What to teach.

The last thing I want to blog about is what I want to teach my students. I believe in sports and the great things they can teach students, plus they have always been apart of my life. But sports won't dramatically impact students lives after high school. I want students to know the importance of living a healthy life, and how to go about doing so. I want to teach students the correct and safe way to lift weights, and what lifts correspond with what muscles you want to work out. Also, how to workout depending upon the results. I believe Physical Education is vital to helping and equipping students to live a healthy life once they leave high school.

Teaching Style

Now I would like to talk about the way I want to teach, or my "teaching philosophy", as some would say. I don't want a traditional P.E. classroom, or environment. I want students to want to come to my class. I want to create an environment where students feel respected and are treated like adults. I want to be able to trust my students so that I can participate with them, so that I can lift the reigns off. When I was in high school, I loved the classes and the teachers that treated me like an adult; where my opinion mattered and was valued. I hated the teachers who belittled me or treated me like child. It's funny how teachers want you to act like an adult but still treat you like a child. I would love to be able to get my students in a classroom maybe once or twice a month and openly talk about high school life and the world around, so that I can provide some wisdom to them.

Position of Influence part 2.

I'm writing a part two to this because I believe this is so crucial. Some teachers get into teaching because they love the subject they are teaching. But, if you really think back to your high school years, you didn't learn anything or care to learn anything from teachers you didn't connect with. This is true for most students, you learn more from teachers you can relate to, the teachers who make learning real to you. Teachers have such power over students, we will see students more during the week, than parents do sometimes. We need to try and positively influence as many students as we can, that's my calling as a teacher. That's my hope for this new generation of teachers that are being built and trained here at Concordia, that we never take our calling to teach lightly.

Position of Influence

The title of this blog says it all, one of the main reasons I wanted to become a physical education teacher, I want to influence this younger generation. It seems that the younger and younger the generations gets the more lost they are. Just recently, my high school was on local news for a sexting scandal. A young fifteen year old girl sent a couple guys pictures that they, then sent out to other guys.  I'm sorry, but there is something wrong with that. I had great teachers in high school who influenced my life greatly. I can honestly say I wouldn't be where I am today if they didn't stay on top of my grades, my behavior, and my character. I want to do the same thing for other students.

High School Students

Now onto to the high school students. As I remember, I was very active in high school, I played three sports and was constantly in the gym. But, I don't believe that prepared for my adult years. Yes, it made me love sports even more, and I can probably run a good basketball practice. But, I didn't leave high school knowing the healthy things to eat and how much of those things I should be eating daily. High school didn't help me create a workout routine or provide me the knowledge with how to properly and safely do lifts. As a future P.E. teacher, I want the students to learn how to create a routine depending on the kind of results they are looking for. Also, how to safely eat on a diet or to bulk up. These are the things that will help students once they leave high school. Tossing the balls out onto the court isn't going to cut it anymore.

Parents.

This might be geared to the younger kids, who don't really have a say in how much time they spend online or what they eat. I believe that if you get students excited about being active and eating right at a young age, then it will carry through into high school and into their later years. It's hard for a teacher to have that kind of influence over student's lives once they go home. But, that is where the parent comes in. As a teacher, you want to change a student's behavior, you have to talk to the parent. You have to get the parent involved, the parent can make the students go outside and be active, the parent can make the kids more healthy dinners and snacks. You want the students to live healthy at a young, you have to get the parents involved.

Physical Education part 2.

Here's another P.E. rant from me... maybe not so much a rant as just my opinions. I don't understand how schools and administration can want to cancel P.E. programs. I can see why when programs just throw the balls out and tell the students to go play. But, you have programs that really transform students lives. Like Adaptive P.E. programs. I am a huge advocate and supporter for adaptive P.E. programs. Having special needs students involved can help change students lives and perspectives on life. Special Needs students can feel apart of something and make friends when the environment is right. I understand that not every adaptive P.E. program is going to be ran perfect; but students can be exposed to helping and participating with special needs. That alone can change a persons whole perspective on the special needs community. That is just one benefit of Physical Education. I'm sure throughout this blog I will write about many more benefits!

Physical Education

As I study more into this field I get more and more excited I am about the future of physical education. I grew with teachers that just taught us sports. Don't get me wrong I loved my P.E. teachers, they were fun and I could connect with them; and I had fun in my P.E. classes. But all we did was play sports and fitness testing. They never taught me how to lift or worried about my affective domain of learning. I can't wait to get into a school and teach the students how to create their own workout plan that they can use later in life. I'm still going to teach and play sports because I love sports and I think teamwork is important to learn. But, I'm very excited about the many other things that I'm going to be able to do!