Smashing Pumpkins

(This is a photo of my foot after me and some of my classmates spent about 5-10 minutes kicking/throwing pumpkins at each other).

On the day that we went to the pumpkin patch with our EDS 150 class, we had a lot of fun. Some might say that we had too much fun, however i feel that this is rarely the case for anyone. Upon arriving at the pumpkin patch, the lady who worked there explained that many of the pumpkins in the field were rotting and told us that it was okay if some of us wanted to bust up the pumpkins if they were rotten. I of course had never done this before so when I found myself in the field with a group of my friends i could barely control my inquiring mind when it asked the simple question, "What might happen if I kick a pumpkin very hard?" Well, as you can see, I did not let that question go unanswered.

I think that this was a great experience at the pumpkin patch and it truly taught me some things that I did not know before hand, and I also did a lot of thinking about what happened during this experience while it was happening and on my way home. The thing about inquiry is that it works best when you're doing something and when I was kicking these pumpkins it might have been ridiculous, but i really did learn a lot. I learned that if pumpkins rot they smell awful, the become soft on the outside, the seeds remain inside the pumpkin still, and that depending on how rotten a pumpkin is should definitely be a determining factor when it comes to whether or not it is a good idea to kick it. I think that through this experience I learned that when I am teaching in the future that it is very important that while having fun can be an important byproduct of an activity, it should never be the goal, and certainly there should be something to learn from it. I also think I learned that it is very helpful to learn as a community, and that when you have fun you retain the knowledge gained much easier then you would have otherwise.

Adapted Physical Education.

In my previous semester here at Berea College I took a P.E. class that was titled Adapted P.E. In this class we were paired up with a "buddy" from Berea Community School and we worked with them for 4 sessions in the pool and 4 sessions in the gymnasium. My buddy had a rare affliction known as Jouberts Syndrome, which is a very rare genetic disorder in which there are congenital problems such as:
Absence/underdevelopment of part of the brain that controls balance and coordination,
A malformed brain stem, which may cause an abnormal breathing patterns,
Abnormal eye and tongue movements,
Decreased Muscle Tone,
and Seizures.
My buddy also was unable to communicate with words and knew very few sings to communicate with his hands, but he didn't have a problem with comprehending what I said to him. He also had 11 fingers and I believe 13 toes, and even though he was 13 he looked like he was around the age and size of a 6 year old.
However, none of these things really let you know very much about him at all, and the joy that I received from working with him. He did many things in the gym that he wouldn't have done before hand, and on our first pool day he flat out refused to get into the pool deep enough to allow water to go above his waist, and on our last day in the pool he stood with it up to his neck and was putting his head in the water.

This opportunity I had to work with kids with special needs was amazing, and truly helped me appreciate the work that many teachers do on a daily basis. I feel like this is one of the best experience that I have had while I have been in school, and I hope that the experiences gained because of this class will prepare me to be a great teacher for the students that I might teach in school who are very diverse in their learning needs and abilities.

Teaching Aquatics to Babies!

Sadly i don't have any pictures from the topic of this blog entry, but as you can see from my title I am going to talk about an experience I have had while here in college that was a lot of fun and very informational. In my Aquatics class, we taught children from the ages of 6 months up to a possible age of higher 3's or lower 4's. It was amazing fun, and while we were not actually teaching these children how to swim, it was definitely a good learning experience for them and their parents. The purpose of this class was to introduce these children to a pool/water environment and hopefully teach them some of the very basic swimming skills that they will need in the future to learn how to swim.

I think that in this experience i was able to gain a great deal when it comes to teaching. Not only was I with a very diverse age group which will definitely help me as a teacher in the future to have had some practice working with younger children, but it also helped me gain some practice working with children in a very diverse atmosphere.

Teaching

In this entry I don't have any pictures, but I am writing about a teaching opportunity i had with a group of kids from a local elementary school. Looking back on it now, i think that there were a lot of things i learned there that were not easy to take out and extract from that experience at first as they are now.

In that class, we got to teach at an elementary school, and it was a lot of fun. It also was very informative and educational because I was able to see what it would be like to be a P.E. teacher for younger kids. I had an idea, but it was good to see from more of a firsthand perspective what it would be like to do that every day, and I have to say that I would love going to work if I got to spend my day with kids like that. Even though they’re learning things during P.E. class, they don’t necessarily realize it. They can be learning fitness ideas and skills, but think that they’re only playing a game. And almost every child has a desire to be active, if not only to have fun. So that experience definitely did not turn me off from teaching, in fact, it kind of instilled the desire deeper inside of me. It helped reinforce my desire to be a teacher.

Experiences like these teach me a lot I think, and I believe that there is little that can replace the knowledge gained from actually teaching kids and working with them. I think it is the experiences like these, actually working in the field, that really reinforce my desire to become a teacher.

Cooking Pumpkins!

(In this picture, from left to right, me, Brittany, Haven, and Sonja's Boyfriend are cooking candied pumpkin in our EDS 150 class)

This may seem like it is just a silly fun assignment in class, but there are many things that can be taught during this activity. Understanding the importance of teaching across the curriculum boundaries, or teaching multiple subjects at once, is crucial when it comes to being a teacher. During this activity we learned how to cook candied pumpkin. In the process, we needed to read (English), work with fractions and measurements (Math), and most obvious of all would be a Home Economics class. There are other things that were also covered during this activity, but i simply listed some.

This was a great way for us to learn about teaching multiple subjects at once. I feel that because of this experience I have learned more about what it means to teach more than one thing at a time to my future students, and I feel like I have gained a better understanding of how to teach multiple content areas at once.

Working with Students

(This is a picture from when I was at Silver Creek Elementary School, and I was helping a group lead a P.E. class period.)

In my PED 244 class, we spend some time going to various local elementary schools and we practice teaching. In this particular instance I am the one leading the group rather than watching my classmates. To prepare for these times at the school we have to create a lesson plan and follow it with the kids that we are there with. We create the plans on our own with the assistance of our text book, however the groups that we are in are not assisted while teaching.

This type of field work is great when it comes to getting practice for my future job as a teacher. When working out in the classes, it is definitely possible to gain knowledge. I've heard teachers and other people say something along the lines of, "There are certain things that you can learn from text books, and other things that you can only learn through experience." I definitely feel that this is true, and believe that experiences like these are some of the best ways to learn the things that are most important when it comes to learning.

Teaching the young!

(In this picture I am teaching a class of 4th graders at Silver Creek Elementary School in their Physical Education class.)

In my PED 244 class, we spend some time going to various local elementary schools and we practice teaching. In this particular instance I am the one leading the group rather than watching my classmates. To prepare for these times at the school we have to create a lesson plan and follow it with the kids that we are there with. We create the plans on our own with the assistance of our text book, however the groups that we are in are not assisted while teaching.

I feel like this as well as other opportunities I've had throughout my college career have helped set me up and prepare me for the various groups that i could possibly be teaching. In this particular instance I am learning first hand about the ways in which to best teach elementary students. I feel like this is definitely a great thing that can prepare me to be able to teach a diverse student body, especially if the differences among students is their age. All in all, i feel that experiences like this are truly what can help me prepare the most when it comes to teaching, and since I will not know what age group I will be teaching until I actually get a job because my certification will be for grades P-12th grade.