Entry 42

School Placement: Carlisle School

Cooperating Teacher: Mancino Craighead

Grade(s)/Subject(s) of Placement: 6-12 (Sports Medicine, AP Statistics, PE (6-12))

Date: 10/30/14

Summary of Today’s Activities:

Normal Planning Period.
PE (5th, long) - I started out the class with their new, customized warm-up routine with the inclusion of the scoreboard clock. After the warm-up we proceeded with our soccer lesson. I started them out with a few soccer drills then we split up into our teams and I let the coach's take over working on more passing and dribbling. At the end of class, we joined to play a game of Boccer.
Middle PE (7th) - After our daily exercises, we went outside to enjoy our last day of the beautiful weather. We continued to work on football, and started to incorporate plays in the the lesson now. 

Reflections of Today's Activities:

The new customized routine for the upper school school worked beautifully. I really had no issues out of the boys today - they all wanted to participate and they preformed all exercises to expected standards. I don't know if this was because it was the first day of it, or if this is really what it took to keep them on task. My suspicion - by allowing them to view the clock and take on the responsibility of when to switch exercises - they stay on task easier.

Entry 41

School Placement: Carlisle School

Cooperating Teacher: Mancino Craighead

Grade(s)/Subject(s) of Placement: 6-12 (Sports Medicine, AP Statistics, PE (6-12))

Date: 10/29/14

Summary of Today’s Activities:

Sports Medicine (2nd & 4th, long) - I got brave and wanted to incorporate more technology into my class today! I started the class with a warm-up/formative assessment activity that I designed on polleverywhere.com and the students were allowed to use their cell phones to respond.  I asked a series of 10 questions just to see where the class stood with the material from Ch. 6 (Sports Physicals). It was a pleasant surprise, that about 90% of my students understood and ready for the summative assesment! Once all of that fun was over, I started with a new chapter (Prehabilitation and Preseason Conditioning). The students took a few slides of notes from a prepared PowerPoint and were given an assignment that they could start in class and finish before next class. They were asked to interview 3 different people that play different sports on their preseasons and how each sport differs in the way they prepare their athletes.
AP Statistics (6th, long) - We began class by going over the FRAPPY (Free Response) question I assigned last class period; I gave them scoring guidelines and components to how it would be scored. After answering questions in regards to the AP exam we started a new chapter - Examining Relationships, concentration on Scatterplots and Correlation today. I introduced the chapter with an activity; the students split up into groups of 4 and were each given a ruler. The activity was called "The case of the missing M&M's" and the students were investigating a case where they were looking at a possible relationship between Height and Hand Span. The activity was a complete success and the students were accurate in their calculations and assumptions. Before the end of class, I assigned 2 book problems and a reading guide section.
Middle PE (7th) - There was a Blood Drive in the gym today - so once again we were kicked out! Luckily, the weather played to our advantage and we took the kids outside again! We continued working on football, explaining more positions and their duties. We let them play a few downs before it was time to go.

Reflections of Today's Activities:

All of my lessons went so smooth today - it almost makes me forget how horrible I felt on Monday! The kids LOVED the assignment of getting to use their cell phones (which I hope was all class-related usage)! The success of today's lesson has motivated me to explore technology based lesson plans. Stay tuned...... :)

Entry 40

School Placement: Carlisle School

Cooperating Teacher: Mancino Craighead

Grade(s)/Subject(s) of Placement: 6-12 (Sports Medicine, AP Statistics, PE (6-12))

Date: 10/28/14

Summary of Today’s Activities:

Normal planning Tuesday.
PE (5th period, long) - The Halloween Carnival has already cleaned up and we can have the gym back now! I wanted to try something new with exercises today, so I modified the normal routine and added a few new exercises. It didn't dawn on me how students are so reluctant to change, until today. But I wasn't backing down, I made them complete the exercises to my expectations before we started with the soccer lesson. After exercises, the students split up into their teams and worked on ball control drills. At the end of the coach's practice we played "Keep Away."
Middle PE (7th) - We split up our group today due to the nice weather outside and I took half of the kids outside while Mancino stayed inside with the other half. My kids learned more about football, while Mancino allowed his group to play games involving running - and a lot of it. 

Reflections of Today's Activities:

During PE today, I had a sincere talk with my students about the importance of stretching and warming-up because it has progressively gotten worse since the beginning of school. It also needed to be discussed due to the amount of athletes that have been/are injured in my class. Since they are so reluctant to the routine I have set out for them; I allowed each person to select an exercise/stretch that they enjoy. Once everyone gave a suggestion, I assigned time/reps to each activity. I'm hoping a custom-made routine will bring them back in so we can have a successful class. 

Entry 39

School Placement: Carlisle School

Cooperating Teacher: Mancino Craighead

Grade(s)/Subject(s) of Placement: 6-12 (Sports Medicine, AP Statistics, PE (6-12))

Date: 10/27/14

Summary of Today’s Activities:

 Normal Monday schedule; short periods.
Sports Medicine (2nd & 4th) - Since I was absent the last part of last weekend - I left my classes with work to do with the substitute. That work included research and a report on blood pressure, especially the reason for it during a sports physical. During class today, I allowed the students to present their findings and I was very pleased with the results in both classes! At the end of class, I gave them a rundown for the rest of the week and dismissed them to their next class.
PE (5th) - We weren't allowed in the gym today due to the Juniors setting up for Halloween Carnival. Instead of having a normal gym day - we found an open classroom played brain-powered, strategic  games (Connect 4, Chess, etc). It was a welcomed change of scenery for all parties involved.
AP Stats (6th) - Last week, I gave my students a graded assignment to work on when I wasn't there. Today I collected the assignments went over 2 AP Free Response Questions that were related to the materials we have covered thus far. I also assigned 1 Free Response Question for homework.
Middle PE (7th) - We still didn't have a gym, but it was finally warm enough to go outside. I took a variety of balls outside and just let them be kids for an hour. I couldn't believe that only half really wanted to participate - the other half looked scared to be outside! 

Reflections of Today's Activities:

Today was pretty rough trying to get back into the swing of things, after being on a mini-vacation (which wasn't a relaxing trip at all). I feel really unorganized and unprepared today - like teaching was foreign to me for some reason! This might be from the stress of traveling and the airline losing my luggage that my mind was traveling elsewhere. I know I have a lot to catch up on and very little time to accomplish everything. I'm in the process of making a to-do list so I can do one thing at a time without having a heart attack. 

Entry 38

School Placement: Carlisle School

Cooperating Teacher: Mancino Craighead

Grade(s)/Subject(s) of Placement: 6-12 (Sports Medicine, AP Statistics, PE (6-12))

Date: 10/21/14

Summary of Today’s Activities:

Today is my last day of the work week!! I leave for New York tonight and won't be back until Sunday!!

Sports Medicine (2nd & 4th) - Final review day!! We played jeopardy that I made from jeopardy labs.com Everyone received extra credit points on their next assessment for just participating, but I also based it on a sliding scale with the winning team earning the most points and the last place team earning just a point. This activity was a big hit again and everyone was engaged - Big Win in my book!

AP Stats (6th) - After I checked for completion on homework, I reminded the students that all homework solutions were posted to the edline page. The activity of the day consisted of M&M's and accessing normality. I actually think it would have been better to work a few more problems because today my students were more concerned about obtaining M&M's than they were about the lesson. I need to rethink the lesson next time when there is only a limited number of M&M's to go around, or maybe bring in brownies as well!

No middle school PE today!!

Leaving for New York tonight to visit the girl from Germany who lived with me last year. Her family decided to take a pleasure trip to New York and invited us to join them! 

Reflections of Today's Activities:

I credit the success of Jeopardy today to the use of small whiteboards and markers. Instead of everyone getting loud and trying to scream out the answer - the answer had to be written in full detail to count on the whiteboard. This aspect worked beautifully, but I still need better execution on the "buzz in" part of the game. Today I just made them raise the board, but I want to explore the use of iphones and making different buzzing sounds. Really need to remember this for the next game!!

Entry 37

School Placement: Carlisle School

Cooperating Teacher: Mancino Craighead

Grade(s)/Subject(s) of Placement: 6-12 (Sports Medicine, AP Statistics, PE (6-12))

Date: 10/21/14

Summary of Today’s Activities:

Normal planning period. 

PE (5th period) - The soccer players have left again, which means all of the teams' captains/coaches have left as well. So none of the teams are prepared to practice or compete within any type of competitions. After daily exercises, I ran a few ball control drills - but it did not go well without the experienced players helping out. When I came to the realization that the rest of the class wasn't going to go well with the path it was traveling - I stopped the class and allowed them to play volleyball. Of course this was a big hit; but I really need to have alternate plans just incase of this being a repetitive thing. 

Middle School PE (7th) - The Tuesday/Friday class is different from the Monday/Thursday class. On Tuesday/Friday I co-teach with my boss - Mancino Craighead. It is also a much bigger class, so we have to make continual adjustments to the lessons. Coach Craighead is wanting to take advantage of the nice weather while it is here, so he wants to teach football to this group. Being that he used to be the Head Football Coach at Carlisle, I allowed him to take the lead and I reinforced whatever he was trying to teach at the moment (especially to the girls). By the end of the day, all of the students had such a good time and I think they actually learned a lot about the game. I encouraged them to watch football on TV (like the Carolina Panthers), to listen to how the game is controlled. 

Reflections of Today's Activities:

Next year, I need to switch up the sports that are planned for the grading periods. For example, trying to teach soccer during the soccer season has more cons that pros. When the soccer boys leave, it is impossible to carry out the sport education model. Also the soccer boys are a little burned out since they have been practicing since the beginning of August - they just want a break to play other sports. I believe I'll switch basketball and soccer so they won't be taught during the seasons they are played. 

Entry 36

School Placement: Carlisle School

Cooperating Teacher: Mancino Craighead

Grade(s)/Subject(s) of Placement: 6-12 (Sports Medicine, AP Statistics, PE (6-12))

Date: 10/20/14

Summary of Today’s Activities:

Normal Monday Schedule: Meet with every class for 45 min.

AP Stats (2nd & 4th) - We are finished with the note taking in Chapter 6 - the pre-particiation physical; today and wednesday are going to be focused on reviewing. After we finished going over the answers to the chapter review in their book, I assigned 3 pages out of their workbook. This ended up taking up the rest of the class period - so I assigned it as homework if it wasn't completed in class.
PE (5th) - Soccer Unit! The students walked into the gym and went about their daily routine - dress out and daily exercises. After the warm-up was done, the students sat on the bleachers to listen to their lesson of the day - ball control. Each student was assigned a partner to work on passing and dribbling. After 10 minutes of ball control (passing to a cone with different touches on the ball, 2 touch/ 1 touch), the students participated within their teams in a friendly dribbling between cones relay. When the relay was done, class was over and the losing team gathered the equipment for the day.
AP Stats (6th) - We are also near the end of chapter 2 - describing location within a distribution in AP Statistics. I gave notes on our last section today - normal probability charts. During notes, we worked a few problems and then I assigned a few more out of the book.
Middle PE (7th) - Dress Out/Daily Exercises. We finished up our volleyball unit today - a few ball control drills with a partner then a game of Inverted Volleyball. We played with the NitroBall again and the rules were more consistent with volleyball today. Each team played 6v6 with a rotational component; the server could either throw or serve behind the serving line; only 3 touches allowed on each side; but the ball could bounce in bounds before making the first touch. We played this best 2/3 games. 

Reflections of Today's Activities:

I'm looking for a website that has pre-made warm-ups for Statistics and/or Sports Medicine. I think I might be wishful thinking - but I just wish I taught a class that didn't require so much manual prep. I also need to incorporate the warm-ups into part of their grade because I've noticed a few people start to slack. Next year, I'm going to require a 1 subject notebook to turn in on fridays as part of their grade. 

Entry 35

School Placement: Carlisle School

Cooperating Teacher: Mancino Craighead

Grade(s)/Subject(s) of Placement: 6-12 (Sports Medicine, AP Statistics, PE (6-12))

Date: 10/17/14

Summary of Today’s Activities:

Sports Medicine (2nd, 4th long periods) - Last class period (on Tuesday) we finished up the notes from Ch. 6 (Sports Physical). Today, we are doing a review on everything we have covered. At the beginning of class I assigned the chapter review in the book to be done independently. The second half of class we watched E:60 Videos reinforcing the idea of the importance of the pre-participation physical. 

AP Statistics (6th period) - Start out with our warm-up - relative standing using SAT scores. I wanted to go over the homework, but I never have enough time! I jumped right into the lesson of the day - accessing Normality using normal plots. They took notes from my power point and we solved a few problems on the board. At the end of class, I assigned their homework.

I left early today for our volleyball game in Burlington, NC - so I got out of Lunch Duty and Middle School PE! 

Reflections of Today's Activities:

I really feel like I never have enough time in AP Statistics to get everything done. I think in order to use my time efficiently, I'm going to to start posting the solutions to edline. That way the students are responsible for checking their own work and if they still have problems, they can see me individually or I can go over 1 or 2 problems instead of wasting an entire class period going over homework. 

Entry 34

School Placement: Carlisle School

Cooperating Teacher: Mancino Craighead

Grade(s)/Subject(s) of Placement: 6-12 (Sports Medicine, AP Statistics, PE (6-12))

Date: 10/16/14

Summary of Today’s Activities:

Planning as usual but I just got an e-mail saying that the soccer players will be dismissing at 10:30, so I'm going to have to adjust my PE plans today. 

PE (5th period, long) We were supposed to start our soccer unit within our assigned teams today, however, the soccer team left early and left me with no coaches. I decided to delay the lesson plan, since it would be extremely hard to execute without the presence of the team coaches/captains. Instead of soccer, we played more volleyball - their new favorite sport. 

Middle School Study Hall

Middle School PE (7th) - Our new equipment came in! After exercises, the students put up the volleyball net. Since I have been working on volleyball for my Monday/Thursday class, I used the new equipment to help reinforce what they have already learned. We played inverted volleyball with a NitroBall today (which is a bigger, more inflated volleyball). To help teach timing and getting your feet behind the ball, the game is played by allowing the ball to bounce before making contact with the ball. The kids really loved this game - can't wait to play again next week!

Reflections of Today's Activities:

Next class, I need to add in a few drills with the NitroBall so the students can learn the timing. They loved playing the game, but I think their skills still need a little work and there is a learning curve to playing with the new ball. 

Entry 33

School Placement: Carlisle School

Cooperating Teacher: Mancino Craighead

Grade(s)/Subject(s) of Placement: 6-12 (Sports Medicine, AP Statistics, PE (6-12))

Date: 10/15/14

Summary of Today’s Activities:

No classes today!

The upper school is administering the PSAT to grades 9-11 from 8:15-12:15 today. Somehow I got volunteered to administer a special accommodations for 1 girl today - Double Time and READING! I had to READ the entire PSAT for extended time! I felt like I just ran a marathon when I finished! After the PSAT the students went to 7th period (majority study hall) followed by lunch and an assembly. The rest of the day was spent mentoring (upper school student paired up with lower school student). 

Entry 32

School Placement: Carlisle School

Cooperating Teacher: Mancino Craighead

Grade(s)/Subject(s) of Placement: 6-12 (Sports Medicine, AP Statistics, PE (6-12))

Date: 10/14/14

Summary of Today’s Activities:

Today is the first day back to school from our fall break (aka Columbus Day) so we are running a Monday schedule, even though it is Tuesday.
Sports Medicine (2nd, 4th - short periods) - Today I finished up Chapter 6 (Sports Physicals) with notes (PowerPoint) and a short activity; the lesson focused on clearance from a physician. The activity consisted of a compilation of sports (I typed up 32 different sports on a sheet of paper, then cut them into individual sports). After a short discussion about different classifications of contact sports, I distributed 5-7 sports to every pod of students. The pods were asked to discuss each sport and label it as a full contact/collision, limited contact, or non-contact sport. When they were confident with their decisions, 1 member of the group wrote their sports on the board under each category. A class discussion was held to make sure we had an understanding between contact/non-contact sports and the risks associated with each. *Dr. Brenner also joined us for 4th period today - God bless her soul after that class!
PE (5th period) - Because the upper/middle divisions were running a Monday schedule and the Lower division was running a regular Tuesday schedule - there was a small scheduling conflict in the gym. We had to wait about 10 minutes before we could take the court, so I tried to explain to the class (while they were sitting on the bleachers) about the next unit we were getting ready to jump into - Soccer. However, it was super loud in the gym and I think I wasted my time and effort on that one! When the 3rd graders left the gym, we lined up for exercises in our new placements. We also struggled a little through the exercises today - I need to start pondering new exercises to keep them fresh and on target. After exercises, I brought them back to the bleachers to have a better discussion about our new unit. For our pre-assessment, I chose a "hot seat" approach which had its pros and cons (see discussion in reflection). *Dr. Brenner also joined us for this class - she might think we are all crazy now!
AP Stats (6th period) - Started off with a z-score practice Warm-Up as I checked for their homework. As we transitioned into our lesson of the day - Standard Normal Calculations, we practiced solving a few problems using our new "checklist." I never have enough time to get everything done in this class- it is already time to go!
Middle PE (7th) - Dress out, daily exercises as usual. We introduced a new game to the middle division today called Battleship. The class is divided into groups of 5 - 4 people with knees on the mat (battleship) and a runner/retriever. Each group is given 2 bowling pins to protect (can only use your body to shield). At the sound of the whistle, the retriever runs to the middle to collect balls to give to their group. The groups start firing balls at other groups in effort to knock down other groups bowling pins and protect theirs in the process. After each round, the group rotates the runner/retriever. The students absolutely loved this game!

Reflection about Today’s Activities:

Since I had the pleasure of Dr. Brenner joining us today - I will reflect on what she had to offer. Apparently, I'm in such a habit of running chaotic class discussions it is going to be harder than I thought of getting out of that routine. I need to stress to my class that discussions can only enhance the class if every voice is heard (so talking over top of each other is counter-productive). Students to be called on before offering their opinion/suggestion. Another thing that could be altered for better deliverance is the "hot seat" pre-assessment in PE. The purpose was served, but the production needs to be addressed. Instead of having the students raise their hand to answer the question - I think I should incorporate a soccer component - such as raise the ball over their head, pass the ball to the goal, or dribble to a certain place. I like to incorporate movements appropriate the to the unit where possible. Just a suggestion for next time! 

Entry 31

School Placement: Carlisle School

Cooperating Teacher: Mancino Craighead

Grade(s)/Subject(s) of Placement: 6-12 (Sports Medicine, AP Statistics, PE (6-12))

Date: 10/7/14

Summary of Today’s Activities:

Planning and grading as usual - this tends to be the part of the year where I can't catch up if I tried. As always, assessments in all of the classes ended up piling on top of each other and there doesn't seem like enough hours to plan for daily lessons, grade, practice/game, and anything else at the moment. However, I know at some point I will catch up - Winter break.
PE (5th period - long) For once, I didn't get a new student today! The boys and 1 girl performed their daily exercises then waited somewhat patiently for the plans of the day. Today was our last day of working on volleyball skills and I was actually shocked to see the improvement that just came all of a sudden! The serves are finally going over the net and there is also somewhat of a serve receive (or they just don't let the ball hit the ground that easily anymore). After working extensively on our volleyball unit the last few weeks, it is finally amounting to something! And what's even more amazing is that the boys come in everyday excited to play volleyball - I almost feel like it is the new basketball (a reference to the activity that they always want to play and enjoy the most). At the end of class, I let them play a game and so proud of their accomplishments and progression of the game!
7th period (middle - tues/friday) Same exact plans as yesterday. The students came in, dressed out, performed daily activities, and waited for their plans/orders. They are still working on volleyball as well - they were given 3 different ball control activities before they played Newcomb.

Reflection about Today’s Activities:

I had a pretty rough volleyball game last night at Westover (my Varsity team). I wasn't even sure if I wanted to coach volleyball at Carlisle anymore (even though I have been coaching the last 6 years, and the reason I got hired to teach at the school). But for some reason, my PE class sparked my interest for volleyball again with their pure progression and passion for the game. They enjoy learning the game as much as I love teaching it at this point. This is very different from the team I coach where there is no passion, but more of a hobby after school. I'm looking forward to coaching my first club team come this November - but I have my PE class to thank to help keep pushing me forward in my first love - volleyball. 

Entry 30

School Placement: Carlisle School

Cooperating Teacher: Mancino Craighead

Grade(s)/Subject(s) of Placement: 6-12 (Sports Medicine, AP Statistics, PE (6-12))

Date: 10/6/14

Summary of Today’s Activities:

Normal Monday, so I'll meet with all of my classes for 45 minutes each.
Sports Medicine (2nd, 4th - short periods) Today I started with the notes for our new chapter - The pre-participation sports physical. I also assigned an activity to be done in class - I handed each student a copy of the sports physical that Carlisle School uses. Using a highlighter and colored pen, the students were to identify the 9 goals that were discussed in class that all sports physicals should be aiming to provide. At the end of class, we went over the overs and then it was time to be dismissed.
PE (5th short period) We are on our last week of volleyball, but there a few skills that I thought needed improvement. After our daily exercises, we went over serve receive and did multiple drills with this big concept in mind. There was no time for a game, but I believe our skills are starting to improve!
AP Stats(6th short period) Lesson of the day - Density Curves! I went over a few notes and then we solved problems in class. I didn't want us to become dependent on collaborative work, so I assigned the problems as independent work. When everyone was finished, I randomly called on different students to supply part of the answer. At the end of class, I assigned the homework and it is finally lunch time!!
7th (middle school mon/thurs class) After daily exercises, the students waited on the bleachers for instruction. This is the time where I explain what we are going to be doing for the rest of class and what I expect from each student. We are still on our volleyball unit so I explained the ball control drills (partner, group- passing shuttle, and individual relays). After ball control, we played Newcomb using volleyball rotations and boundaries. 

Reflection about Today’s Activities:

I've been working at Carlisle as a teacher for five years now and I think I have been spoiled with small class sizes. Upon reflection, I'm not sure how I would handle a large class size - obviously it would be different than what I'm doing now. I think that is one of the disadvantages I have for not being able to be placed in the public school. It really makes me appreciate my job at Carlisle for having the opportunity to build (appropriate) relationships with each one of my students; I can work a little deeper with the content and explore an array of topics. But a large class size scares me to death (and I graduated from public school!).