PDFE #10

In class on Monday, we did an activity in which allowed us to see varied practice compared to constant practice. We got into pairs and were each given a packet of instructions to follow. The objective of this activity was to practice throwing a bean bag into a hoola hoop a certain number of times and to see what is the highest score we could obtain. In this packet, the instructions said that one of us was to perform constant practice, the practice or activity that did not change, while the other performed varied practice, the activity was altered throughout the practice. This meant that one of us was to stand at the 5 ft. marking and throw the bean bag in the hoop. While the other partner throws the bean-bag from the 4 ft., 5 ft., and 6 ft., marking. We each did a number of rounds in throwing the bean-bag into the hoop before doing the final five throws for the retention test. During the practice, I did the varied practice while Marley did the constant practice. The results from the practice should have been higher for me than for her because I could get closer to the hoop and therefore had more chances of getting easier points by putting the bean-bag in the hoop. However, the final results after the retention test should have been that she maintained better muscle memory than I because she practiced from the same spot that the retention test took place from. Whereas I moved around from 4, to 5, to 6 and then had my test at only the 5 ft. marking. But our results did not quite match these. In our results we were about equal during the practice rounds. And after the same retention tests, I actually did better than she. But there were many different factors that could have influenced these results. During her practice and final test, we were talking more and she probably had less focus. But when I went, we were not talking as much and I believe I might have had a less resting period because we were rushing to finish. So therefore it was not really a final test after practice, it was merely five more throws after the many others I had already finished. So we did not achieve the estimated results that were anticipated to occur but we were influenced by many factors that might have had something to do with these skewed results. 

PDFE #9

My past P.E. classes were undoubtedly fun but they were not the P.E. class that they should have been. From what I can remember, in the majority of them we just played games. In some we were actually learning about different types of sports and their rules and such. It was good in that I was learning about sports I had never played or understood. It was wrong in that all we were doing was learning about the sport and then playing it. Obviously the classes got slightly more intense in learning about health as we got older. But we really only learned health in the classroom and not in an active setting. My P.E. classes did their jobs by getting the students active but they lacked in the educational part of it.

            I personally feel that the P.E. requirements are very reasonable and are on the right path. Students should take P.E. serious just as they would for any other class. Although they should take it seriously, there should be that slight fun aspect of it as well. If it being active is not fun, students are not going to want to participate in it. Also, from personal experience, school systems need to work it out so that P.E. is not the first class in the morning. At a middle school age, this had a negative affect on that some students who wanted to look nice for the rest of the day, did not want to participate.

             It is important for students to learn to like getting physically active at this age. At this certain age level how they feel about certain things in life or their attitude toward things begins to develop. Also at this age they are not as conscious about other things such as how they look or how cool are they acting. After these stages their lifestyle tends to change so it is important to nail them in their younger years.

            The two types of approaches of getting students active are similar yet different. They are similar in that they are both getting students active in some form or fashion. However one tends to be more productive in some environments and is a better approach. Skill theme is more focused on getting the students actively moving and how to do it in an educational sense. These are things like skill games and activites, certain practices and activities, and improving skills. The traditional approach is usually just sports and games and is focused on the basic winning concept. Traditional tends to make some students feel secluded or left out. While skill theme is getting everyone active and performing certain skills.

PDFE #8

There are three basic stages of learning; the verbal-cognitive stage, the motor stage, and the autonomous stage. In lab 7.1, we discuss the stages of learning by practicing a new skill. We were required to learn how to tie a bowline knot and meet certain criteria while doing so. We also had someone observing us and rating how well we performed during each trial. From looking at the comments made by my partner, I went through each stage of learning.  The verbal-cognitive stage is the stage in which the person performing the task is still unfamiliar with the task that is at hand and are working their way to figuring it out. This was very true for me. I struggled at the beginning of activity because I did not understand how to make the knot. Eventually I had to have someone come over and show me how to actually make the knot. The second stage, the motor stage, is the stage when the person performing the task is trying to figure out how exactly to go about performing the task. They understand the task that is at hand they are just trying to figure it out and make sense of it. I went through this stage as well. After the teacher showed me how to form the knot, it took me a while to actually make the knot on my own, much less make it perfect. That led to the third stage, the autonomous stage. The autonomous stage is when the person can perform the task with little or no attention or skill. After trying to make the knot over and over, I eventually got the hang of it and could practically make it with my eyes closed. The biggest challenges I faced were understanding how to make the knot and then actually making the knot. However, once I learned how to make it and understood it, I could make it repeatedly.

PDFE #7

Personal Ability Inventory

Multilimb Coordination – 4

Control precision – 3

Response orientation- 5

Reaction time- 3

Rate control – 2

Manual dexterity – 3

Finger dexterity – 5

Arm-hand steadiness – 4

Wrist-finger speed – 4

Aiming – 2

Explosive strength – 4

Static strength – 3

Dynamic strength – 3

Trunk strength – 3

Extent flexibility – 4

Dynamic flexibility – 4

Gross body equilibrium – 3

Balance with visual cues – 5

Speed of limb movement – 4

Gross body coordination – 4

Stamina – 4

Movement rate – 4

Motor timing – 5

Perceptual timing – 3

Force control – 5

Five skills I can perform with a relatively high level of proficiency:

1.     Shooting a Lay-up

2.     Doing a toe touch jump

3.     Playing guitar

4.     Communicating or interpreting through sign language

5.     Texting

Ideal Ability Profile

Doing a toe touch cheerleading jump

1.     explosive strength

2.     extent flexibility

3.     speed of limb movement

4.     dynamic flexibility

5.     gross body coordination

6.     motor timing

Discussion:

            The skill I created an ideal ability profile was doing a toe touch jump. In cheerleading there is a certain jump called a toe touch. During this jump, there are many different things a person must focus on as well as strive to accomplish. A person with a non-ideal ability profile could strive to becoming successful in this skill by doing numerous exercises everyday to increase the accuracy of the jump. By stretching everyday and doing leg circles, this increases their flexibility which will help their jump.  Also by repeatedly practicing the jump, they can increase the gross body coordination, the speed of limb movement, and the motor timing. Of course as they do the jump repeatedly, they should have someone there to critic and correct the movements every time. After doing this for a number of weeks there will be improvement in their toe touch.

            I became proficient at this skill by someone pushing me to get better. Before I was not very flexible, I could not jump very high or I did not have much explosive strength, nor did I have good gross body coordination. However, my coach required me to do a number of stretches that increased my flexibility every day. They also would require me to do numerous toe touches back to back. They would continuously critic me, which in the long run truly improved my jump. It also increased my stamina by doing jumps over and over in the air. Yet I still feel that there are areas in which I most definitely need to improve. But as they say, there is always room for improvement. 

PDFE #6

In last night's class we did a lab in which we got into groups and we performed different balancing tasks. Each tasks was timed for each individual member. There were six different timed tasks that each member was required to perform. They consisited of the stork stand, the diver’s stand, the heel stand, the sideward leap, the bass stepping-stone, and the book-balancing walk. Once we, as a group, had finished the tasks we ranked everyone to see if anyone got number 1 or first in all of the assignments. However, we learned that while there were some who were consistently in the top, no one was able to be first in all six tasks. We figured out that most of the people that were consistently good at these balancing skills, have had some sort of background in which balance was required. For example, I am a cheerleader or more specifically a flyer therefore I am required to have excellent balance skills. Yet there were still task that were abnormal for me and so I only performed well in some of the tasks. Then there were other people who had excellent posture so they could balance the book better or they participated in sports that required lots of focus. They did better in balancing as well. There were also other people who have not been active in balance requiring activities therefore they did not rank as well as those that had. The point being that even though there are people who are exceptionally well at balancing, no one is good at every single activity. 

PDFE #4- Interview

For PDFE #4 I interviewed Kirsten McFarland who is a social studies teacher at a private high school. She also coaches varsity football cheerleading and competition cheerleading.

Question: What was your major when you graduated from college?

Answer: Social Science Education with an emphasis in history

Question: Did you attend graduate school?

Answer: No

Question: How did you get interested in coaching?

Answer: Once I realized that I wanted to teach, I knew that as a former cheerleader, coaching would be make me a more “marketable” job candidate. I cheered from 4^th grade until I graduated high school, both spirit squads and competition, and loved the sport.

Question: Did you do interning of any kind before?

Answer: As a high school cheerleader I was responsible for coaching a rec league squad (2^nd graders, I think!), but I did not do any formal coaching internship prior to my first year of coaching. I did complete my student teaching with a high school cheerleading coach, but she wasn’t a very good example of what a coach should be J

Question: If you don’t mind me asking, what was your GPA?

Answer: At college graduation I believe it was a 3.6

Question: Do you have other skills that you feel you could pursue a different job in?

Answer: Yes! By working with students, teachers and parents on a daily basis I think I have great people skills, which could be applicable in any career field. I try to always be very organized and dedicated to my tasks. Sometimes I feel like I would make a good manager in some sort of company since I essentially manage students all day long!

Question: What kind of requirements did you have to meet in order to coach?

Anwer: I needed some sort of background in cheerleading, but my job didn’t initially require any formal training – probably a very dangerous thing since cheerleading is so dangerous. Once I was officially a coach, I did participate in several coaching clinics.

Question: What kind of requirements did you have to meet in order to teach?

Answer: Hold a valid degree from an accredited college/university, & possess a valid teaching certificate as proof that I passed a variety of tests given by the state of Georgia

Question: Do you think you will always teach/coach high school?

Answer: I have no idea! I love what I’m doing now, but if a different opportunity came along I might consider it!

Question: If you were to give me advice on pursuing coaching or teaching, what would it be?

Answer:

- Coaching: Be organized and dedicated! Cheerleaders are rarely recognized for their efforts (especially squads that just cheer football/basketball) so you have to believe in what you do. Stay organized so you don’t loose your mind J and since safety is always an issue, take as many classes/coaching clinics as possible so you know what you’re doing.

- Teaching: You have to love what you do because it is very time consuming and takes a great deal of dedication. Always keep in mind why chose to become a teacher (the big picture) so the little day-to-day stuff doesn’t get in the way or bog you down.

PDFE #5

The slide show “Becoming Invaluable” is a very good source for students trying to predict and understand the path they are taking by pursuing a major. The slide show gives all kind of helpful tips to help students prepare themselves for the future. It starts by saying that students should prepare for their career as a freshman. Obviously, as a freshman things are always likely to change, but it is a good idea to at least begin preparing for what they hope to pursue. They still need to prepare for things that could occur after college, such as interning or going to graduate school. These are all steps that as a freshman, a student should at least consider. One slide also tells students to not stick strictly to their major’s classes because they need those required classes but students should develop multiple skills. These skills allow students to see, not only the skills required for their majors, but to be prepared to branch out in case the job opening that they wish to have is not open. Or it could be that the student may have the job that they hoped but one of these other skills may be needed in their place of work on a random day. Being well-rounded is not only good for someone’s job, but it is good for life in general.

Students should ask themselves the five year question, “Where do you see yourself in five years?”. By asking this question every year that one is in college, it puts lots of goals and objectives in perspective. This question also allows students to create goals and objectives. The slide show gives helpful suggestions for each year at college. It also reminds students that there are reality checks that they should remember. Students should remember that there are many jobs in different fields of work but it can be very competitive. The slide show also gives helpful advice to students on what their future employers are going to expect and want to see.

There are many things that a student needs to take into consideration when considering a job in the future. They should plan on what type of requirements will need to be met for a certain job. A student should strategically plan on if the job requires them to move to different places, the location of the job, and the salary. Students should also acquire and look for good resources to rely on. All of these items and steps are crucial for planning and looking at job that a student could be doing for the rest of their life. They start in freshman year and they carry out for a person’s entire life. These steps help students get on the path toward success.