Exercising with Technology

Today at SUNY Cortland's Exergame lab I got the best of both worlds. I got to play video games while exercising at the same time. This was a great experience going to the Exergame lab. I got to play xbox 360 while at the same time exercising to power the controller I was using. I thought this new technology was awesome. This new technology is a great way to get kids that play video games to be able to exercise and get a work out even if all they want to do is play video games. I hope all this new technology in the Exergame lab really makes a break through in the world today and starts to become popular in kids homes all over the world. This technology can help improve the health of many kids lives growing up and as a future physical education teacher that is the main goal to improve the health and skills of all kids lives. 


Also in the Exergame lab I was introduced to different games that are used to increase physical activity for younger kids. These games were used to increase physical activity and to help improve and practice different learning skills. A game that I was introduced to was call Hyper dash. This game had many different ways and variations in which you could play. Another game that I was introduced to was a game like hyper dash except it was with animals and I think it was called Animal dash. One way in which I could modify this game is placing all the toy animals on the floor and have the kids make a big circle around the animals. I'll have one kid start with the toy and have them press the button to start the game. While the kid that started with the toy is searching for the animal he/she has to find, the students on the outside will be doing whatever exercise I shout out while their class mate finds the animal. For example i'll yell jumping jacks and the students will have to do jumping jacks until their class mate finds the right animal. Once that student finds the right animal then he/she passes it off to a random student they pick and now they have to go find the next animal and the other students will be doing another activity that I will call out. This will go on until all the animals are found and the game is over. We would see how fast we found all the animals the first game and try to beat our time game by game. 

Being A Hit in Class

Today was a great day at St. Mary's. When my group and I first got to St. Mary's we were expected to have the older kids and was prepared with games to play with them. But as we got into our groups, to our surprise we were unexpectedly assigned to the Pre-K group again. So we went outside because it was a nice day out and the Pre-K class was already outside on the playground. We had nothing prepared for the group and was just going with the flow when we first got into the playground. As soon as I walked into the playground, I joined in the game of tag that the students were already playing. Of course they made me be it every time, even though I would tag someone else.

 After tag I sat down at a little table that was at the playground with a student because he was tired from running around from playing tag, and so was I. To my surprise about half the class circled around me and started to have conversations with me. I went around the circle asking the students what there favorite flavor gum was. This got them interacting with each other as well, asking each other what there favorite flavors were. Then I went around the group and asked each student if they had a brother or sister at home and they would all get into these stories about how old there siblings were,  what they liked to do with them when there home. I would ask one student if they had a brother and they would tell me yeah and the next student would say me too and start talking to the student I just asked. 

They all loved talking to me and it was so easy for me to have a conversation with the students about anything. Then we all went inside and came up with a game for them to play off the top of our heads. This day showed us to be ready for anything and to always think on our toes. At the end of the day I really enjoyed the day and was kind of glad we had the Pre-K class again. It showed me I can think on my feet and easily get along and think like a kid with the students.

Lab 4 Evaluations

Hanging Ten in Hawaii

Today was a fun day. It was Hawaii theme today and overall it was a great day for getting a lot of experience for teaching. My group and I had the Pre-K group today. We first started out in the Pre-K room and had everything planned out for how our time was going to be used and what activities we were going to do. After they had snack time,  I was going to read a book to the class and was already sitting in the chair with the book in my hand waiting for the class to finish up eating. But then to the groups and my surprise, the teacher rounded up the students and told them that they were going into the gym now. This was so unexpected for the group and   this caught us off guard. I thought this was great though because in the future any thing can happen when teaching and you have to be ready for whatever comes your way. So we went into the gym and came up with a jungle like game for the students that was related to the Hawaiian theme. All the kids loved it and had a great time. So today I learned you always have to be on your feet when teaching and be prepared for anything. 

Lab 3 Assessment 

The Great Debate

In class we were put into three different groups and had to debate which group would be the best for a physical education class why or why not. So my group and I got stuck with probably the hardest group out of all the different groups to debate about. My group had using stick in a physical education class. Going into this debate my group and I was well prepared for this debate and to win it all. We even dressed to impress wearing nice dress clothes. But on the day of the debate it was much harder arguing for sticks in physical education class than we thought. We made good arguments and answered all questions thrown at us by the board intelligently. I  was even getting a little heated and started to yell a bit at another group during one of the questions they asked us. Overall we did a great job and we tried our best, but the outcome was that we came in last out of the three groups for the great debate. We still did great and it was fun arguing and making valid points to try and win. 

 

Hall of Shame Reaction

To elaborate more on my previous comment about dodgeball, I do think it's a great game and you learn many important skills and stay physically active just like many other games on the Hall of Shame, but it's no game that should be played in a PE class. Dodgeball is too dangerous to be played in a PE class. A great way to play a similar game like dodgeball is to modify it and change the rules up and the game play. There are so many games  on the "Wall of Shame" that i loved playing as a child and are banned now for other children to play in PE classes. My job as a future physical educator is to take these games that i had so much fun and loved playing as a child and modify them so the kids in PE class are able to enjoy playing the same type of concept games but with a little different twist on them. Just think one day i can create a game that all children love playing and can be known all over America in different PE classes. Just knowing i can do something like that and make kids happy while increasing their physical activity there really is endless possibilities. I'm so excited and look forward to these task as a future physical educator. 

A New Year of Being More Healthy

For my new year's resolution I intend to use technology to help improve my health. So many people today are out of shape and don't really tend to do anything about it. People don't understand how important physical activity is for them and their health. In order to live a healthy long life, physical activity must be part of your life every day. That is why I really hope people check out HealthIT.gov to inspire and motivate them to increase their physical activity and live a healthier life. I made a video of how i'm using technology to help me improve my health and entered it in a contest on http://healthynewyear.challenge.gov/. Hope you like it and i hope you all get active and improve your health to live a better life. 

Lab 2 Reflection and Preparation

Last week in the gym during practice lab I prepared myself for the game I would be leading for the kids at St. Mary's school. This practice lab helped aid me in learning how to control and get the attention of the kids. For explaining the instructions and rules of the game it is really important to keep the rules short to keep the kids attention and show them as you explain the rules how to play the game. This will help them understand the game much better. At the end of practice lab, my group had to come up with a song and have a synchronized dance routine on the spot in 20 minutes. This wasn't as easy as it sounds. Being put on the spot like that in such short time to come up with something is pretty difficult. I think my group and I did pretty good.

• Although this task was difficult, I enjoyed coming up with something off the top of my head. I think task was given to us to really help us think on our toes and come up with something even if you have nothing planned out. Not always what you plan for the day in class happen smoothly. You have to be ready to overcome obstacles and be used to thinking on your toes when something doesn't go your way. This will help the students enjoy class more and will certainly help you get by the class without being stuck on not knowing what to do next.
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  A week after 

  

  practicing our games and getting prepared in the gym for practice lab, we were going to be put to the test and play our games with the kids at St. Mary's school. I was really excited and confident about explaining my game and playing with the kids. I fell like practice lab really  

  prepared us well when explaining and demonstrating to the kids the game they will be playing. As confident and as prepared as my group and I were, the 5th and 6th graders just didn't want anything to do with us and shot all of our ideas and games down. All they wanted to do was play basketball. So to think on our feet as we did when making the music video, my group and I started to play basketball with the kids and then changed the rules a bit as the game went on. We found our selves playing handball at the end. The kids loved playing handball and had a great time playing it. This goes to show you no matter how much you prepare and practice for something things can go wrong and not according to plan. So you have to have a back up plan and think on your feet like my group and I did. Practicing helps with this, but experience i think is the ultimate way to get really good at it. 

  
  

  Lab 2 and Evaluation