Fifth and Final Week at Paul Revere

        This is my fifth and final week of my placement at Paul Revere Intermediate School.  I have really enjoyed this experience.  My cooperating teacher and the students I worked with were awesome.  I had the chance to work with 8 different classes of students and that offered so many different opportunities to interact.  Being able to talk with students, instruct their lessons, and help mediate their problems made me feel very much like a teacher at times.  I've been able to learn so much in a short amount of time.  My cooperating teacher has been a great example as a P.E. teacher.  I've been able to learn about class structure, lesson planning, mediating, motivating tools, and many other useful teaching strategies.  I've also appreciated the way my cooperating teacher motivates her students.  She is constantly encouraging them to "push" themselves and she is very involved outside of the classroom.  She does several after-school programs for the students.
          I really enjoyed the units we did in P.E. this semester.  Soccer, Hockey, and Dance all were taught in effective ways that really engaged the students.  All units ensure that all students are not only proficient in technical skills, but also understand the rules and finer points of each unit.  Even the warm-up that we did on a daily basis was very inclusive and got the students active right away.  The combination of cardio, sit up, and push ups worked on some key areas of fitness.
          The students will be finishing their dance unit in the next week and they will be getting into groups tomorrow to start choreographing their own dance routines to preform for their "final project". I look forward to seeing the students final projects and see what they came up with.
     Overall, this has been a great experience.  I would certainly recommend that other future P.E. students complete their placement here.  Thank you Paul Revere Intermediate.  GO PANTHERS!

Dance Unit at Paul Revere Intermediate

   This past week and for all of December our class at Paul Revere Intermediate has been working in our "Dance Unit".  I have been pleasantly surprised by the results of these classes.  I can remember when I was in high school, everyone dreaded the dance unit because it was awkward and boring.  Back then, we learned square dancing and ball room dancing, which for us was not relevant and most students lost interest.  However, the dance unit that my cooperating teacher has put together at Paul Revere is excellent.  She uses popular music and updated routines to capture the students interest and it totally works.  The students love the modern music which they can relate to.  I have heard many students say "this is awesome", "this is fun", "I can't wait to see what we do tomorrow".  Their reactions are so different from what I remember from high school and it is refreshing to see the students so excited about the topic.  Each class period starts with our typical warm-up, then we take a few minutes to learn some factual information about each dance topic or style. Following the information review, the students line up in their squads and begin following the routines that our projected up on the screen. I noticed that almost all students are able to follow the routines exactly.  However, if a student cant follow the exact steps, they are encourage to "freestyle" dance.  I think this unit is great because it really keeps all of the students active and engaged for the whole class period.  When you are playing a typical sport, sometimes a student is involved and sometimes they are not.  However, with the dance unit, it seems, that all the students are active for the entire time.  The students really seem to enjoy learning new dance moves and I see them practicing them even when class is over. My cooperating teacher uses "Zumba for Kids" videos, which I think is great because it combines dancing and fitness. The "test" for the dance unit will be having the students get into groups and design their own dance routines to perform for their classes. I look forward to seeing what the students come up with, in what seems to be one of their favorite units so far.