cooperating Teacher:  Crystal Boyd

Grades/Subjects:  K-5 PE

Date:  11-12-14

Summary of Today’s Activities

The day started with the 1^st graders coming into the gym.  We reviewed the underhand toss by underhand tossing with a partner.  We then played a game called team juggle.  The class was separated into two groups.  One team was set up in a circle on one side of the gym, while the other team was in the same formation on the other end of the gym.  One ball was given to each team and they had to underhand toss the ball to their teammates.  They could not toss the ball to the students next to them and they could not toss the ball to the person that had just tossed them the ball.  Once I saw that all of them were underhand tossing the proper way then I would add a ball to each circle to make it more difficult.  The first graders then played a game called poly fishing.  Hula hoops and poly dots were set up in the middle of the gym.  Every student had 3 beanbags and was set up on the outside of the tape in the gym.  The area they were standing was considered the dock.  The poly dots and the hula hoops were considered fish.  They had to land their beanbags in either the hula hoop or on the poly dot.  The student with the most fish won the game. 

The second graders came in the gym next and we reviewed the concept of catching an object.  We played a game called Jail ball.  The class was set up into two teams.  I then placed member of the team in a hula hoop (jail) at both ends of the gym.  The rest of the class was set up at midcourt and they had to throw the balls to their teammates in jail.  If it was caught they had to throw it back to the person that threw it to them.  If they caught the ball then the person was freed from jail. 

The fourth graders came into the gym later in the afternoon and we reviewed the dribbling of a soccer ball and I introduced the concept of passing a soccer ball.  We played a game called Peg Ball.  Students were set up on the perimeter of cones that were set up.  The rest had to dribble their ball through the gauntlet of cones without getting their balls pegged by the balls passed from the students standing on the perimeter.

Reflection

So far, I feel like all of my classes have enjoyed all of the activities we have played.  I don’t think a single student has come up to me and told me they didn’t enjoy a game they were playing.  Most of the games have been challenging, but the students have had an opportunity to succeed in some way.  As a warm up this week we have had the students perform the “Turkey Tango”, which is a holiday dance that is taught annually to the students around this time of year.  The students have a great time with it and there is maybe one student in each class that is hesitant to dance, but after a while they go along with it and have a great time.  

Entry #42

Entry #42

School Placement:  Forest Hills Elementary

Cooperating Teacher:  Crystal Boyd

Grades/Subjects:  K-5 PE

Date:  11-7-14

Summary of Today's Activities

The kindergartners came to they gym this morning and I taught them the proper way to underhand roll a ball.  We played a turkey hunt game that students pretended that plastic bowling pins were turkeys.  Their job was to knock down as many turkeys by underhand rolling a ball.  The first graders learned how to underhand toss an object.  The students had to stand behind a hula hoop and their job was to underhand toss their ball in the air and land the ball in the hula hoop that was placed in front of them.  The second graders learned how to properly catch an object and worked with a partner to work on the movement.  We played a game called "Last One Standing".  The group that did not drop their ball won the game.  The 3rd graders arrived in the gym after lunch and they learned the proper way to dribble a basketball.  The day ended with car duty and planning for next week's lessons.  

Reflection

I had a lot of students come up to me after the 3rd grade class and said they learned some new things today when I was teaching the dribbling technique.  I told them before class that I knew that many of them already played basketball, but they needed to keep their ears and eyes open so they can pick up some new tips.  I was proud to see them learning and being active with the activities I had for them to participate in.  In the beginning of each class I asked the class why their heart was beating so hard after we did our warm up.  Many of them of course said because they were exercising.  But I went a little deeper and told them that the heart is working to push blood to the muscles when they are exercising.  Many students yelled "Gross!"  I've enjoyed teaching them things like that.  I'm thinking that when I have my own classes one day that I'm going to have a "Fun Health Fact" each week to teach my students.