I first knew that I wanted to be a Physical Education teacher during the summer before my senior year of high school. I had my first taste of teaching others during a junior basketball camp put on by my high school basketball coach. I was really drawn to the sense of enjoyment that the young kids had when accomplishing a task. It was a very rewarding feeling knowing that I played a large role in their success. During my teaching and coaching career, I have found much reward in helping others achieve goals. I feel that everyone should try to make an impact and leave this world a better place than you found it. In my eyes, teaching is the perfect opportunity to do this and I have the power to make an impact on an entire community.
I place a large emphasis on physical fitness and introducing life-long activities in my teaching. I believe that in order to live the best life possible, physical fitness must be a part of everyone’s daily routines. While traditional strength and cardiovascular exercises are taught, there is also an emphasis placed on learning life-long fitness activities. These are activities that most individuals can continue to do for the rest of their life as a form of exercise. As a Physical Education instructor it is important to introduce different activities, and hopefully each student can discover some form of activity that engages them in physical fitness.
During the school year, I fitness test the students three times using the FitnessGram model. I feel that it is important that students and parents are aware of strengths, weaknesses, progress, and regression and also understand what it takes to be considered healthy in the different test criteria.
The students in my class are graded based on four different objectives:
1). The ability to analyze and create goals based off of their FitnessGram report
2). The ability to identify offensive, defensive, and cooperative strategies in selected activities and games
3). The ability to work cooperatively with a partner or small group to reach a shared goal during physical activity; and
4). The ability to identify and apply rules and safety procedures during physical activities.
Several different forms of assessment will be used to properly grade students throughout the year.
Students will complete worksheets that engage goal setting behavior and aid in analyzing and creating fitness goals.
Students will complete formative assessments that will test them on their understanding of game rules, strategies, class rules, and safety procedures of particular games.
Students will participate in group projects where they will present their topic while using a visual aide.
Teacher observation will also be used during all activities to monitor progress and behavior.