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.

Teaching at Paul Revere

This past week, I got the opportunity to teach two periods of P.E. class at Paul Revere Intermediate School.  I taught one class of fourth graders and one class of fifth graders.  We were just finishing our unit on floor hockey, so we began our class period with a review of hockey rules and techniques.  I began with a warm-up where the students ran 6 laps around the gym and then walked one.  When the students were finished they sat in their squads.  Once everyone was finished, I started the review by reading the questions one at a time and waiting for students to raise their hand to answer.  I awarded each student who had a correct answer with two "Panther Points".  The students did very well on the review and I was confident that they would do well on the test which was the following day.  After the review, I divided the students up into four teams and directed the teams to their respective courts (I had the gym divided into two courts).  After assigning positions to the students, we began play with a face-off.  The students had a lot of fun.  I tried to get the games going quickly because I wanted the students to get as much activity as possible.  Each class period is only thirty minutes, so trying to maximize your activity is key. Between the two classes, I only had one real instance where a student's behavior became an issue. In one class, this particular student, who is a year older than all the others, was playing too rough and I received more than one complaint from other students.  He was also screaming very loudly throughout the game for no good reason. I pulled him aside and asked what was going on.  I informed him that other students were upset with his rough play and that I thought his screaming was unnecessary.  After that, he seemed to behave better.  Overall, it was a great experience.  For the most part, the kids there are great.  I knew it was gonna be a good day, when I first walked in and many of the kids were excited to find out that I was teaching class.  If I was nervous beforehand, it went away when I found out that the kids were just happy to see me.  I noticed in particular that a lot of the male students were happy to have a male teacher and when I thought about it, all of the teachers that I have met at Paul Revere are female.  So I think its good that I can fill that male role model void that might be there for some of the students.  Many of them know that I am a soccer coach, so that alone draws a lot of their interest.  After this experience, I look forward to teaching more classes.

First Week at Paul Revere Intermediate School

     After spending some time at Paul Revere Intermediate School in Blue Island, I have been able to learn a lot about teaching and about students in general.  I have been working with third thru fifth graders in their P.E. classes.  My cooperating teacher has been awesome and I have been able to learn a lot by observing her methods.
     Class periods are only 30 minutes long, so it is important to maximize the time in which the students are active. Each class begins with the students running around the gym while music is playing.  The students begin running when the music starts, and when it stops they begin to walk.  Following the cardio warm-up the students sit in their "squads" and prepare for the core workout portion of the warm-up.  The students follow a CD with instructions for their sit-ups and push-ups.  Following the warm-up, the teacher will give the class their directions for the day's activities and shortly after, the activity will begin.
      So far we have gone through two different units.  We just recently finished our soccer unit and have now begun the hockey unit.  Following the soccer unit there was a review day and a test over soccer concepts and rules.  I graded these tests and the majority of students did very well and demonstrated that they understood the concepts. I was able to teach a class period this past week and that was very exciting.  The class went really well and the students all understood the game we played and they had lots of fun.  I will be doing part of the hockey review later this week, so I am anxious to see if I can help the students prepare for their test over the hockey unit.
       It has been a great experience so far and I am looking forward to continuing my work at Paul Revere.  The diverse student population and an excellent cooperating teacher have helped to make this experience a good one for me so far.

Circle Urban 1

On Friday, 10/18, I was able to make my first trip to "Circle Urban" with some of my classmates.  Our purpose in going is to assist and guide young people in their schoolwork and lives.  We, as college students, are going to set an example for the grade school and junior high students to look up to.  Before arriving, I was a little anxious, as I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  I had heard some mixed reviews about how my classmates prior experiences had gone. However, after arriving I felt very comfortable.  Upon arriving, we were taken into a room where we were able to meet with the "college readiness" group which was made of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders.  These students were very excited to have us there and instantly began asking us questions.  We played some "get to know you" games where we shared our names and interests with the students. Following our games, the Trinity students split up.  Half of us stayed with the college readiness group and participated in a scavenger hunt, while the other half of us were sent down to work with the younger groups.  I was one of the students selected to go work with the younger students. Those of us chosen to work with the younger students, were given a very thorough set of guidelines for us to follow that would help us manage and assist the young ones. After that, one of the Circle Urban students led us downstairs to the "Circle for Success" classrooms.  I was chosen to work with the group of 3rd and 4th grade boys.  Although, they were a rambunctious group, they were also a lot of fun.  While I was there, I was able to do a multitude of things.  I helped students with their homework, played "Connect Four" with some students during free time, built "Legos" with some students, and I tried to converse with almost every student in the room.  When I arrived in the room, the students were having their "free-time", so I tried to mix in with whatever they wanted to do.  After free time, they had their snack time.  My group had to wait until last to get their snack, because apparently it was their week to bring a snack for the whole school and no one had brought anything.  I thought this was a fair rule, however, the students were NOT happy that they had to wait while everyone else was eating.  After snack time, it was time for me to go.  I gave a final "Thank you and have a good weekend" to the kids and Mr. Anthony who was the guide for my room and then I went back upstairs to meet with my classmates.
       On my way out, I ran into "Mrs. B", who is in charge of the "Circle for Success" program.  I made sure to compliment her on the way she handles the kids.  I was really impressed with her ability to put things into perspective for the children and finding ways to make them understand the error of their ways.  Anyone can just yell at a child who is acting out, but it takes a bigger person to really help the children understand right vs. wrong. I'm looking forward to returning to Circle Urban for my second trip.  I might even volunteer to work with the boys group again.