Lab 6

Our final lab at St. Mary's was an Easter theme. Our group was supposed to play Color Zone Tag but it turned out more like fitness tag but we were with the younger kids and they seemed to like playing tag against their friends. The second game at the end that we had to organize was called battle ship. This was a team oriented game where the team had to stand on a mat and protect their pins, while throwing the balls to try and knock the other teams pins down. There was many strategies that we gave the kids to do such as holding a ball and playing defense and holding all the balls to bombard the other team all at once. The students had a lot of fun with this game and underneath one of the cones we hid Easter eggs with candy in them for them to enjoy after the game. Our final lab was fun and I enjoyed my time there with all the kids.

Lab 5

This weeks lab at St. Mary's was an environment theme and we had the kids focused on dribbling and kicking. Our group had cones set up and the students would dribble a basketball in between the cones and then pass the ball at the end to the next person in line. We also used a soccer ball had the students again dribble through the cones and then set the ball down and kick it to the next person in line. The students had an easy time with moving the ball through and then kicking the ball, but with basketball dribbling they would use one hand look down at the ball and slap the ball. We got the students to look up and to cross-over as well. After that, we divided up the gym and played two mini games of soccer. This lab went well and most of the kids loved playing soccer and basketball.

Lab 4

This weeks lab at St. Mary's was our groups worst lab. It was based around evaluating the overhand throw and catching. We were not prepared well enough with an activity for the kindergarters who are inpatient and love fun activities. I think the most difficult thing I have faced is trying to control the kindergarten group during an activity. They have trouble staying still and listening so you have to be loud and on point with directions. When trying to teach an activity to the kindergarteners, our group needs to be prepared and know what we are doing well before doing the activity. In other words it is hard to just ‘wing’ an activity at the last minute because it is likely to fail.

Lab 3

Today's lab at St. Mary's the theme was Action/Super Heroes. The kids had fun with a couple of the activities in the beginning of lab. We evaluated some of the kids on their ability to leap, horizontal jump, and slide. The two kids we evaluated were in kindergarten and they had a hard time leaping and doing horizontal jumps because when leaping it looked like running and their jumps were not completely fundamental but they are only 6 years old. I was in the classroom playing with the kids and for the most part i colored some pictures, then after the kids had their snack time, our group read books to the kids where they would climb all over me to try and get the best spot pointing out all the pictures in the books. It was a very fun lab and the kids behaved well.

Lab 2

This weeks lab theme at St. Mary's was farm animals. Same as lab 1 we evaluated a couple of the kids on their ability to run, gallop, and hop. I was downstairs in the cafeteria with the kindergarteners, where i played with some of the kids building 'forts' and 'cities' with the wooden-shaped block toys. It was cool seeing how their imaginations were when building because it got me flashing back to when I was that age. After building with some of the kids we played a small game of jiraffe and elephant tag using the motor movements of running, galloping, and hopping. The kids seemed to like it a lot, so we played it a few times. Overall, this weeks lab was very good, and the kids did a good job of listening to instruction.

Lab 1

The first lab at St. Mary's was fun trying to meet some of the young kids that go to school there. Lab 1 was about stability and evaluating some of the the kids on their ability to run, gallop, and hop. Grade level of the kids plays a big role in evaluating motor behavior, therefore most kids won't have fully developed their motor abilities until about 3rd or 4th grade.

I was in the main gym with the older kids and we played knock-out for a while. There was mostly boys so they all loved the challenge with me in the game. I assumed that we would play from the free throw line but all the boys were into the 3-pt knock-out so i thought that was cool that they wanted to shoot further away. Overall, the first week went well and it wasn't hard getting the older boys to like playing basketball, because thats what they love to do most.

Dodgeball in PE?

As a teacher candidate right now, I think that dodgeball should be played in PE classes. Many will argue against it saying that it's too dangerous of a game, but there are always modifications that can be made to avoid chaos. Fourth and Fifth grade is a little too young to introduce the game of dodgeball, but I think Sixth grade (start of middle school) is appropriate. Kids start to get bigger and stronger at around this age and not everyone will be at the same strength and athletic ability level in the class. Therefore, a couple ways to make dodgeball a fun and safe game is by using the Rhino skin foam balls, and having waist down as the target instead of the whole body. There are always a couple kids in class that are going to want to get crazy with throwing at other kids so explaining the rules before playing is very important. Other than that, dodgeball is a great way for kids to get a cardiovascular workout, and everyone knows that kids love to run so why vote against dodgeball in PE?