Is Dodgeball good for PE?

From the movie, "Dodgeball:A True Underdog Story"

A huge controversy in the PE world is if dodgeball is good for Physical Education. Dodgeball is one of the many games that are on the dreaded "Hall of Shame" PE games. Personally, this was one of my favorite games to play in gym class and at summer camps. I was always athletic and a good mover. However, what about the kids that aren't? Dodgeball hits all the major aspects of PE including all of the affective, cognitive and psycomotor behaviors. For example, it improves running, endurance, accuracy, dodging, catching, throwing and teamwork and strategy. But, what about the dangers? Their are so many dangers associated with dodgeball because we are dealing with kids who have bad aim and pelt the balls at their friends. In some cases there are modifications such  as "Doctor, Dotor!", "Trench ball" and "Ghost in the graveyard". However, all of those games have similar concepts like traditional dodgeball. Another big "no no" with these games is that kids are eliminated and aren't active the whole time. Instead, you could set targets up and still be in a team setting and the goal is to hit the target. Nobody is eliminated and everyone is working on the same motor development skills.

Red Rover

Some games that I noticed on the "Hall of Shame" were some of my favorite activities to be involved in a kid. However, now they are viewed as shameful because they don't meet the NASPE National Standards and NYS Learning Standards. For example, various tag  games are not aloud because children are eliminated. This breaks NASPE standard 3, " Participates regularly in physical activity." A modification of some tag games are if they are tagged then they are the new tagger or if they are tagged they must do ten jumping jacks to keep playing. I noticed that "Red Rover" was on the list and I remember playing this game waiting for the bus. The obvious danger is that the goal is the run as fast as you can and break through the wall. The wall is a chain of people holding hands. The dangers are broken arms and close-lining people. This game should NEVER be played because it breaks NYS Learning standard 2, " Students will acquire the knowledge and ability necessary to create and maintain a safe and healthy environment." Other games that are included is "Simon Says", "SPUD", "Musical Chairs", "Duck Duck Goose!", and "Dodgeball", all earned a spot on the "Hall of Shame" because they break the number one rule in Physical Education. There should be NO elimination in PE.

The standards for NYS Learning include, "Personal health and Fitness", "A safe and healthy environment" and "Resource movement". For NASPE National standards, their overall goal "is to develop physically educated individuals who have the knowledge, skills and confidence to enjoy a lifetime of healthful physical activity." If Physical Educators do not follow these standards then they are putting their students at risk, both physically and socially. As educators, it is our job to help improve the students physically and socially. No matter how much we (and some of the students), enjoy the "Hall of Shame" games they should not be played for the safety of our students.

How I use Technology To Stay Fit For 2012!

Celebrating the New Year always get people thinking about what their New Year's resolutions will be, however, most people don't stick with it. I wanted to set a goal for 2012 and stick with it. Being a future Physical Educator, I think it is important to stay healthy and fit to be a role model for my students. My New Year resolution is to train for my first half marathon.I have always been a big runner and I really wanted to challenge myself. Recently, technology has really played a big part in improving our health and fitness. I needed to find a program online to follow each day, I use the Hal Higdon Training Program. Their are thousands of Apps and websites dedicated to health and physical activity. Personally, my favorite App on my iPhone is Nike+GPS. It tracks all your runs, pace, time and it even maps out your runs. For more information you can visit the Nike+ Website. I made a short 2:00 minute video showing how I use technology and entered it into "The Healthy New Year Video Challenge". Check out my video below!

Will you be my Valentine?

This week at St. Mary's our theme was Valentines because the holiday was coming up! It was the first time we were assigned groups and we got to prepare games and teach them to our group. It was very exciting to arrive at the school and see the kids get excited when we came in. I felt really comfortable and confident in myself and my group. We got right into the games and had to observe the gym group and evaluate two children. They played a Valentine's themed version of "temple tag" and they let the kids focus on the three skills we had to evaluate that week. Running, skipping and galloping. We evaluated Jill and Jack and both were kindergarteners. We evaluated their running and noticed that their elbows were not bent. Then we evaluated their gallop and noticed that their arms were not bent and at wait level. Lastly, we evaluated their hop and noticed that their leg was not bent. Other then that, I thought that their motor behaviors seemed very advanced for their age.

After we spent time in the gym, my group joined the older kids in the cafeteria and got involved with the different activities they were playing. I sat with a bunch of girls and boys and we played with Legos and they talked to me about school and how their day was. Then we went upstairs to the gym and we taught our first lesson. However, it didn't go as planned. We played Great wall and it went pretty well and then we played handball. Although, we didn't play all of the games we wanted to it still worked really well. I thought that all the older kids seemed really advanced with their motor behaviors and I was very impressed.

Overall, our second lab went really well and I learned a lot about effective ways of teaching and I learned how to evaluate motor behaviors. I can't wait to teach the preschoolers in a week, it should be very fun!

Lab 2 Write-Up

Are we the next Katy Perry?

Our group decided to get in touch with our inner pop star personality and preform Katy Perry's hit song, "Firework"! Now we may not be the next big thing but hey, I think that we rocked out with our fancy dance moves and (almost) perfect lip syncing! Check it out below!