Coming into the last day, I was probably more nervous than any other day by far. I was the closer for the last day at St. Mary's. I wanted to leave a lasting impression on the children and let them know how much of a pleasure it was being there. I decided to do the hokie pokie for the children. I felt it was still a popular song and I wanted to go out with a bang. Since I was the closer, I stepped to the middle of the gym, like it was a pitcher's mound and I was Mariano Rivera in the 9th inning with two outs and the world series on the line. Everything worked out great. The ending was amazing, the children, my peers and I had a blast doing it and I was honored to be selected as the closer for the last lab of the year. TX
What I learned about young people is that a simple activity could be transformed into a great challenge for young mind. I’ve seen that a game in which children would normally see as stupid and boring, be such a big hit for them and they play the activity for a while. I’ve learned that talking to them in their language and at their level helps the children better understand where you are coming from and a connection can be made between you and the child. Some games that I felt was appropriate were four corner soccer, stinking stew, endless bucket and the obstacle course that were made. I felt that these activities showed the finest motor skills and gave the children the chance to display them the best. In these activities many motor skills like running, jumping, skipping, hopping etc. were implemented and the most important part the children had a great time. The activities that I believed to be inappropriate were guard the castle. I thought the game would be a very fun and safe game where the children was going to aim for the cone and try to knock it down, but it almost turned into a dodge ball game and safety precautions had to be implemented. It started off great with the children not trying to hit each other, but then they got too excited, so the game was switched. The Pre-K was an amazing group. They enjoyed the obstacle courses that were made more than any other activity. While in the gym that is all they wanted to do and on some days make up their own and run through it the whole time. This was different than working with the older children because PRE K weren’t easily tired of an activity, they would play for the duration they were in the gym. Whereas, it took a great game to keep the older children mind focused on playing it for a long time. Regardless of what the game, the PRE K had less children who wanted to seat out and play something else like the older children did. I enjoyed working with the younger age because I have three god children that age and I like to see what motor skills these children can display before they are taught by an instructor. I would love to leave a mark in their lives and be able to show them a mature way to perform a motor skill.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Lab 5
Today we played guard castle. We set up the game by first picking two teams. My group and I placed cones in the middle of the hula hoops and the object of the game was to knock the cone down by either throwing or kicking the ball. Absolutely no direct hits on a child was permitted or it would result in a cone being knocked down. I was worried that this game would turn into dodgeball, for a while there the children were very active and played the game according to the rules. After a while, I seen some direct hits, so teams were penalized for the incident. I observed a 1st bouncing and kicking the ball. While dribbling the ball, the girl was at an intial stage, whereas, kicking was more at a elementary stage. At this point I'm realizing that labs at St. Mary's is almost over for the semester. I know I'm going to miss going there. I have a great relationship with the children and I was getting more and more comfortable with my teaching style.
I think the games or activities that were performed during St. Mary’s were very appropriate because we focused on each age group of children and implemented a game that would be age appropriate and the children have a good time. The activities presented enabled the children to show off the development of movement in a way that was seen as fun and not work. I feel that the children were pushed even more when they were trying to do better than their friend. This provide a good friendly competition between the children. I think that it work great because simple and fun games that were played at St. Mary’s allowed us to see the fine motor skills of the children, to where they were having a great time and we were able to analyze the skills. They had a great time and so did I.
I think the games or activities that were performed during St. Mary’s were very appropriate because we focused on each age group of children and implemented a game that would be age appropriate and the children have a good time. The activities presented enabled the children to show off the development of movement in a way that was seen as fun and not work. I feel that the children were pushed even more when they were trying to do better than their friend. This provide a good friendly competition between the children. I think that it work great because simple and fun games that were played at St. Mary’s allowed us to see the fine motor skills of the children, to where they were having a great time and we were able to analyze the skills. They had a great time and so did I.
Lab 3
I worked with a boy and girl, who are both in 1st grade. The movement patterns I observed for these two where jumping and sliding. I feel that in both of the movement patterns for the girl, she was in an intial phase. For jumping, she didn’t bend her knee or swing her arms for distance. While sliding she wasn’t moving side to side, but more forward and backwards. At some points in time she had both feet off the ground while sliding, but jumping she didn’t land on both feet together. The boy on the other hand showed an elementary level of movement for both of the patterns. While jumping, he stretched his body and bended his knees. He didn’t use his arms that much, but he use them to get a little further. While sliding both of his feet were off the ground and at some points he moved side to side, but for the most part he moved back and fourth. I feel the boy had a better understanding of the proper way to perform these patterns than the girl did. While watching these two during an activity, I observe that the boy is more athlete than the girl and that could be the reason for the differences in moving. The teaching strategies that I use and always use at St. Mary’s is to be interested, honest and enthusiastic in whatever activity I have planned for the children. If you show little to no interest in what you are describing to the children, they won’t be interested and enthusiastic as well. The Key is to grab their attention and hold on to it for as long as possible. I make sure I provide clarity to whatever questions about the activity that the children have. Visuals and demonstration is a great thing to incorporate. Today, while I was explaining the game I tried to be as funny and wacky as I could so the children would have fun with it and want to do it. I think giving the children positive advice and encouraging them to try their best will always result in positive behaviors. I always try to have a good posture because the children can sense if you aren’t genuine when you are describing an activity and I try to use crazy gestures to get the children going and ready to be in a playful mood. I hold that showing interest, being enthusiastic, and demonstration are the best teaching strategies to be used for the children at St. Mary. When all of these qualities are clicking I’ve found that the children have responded in a positive way. would say the key is to match their intensity. By that I mean being loud and very activity as they are. I try to give challenges within the challenges that are being laid out for them. I talk very loud so they could hear me and I try to talk their language. I look at going to St. Mary is my chance to act like a little kid again and enjoy myself. Costumes and props for the theme presented in each week of class is key. I think that alone captures the attention of the children more than anything. I’ve seen if you switch up the activity and get down to their levels while you are talking is an effective strategy to let them know you are not trying to tower over them, but are on the same level as the children. I’ve seen that whistles work and if you countdown while doing an activity the children will work harder to complete a task
Lab 4
Today we took the children outside and played a great game of kickball. I felt like I was back in elementary school. Kickball is my all-time favorite game. They children are competitive, but to my surprise it was all in good fun. There was one child who made a bad play and didn't want to play anymore. I tried to talk him into playing and I realized I gained more success when I was talking him at his level and he decided to get back out there and try again, that was one of my best moments at St. Mary's. Just knowing we can make a differences in these children lives is amazing and it's a powerful gift.
I feel some of the challenges are since my group have been going on Wednesday, it is the second time the children are playing the games. I think it is our job as educator to come up with a variety of games for the kids because another issue is keeping their attention throughout the whole game. My students have been drifting to the side because they are not interested anymore. Also, environment has been a problem as well. During the first sessions, we were unable to go outside, now it’s possible so there is more room for the children to play games that they are interested and not what an adult suggest for them. The children are very excited and anxious to see the college students and it is our job to channel these emotions to positive energy to provide an activate and safe environment for the children. The children like to hug and we constantly have to remind them to keep their hands to themselves. Sometimes in the groups there are many more children than instructors so it is hard to attend to all the children and I feel that’s why they wander off to the side, sometimes it just takes someone to come over and talk to them and encourage them to participate. Well, now that we are able to go outside, there will be a lot more room and other activities available for the children. I think it is important to ask the children what games they want to play, by that I mean give them the choice of one or two games so they could feel like they are choosing for themselves and not being told what to do. The group sizes of the children can be a little smaller so that the instructors could tend to the needs of the children as best as possible. As instructors going on the second day, we should take the time to find out what activities were perform in the class before us so we aren’t playing the same games and they are less likely to lose interest in the game, I think one child not wanting to perform an activity gets contagaious. My objective is to have all the children enjoying the activity and having a great time.
I feel some of the challenges are since my group have been going on Wednesday, it is the second time the children are playing the games. I think it is our job as educator to come up with a variety of games for the kids because another issue is keeping their attention throughout the whole game. My students have been drifting to the side because they are not interested anymore. Also, environment has been a problem as well. During the first sessions, we were unable to go outside, now it’s possible so there is more room for the children to play games that they are interested and not what an adult suggest for them. The children are very excited and anxious to see the college students and it is our job to channel these emotions to positive energy to provide an activate and safe environment for the children. The children like to hug and we constantly have to remind them to keep their hands to themselves. Sometimes in the groups there are many more children than instructors so it is hard to attend to all the children and I feel that’s why they wander off to the side, sometimes it just takes someone to come over and talk to them and encourage them to participate. Well, now that we are able to go outside, there will be a lot more room and other activities available for the children. I think it is important to ask the children what games they want to play, by that I mean give them the choice of one or two games so they could feel like they are choosing for themselves and not being told what to do. The group sizes of the children can be a little smaller so that the instructors could tend to the needs of the children as best as possible. As instructors going on the second day, we should take the time to find out what activities were perform in the class before us so we aren’t playing the same games and they are less likely to lose interest in the game, I think one child not wanting to perform an activity gets contagaious. My objective is to have all the children enjoying the activity and having a great time.
Lab 2
The second day at St. Mary's, I was eager to get out there. Throughout the day my comfort level was rising and I seen the children responded to me. Having that aspect of the children made my job easy and made things run kind of smooth. I mean look, we were are dealing with energetic children, everything is not going run perfect, lol. I was trying to fine a teaching strategies that I could use that would be best benefical to the children and myself. I think my biggest fear was to play a game the children had little to no interest in and not make a connection with them. I found out that trial and error isn't such a bad thing. All the children are not going to want to play the same game. I found success in asking them what they wanted to do, incorporate that will movements I was monitoring and coming with a game, and it worked
I observed two children, a boy and girl, who are 6 years of age. The movements that I watched for in the children was galloping, running and hopping. I truly believed that gender played a big role in the ability of each of the children. I feel the boy's ability to perform the movement patterns were more advanced than that of girl's. The biggest difference in the children’s patterns was the foot placement and movement of each. The boy displayed a more understanding of being able to move. Both children were the same age so it couldn’t have made a difference. The problem in the children’s abilities was the more advanced movements of hopping, running, and galloping. When it came to trying to move in a mature form, that is where the trouble occurred in the moving. In running and hopping, when the children in performance, it was evident the boy showed a more mature way of moving. His arms and elbows were at a more targeted level that I was trying to observe. The teaching strategies that I used were process assessment and self-referenced assessment. Process assessment has to do with observational approach to an assessment that has to do with the form, style, or observed qualities performance of a fundamental movement or sport skill. Self-referenced assessment is an approach in which students are compared by age against previously established class norms or group. I feel process assessment was more effective because it made the most sense in which we as a class was trying to observe from the children. We wanted to find out the fundamental movements of the two children that was being examined. We understood that the children could perform the skill of running, galloping and hopping. Our goal was to indicated if they could do it in a mature form of movement. I used this strategy on both students and I feel it helped me to understand and view the movement of the children to see the differences gender played . I watched older children and younger children to see if movements by age were different and I had a positive result. This is where self-referenced assessment played a part in the observation. The older children showed a more mature form of movement than that of the 6 year old boy and girl, which was expected.
I observed two children, a boy and girl, who are 6 years of age. The movements that I watched for in the children was galloping, running and hopping. I truly believed that gender played a big role in the ability of each of the children. I feel the boy's ability to perform the movement patterns were more advanced than that of girl's. The biggest difference in the children’s patterns was the foot placement and movement of each. The boy displayed a more understanding of being able to move. Both children were the same age so it couldn’t have made a difference. The problem in the children’s abilities was the more advanced movements of hopping, running, and galloping. When it came to trying to move in a mature form, that is where the trouble occurred in the moving. In running and hopping, when the children in performance, it was evident the boy showed a more mature way of moving. His arms and elbows were at a more targeted level that I was trying to observe. The teaching strategies that I used were process assessment and self-referenced assessment. Process assessment has to do with observational approach to an assessment that has to do with the form, style, or observed qualities performance of a fundamental movement or sport skill. Self-referenced assessment is an approach in which students are compared by age against previously established class norms or group. I feel process assessment was more effective because it made the most sense in which we as a class was trying to observe from the children. We wanted to find out the fundamental movements of the two children that was being examined. We understood that the children could perform the skill of running, galloping and hopping. Our goal was to indicated if they could do it in a mature form of movement. I used this strategy on both students and I feel it helped me to understand and view the movement of the children to see the differences gender played . I watched older children and younger children to see if movements by age were different and I had a positive result. This is where self-referenced assessment played a part in the observation. The older children showed a more mature form of movement than that of the 6 year old boy and girl, which was expected.
Lab 1
When I first got to St. Mary's, I didn't know what to expect. I was nervous and excited all at the same time. There was so much I want to be able to accomplish before my time here is done. I started off in the Pre K. They didn't take kind to a big kid trying to get into their house, but after begging, they let me in. It was amazing watching them play make believe and see their imagination just take over and steal the show. After playing in the house and being the babysitter, I worked with some of the children where we constructed a great road out of magnets. They really had a great time and other started to join in when we started to imagine these magnets as a magically road. Moving in to the gym, I didn't know how the kids were going to respond to me. They looked very happy and very eager to know what game they are going to play. For my first day I feel I did well and I am eager to get back there and further get to know the children and interact with them to see what I can learn from them
From my observations at St.Mary’s there is a big difference between motor behavior and social. I worked with children in pre K. When I worked with the Pre-K in the classroom, we worked on fine motor skills such as playing cards, building blocks, etc. The children had a great time with these activities. When I implemented a task when we were building blocks, the children imagination just took over. While the children were in the gym, they couldn’t wait to start moving around. They were very active and were uncoordinated with their movements. The children were able to throw the ball into a moving hula 1 out of 5 times, whereas, the older groups were able to do it 3 out of 5. Gender did play a role, I viewed most of the boys had a more elementary movement scheme, whereas, most of the girls showed more of an intial movement scheme. We played games such as tag, shooting games with the basketball, soccer and games that showed how good of an aim the children had. Grade level definitely influenced motor behavior because I was able to see what each level were good at and other aspects of movements they needed some adjustments with. Watching the children run around and play tag to see their balance while running was a clear indicator that grade level, gender and ability played a great role in how it was done. observed the children playing such games like tag, basketball, throwing games and moving a egg with only their nose. I immediately observed a difference between the age, gender and ability. During basketball, the more developed children, mostly males were able to get the ball in the net at least once. The younger children had to use every muscle in their body to at least reach the rim, whereas, the older children would just shoot a normal shot as played in the game of basketball. While playing make believe with the children, the males would place the fake baby done with little to no care whatsoever, while the females would act like the baby was real and take real good care of their children, as they would put it. The throwing games, the younger children would need the targets a little closer and at a low range to be able to throw it in the hula loop. The more developed children used little to no effort to hit the target, whether it was moving or not.
From my observations at St.Mary’s there is a big difference between motor behavior and social. I worked with children in pre K. When I worked with the Pre-K in the classroom, we worked on fine motor skills such as playing cards, building blocks, etc. The children had a great time with these activities. When I implemented a task when we were building blocks, the children imagination just took over. While the children were in the gym, they couldn’t wait to start moving around. They were very active and were uncoordinated with their movements. The children were able to throw the ball into a moving hula 1 out of 5 times, whereas, the older groups were able to do it 3 out of 5. Gender did play a role, I viewed most of the boys had a more elementary movement scheme, whereas, most of the girls showed more of an intial movement scheme. We played games such as tag, shooting games with the basketball, soccer and games that showed how good of an aim the children had. Grade level definitely influenced motor behavior because I was able to see what each level were good at and other aspects of movements they needed some adjustments with. Watching the children run around and play tag to see their balance while running was a clear indicator that grade level, gender and ability played a great role in how it was done. observed the children playing such games like tag, basketball, throwing games and moving a egg with only their nose. I immediately observed a difference between the age, gender and ability. During basketball, the more developed children, mostly males were able to get the ball in the net at least once. The younger children had to use every muscle in their body to at least reach the rim, whereas, the older children would just shoot a normal shot as played in the game of basketball. While playing make believe with the children, the males would place the fake baby done with little to no care whatsoever, while the females would act like the baby was real and take real good care of their children, as they would put it. The throwing games, the younger children would need the targets a little closer and at a low range to be able to throw it in the hula loop. The more developed children used little to no effort to hit the target, whether it was moving or not.
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