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.  

Entry #41

Entry #41

School Placement:  Forest Hills Elementary

Cooperating Teacher:  Crystal Boyd

Grades/Subjects:  K-5 PE

Date:  11-6-14

Summary of Today’s Activities

The day started with bus duty.  Every class went through the same warm up when they walked into class.  The students started to walk when the music started.  About 20 seconds into the song I would yell “jog” and the students would jog.  I would yell activities such as “skip”, “gallop”, and “walk” and the students would perform those movements.  The kindergartners started their underhand roll lesson.  We played a game called “Turkey Hunt”.  The bowling pins or turkeys were set up at the end of the gym and the students had to underhand roll the ball and knock down the pins.  If they knocked it down they would bring their turkey back and sit it in their team’s hula hoop.  The 1^st graders and 2^nd graders played a game called Partner Tag Back that allowed them to work on their underhand toss and catching techniques.  The 5^th graders then came to the gym and learned how to dribble a basketball.  The last class of the day was the 4^th graders and they learned how to dribble a soccer ball. 

Reflection

Dr. Brenner was in my last class of the day to observe.  I was teaching my 4^th grade class the proper way to dribble a soccer ball.  The class had missed their PE day yesterday since they had a rehearsal for their Christmas play.  The class was answering questions correctly and it seemed like they enjoyed the activities.  I can definitely see myself teaching elementary PE.  I applied for an elementary job that was open in the Raleigh, North Carolina area recently so I am keeping my fingers crossed and praying that I get an interview.  What is great, is that the job starts in January so that would be awesome!