BEST lab ever!

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B2i0AptsgigGNmFjZDY1ZjctZjFlMS00M2Q1LTlkMjItNGNhYTI5ZGZlMDcz&hl=en

Our final Lab

My last day at Saint Mary's after school program was by far the most memorable. It went far beyond learning a great teaching lesson, or simply having fun playing games. It showed me that sometimes a little extra goes a long way, and that's applicable to everything that I do. My partner in class (Mitch) told me that he had a Mario costume, from that point I decided to change my costume to Luigi. To my surprise it was a big hit with the children.
Our assignment on the day was to interview every student in our lab group, and report how they took to their own lab experiences. The costumes went over so well with the children that Mitch and I could not even get to half the students in our class. At one point we walked out to the play ground in an attempt to get a student from our PED 201 class aside for an interview. We honestly where instantly swarmed with children. At first I tried running away so they'd follow me and Mitch could possibly get the interview, but to no avail. Even though they followed me for a moment they quickly caught me, and Mario didn't have chance to go anywhere. Then our teachers assistant suggested that we get a game going to distract them. The kids clearly wanted to play tag so Mario gave them some rules and they all scattered. We played for a few moments then made our way back inside while the children where occupied.
That's honestly the story on the day. It was like almost everywhere we went. If the kids where already in a game they didn't seem to notices us, but most of the children who weren't came right over. It's apparent that the children knew we where in just costumes, but they seemed to love playing along. It honestly made the day a lot more adventurous, and in a way made me feel like I was five again too. Hands down this was the most memorable lab experience to date!

Sharring a part of me with you

Seeing how my professor was kind enough to help integrate our class into the world of technology, and share that with us, I decided to share something too. Evan Tanner happens to have been and despite his passing still is an inspirational factor to my life. This video shows some of his thoughts on life and selflessness. To my understanding he was not only a very adventurous man, but one who lived a life worth leading. Once he heard of a playground being constructed for children he had never met or known, and it is said he called to volunteer. He's a man who had many money troubles, and without hesitation flew down the location to help out, simply because he felt it was a great cause. This is simply one kind act out of many, but never the less it is one that I find extremely inspirational. He's a large inspiration to my life because he lived a life full of adventure but he always seemed to look beyond himself. If you're interested in him, or anything about him, feel free to ask me or Google his name. Also He has a blog page that many consider to be more than how everyone blogs now, it's been referenced as reading a man's soul.

Harry Harlow's monkey experimentations

Harry Harlow's experiment demonstrated the importance of care-giving on a monkey's development. His experiment involved placing a baby rhesus monkey into a in caged location with A mother model made out of wire, and a second wire model with a cloth covering. With multiple groups he'd place a feeding bottle on either the wire or cloth model. To his findings regardless of which mother model provide the monkey with food, the monkey's built their dependency on the cloth model. This shows that comfort is extremely important to the monkey, It even favors comfort over the mother who feeds it. It's interesting to think that this could very much so apply to human infants as well. "This assembly covers about 97 percent of the genome and is based on 6X ... Initial sequence of the chimpanzee genome and comparison with the human genome" (http://genome.ucsc.edu/cgi-bin/hgGateway?db=panTro2). This statement shows that scientist have mapped out the human genome, and it is 97% equivalent to that of a chimpanzee. Showing that humans are much like monkeys, so this study could very likely allow us to better understand the cognitive development of humans!

Having fun at St. Mary's

St. Mary's was a lot of fun, as always this time around. With the exception of being nervous the few games, these experiences have been a lot of fun. This time I had the children play a game where the objective was to kick a soccer ball into the other teams pins located at opposite ends of the court. It's just like soccer except with multiple balls, and instead of a goal there were pins. I figured it involve a lot more running with multiple balls, and be a lot more exercise for the kids. I just recently began playing soccer and though it's a lot of fun, it has a far amount of down time. The game worked well for running, but It was a failure in the assessing category. It was difficult for the girl being assessed to be seen clearly kicking a ball. So my teacher then had me change the game up by making the kids break into two kid teams. This allowed everyone to kick the ball a lot more, and made it into a whole new game. Also we realized just one or two kids can dictate the game for the rest of them. During another students game I noticed one kid always held the ball for a long period of time. This could have caused some kids to become bored with the game from it slowing down. Or if one or two kids shoot down a game, it may influence others to follow.

Particular lessons are only learned through experience

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B2i0AptsgigGNDdjNDYzMmYtOWI3OS00NjgzLWE1NTYtNDY0NDdhN2NhNzY0&hl=en

Let Experience be your teacher

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B2i0AptsgigGM2Y2ZjM2MzMtNWNlZS00ZjliLTg2MzctYzg0NTE1MzEwMDNk&hl=en

Getting a curve ball

Last time at Saint Mary's I planned on teaching a game to the younger kids. Do to them being young, I was expecting to sell it through the Easter bunny pitch. Then we got thrown a curve ball, and had to implement our games to the older children. This meant not only was my prepared hook out the window, but my game as well. The game I had planned on playing would have been to simple and boring to the older children. So i had to Switch it up.
Luckily I had considered a few games for this particular skills assessment, so I went with a game that I figured was to difficult for the younger children. It was my favorite game in High school, they called it end-zone football. There are two teams, and the objective is to pass the ball into the other teams end-zone without dropping a pass(this results in a turn over at the location of the ball). The catch is once you catch it you can only take three steps, so it puts an emphasis on passing and teamwork. The game starts by the instructor just throwing the ball up, and what ever team gets it begins the game from there.
End-zone football seemed to go as a hit with the children. Joe even modified it so it didn't get old by placing buckets at each end-zone, and then requiring the kids to shoot the football into them to score. The kid's even asked to play the game after it was done. I'm very happy with how the day went. Despite my happiness with the day, I know I can do a lot better to sell and instruct the games. I look forward to getting better, and learning much more!

Learning through labs!!

SUNY CORTLAND MOTOR DEVELOPMENT LAB
PED 201 –Professor Yang
Locomotor Skills Part B: Lab Three

Name: Name: Matthew McConnell Date: __3-16-10____ Lab Group Day and #: _____Wednesday_____

Tasks
A. To observe the interaction between Cortland students and St. Mary’s students.
B. Locomotor Skills Part B Worksheet.


TASK A – OBSERVATION/REFLECTION

Observe the interaction between St. Mary’s students and Cortland students.

1. Observe the St. Mary’s student(s) as they participate in the activities. Describe the variability of the movement patterns you observed. Be sure to note with whom you worked, what grade they were in, and any differences in age, gender, or ability.

The only activity in which I was able to observe Stevie and Sandra was an activity in which the children how to move differently trough and array of obstacles in order to throw a bean bag at a dinosaur. Stevie didn’t seem to want to move threw the obstacles as he was shown. Even if someone tried to slide threw the cones with him, he would just run through them anyways. I feel as if this had a lot to do with how young he was. I Previously played with a child named Alvin the same age as Stevie (age 5yrs)the first week of lab during free time. Alvin too, really didn’t run fluently, or seem to fully grasp what was going on around him either. Stevie seemed to more so gallop than leap, or slide when he attempted to do either. For the most part he more or less ran instead of doing the designated forms of movement. He did participate fully in the part of the activity that required horizontal jumping. He still has a lot of development to go with those too, but he seemed to enjoy them. Instead of jumping with both feet and using his arms to help him, he kind of jumped and flailed a little. It was almost like the child jumping up and down in the movie “Big Daddy” when he was screaming kangaroo song over and over.
Sandra on the other hand Seemed much more developed, and only at a year older than that of Stevie. She fully understood everything that she was asked and shown to do, and did them all very well. She jumped from one place mat to the other with a two footed take off and landing, all while using her arms to aid in both. She also could cover a fair distance with her jumps, whereas Stevie more or less jumped up and down. The only No she had in any of her observation columns was for her slide. She didn’t completely bring her trailing leg to her leading one. She did partially, but only about half the distance, so it wasn’t close to contacting her leading leg. In both this lab and the previous one it seems as if the girls were further along the path of development then the boys they were compared to. This time there was an age difference, but also A very significant development difference.






2. Describe “teaching strategies” that YOU used today towards connecting with the children. What were they? How did YOU use them? What was the effect? Were there any strategies that were more effective than others? If so, why?

Personally I was assigned to the closet group on this particular lab day, So the only instruction I implemented to the children myself was for the end of the day cheer. I called everyone in to the center of the gymnasium. Except when I called to everyone I made sure my voice was loud enough so every corner of the gym could have heard me well, as we have been discussing in class. Some instantly came to the center while the others looked over but didn’t seem interested. Then I simply kept cheering for everyone to come to the middle, I was actually excited so I didn’t need to act like I was for them to come in. It seemed they picked up on that and all came in to the middle and cheered with us, even the children who were laying on the mats in the corner. Every time we go to St. Mary’s I feel nervous in some way, but this time I channeled that nervousness into excitement, and it seemed to work really well. Without a doubt I feel as if I took a lot from this lab experience.





3. After being at St. Mary’s for these past weeks and observing and working with the students, can you briefly describe an effective strategy (or strategies) that you used to capture the children’s attention and keep them on task for your activity.

Thanks to our lecture discussions on teaching, and the experience we’re getting at St. Mary’s I feel as if I’ve learned many new strategies for teaching the children. The basic one’s that I’ve learned are to: Get down to there level when talking to them- though You can’t get to low or they attempt to latch onto you. Also We have been taught to isolate the children from distractions by having them come into the corner. This prevents them from looking at other things that may be going on behind you. Also you have to sell your game or activity to them. I wouldn’t listen to someone monotone and with no enthusiasm, why would I expect the students to? It’s my job to make the game sound fun and interesting. Even the most fun activities are boring without enthusiasm. Next you have to demonstrate what your looking for to the children. If your activity requires leaping, some may hop or jump instead of leap if they aren’t shown how. Another great strategy is allowing for little variations in the game. If you change the game around even just a little, it’s like a whole new game to them. This way the stay active and don’t get bored fast. Lastly There is a variety of skill levels within the students, so you may want to incorporate options for how they do things. Some of the older students may get bored playing simple tag games with the younger students for they are generally faster and more coordinated. So if you create a game that allows everyone to be challenged and have fun individually or as a group it creates interest for everyone!




MOTOR DEVELOPMENT LAB-Locomotor Skills Part B
TGMD-2: Test for Gross Motor Development- Second Edition- Revised


Name of Students (first names only):___Stevie__/__Sandra Grades:__1___/_k____ Ages: ____6_/___5__
Gender: ___f____/____m____

Locomotor Skills- (Lab 3) Part 2
Skill Materials Directions Performance Criteria Child 1 Child 2
1. Leap Use a clear space During a game or activity, watch a student leap. Tell the student to take large steps leaping from one foot to the other foot. 1. Take off on one foot and land on the opposite foot. Y Y
2. A period where both feet are off the ground (longer than running). Y N
3. Forward reach with arm opposite the lead foot. Y N
2. hohoriHorizontal Jump Use a clear space During a game or activity, watch a student jump. Tell the student to jump as far as they can. 1. Preparatory movement includes flexion of both arms and knees with arms extended behind the body. Y N
2. Arms extend forcefully forward and upward, reaching full extension above the head. Y N
3. Take off and land on both feet simultaneously. Y N
4. Arms are brought downward during landing. Y Y
3. Slide Use a clear space During a game or activity, watch a student slide. Ask the student to slide facing the same direction. 1. Body turned sideways to desired direction of travel. Y Y
2. A step sideways followed by a slide of the trailing foot to a point next to the lead foot. N N
3. A short period where both feet are off the floor. Y Y
4. Able to slide to the right and to the left side. Y Y

Adding tricks to the arsenal

The children seemed to be less interested in playing our games the last time we went to the after school program. The majority cooperated and played to the rules, while others participated and just did what they wanted. During a particular game the children where suppose to horizontal jump from place mat to place in order to avoid stepping on the lava(actual ground). This one boy in blue tennis shoes was in the first quarter of the students to go through this station. He deliberately stepped over every piece of place mat and exclaimed " I'mmm walkingggg on all the lava". Other kids did things of this nature on other activities. Some instead of leaping over the ropes simply walked over them, of instead of sliding just ran through the road cones. Not all acted this way in defiance, some seemed simply to young to fully understand the movements. The next game was a modified version of rock paper scissors. After being gathered in to a half circle the children really didn't wish to listen and play the game. Some sat out, while we tried to play the game with others. Despite our efforts the kids really didn't want to play. Until a graduate student helped us take control . Rather than use the half circle method to explain the game, she had all the kids line up facing a partner. Then once again the game was explained, where it worked! Getting them to play was literally as simple as approaching it differently. Once in a line facing a partner the children where already in a game like setting, where it would seem harder to just walk away for them. This is an idea, I personally plan to implicate into explaining my games to the children.

Childhood growth and development

title on Prezi

Failings only failing if you take nothing from it

I significantly benefited from my last lab experience at St. Marys, and learned somethings you can only realize through experience. Teaching gym is much more difficult than I previously anticipated. My only teaching experience is through that of my gym back home. Their I help new students learn boxing, and the basics of grappling. Teaching their is much easier due to it being much more hands on, and it's teaching a designated skill instead of providing a positive and structured game/environment for students. Also I've never really worked with children before, which is a whole new experience. At the gym, people are paying to listen and learn, whereas at St. Marys the children aren't driven by the same factors. So here I actually have to try and get their attention. Actually in a way I even have to compete with the things going on around me for their attention. My soft spoken, passive nature doesn't grasp their attention well enough. When I tried explaining the rules of the game to the children they instantly started interrupting with questions, and statements like "This game stinks". Even though I'm sure they've never played it before, they still were testing me to see what they could get away with. Then during the game the children still seemed to not really listen to instructions fully. The game functioned well, yet could have gone much smoother. For example during the game it became obvious that the goalies shouldn't be able to throw the balls because then they could simple launch the ball from goal to goal. Realizing this myself and my group told the goalies the new rule would be that they must role the ball. Though instead of telling the child I asked him "could you please start rolling the ball instead of throwing it". I realized that to them, that leaves them the option of simply saying no. Next time Around I'm going to have to be more confident and assertive when I speak. Also I'm going to have to realize this isn't like instructing someone how to perry or roll with a jab, this requires much more preparation. Also I need to remember it's a completely different environment, and make the environment suit my lesson instead of hoping it suits my game.

An overview of developmental physical education

Three critical issues facing children in the U.S today are: Childhood obesity has been rising rapidly, In-school and community violence among youth have alarmed us all, and early puberty has important psychosocial ramifications. Two goals of the many of the concept of " Developmental physical education" are to enhance physical fitness and activity, and affective growth. Both these goals are solutions to the critical children are facing today. The first step in implementing these solutions is to understand factors that lead to the development of the whole child. Some of these factors are the biology of the individual, conditions of their learning environment, and the movement requirements of the task.
Next it is important to look into both individual and group "appropriateness". Individual appropriateness is the concept that every child develops uniquely in their growth. Where as group development is based on where children should be. For example say most babies walk around fourteen months, this doesn't necessarily mean at exactly fourteen months your child will be walking. Their individual development may take fifteen and a half years to walk. Therefor when curriculum is based on age rather than individual development its going to be very difficult, way to easy, and just right for the student depending on the individual in the class. Therefor it'd be important for basic skills of concepts like locomotion (running, walking, leaping, etc) and manipulation (ball rolling, throwing, bouncing, etc) to be assessed. Children have many skills that they should develop threw a balanced P.E program. They should develop some axial movements like twisting, swinging, turning, and stretching. Also the should be introduced to static and dynamic postures such as rolling, stopping, dodging, and upright balance.
Physical fitness is defined as being both Health-related and performance-related. This means to be physical fit one should have good muscular strength, both muscular and cardiovascular endurance, joint flexibility, and a healthy body composition. Also one should develop good balance, coordination, agility, speed, and power.

Second Lab at St. Mary's school

Motor Development Lab 2 at St. Mary's

P.E

P.E

To dodge ball, or not to dodge ball?That is the question.

It's apparent that games such as dodge ball are not in America's corner with it's continuous fight against obesity. These games find them selves in the Physical education hall of shame for a wide array of reasons. Ranging from their lack in the ability to actually accomplish much physical movement, to their obvious applications of danger and alienation. It is a big enough shame that most schools already unjustly rob children of a decent physical education already. Playing games that could allow half the class to not move more than a simple walk to the sidelines is an outrage. Not only to our tax dollars, but to America's health as well! It's also a waste of the schools funding. Anyone could instruct a game of dodge ball, Schools should hire teachers who actually physically better their students through education. The only way these games should exist in today's P.E classes is with modifications that promote a healthy body. Lets refer to this variation of dodge ball as " Alien invasion". Instead of using dodge balls this game will require soft flier Frisbee. They travel at a speed were they still can purpose concentration to catch, yet the eliminate the danger aspect of balls. I've personal been struck in the face with multiple soft flier Frisbee and have never even said ow. The game can incorporate fifteen or twenty Frisbee, so people are constantly catching, throwing, and getting hit with them. From there the old rules of dodge ball kind of apply. Two teams on each half of the gymnasium, throwing and catching objects. Though in " Alien invasion" no one ever gets out. If you catch a flying saucer you've helped save the planet, and must throw the saucer back into outer space. On the other side if you get hit with a flying saucer you must do ten push-ups, jumping jacks, or sit-ups, or squat thrust to get stronger so the aliens cannot take you aboard their spaceship. Also you can't do the same exercise twice in a row or you won't get strong enough to save the planet. After explaining to the children that aliens are invading the planet and it's up to them, and how they have to save the world, you now have a far more active variations of "dodge ball".

Attempting to break Inhibitions

The other day was the first time my peers and I got to not only interact with the children at the after school program, but also attempt to lead them in a game as well. It became appearant to me that it's a task in itself to sell the game and maintain their attention while doing so, let alone get a structured game going. It's the same for you and I when we're approached by a salesman with his " spectacular deal that'll only take a moment of your time". The majority of us aren't interested due to the salemans pitch. Dispite the fact that we may have been excited and interested, it must have been obvious we were holding back still. The pre-k students must have read this, and became less interested. We had them gather in a circle while we attempted to sell them the game, but it wasn't so easy. They often asked questions completely unrelated to anything at hand, and one child actually walked away. I feel as if this was a great first experience, that will help shape our future attempts into future successes! We just need to find our armors kinks, and keep going forward from there. Though I do feel being more silly, and open toward the children would be a great start. Also our instructor gave us grate pointers. He told us to try talking to them in the corner, so they aren't facing activities that can distract them. He also suggested speaking in ways that keep attention, which would also be a big help. I feel as If next time we'll be much more prepared to have a great class for the kids, I'm very excited!

Getting to know Myself

Often my mind drifts toward the notation that being a mere person makes one insignificant to the much more vast world. Almost like the ant that walks across your kitchen floor. This may hold some truth, but to say it applies to everything we do would be a fictitious statement. It becomes apparent that any individual has the ability to change the rest of the world for all those who occupy it. Today was one of the first time in months I felt to be journeying down a path that will not only be fun, but aid me in helping others as well. This is all due to my motor development lab class, under Dr. Stephen P. Yang at Suny Cortland. Today I relearned that people do impact a lot of lives and may never realize it. I feel as if this class lab will teach me a lot about myself, and also be highly rewarding. All we did today was interact with children, and from today alone it became apparent to me that children are very much so influenced by their surroundings.