Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Not everyone can swim like Michael Phelps


This was my first semester at Cortland. I participated in seven different classes here, and they all were challenging in their own way. However, one of these classes was very challenging to me this semester. I can guess what you're thinking, that's it's Anatomy, or BioMechanics, or a 400 level class. No it wasn't, it was actually a one credit class. It was Aquatics.


Before this semester, I had very little experience that involved swimming. I go to the pool, or beach, or waterparks in the summer, but didn't really swim. Those were more social events, or events that involved my camp. When I got into Aquatics, I learned that this wasn't going to be an easy class. My swimming strokes were awful going in, and they may not still be that good. However, I noticed myself that I improved. It took a lot of practice, but I was able to swim at a proficient level.


One of the requirements is to swim 500 meters. I didn't think at first this would be a problem for me. I am a former cross country runner, and during the hot days of summer I would run 8-10 miles a day, five times a week. I was wrong. I would become tired after the 100 meter mark. While my time may not have been the greatest, I learned workouts in class that I can use. My muscles and body won't like it, but these workouts can help keep me physically fit.


The most challenging part of this course was the diving. I never knew how to dive before this class. I always tried to learn, but could never figure it out. I practiced this a lot for two reasons. The first is because it's an exit competency. It's required. The second being that if I didn't learn and do it now, then what would I do in the future? I told myself I had to learn because if I don't, then when I am a teacher someday, I will be a hypocrite to my students. I was able to perform a dive off the diving board using a three step hurdle approach. I got over the mental fear of a backdive and performed it. After I performed those two, the mental block was gone. I performed a basic dive off the platform, and actually received a high score on it.


Fear is something that all of us have. Whether we choose to admit it or not, it's true. The only way to overcome your fears is to face them. The picture above is of me at the old swimming pool I used to work at when I was in high school. I was trying to perform a front flip, but couldn't do that either. That's the next thing to learn.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

St Mary's SuperHeroes to the Rescue


This week was our final experience at St Mary's. I was glad that for the last week I got to work with the Pre-K students as I had the best experience working with them during the Dinosaur Train lab. I found out when I got there that my lab group, Three's Company, would be split up this week. Dan and Holly stayed inside with one group, as I went outside with the other group. I had a great experience with the students, and I wasn't even leading any activities. The Pre-K students just wanted to run around, and play some of their games. It was a good experience and change because I got to learn even more what the students liked and disliked. I feel that the Superman shirt helped this week, as it hooked the students into participating.

We then went inside. I got the privelage again to read to the students. The book was called "Super Guinea Pig to the Rescue." The students were hooked, as many of them were interested in the story. I knew this especially because students were complaining that they couldn't see the pictures. While it's never good to hear students complaining, it felt good to know that they were interested in what I was reading. It's always nice to read to the students, as it's a change in a different environment. We're usually leading psychomotor activities that require a lot of physical work, but it's also nice to be in a classroom setting reading to students.

After I read to the students, I led the students through an obstacle course. It went alright, as the students were involved in the beginning of the course. A few older students came over as well, but I did two things wrong with this activity. One, it was too long for most of the students. The students were bored with the activity after a while, as I put too many items for the students to put in the hoop. The other thing that I did wrong was the way I presented the directions to the game. I wasn't clear enough, as I wanted the game to start due to time restraints. I should've slowed down with the instructions this week, and shortened the game. I felt the activity was good, but it could've been great.

I am glad that I got to do this experience down at St Mary's. I learned a lot about myself, and I got to gain experience with the students. I have seen myself progress from when I first walked in there, and I learned better ways to teach to children. This is important when I go out there in the future, gaining more experience, as I progress in my classes here. I feel that my job at the summer camp will be a lot better as well this summer, since I've learned better ways to present games to students. All I can do is to keep learning, and that's what I did every time I walked into St Mary's.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Comfort over Everything Else




In this video attached, I watched a short experiment conducted by Harry Harlow. In this experiment, he was trying to prove that infants, if given a choice would choose comfort over any other variable. The way he proved his thesis was through a lab monkey, which was given two separate choices for "mothers." The first mother had a bottle attached to it, but was made out of wire. The second mother was made of cloth, and was more comforting. The monkey was released from it's cage, and immediately went to the wire mother for food. Harlow said it best "he has to eat to survive." However, after a few seconds, he went to the cloth mother. The monkey would go to eat once more to fulfill it's apetite, but would ultimately stay with the cloth mother. Once and for all proving Harlow's thesis that when given a choice, an infant will choose comfort over any other variable.

I learned from this experiment. I always knew that infants would choose comfort, but I also thought that food would be near that level. However, as Harlow proved, a baby when put in an uncomfortable situation like the monkey was with the wire, would only eat the bare minimum to substain it's desire for food. I would assume that most infants would drink from a bottle until it was out, or they were completely full before going back for comfort. Infants do become attached to the love and comfort they receieve from their mother. It's important that they receive this growing up in their early years. However, as Physical Education teachers, we have to be prepared for students who come from broken homes, or have situations where they're moved around in foster care that don't receive a lot of love or attention. This will occur, and we have to make school enjoyable for them so they have something to look forward to.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Reach for the Sky


This week was our sixth lab at St Mary's Elementary school, with the theme this week as Toy Story. Our focus was on dribbling and kicking this week. I felt this lab went pretty well given the circumstances. When we got to the school, we found out that we would be running our activities outside for the day. I was prepared for this since we knew that Monday's lab was also outside. My game, Zone B, is an activity that can be played either inside or outside.

One thing that I didn't do correctly at first this week was explaining the rules to the game. The students were scoring easily, and were getting frustrated. I stopped the activity to go over the rules again, so the students wouldn't be as frustrated. Although it slowed the activity down, it actually made the game better. The students weren't scoring as much, and the game became more challenging. This is a part of PE, adapting games to either make them more challenging or easier. I knew the game was a success, because one of the students didn't want to participate in the beginning, but was very involved in the game as it progressed.

This lab didn't start off the greatest, but it ended well. All I can do is learn from my mistakes. This week, the way I explained the instructions wasn't as good as it could of been. However, this will ensure that the next time I explain the rules that it will be better. I don't want to be in a situation again where I have to stop the activity to mention the rules. I dressed up as Woody this week, since the theme was Toy Story. I felt dressing up helped the activity go along a lot better, since it helps get students interested. A lot of students were talking to me while we were just waiting in the hallway.

At St Mary's we look at student's progression involving different motor skills. However, I feel that I've progressed at a student learning to become a Physical Education teacher since the first lab. The first game that I presented wasn't very good at all. It had to do with the way I was presenting the games, and not showing a lot of excitement. However, as I've gotten used to the school, and received different amounts of advice, I've learned to become a better instructor for the students at St Mary's. It's important to listen to the advice given to you, and to learn from your mistakes. You'll have a better end result.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Bunny's Hopping at St Mary's


Today was our fourth lab at St Mary's. I was a part of the Special Projects group, so I didn't lead in an activity until the very end of the lab. The game I chose was Sneak Attack, and I felt I did a pretty good job leading the activity. I feel that I used a strong hook to attract the students to play the game. I used an example that mentioned how the Easter Bunny has to sneak into all the houses, and how he's very quiet when he does so. This game had a lot of success at the summer camp I worked at, so that's why I decided to use it here. It is a challenging game to learn, so I made sure that I had the other member of my group, as well as the lab assistant for our group help me demonstrate. I felt that the demonstration worked really well. The reason for this is because the students started to play the game during the second demonstration. It's important to demonstrate, so that way the student's see first hand what the activity will be like.


I participated with the student's in the beginning to get them into the game, as well as being the "administrator" type figure for the game. There were a few things I could've worked on. For starters, I think that I shouldn't have done the second demonstration. This is because the children were anxious to play in the game, and just started playing. It's good that they want to participate, but it also showed that I should've just left it at one demonstration. Another thing I could've improved on, as I was told by one of the lab assistants was my voice. Students are always going to be loud, so I have to be even louder when explaining instructions so they can hear me. It's one of the most important factors in Physical Education, having a loud voice so everyone can hear you. Other than that, I felt that the game went really well, and it was the previous experiences at St Mary's that helped me here.


As part of the Special Project's Group, my group had to hang posters with the thank you collages on them. It was a good experience doing an arts and crafts type of program today. One of my weaknesses when I worked at the camp was Arts & Crafts. There was one day where the woman who ran Arts & Crafts wasn't there, so I had to come up with a project. The project I chose wasn't a very good one, as it included campers decorating the rocks, calling them "Pet Rocks." This experience with the collages have given me an idea that I can use in case that situation happens again this summer. I can also use this when I someday become a teacher as well.


It was important that we do these collages for St Mary's school. It's important we show them our appreciation, as they let us gain experience in their school. They don't have to allow us to come to their school, but they give us an opportunity to do so. As students, we at least have to take a little time in our lives to say thank you. We're given an opportunity to learn and gain experience first hand. This is something that you just can't learn in a classroom.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Dinosaurs Rule at St Mary's


This week in lab was the first week that I was able to work with the pre-school students. I have to say that this week was one of my favorite labs thus far. I started off reading to the pre-school students a book "The Land Before Time." At first only two students were listening to me read, but as the story progressed, three more students came over. I had to make sure that I acted like the book I was reading was an exciting story. I would try to get the students involved by exaggerating some of the more exciting scenes in the story. The students enjoyed what I had read to them so much, that they asked me to read to them again.


I was then asked to read to both Pre-K classes. Again, I made sure to show enthusiasm while reading the story, as it makes the students pay attention and enjoy the story even more. There was songs in the story, and I would have the students sing the song after I had sang it. I felt that I did a good job this week, as most of the students were paying attention, and seemed to be into the story that I was reading. I feel that the advice that I had received in the previous weeks was a big help this week. The advice to make the children want to be involved in whatever activity you're involved with. If I had just read the book, with the same attitude that I would have if I was reading a chapter in a textbook, they wouldn't have wanted to hear the story.


The moment I was most proud of was when I got a student to participate in the final activity. This student, L, didn't want to seem to participate at all, but I acted as if I would be upset if she didn't participate. This made her want to participate since I potrayed myself as being upset if she didn't. This was one of the better labs this past week. I felt that the lab preparation was a big help the week before. I was able to obtain advice from Dr. Yang and other lab assistants, which helped out this past week. I didn't do much differently, but I felt a lot more prepared this week. I feel as if now I've gotten used to going over to the school, and feel comfortable around the students. It was great to see the students having a good time, which made me feel good. It's an important factor that the students are having fun. If they aren't, chances are you as an instructor aren't either. Well, the good instructors aren't.

Monday, March 8, 2010

A First Attempt with Prezi

I attempted to put my previous blog into a prezi This is something we learned about on Thursday. This is a great way to put word documents into a visual aid, which makes it more interesting. In any class, visual aids will maintain student's attention.

Childhood Growth and Motor Development

One of the factors that affect childhood growth and motor development is nutrition. With nutrition, it can be many different factors that can lead to poor nutrition. These can be poor dieting choices, which can be childhood obesity. This could be due to parents not having time to prepare nutritious meals, and relying on fast food for their children. Another factor is physical activity. A lack of physical activity is a problem, as it means children aren't getting the adequate amounts of exercise needed. This can lead to obesity and possible decreases in muscle mass. If a child is overly physically active, it can lead to injuries that can be harmful to a child's development. Illness is the third factor. It's been shown that restricted opportunities of movements and movement experiences can interfere with a child's ability performing physical tasks. The last factor is lifestyle. Lifestyle has to do with the other three factors. A child may not have control over what they eat, how much they exercise, or environment factors that can affect their health.

Differentiation is the gradual progression from the movement patterns of infants as they mature to the basic functional movements in children. Integration is the coordinated interaction of opposing muscle and sensory systems. Both are related when an infant is developing skills and movements. These movements are usually hand-eye coordinated, which include both differentiation and integration.

A child in early development is usually energetic, preferring running over walking. Children in this stage are developing different movements, but understanding of certain movements is difficult for some children. At the early stage, children are enhancing their thoughts and ideas verbally. Children learn right from wrong, which during this stage, children begin to mature as they develop a conscience. A child who is in later development has instituted a hand preference. Girls begin to develop physically at a faster rate than boys, and interests become different between genders. Children are more focused at this stage, with a majority focused on their personal interests. Relationships with friends start to increase in the later stage. They want to spend more time with friends, and often engage in activities they don't want others to know about.

Track and Field skills involve all axial movements, along with dynamic basic skills. This is because in track, you have to stretch your body, along with bending the knees, and turning the body in a certain direction. Different locomotor skills include running, which is obviously important, for training and performance reasons. Jumping is important as well for those involved in field events. Different manipulate movement skills include field events such as shot put, javelin, and pole vault.

Gallahue's hour glass model describes four different phases. The first phase is the reflexive movement phase, which has the information encoding stage. This goes from when the child is in the uterus until about four months of age. The next stage is the information decoding stage which goes from four months to one year. The second phase is the rudimentary movement phase, which has two stages. The first being the reflex inhibition stage which goes from birth to one year, and the second being the pre-control stage. This goes from age one to two. The third phase is the fundamental movement phase, which has three stages. The first is the initial stage which goes from age two to three. The second is the elementary stage, going from age four to five. The third being the mature stage, going from age six to seven. The last phase is the specialized movement phase, which also has three stages. The first is the transition stage, which starts at age seven, and goes to age ten. The second is the application stage, going from age eleven to thirteen. The third stage is the lifelong utilization stage, which starts at age fourteen and continues as a child gets older.

The fundamental phase has three different stages which are the initial, elementary, and mature stages respectively. Beginning with the initial stage, children first begin to attempt certain activities, with movements still needing to be developed. The second stage is the elementary stage, which children are able to develop the basic skills needed for most locomotor movements. Some children don't make it past this stage. The mature stage is where someone can efficiently perform certain motor skills, which may be used in a game-like situation.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

SAVE Workshop- Be Prepared For Anything


Today I attended the SAVE workshop. SAVE stands for "Safe Schools Against Violence in Education." The workshop was very useful. One of the most important factors that I re-learned in the workshop was about teachers being mandated reporters. This means if a teacher has to report any acts of violence that may have happened with a student, or if he/she suspect violence has occurred. It's an important factor in teaching, and an unfortunate one that as a teacher, I have to be prepared for. One of the stories that I heard was about a teacher who didn't report a student who came in with bruises on his face. Unfortunately, that student passed away. The teacher then went to jail for not performing her duty as a mandated reporter.


Another factor learned is to know the evacuation or lockdown plan for whatever building you may be teaching in. Most teachers, when they have a full time job, know the emergency action plans. However, a good point was made about student teachers. Some student teachers don't know the emergency action plan. This is important because if the teacher steps out of class, you must know the appropriate actions to ensure the safety of the students. This is why when we student teach, it's important to read the Code of Conduct, and not just skim through it.


Youth violence is one of the most important factors involving our youth today. It's unfortunate, but again, something that as teachers, we must have an emergency plan for. Most of us plan on having children someday. I know that I want the teachers in his/her school to be prepared incase of an emergency. Students should feel safe in a school environment.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

A Picture or Pictures are worth a Thousand Words

A collage I've made with all of the pictures that I have been in at St Mary's. It's always good to have a visual aid, so people can see what you have been doing.

Physical Education, not just a class for students to "play"


Three critical issues facing children in the United States today are childhood obesity increasing, the increase among youth in-school & community violence, and some students reaching puberty as early as third grade. Childhood obesity has risen partially due to the rise in technologies keeping children occupied. These include video games, the internet, television, i-pod's, etc. There are ways that children can do both, as shown in one of our classes earlier this year. The increase in youth violence could be due to budget cuts, which end up cutting after school programs, and other activities that keep children out of trouble. It's important that schools setup a program, using either a gymnasium, or cafeteria to use after school. You can engage students from the local high school to volunteer to help out if it's an elementary setting.


One goal of "Development Physical Education" is the acquisition of movement skills for elementary students. It's important that at a young age children develop skills, and it's important as teachers to incoporate these skills in fun activities. You have to make it seem that the children don't think they're learning, but playing a game instead, while they're learning. Another goal is for students to be physically fit, and be enhanced in physical activity. It's important that we engage students in physical activity in our classes, and that they enjoy it, so they will be physically active when they're on their own time.


The three factors that lead to the development of the whole child include the biology of the individual, the conditions of the learning environment, and the requirements of the task. This is to make sure the child is developed enough to participate in the task, the task is age appropriate, and the environment is safe for the child to participate in the activity. Individual appropriateness is when the learning experiences in the PE program are appropriate to the individual's motor skills and development. Age-group appropriateness is when the learning experiences are incoporated into the program based on a student's age or grade level. These are both important, and relate to the three factors in the development. They have to do with their age, and their skill level, making sure the student's will be able to participate in the activities. This is so the game isn't too simple or complicated for the students.


Three examples of locomotion are running, leaping, and hopping. Three examples of manipulation throwing, kicking, and striking. Advanced movement skills include stability movements which are axial and static/dynamic movements. Two examples of axial movements are twisting and turning. Rolling and dodging are examples of static/dynamic movements. Physical Fitness is a combination of health-related and performance-based concepts. The health-related concept has to do mainly with how strong they are, and how far along a student is physically developed. The performance-related concept has to do with how a student can show what they learned, such as balance, coordination, and speed.

Time, We All Wish We Could Have More Of It

Yesterday, was the second lab at St. Mary's. It didn't go as well as I wanted it to. The group I am in with Holly and Dan, (Three's Company) was in the gymnasium this week, leading the K-1st grade groups. Holly and Dan both led their games, while Mitch followed them in leading his activity. It was then my turn to lead an activity, which was "When are we going to get there?" I wanted to engage the students in practicing their locomotor skills, and it took a while to get the students out there in the game. When the game got started, it didn't last long, since it was time to switch stations. I didn't get to complete my activity as planned.

One thing that I learned this week, and I learned it the hard way, is that you may not get the time you want. I was expecting to get at least ten-fifteen minutes, but instead it was about two minutes. I felt that I did everything to the best of my ability, but you have to get the students engaged in the game as fast as possible. It took a few minutes for me to explain the game, since I wanted all of the students to participate. However, I learned that sometimes no matter what you do, you can't get everyone to participate. I felt one thing that I did do well was that I modified the game due to time. I knew that if I used the game with the equipment involved, that it would've taken too long. When it was my turn to lead the activity, I decided to do the part of the game that didn't involve the equipment.

I also took too long to grab the equipment that I needed for the activity. I wasn't sure on where to go at first, and by the time I got everything I needed, Holly had already started her game. As I learned yesterday, it's important to have your game setup on time, and have everything ready to go. I knew this from the camp I worked at, since kids attention spans don't last that long. I was disappointed, but I made sure that I didn't show it in front of the students. Student's don't care about your problems, and if they see you there, depressed, they won't want to go near you. I made sure that I was always smiling, and making sure that I looked happy. The cafeteria worked out very well. I had the flags that I had drawn for my activity, and I showed them to some of the students down there. A student named C, wanted to draw a Jamiacan flag like the one I had drawn. R, another student, taught me something. She drew the Austria flag, which I didn't know what it looked like. This I felt was good, because just like the last time I was there, and they were drawing Valentines Day cards, they drew different flags this time with the Olympics. I also enjoyed how R, and A, both explained about their class, and how each class was a different country. It's great when students tell you what they're doing, because you learn something about their interests, and what they're doing in school.

I felt I improved on getting to know the students, and their interests. Something I wanted to improve on this time. However, this time in the gym, it didn't work out the way I planned. It worked out well last time, so the next time I'll have to make sure it works, while learning more about the students. Instead of getting discouraged, I have to just move on from this, and learn from my mistakes. Sometimes it won't work out, and while it upsets me, you just have to find ways to make sure it doesn't happen again. I will do better, and try to find new ways so it doesn't happen again, not for me, but for the students. It's about them learning and having fun, which is in my hands.

Learning While Observing



There weren't a lot of pictures taken of me interacting with the students. However, while I may not have been shown leading an activity, I was observing the lab assistants, and my fellow classmates lead activities. There are always opportunities to learn, even when someone else is. Look at how a person is leading and engaging the students. You can see what they're doing right, and what they may not being doing right. This can only help you get better as you move along.

The Benefits of Tag (Orig Date Feb 16, 2010)

After reading the hall of shame game, I would have to agree with the article for the most part. Most of the games listed do not comply with any of the state or National standards for Physical Education. However, I did not like reading that tag was in the Hall of Shame. I feel while certain tag games aren't appropriate for PE, that there are certain tag games that are appropriate for the Physical Education setting. There are a few tag games which I learned and incoporated at the summer camp this past summer, which included a lot of physical activity and strategy.

My personal favorite of all the tag games played this summer was frozen ant tag. The campers liked it when I would have this as one of my games at my station. It's a game where you have a few taggers, depending on the size of the class or group. When a person is tagged, they lay on the ground on their back with their feet in the air like a frozen ant. They are free when a person who isn't a tagger comes over and tags their foot. I knew it was a success because the kids would sometimes keep playing even after the whistle was blown. Also, the lazy counselors wouldn't like the game because they knew it required a lot of running around. This game is very similar to Buffalo tag.

A second tag game which was also popular was survivor tag. Again, depending on the size of the class or group, the class would be divided anywhere from 2-4 teams. This is like regular tag except with teams. Once you're tagged, you're to remain frozen until one of your teammates rescues you. The last team standing is declared the winner. A modification for this game can be made. You could split the class into two teams, it would have to be a smaller class to accomadate the teams. Once a person is tagged by another team, then they join that team, and vice versa. The game would last for a long time, and no student would be sitting out. To avoid confusion of teams, students could wear pennies for one team, and the other team would have pennies, but hanging from the side. When you're tagged, you either put the pennie on, or hang it from the side, depending on which team you're on.

Flag tag is a game that I learned at my old college. Each student in the class takes a pennie, or depending on the equipment, an actual flag that is used while playing flag football. I prefer to use the pennie. Anyway, the student takes the pennie, and hangs it from the side of their shorts. When the whistle is blown, the objective is to collect as many flags as possible, without yours being taken. If your flag or flags are taken, depending on how many a person may have, you're out of the game. However, there are two different modifications for this game. The first being that a student can stay in the game, even after their flag is taken, and would just continue to try and get as many flags as possible. The second modification being that a student could grab another flag from the side. I wouldn't suggest the second modification since it would require a lot of pennies, and it would slow the game down.

There are other tag games that can be used such as blob tag, which can be used for an icebreaker in the beginning of a class. Tag can be essential to a Physical Education setting if done properly. The Hall of Shame article was correct was when they said that elimination games aren't appropriate since students are forced to sit out to the side when they're out. However, if done properly, students can be physically active while participating in these games, and won't have a low self esteem by being eliminated. They can't be eliminated, if elimination isn't an option.

Tag, Your It (Orig Date Feb 10, 2010)

Today was our first official lab for our Motor Development class. I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be, since we were informed of what kind of games to come to class with ahead of time. At the summer camp I worked at, we played a different kind of tag game at least once a week. I liked how the lab assistants helped us in the beginning getting the kids into the tag games. Once we had our group on our own, the students didn't listen as much. We started off playing blob tag, but it didn't work out as well, since the students didn't fully understand the game. A lot of the students wanted to play hide & seek, and duck duck goose. I then led the students in a game of frozen ant tag, which they played for a little while. However, they seemed easily distracted by the student's playing basketball on the other side of the court. I told the students that if they played our games, that we could play duck duck goose when we were done. This motivated them to play the game a little longer, but the student's wanted to play duck duck goose. We played that until it was time to go to the cafeteria.

The student's were much calmer in the cafeteria, and it gave me a better chance to interact with them more. There was one student J, who I got to know pretty well during a game of checkers. After that game, I went over and watched some of the other students draw Valentine's Day cards, which was nice, since it had to do with a current theme. After this was free time, and I felt this went very well. I was able to play catch with a student, N, and while we were playing catch, others joined us as well. Some of the other student's couldn't throw the ball properly, so I showed them the proper way to throw. While they may not have gotten the skill down, they seemed excited to learn, and play catch.

There were a few things that I could've done better today. I felt that I could've gotten to know the student's a little better then I did. I was able to get to know a few of them, but I felt I could've found out their interests a little better. This is one thing that I will know that I need to improve on next time. I felt that I was able to find out what games they like to play the most. It was just like my camp, as a majority of the younger students wanted to play duck duck goose. I felt having prior experience at the camp, that I was able to prepare for this lab the way I did. On my first day of camp, I didn't have a backup plan for the younger campers, and the station did not work at all. I had to bail out, and let them play on the playground for the rest of the station. Here, when blob tag didn't work out, I was able to have a game prepared right there for the students. That's one thing with any age group, not just the younger students, you should always have a plan b, c, d, incase something doesn't work out. I enjoyed today's experience, and I feel that I'm going to go into each lab having better knowledge of what to do. I'm going to learn from my mistakes, and I will find out more about the student's interests in the next lab. Always learn from your mistakes, and fix them.

Second Day of a New Beginning (Orig Date Jan 26 2010)

Today was my first day of class for Motor Development. It was different that most first days of classes. Most classes on the first day, we usually watch a video, but instead, we watched a short five minute video. The video had clips of Physical Education students at Cortland participating in various activities with younger children. One of the most important factors that I noticed in the video was that both the students and children were smiling. It's important to teach motor skills to the young children, but it's also important that they are having a good time while learning.

I work at a summer camp, and I was what they call a group leader. I ran a different station each day, and picked the activity for the children to participate in. I always made sure that no matter what the game was, that I was always smiling and enjoying the game. It's important to do this because if a student sees that you aren't having a good time, then chances are they won't either. Students, especially in the elementary age group, look up to their teachers and instructors. Therefore, if a student, or in my case, a camper, sees that I think the game is fun, they will want to participate in the game as well. Always take pride in what you do, and enjoy what you do.

If At First You Don't Succeed, Dust Yourself Off and Try Again


The late R&B artist Alliyah once said, "if at first you don't succeed, dust yourself off and try again. I have been a student here at Suny Cortland for exactly one month. It wasn't until last night that I realized that anyone who has wanted to follow my website, would have only seen my first blog. This meant the two others that have been written, no one has had access to see. After some assistance from my instructor, Dr. Yang, I was able to realize what I have been doing wrong. At first I was discouraged and upset, thinking what should I do. It was then that I remembered that song by Alliyah, "Try Again."


I also began to remember the comeback Michael Jordan made, the first comeback. Now before I go any further, I am in no way comparing myself to Michael Jordan. He is one of the greatest basketball players ever, and has had great success throughout his life. I had recently taken the fall semester off, after the previous college, Castleton State College, in Vermont, didn't work out the way I planned. Michael Jordan took a few years off from basketball to play baseball. When he first cameback to play basketball, the Chicago Bulls, the team he played for, did not win the NBA finals. The previous three years Jordan had played, they had won the NBA finals each year. Did that discourage Jordan? I honestly don't know, but the discouragement couldn't have lasted that long. Jordan would go onto win three more NBA finals before retiring again in 1998. He would play again in 2001, and would retire for good in 2003.


Michael didn't give up, even when he didn't live up to the expectations others had given, or the expectations he had given himself. He tried again to relive his past success, which he did. The previous three semesters I was in school, I was on the dean's list, earning a higher G.P.A. each semester. My biggest fear going into this semester was that I wouldn't be able to be as successful this time around. As I said, I've been a student here for exactly one month. I have been working harder then I ever have, and I consider my result to be satisfactory so far. Satisfactory isn't good enough for me because it's not the best I can be. I want it to be outstanding. I didn't post the blogs the correct way, so instead of giving up, I'm fixing it. After this blog, I will be posting the other blogs that others haven't gotten to see yet.


Never give up, and always try your best. If it doesn't work out at first, try it again. Look at the picture above to see why you should try again.