Giving Back

This semester I became an active member of APEM and volunteered over 10 hours. My volunteer hours included taking part in two Teen Night’s at the YMCA, and the Girl’s Day in Program, and being an active member of APEM and supporting events such as hoops for hearts. This semester I have truly grown as an individual and really enjoyed being an active member of APEM. The times spent at the YMCA I was able to play with children around the Cortland area, and I learned what activities kids their age like to take part in. The kid’s really enjoyed playing Dance, Dance Revolution and half of them have never played it before. At first they were a little hesitant to try, but when they saw how much fun it was they jumped right onto the pad

Lab D- Bowling Lesson

When preparing for my lab D I was really excited to be able to teach bowling because I love to bowl and something I have been doing for a long time. Planning for Lab D took more time and preparation, and I soon realized it was difficult to come up with twenty different progressions, but as my research on bowling continued I soon learned that there are tons more progressions. For this lesson is also required that I completed my first lesson plan on my own. Starting off on a bad foot the day I needed to teach I went into the bathroom and got myself together. Overall, I feel that I have improved greatly and have taken all the tools I have learned throughout the semester and put them all into this lesson. When going over my transcript I still caught myself saying “ All right” way to many times and something I still need to work on. I also think from the first lab to the last lab you can really notice my change in tone and that I sound more confident in what I am saying. Also another area I have improved on is giving feedback. In my Lab C I only gave feedback to nine kids in the class. In Lab D I gave feedback to the entire class, and more then once. One change I could have made to my lesson was the waiting around. I had to many students sitting around, which can often times lead to behavioral issues. To fix this problem I can get more lanes and have two students to each lane to decrease the waiting time. At the conference in Tampa I learned that students stop listening after 90 seconds of instructions and as a student I can relate to that. During my lesson I tried to speak as less as possible and got the students into activity right away. As a student I hated sitting around and waiting, I always wanted to get right into the activity, and as a future teacher I try to keep that thought in my. I believe I have greatly improved my teaching skills this semester, and will carry on all the information for the rest of my teaching career.

Bowling Lesson

APEM IN TAMPA- AAHPERD CONFERENCE

Lat week I was given the opportunity to attend an AAHPERD national conference in Tampa, Florida. While being in Tampa is was an eye opener to me but an experience I will never forget. I first went on the trip knowing two people, now I can walk away and say I know twenty people and we have all bonded together and shared the whole experience together. I also realized that I should wear my Cortland Red Dragon logo proudly. I remember walking around the convention center and being stopped by everyone and them saying you go to Cortland what a great program. I didn’t realize how well known Cortland was, and makes me want to work that much harder to keep Cortland standards high.
Being only a junior and a shy and easily intimated person I didn’t have the courage to go up to other people in the exhibition lounge and talk to them but I watched my fellow peers, and the actions they took to continue on with their education. I learned a lot from my older peers and to be more confident in myself and networking is important in this line of business. My father always told me to become a teacher it wasn’t until I actually got into the classroom where I learned that I am doing something that I really loved. At the conference I was complete interested in all the sessions I attended and I knew from that moment I was going to be happy waking up every morning going into a classroom of students and teach them something I love. While at the conference I tried to attend session dealing with female athletes. It has always been a dream of mine to be the next Pat Summit, and know I need to start taking strides to get there. I want to share my love for the game with other athletes and keep them physical active for life.
At the convention I was also able to take part in Professor Yang’s presentation of exergames. It was a complete honor to be apart of his presentation. I was able to talk to professional and show them how technology can be used in the classroom. One of my favorite exergames is stepping while playing a video game. Once you stop stepping the video game stops playing, and quite a work out that is from experience. Overall, I learned a tremendous amount on this trip and has given me a whole new perspective on my future. I highly recommend all Physical Education Majors to attend a AAHPERD conference and they can walk away learning more then what they came with.