Day 16...What is Physical Education? (4/6/10)

Wahhooo! It’s Tuesday.  There is nothing special about Tuesday, but at least it’s no longer Monday and we are almost to Wednesday!

I consider myself to be a very organized person and liking structure. However, right now I feel like I can’t keep all of these classes straight. I have a total of six classes and with all of these papers that I am giving students, it might be hard to remember which ones got what. However, I have a folder for each class and write down what activities and papers they receive each day to help keep it organized. It seems to helping out a little bit, but I can imagine what it will be like when a student is absent and asks what he/she needs to get from me.

The first class had a weight room introduction with a warm up and cool down. We discussed the importance of a proper warm up and cool down and what each of them can do for our bodies before and after exercise. There wasn’t enough room in the weight room for a proper warm up so we did it walking through the exercises. Next time, I have to make sure I take them outside then back inside. I also need to cut down on my talk time because I see some of the students getting antsy to move and be active. This class is a pretty good class overall. It’s a nice, small class. I still had resistance from assigning the homework, but I think this class will do better than the others.

My second class is amazing!!! I absolutely love teaching this class. We started our dance unit today and I fully enjoyed myself. I taught the basics of dancing such as the step-touch, grapevine, front and back basic, and the 3-Step turn. As we were practicing, I taught them first and then we put it to music. After enough practice, I gave them each a chance to teach the same thing to their partner. At the end of the unit, they will have the chance to teach a dance to the class and through the practice today, I hope to help build the confidence in them to do so. They worked on cueing and leading a couple of dance moves with their partner. This is definitely my favorite class.

After having my honors class as well as my co-ed classes, I am a big proponent of single sexed classes, especially at this age. In the elementary school level, co-ed is fine and the high school students are a lot more mature to handle co-ed classes. However, this age level is awkward and confusing for many students. It’s hard to be a student at this age and trying to figure out my body and who I am while worrying about what others think about me as well. I understand that this is illegal, but I really like it to be separated. I think that I get more participation out of them as well because they are not worried about “looking good” for the guys while participating in activity. I know that these are special circumstances, 8th grade girls who are highly skilled, active, and motivated, but I think that the results would be similar at other grade levels as well and with a diverse range of students.

My third class was also introduced to personal fitness plan. We started off the class with a dynamic warm up and talking about the benefits of physical activity. Once again, I had to do a reality check with how much the students were talking. It is not idle and off task chatter. I need to get used to this, especially when making jokes and expecting the students to pay attention right after it.

What is physical education? Physical education is no longer a traditional class. It has a plethora of possibilities as to which direction teachers can go with their activities and lessons. No longer is it about play sports. It’s about finding out who you are and learning what you can do along the way. We don’t always have to focus on skill development and physical ability. It we can get students to think more critically about the life they are experiencing and leading, then I think we are doing our jobs just fine. We have to get the students to think more critically about leading a healthy life and what that all encompasses; it’s not just being physically active but making the right decisions to be healthy along the way. I am hoping to teach this to my students regardless of how much resistance they give me about homework and projects. If I can spark an interest in their learning, I am happy with that.

On a side note, we started track practice today. That was quite interesting. Coaching is really a nice break outside of the school. I still have the same students, but in a different context. I get to know these few a little bit more. It’s also nice to have more respect from them at practice because I sometimes don’t get that respect during the school day.

Today, I expected to lead the warm up and do the plyometrics at the end. However, when one of the coaches had the students line up on the line to begin running, he turned around and said to me “Go ahead. Do some of the running with them.” “Um….okay. Crap, what do I have them do? He could have given me a heads up before practice.” I just had the students work on sprinting and agility for 10-15 minutes. Afterwards, they went got a drink and returned for some more running. I decided to do Chelsea’s with them. A Chelsea is completed on a football field (or any squared field) and the first time around, they jog three sides and sprint one. Gradually, they increase their running to jogging 2 sides and sprinting 2 sides then moving onto jogging 1 side and sprinting 3. Eventually, they end with sprinting the whole way around the field. Well, needless to say, they died before moving into sprinting half and jogging half. Talk about an assumption of skill level. These kids were dying!! I ended up being the only one coaching even though there were four of us there.

I then had the kids come back inside and we finished practice with some plyometrics. They are going to be really sore tomorrow morning. I told the kids today that I can either be their worst enemy or their best friend. While one girl was rounding the corner, she said “Coach, I don’t like you very much right now.” “Hah..I know that.” These are some pretty good kids. I feel really good about coaching them; I really like coaching. After a few motivational speeches about potentials and abilities, we stretched and let them go.

Coaching is really a nice break outside of the school. I still have the same students, but in a different context. I get to know these few a little bit more. It’s also to have more respect from them at practice because I sometimes don’t get that respect during the school day. I think that this semester is going to end pretty well. After a rocky start last week, I finally got all my stuff organized and finished and I believe it will end in a good manner (hopefully!)

It was a pretty good day. Not a lot of complaints (other than from the athletes). It is very different being on the opposite side of the fence now and no longer being the athlete, but now coaching and seeing the athletes working their butts off during practice. I wonder if that is what my coaches thought when we were at practice. Well, I look forward to another day tomorrow. Hopefully my Monday students did their homework.

Until tomorrow.