Journal Entry #1

Journal Entry #1

What is it like for a student to move through classes in a day at our school?

A student at Woodland Park Middle School has a very busy schedule.  They have five classes a day, roughly 50 minutes each.  Students at this middle school have many different options to receive extra education from the campus as well.  During lunch students can attend “Get it Done”.  A classroom set aside for lunch tutoring.  This lunch room also serves a different purpose.  The school does not let a student “get away” with not doing their homework.  Just ignoring an assignment is not okay!  When a student forgets to complete their homework they are sent to Get it Done to complete the assignment during lunch.  Students have one other option to spend their lunch hours as well.  Twice a week Mrs. Cole, one of the P.E. teachers, opens the fitness room for anyone who wants to work out.  She spends this time teaching a group fitness class or moving around to help individuals with their goals.  Often times up to 40+ students will show up looking to participate.  Needless to say, life as a student on this campus is a very busy one.  They are fortunate enough to have a great support group in this campus.  The teachers I have met thus far enjoy their work and are happy to help students in any way they can.  At every turn, an adult figure can be seen.  Administration, teachers, and yard duties are always present, keeping a watchful eye on safety.  Disobedience is not tolerated.  This middle school runs a tight ship, and that reflects in the classroom.  Students are quick to listen and respond spending more time on education than behavior management. 

What is it like to be a student in my class?

To be a student in my class is not a what an everyday student is able to receive in a general Physical Education course.  To be a student in my P.E. class, students understand the meaning of why they are accomplishing different tasks.  First thing they learn at the beginning of any unit is “why should and why am I doing this?”  From this point, students are NOT divided into large groups nor do they get the ball thrown to them to “just play”.  That’s called recess.  In my physical education class, things happen a little bit differently.  First students go over skills (different skills depending on age and level of ability).  We learn to not only complete the skills ourselves, but also able to critically view someone else’s movement and help them improve.  From here students are placed into SMALL groups, nothing bigger than four a team no matter what the sport (if we are even covering a sport).  From here these students start playing 2v2 or 3v1 practicing teams skills, developing team plays, team building, and everything else in between.  Once student have demonstrated proficient skills working together teams will begin to play one another to the enjoyment of the sport.  Depending on the time of year students could be competing for their team to play against teachers at the end of the unit, or working towards a collaborative event like a track meet with the local community.  That’s a small window of what happens during some of the units of my class.  So what is it like to be a student in this unique and new class curriculum?  My students benefit more!  With the smaller groups, competent bystanders are more included and comfortable to step out of their comfort zone.  They are no longer invisible but an essential tool to their team’s success.  OTRs increase dramatically because of the smaller groups as well.  More students will be handing equipment, or practicing technique and skills because the whole class isn’t competing just to kick the soccer ball once in a full class game.  A student in my class has more opportunities to be successful and learn the enjoyment of what Physical Education has to offer.  With smaller groups, a student has more opportunity to voice their ideas and opinions.  With peer learning, all students have a chance to receive feedback.  A dose of corrective, positive feedback from the teacher, but also from their partner.  They are not only just able to complete a skills, but watch others and understand why their peer is successful in the skill or not. 

A student in my class has more than just the opportunity to learn sports in my class.  A student in my class will also be involved with units that mimic personal training.  They will learn the fundamentals of exercise, how to create a well rounded workout, proper techniques to those workouts, how to calculate equations that tell them their VO2 Max, RHR, Max HR, Metabolic rate, caloric need, etc.  Students will learn why exercise and movement (and enjoyment!) are so important.  Students will learn about wellness, how to set a foundation to live a healthy life.