Sunday, October 18, 2009

Picture This!

Picture this….a gym full of students stretching, jogging, playing badminton, stretching to test for the v-sit and reach or performing a squat in the weight room. These images are a part of Mingus Union High Schools daily routine. Students, like little soldiers, are given objectives and set out to complete them. It looks very much the same day to day. But what if we let the student’s create the lesson, teach the lesson and supply the visual aids? I can picture giving the students the opportunity to demonstrate a sport or exercise one picture at a time.
If given the proper resources and opportunity the students could conduct their own picture gallery of exercises. For example: I have a body conditioning class that completes roughly 6 – 8 exercises daily in the weight room. What if the student was in charge of taking pictures chronologically of a particular exercise? Each picture would sort of tell the story of how to complete the exercise. I give an assignment that requires the student to write in paragraph form the steps to how to perform any given lift. Instead students could take pictures of the exercise one move at a time and submit it to a library of pictures that I could collect on a photo-sharing site. I would then have them present their pictures in class over power point and the student would then use the pictures and narrate through each one. Later I could post them on a bulletin board for later viewing. This same lesson could be duplicated in teaching strokes in tennis or performing a free throw. This lesson could be given as a group project or an individual assignment.
Our department could also create a newsletter for the month. The students could be assigned to write articles for the newsletter that could be voted on or chosen by the teacher. With this same idea in mind we could have students submit photography that is catalogued by the teacher in a photo-sharing site and used in the newsletter. I did this assignment in an Outdoor Life Sports class and it was really cool. If I had understood photo-sharing sites at the time I could have given the site to my students who could have searched for pictures of themselves and printed them out or saved them for themselves. Here is a cool picture from one of our Outdoor Life adventures……..
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2 comments:

  1. Thatcher BohrmanOctober 18, 2009 at 6:39 PM

    I love how pumped for this you sound! I share your enthusiasm. Photo documentation is so easy and fast now, and teaches aethetic and storytelling skills that inform written reports.
    Great.

    ReplyDelete
  2. hungeryjackNovember 1, 2009 at 12:04 AM

    Nice post - stretching exercises with pictures ..Keep Posting


    Ron
    stretching exercises with pictures

    ReplyDelete

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Philosophy

Susan’s Teaching Philosophy

Times have changed and the face of education has evolved and is trying to keep up with the changing American culture. I began teaching 17 years ago and I have learned that you must monitor and adjust as a teacher. One thing remains the same however, and that is teaching students the ABC’s. I take it a step further and call my teaching philosophy the ABCD’s of success. Without the principles outlined in my philosophy I believe Madeline Hunter's Direct Instruction Model has little or no bearing. In a culture where the student plays a larger role in molding their own education experiences because more one parent homes and working parents are a reality.

My philosophy more indirectly follows Bloom's Taxonomy. A student is more prone to learning if they are first affected by the material and are actively engaged in the possible outcome. Teaching students they are in control of their own Attitude, Behavior, Character, and Discipline empowers them to make positive choices toward a bright future. I make it my daily mission to plant seeds of wisdom in these areas. Attitude is a measurement of what’s happening on the inside of the student. Students are actually graded on what attitude they bring to class. Attitude can drastically infect the environment of a game in physical education. Behavior is directly related to what the student displays on the outside. Will they cooperate, use proper language, act their age the list goes on. When addressing a student about behavior you always state clearly your expectations and give them a chance to make their own. Character education gives the teacher the chance to be a pseudo parent. What life principles are important to have success outside the classroom? Those same principles should be daily implemented and pointed out in the classroom. Lastly discipline, this is not punishment this is an act of compliance to personal expectations. Teaching and implementing goal setting in small ways each day in the classroom.

The key to all of this is ownership. How do you teach the standards and convince them its worth and value in their life? It can almost be as simple as making it the students idea. I’m not sure that this can work in all classroom settings. For physical education however, it truly is the key to success. Students who take control of their attitude, behavior, character and discipline within the structure of the classroom create an atmosphere for learning to take place. Students will begin to make the FITT Principle and understanding the components of physical fitness an essential part of their personal goals and implement them in and out of the classroom. Hence, build in them lifelong learning principles, fitness for life and to be passionate about what they choose to do and the world is their classroom. Passion, that’s a whole different story, perhaps on the next assignment I can elaborate.