School Placement: Carlisle School
Cooperating Teacher: Mancino Craighead
Grade(s)/Subject(s) of Placement: 6-12 PE
Date: 9/4/14
Summary of Today’s Activities:
I have discovered that my planning time that I usually utilize on Tuesday and Thursday is slowly dwindling away so I can take care of other issues and provide tutoring to students who miss class. Because I'm not able to finish my planning in school, I have to finish it at home and it is making for REALLY long days.
Upper PE - (5th, long period)
Today was supposed to be the day we finished up our physical fitness unit by running the mile at the sports complex; but due to extreme heat, we post-poned the run until next week. But to stay current with the unit, I improvised and implemented a whole stretching routine. As much as the students don't like to stretch because they believe it takes away from their activity time, today I didn't get any kick back. I believe our bodies needed a break today and since the air conditioning has been out all week, the stretching felt really good for all our muscles. The extreme heat has caused some cramping, so we talked about the importance of hydration and keeping our bodies healthy while being active in this type of weather. The last 30 minutes of class was followed with Boccer, and I allowed for a 15 minute cool down period (where we tried to find the coolest room of the building).
Today was supposed to be the day we finished up our physical fitness unit by running the mile at the sports complex; but due to extreme heat, we post-poned the run until next week. But to stay current with the unit, I improvised and implemented a whole stretching routine. As much as the students don't like to stretch because they believe it takes away from their activity time, today I didn't get any kick back. I believe our bodies needed a break today and since the air conditioning has been out all week, the stretching felt really good for all our muscles. The extreme heat has caused some cramping, so we talked about the importance of hydration and keeping our bodies healthy while being active in this type of weather. The last 30 minutes of class was followed with Boccer, and I allowed for a 15 minute cool down period (where we tried to find the coolest room of the building).
Middle PE - (7th)
The heat has only gotten worse this afternoon, but fortunately I do not have many in class today. Most of the students play soccer and they left early for an away game. The only students left were four girls who happened to play on the JV volleyball team. So we recruited students from other classes to help set up for the game tonight and I talked individually with each girl to talk about goals and how to improve their skill sets.
The heat has only gotten worse this afternoon, but fortunately I do not have many in class today. Most of the students play soccer and they left early for an away game. The only students left were four girls who happened to play on the JV volleyball team. So we recruited students from other classes to help set up for the game tonight and I talked individually with each girl to talk about goals and how to improve their skill sets.
Reflection about Today’s Activities:
Even working in a small school, I still find it is hard to make time to meet with each student or athlete individually for short meetings. After meeting with my 4 JV volleyball girls, it gave me a whole new perspective and it motivated me to do this with all of my girls that play for me. We played a big game vs LCA tonight (division 1 talent, a few who had already committed) and the girls really brought their game to surprise the other team. But before the game even started, I met with each girl individually then we all met as a team to set a few goals before the game started. I'm happy to announce we met all of our goals and we really turned some heads in the process. I'm very proud to be the coach of this volleyball team; after 6 seasons, I have finally turned the program into a respected sport. It is a huge amount of work, but it is my passion and this particular team has pushed me to be the best coach to them, as I am getting the best talent out of them (symbiotic relationship for a change). I have learned, you don't have to recruit a team to make a difference, time and patience is worth it all.
Thank you for your candid and honest reflections. I'm definitely going to direct the others to take a look at your Blog if they want to see what the beginning of the year is like for a teacher, since they didn't get this experience with their own host teachers. :)
ReplyDelete