Wooty woot woot!! It’s Friday again! Another day done and another day closer to graduation and going home. I can’t believe I have only spent 20 days with the students. It definitely feels like more.
Today with my first class, we talked about our heart rates, where they should be, and what it indicates. I also talked about target heart rate zones, maximum heart rates, and target heart rates. I taught them to calculate their resting heart rate and maximum heart rate as well as how to figure out to find a certain percentage of their work rate. After figuring this out, I had the students practice taking their heart rates after 45 seconds of activity. After 45 seconds, I gave them five seconds to find their heart rate. Then they counted it for 15 seconds and I would yell stop. They would record it and the activity they just did and have 30 seconds to get to the next activity before we started again.
The second class did the similar activity today. This class was a lot better than on Wednesday. The students that I wrote up behaved a lot better than I expected. I don’t know if it was because I wrote them up and they see now that I won’t put up with it. I could also be because even though they really misbehaved last time, I was still talking to them like a friend instead of avoiding them altogether. It could also just be the nature of the activity and how it was organized. There wasn’t much opportunity to be talking and misbehaving. However, during the 45 seconds of each activity, two of those boys started doing unconventional tasks. When I spoke to them about it, they said that they were doing the extreme patty cake. Whatever it was, they were still doing physical activity. I never said they had to restrict it to doing weights and at least they were taking their heart rates and recording them after the time limit.
Whatever it takes to have these two boys behave and be on task in this class is great because if these two are on task and behaving, the other group of boys will do so as well. This is just an example of how these two students took and activity and made it their own. We as educators can’t be worried about if the students don’t do the activities the way we planned them then they are not learning or they are being off-task. I just don’t have to fret over the itty bitty and miniscule details about them doing the activities the way I want them done. They will adjust it to fit their needs and that is okay with me.
Let me tell you what. These were the quietest classes I had ever had these past two weeks and it was really nice. The students were really working hard and focusing on doing this task. Setting it up and getting to this point was a little difficult because the students just wanted to be moving and active, but as soon as we began the circuit and taking of pulses, because the students were too busy counting their pulse rates, it left the class quiet and attentive. My cooperating teacher walked in during the counting and I mentioned to her, “This is the quietest you will ever hear this class.” We both chuckled and the students continued with their activity.
When I doubt myself and my teaching and whether or not my students are learning from my lessons and activities, all I have to do is look at these other teachers and how they teach their classes. I realize that I am doing more for my students in one unit than they might be doing for them the entire semester. I have been incorporating homework, projects, and other learning materials for the students to make their learning process more meaningful while the other teachers just have them participate in activity. I can’t say much about my cooperating teacher because I never got to see her teach a lesson. The only thing that I saw was a Tae-Bo unit. I don’t know how she does her progressions or how she has her students learning.
The third class had their introduction to the weight room today, but geez! There were 12 students missing. It left the class feeling a little empty and barren. However, it was nice to have only a class of 23 today. It was nice and small and manageable. We went over the safety rules and the principles of training. I let them have free time in the weight room just like all the other classes who are participating in the personal fitness units. I think that they will like this unit too, especially one of the students who has been giving me a hard time with his participation and off task behavior in the other parts of the classes. He really likes the weight room so I think he will be really receptive of the information that I give him. I hope all the students feel this way and see the importance of personal fitness. At this rate, this class may like the personal fitness unit better than the soccer only because I am not teaching them soccer the “correct” way.
Today was a Zap day. Those students who chose to come to the gym had a pretty cool presentation. The drama club from Onate came and did a little performance for them. It was really interesting and entertaining to watch and the students really got into it, especially when the drama club through candy into the stands. At the very end, they danced a little portion of the thriller. Before they started it, I had told my cooperating teacher that my colleague and I both knew parts of the dance. She told me that the students would love me if I would get up there and dance with them. I said I was unsure because they did it a little different than how we learned it. When the music was starting and they were just about ready to start the dance, my cooperating teacher kept nudging me to get in there in dance. Eventually, I got up joined them and did parts of the dance. After it was all said and done and the students were leaving the gym, I had a couple of my students come up to me and give me high fives and tell me I was awesome! Hopefully this will help me earn some “cool points” and respect from the students. Needless to say, my colleague was reluctant to join me.
Track today was Free the Pig/Fun Friday. I had the anticipation in the kids building all week long. They kept asking what it meant and what we would be doing. I told them I couldn’t say, but that day has arrived. I had the students warm up and do their dynamic exercises. Throughout the whole warm up, the kids were trying to touch and hold the pig. I told them that they couldn’t because he was shy and not ready to come out just yet. Eventually, we got to Freeing the Pig and all it is, is a game like ultimate Frisbee but with the pig. I had them into three groups. Two groups got to play for a minute while the third did exercises like sit ups and burpees. They really liked playing the game and wanted more, but we had to break up into our events.
Coaching is something I really like to do. I even told the one girl who asked me (a girl who is not on the team but I kept asking her to join) if I was the kind of coach who would tell the athletes to keep on doing what I told them even if they were hurting. I said, “I am most certainly not that kind of coach. I believe that you listen to your body. I can’t tell what you are going through or how you feel. If your body says stop, you stop and I won’t think any different. Just know that you are only hurting yourself if you try to get out of exercises because they are too hard.” She said, “Well now that you said that, I will go home and talk to my mom about joining the team.” However, I told her that I am very different than what I am like in the classroom. “In the classroom, we can be all fun and games, but when we come to practice, I am like a drill sergeant. I will expect you to work hard.” I have totally seen me be two different people inside and outside of the classroom. I think that I do the separation pretty well because there is a difference between being a teacher and a coach.
Well, overall it was a pretty good week. Next week we start testing for the next two weeks. It should be interesting to see how this plays out. I believe we have all of our classes, but there will be few pushed back and class times cut short. I have only got three more weeks with the students. It’s a shame because I am just getting used to teaching to them and being around them.
Until tomorrow!
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