Sports Too Much Too Soon Too Much$? (470)

Is spending $5000 a year on gymnastics events, training and uniforms too much for young children? According to this piece the Sam (11 year old) practices 12 hours a week as part of The Ohio State University kids club.

Discussion Questions:

1. Is spending 12 hours a week too much for an eleven year old?
2. Are we putting too much emphasis on competitions?
3. What about the sacrifices families need to make in order to accommodate sporting pursuits?  Do all of their children get the same amount of time, $ and parental involvement? 
4. How much money did your parents spend on you to get you to a "higher" level?

Overly intense practice session or just good touch coaching? (poll)

Slideshow: Holy Family Incident On Tape: MyFoxPHILLY.com

Tough or Good Coaching?
Here's an interesting news piece about a tough basketball practice emphasizing physical positioning and rebounding. Have you ever been through a similar type of practice? Please take the following poll and watch the coach as he says he doesn't think his actions were out of line but then says it was just an accident.

1. Do you think the coach's action were justifiable as a means of "toughening" up his team?
2. Do you think the coach should have been suspended?
3. Would you go back to play for that coach if you were that player and he "apologized" in that manner?
4. Do you have personal professional liability insurance when you volunteer coach, substitute teach, or coach (paid)?  Do you need to have a policy to cover you?
5. Is there a school liability insurance policy covering your actions?

Via Yahoo Sports Ugly altercation between coach, player leads to tense TV apology - The Dagger - NCAAB - Yahoo! Sports

As reported in the Yahoo piece:

Asked by Stephanopoulos earlier in the interview whether he realized his actions were out of line, O'Connor responded "not really," adding that he was only trying to make his players better. Furthermore he repeatedly referred to the incident as "an accident" and "unintentional."
Ultimately, the better PR approach might have been for O'Connor to admit he was wrong, to describe the behavior as out of character and to insist that it will not happen again. 

EKP Certification Apps due March 23, 2011

To all Past & Present Self Defense Students

Educational Karate Program (EKP) Certification

Application deadline is Wednesday, March 23 , 2011 

See your teacher for an application  or 

Take a Pink Sheet (information sheet) and a White Application off the office door of

Colleen Buchanan

E310 Park Center 

Or

Pick one up from the front Dance Studio

Image by MikeOliveri via Flickr
• EKP doesn't "expire" once they get certified here.  The certification will go into a "holding phase".  When they get a teaching job, they will contact Master Ochiai at the headquarters in Vestal to "activate" the certification.
• Once they are certified by attending the April program, all students are invited and encouraged to attend EKP Certification night every April until the they graduate for a "refresher".  There is no cost to the student, just their time.  They will however, need to submit and application (no money) so that we can notify headquarters that a student will be taking the refresher at no charge. 
• Once they get the JOB, they will be required to keep the certification active to teach in the public schools.  Headquarters will have contact with the teacher at their school, and keep them up to date.
• Our "competitors" don't offer this course, so this is an investment (of $90 and three hours of their time) to make themselves more marketable.  Right now a school district in Binghamton is only looking at Cortland grads who are EKP certified.  It is very costly for a school district to pay for a teacher/district to become certified.

• Deadline for applications is Wednesday, March 23, 2011 .
• EKP night is Friday, April 29 , 2011 .

 Don't wait until the last minute to put this application together.  I will take a couple of days to compile all the necessary items.

Colleen Buchanan

SUNY Cortland

Physical Education Department

E310 Park Center

Cortland, NY  13045

(607) 753-5538

colleen.buchanan@cortland.edu

How To Create A Great Speech Fast - In 5 Steps

Nick Morgan's great work on crafting a masterpiece speech!

Via PublicWords: How To Create A Great Speech Fast - In 5 Steps:How to Create a Great Presentation from Harvard Business Publishing on Vimeo.

PBS Survey on Teachers’ Technology Usage

PBS, in conjunction with Grunwald Associates, has just released its 8th annual survey (PDF) on teachers’ media and technology usage. Not surprisingly, the survey finds the increasing importance of digital media and Internet technologies in the classroom. Teachers say it helps them do their jobs better and helps students be more engaged with learning.
Via HackEd: Surprising (And Not-So-Surprising) Results from PBS Survey on Teachers’ Technology Usage

38 Free Printable Graphic Organizers

38 Free Printable Graphic Organizers:

Image via WikipediaKeeping your students organized and helping them to learn concepts is our "job". We have to remember that each student learns and processes information differently and we need to learn which ways work best. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's Education Place offers thirty-eight free printable graphic organizers for your classroom use.

Athlete-Student or Student-Athlete? (470)

Image by Intiaz Rahim via FlickrMore Athlete Than Student: "
by Stuart Singer, The Teacher Leader

College athletes serve as role models for many high school students. Recent trends in NCAA eligibility and university attitudes raise concerns about the educational behaviors being modeled.
In his State of the Union Address, President Obama received a standing ovation when he said there should be more prestige in winning the science fair than the super bowl. Currently in this country that is clearly not the case. His sentiment is particularly relevant for high school educators in light of recent trends in athletics at universities. College athletes can be powerful role models for many high school students. In the past when these collegians demonstrated on a regular basis that sports could be a path to a college degree such adulation was a positive force. Unfortunately, the current environment on many college campuses is not sending the same message and has a potentially negative impact on education.

-A reasonable solution
-A turn in the wrong direction
-What can high school educators do?

Points to Ponder (P2P)

1. What is the role of interscholastic sports at the K-12 level?
2. Does the school you want to teach at have an athletics policy online?  If so, please review it and link your readers to it.  
3. What is your schools's athletics policy? Is it standardized across all sports? Do certain teams/sports/coaches receive preferential treatment?
4. What is your coaching philosophy with regards to academics? Do you have it in writing yet? If not, why?

Click here to read the rest of Stuart Singer article More Athlete Than Student:

Continue Jumping Into Lab B2 (255)

Lab B1, is going great and everyone is improving the skills. Never thought there was so much to jump rope? Well the progressions continue, and the challenges become more difficult. Break out that jump rope again and start preparing your skills for your next teaching segment. Lab B2 will be very similiar to B1, except we want to see you take our feedback, the classes feedback, and your own feedback from watching your videos and make the adjustments needed to become a better physical educator. We all make mistakes, and lessons never go exactly as planned, this is your time to fine tune your teaching skills and show us what you have up your sleeves. Remember your firework, so come and let your colors burst!  

Teaching 3/9/11

1. Danielle
• Task # 30
• Task # 31
2. Jacob
• Task # 38
• Task # 39
3. Tyler
• Task # 42
• Task # 43
4. Dave
• Task # 71
• Task # 72
5. Josh
• Task # 48
• Task # 46

Teaching 3/11/11

1. Trent
• Task # 1 (partner skills)
• Task # 2
2. Nicole
• Task # 3 – long rope
• Task # 5
3. Andrew
• Task #  9 – long rope
• Task #  10  
4. Bryan
• Task # 11 – long rope
• Task # 12

Employer demands Facebook Login from employee - WWYD (470)

Image via Wikipedia
Would you give your employer or potential employer your Facebook username and password? Take the poll below to voice your vote on this issue.

Employer Demands Facebook Login From Job Applicants

"...the ACLU has taken up the case of Maryland corrections officer Robert Collins, who was required to provide his Facebook login and password to the Maryland Division of Corrections during a recertification interview so the interviewer could log on to his account and read not only his postings, but those of his family and friends too. 

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Guiding Questions

1. Does an employer have the right to ask this of you?
2. Does the government have the right to ask you a similar request if you are applying to one of its military or intelligence agencies?  
3. What are your rights in terms of what potential employers are allowed to ask you?
4. Is there precedence or previous legal decisions for what is permissible and what is not in job interviews?
5. What are your legal rights and responsibilities as a teacher?
6. What legal rights do students enjoy (and do they have legal responsibilities)?
7. What are today's main approaches to moral education?
   
   
   Be sure to check out School Law & Ethics in our text
   
   

The Right Way Works, Right?

Image via WikipediaWhen we're teaching kids how to perform skills we often say "This is how to perform this skill." but is this always correct?  If someone is performing a skill in a non-traditional manner, when should you try to "correct" the movement pattern?  Is there an optimal age? Tim Wolchko is bowling his way (and successfully at that) and since there are no rules as to how to deliver the ball - besides staying behind the line and knocking down more pins than your opponent - he's good to go. Makes me think of the thousands of times I've "corrected" and "taught" certain skills!  But I'm somewhat reassured that I also encourage exploration, guided discovery and divergent teaching styles so that students can be free to find a way that works for them.

Via Yahoo Sports

Pa. teacher suspended over 'lazy whiners' blog & NCTQ (470)

• Imagine talking about your students on your personal and anonymous blog, although using very judgmental and descriptive terms, using terms like "disengaged, lazy whiners" and then have your school district suspend you.  That is the case of Natalie Munroe, an English teacher in Central Bucks East High School, PA is facing right now.  
• "Where are we going and why are we in this handbasket" was the title of this English Honor's teacher's post and even though she is suspended, she claims in this video to not regret saying what she said.
• Munroe continues in her interview to say that it seems as if "we're catering to the customer, who is the parent, who is the student and they're always right. Teachers who are highly trained professionals are discounted."
• She has hired a lawyer who is heard as saying that the district does not have a policy on personal blogs for employees.

Discussion Questions:

1. Does she have a right to say what she wants anonymously?
2. What does announcing that she is due with her 2nd child have to do with this piece?
3. Should she be fired for her anonymous comments?

One group that I've never heard of is the National Council on Teacher Quality and from their New York Report it says that our state received a D+ grade for Teacher Policy.  I love their tagline "A research and policy group working to ensure that every child has an effective teacher."


The NCTQ TR3= Teachers Rules, Roles and Rights page, is a tremendous aid to learn what is happening in the rest of the country. Use these powerful tools and information to your advantage and be really well informed before you even apply for a position.


"Delve into the TR³ database and find out what is inside collective bargaining agreements and state policies for more than 100 of the largest school districts from all 50 states."


NCTQ questions:

1. What are your district's policies?
2. What are the 10 largest school districts doing?
3. How do AFT affiliated districts compare with NEA affiliated districts?
4. How have district policies changed over time?

Via Yahoo: Pa. teacher strikes nerve with 'lazy whiners' blog
Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Jump into Lab B

Hey Rockers! Great job today working on your jump roping and introductions. Your teaching will go much smoother next week with the extra practice you did today. For teaching labs, always wear your Cortland polo/attire, a watch, and your visual aids. Be sure to check out the checklist that you are being assessed on during your teaching, it is listed below. Make sure you are also keeping up to date with your assignments on the schedule.
Lab B1 - Checklist
(What TC’s will be graded on)

SUNY Cortland's Project D.R.E.A.M. - PED 447

A big part of this semesters work will be my role in Project D.R.E.A.M. where DREAM stands for Diverse Recreational and Educational Activities Mentor-ship Program. My classmates of Adapted Physical Activity and Individual Differences and I will be mentoring a student from the local community ages 13-21. We will be helping our mentee's achieve a physical activity DREAM of theirs by working with the student at least 2 hours a week for a total of 20 hours. I will be using the "PE Giving Tree" blog to document this awesome journey. This journey began with an inventory report in which I spent an hour at my students house, getting to know the student.

To maintain confidentiality, I will refer to my student as "Junior." If you just took a look at my inventory report above by following the link, you would realize Junior is 15 years old, has ADHD and is on the Autism spectrum but is very high functioning. Junior was unable to decide on a DREAM goal but I have some ideas from talking with him and his family during the inventory report.

High School Stinks. Change the World (470)

When we allow kids to see themselves as authentic agents...
When we dare them to ask questions...
Seek out answers...
And build things that matter...
Then...
High school doesn’t suck anymore

When we do all that
we get kids who are encouraged
not just to be workers 
but to be citizens empowered to change the world.

The New Cardio: Irish Step Dancing

There is more to Irish Step Dancing than curly wigs and pretty costumes. Irish Step Dancing requires the dancer to have incredible cardiovascular endurance, core stability and balance. The article, "Irish Dance is the New Cardio," highlights some important elements of this dance. These dancers must keep their hands at their sides at all times. This element increases the difficulty of performing any movement since the hands cannot assist in the leaps or kicks. An on looker must watch very closely to see an Irish Step Dancers feet since they move their feet at a faster rate than all other dance disciplines.

Let's Move in School Video 1

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

PE the Naperville Way

Watch the full episode. See more Need To Know.

In this PBS special, they focus on our best bet at showing the importance and benefits of regular physical activity within a high quality physical education program.  Naperville Central High School has blazed the way for all of us and because of the efforts of the late Phil Lawler and Paul Zientarski were ahead of their time, but never gave up on what they envisioned. What do you envision for your program and how hard are you willing to work and for how long?

A baseball pitcher born without lower limbs, is cut from HS team, WWYD (470)

A teenage baseball player, born without both tibia and fibula, who has been playing competitively for eight years, was cut from his high school baseball team. On the second day of tryouts, the coaches claim he was not able to field the ball quickly enough at home quickly enough and was cut despite winning awards and having an 80 mile an hour fastball. Fitted with prosthetics Anthony Burroto



Guiding Questions:

1. What is your school's interscholastic philosophy and how does it fit in with your school's educational and physical education's philosophy/goals?
2. Please link to your high school's athletic, education, and PE philosophies. 
3. Please link to your athletic, education, and PE philosophies on your separate eportfolio.
4. What are the policies in place for athletic teams in terms of who can try out for teams?  What are the requirements in terms of :
1. varsity, junior varsity, modified (I never liked this term), or whatever team / club/ intramural
2. gender
3. differently-abled, students with prosthetics
4. religious clothing, traditions, requirements, artifacts
5. What is your response to this video piece?
6. How would you describe the mother and son in terms of the way they reacted to the news of getting cut?  Did they do themselves any favors by going on air?  How did their body language and tone of voice help or hurt their presentation of the facts?
7. What would you do - WWYD?

SCOPE: Multiculturalism, Diversity and Stereotypes. Including WRUP?

In this broadcast SCOPE media has gotten up and moving to bring you the latest ways we enjoy staying active. There is also a new segment we call WRUP (What Are You Playing). We have also brought you interviews from fellow students, faculty and employees to help educate, inform, and entertain. Now Get Out and Get Active and Get Engaged!

Schools that Work @ Edutopia

Schools That Work are featured on Edutopia and their video regarding the importance of using authentic assessment in a supportive environment where the learners are at the core of the decision making processes.



Here are 10 Steps for Authentic Assessment from Edutopia and Schools of the Future

1. Break Down Skill Work into Small Steps

2. Build a Community of Practice

3. Work Backwards

4. Have Fun

5. Ensure Rigor

6. Give Cards a Try

7. Tap into Students' Interests

8. Use Tasks on Demand

9. DYO: Do Your Own Assessments

10. Use a Variety of Tracking Tools

7 DIVERSE Teaching Skills & Believing

Cross-posted from Amanda Caloia on Sound Mind Sound Body: 7 DIVERSE Teaching Skills: "

Creating a climate that honors and celebrates your students diversity is a key to success with a diverse group of students. There are 7 teaching skills to help students feel safe, have their unique needs and interests recognized, and are part of a classroom discourse. Just remember DIVERSE promotes equality and good teaching!
Diverse instructional materials: Be sure that all parts of the world and it's diverse thoughts, views and people are woven into the curriculum.
Inclusive: Provide opportunities for every student to participate in classroom activities and discussions including shy or quiet students.
Variety: Use different styles of teaching to allow for all the different types of learners to be successfull.
Exploration: Encourage your students open up their minds to explore and experience or learn about other cultures and beliefs.
Reaction: All students can learn from their questions when they are given effective feedback. Teachers can make sure they give effective feedback through patience, encouragement and high expectations.
Safety: Any offensive comments and physical or verbal bullying should be stopped immediately because without safety and security, little learning is possible.
Evaluation: Consider a wide variety of evaluation strategies to assess the unique strengths of your individual students.

Don't ever stop believing that you can make a difference.  You can with resolve, a solid plan and a commitment to do whatever it takes for your students.  Think of how many times it took the following college student - same age as you - to perform and produce the following song.  The different musical instruments, the vocal arrangements, lyrics, harmonies, editing and producing.  An amazing amount of effort to say the least. With nearly 100 million views across various performances, do you think they've stopped following their passion. The lead singer(s) Sam Tsui (and musician/producer friend Kurt) isn't even a music major yet he's been featured on national television shows as has a devoted following all because he pursued his passion. He's been on Oprah, Ellen, Bonnie Hunt, and much more. What are you willing to do and how long will you want to do it while others doubt you and goals?

Tests: Do they improve learning?

Tests: Will they improve learning?: "
New research may help school leaders with two important challenges that they face on a daily basis.
Focus Questions:

1. First, in these tight budget times with fewer teachers, larger classes, and fewer resources, how do we improve student performance? 
2. How do we do more with less? 
3. What are some no-cost ways that we can improve our schools?
4. What is tracking, and what are its advantages and disadvantages?
5. Why has "detracking" become a popular movement

• Howard Gardner, an education professor at Harvard advocates constructivism — the idea that children should discover their own approach to learning, emphasizing reasoning over memorization. 

Look 4s for School Leaders

• Closure and Learning
• Remembering 
• Checks for Understanding
• Timing
• Feedback 
• Defined Instructional Practices 
• Formative Assessments
• Mapping

Who Will You Teach? Census Bureau's School Demographics

More Educational Data: Census Bureau Releases School Enrollment Demographics: "
The U.S. Census Bureau released its most recent data on school enrollment. The information comes from the Current Population Survey, a statistical survey that the Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics administer.

Guiding Questions?

1. How will these facts influence the schooling in your school district?
2. How does enrollment factor into how much a teacher is paid or how much money a school district receives?
3. What impact do changing family patterns and economic issues have on children and schools?
4. In what ways does the adolescent culture shape teenage perceptions and behaviors?

Here is one of the table from the Census Bureau site:

Table 1.

Enrollment Status of the Population 3 Years Old and Over, by Sex, Age, Race, Hispanic Origin, Foreign Born, and Foreign-Born Parentage: October 2009 All Races Excel (37k) | CSV (6k) White alone Excel (31k) | CSV (6k) White alone non-Hispanic Excel (31k) | CSV (5k) Black alone Excel (31k) | CSV (5k) Asian alone Excel (31k) | CSV (5k) Hispanic Excel (31k) | CSV (5k) White alone or in combination Excel (31k) | CSV (5k) Black alone or in combination Excel (31k) | CSV (5k) Asian alone or in combination Excel (32k) | CSV (5k) Foreign Born Excel (31k) | CSV (5k) Children of Foreign Born Parents Excel (31k) | CSV (5k)

Flip your instruction for engaged and self-directed learning

Flip your instruction for real learning:
What if instead, educators spent class time doing and homework time for the watching of lessons/lectures. The other benefit of this is that these can be viewed and reviewed anytime/anywhere. The result is engaged students who can now spend their time solving problems and working with their peers.

This concept is analgous to the many screencasts and online tools we've created for all Rockstar PE students on our blog, wiki, YouTube, Photo Streams and screencasts to assist students in completing assignments.

Spend less time talking in class, and have students engage in problem-solving and learning outside of the class.  That way you will have more time to truly engage and get to know your students thus resulting in a more positive learning environment.

Pew Internet Report: Gadget Adoption by Generation (470)

The Pew Internet and American Life Project has released its “Generations and Gadgets” (PDF) report and you may ask yourself what on earth does this have to do with education, let  alone PE. Plenty my friend. as discussed in chapter 2 and throughout this course, the integration and adoption of best-practices using technology to assess and evaluate will be crucial to your mission to improve student learning and school climate.  If you're not assessing something, how do you know if your students have learned anything? Knowing which forms of technology your students have or have access to will be really important when deciding which curricular foci and assignments.  Remember that you will need to know National Common Core, NCATE Beginning Teacher, ISTE (Technology) and much more.  

Where do you fit in terms of Generation and gadgetry? Take a look at the report and see what else you can glean and add to your SPOPE Media Broadcasts.

Image via Wikipedia

But as Benjamin Zander eloquently and amusingly presents true possibility vs. negativity and doubt. Benjamin Zander is indeed a Maestro in every sense. As the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, he lives and breathes his mantra of "The Art of Possibility" which opposes the tide of negativity, conformity, and the downward spiral. The question is, how will you "move" people into the world of "Possibility" and "take them to a place they couldn't reach without you?"  How are you working to chip away at the rock that surrounds a potential statue like Michelangelo?


Compare and contrast your teaching style and technique to Zander's. Can you describe in detail three elements you covered in in the past and three of Zander’s teaching elements/techniques you want to be able to do by the end of this semester? How will these changes in your teaching affect your communication style, student learning, overall growth towards being an outstanding leader, and reduce student misbehavior?  How Fascinating!

@ Yahoo! Video

Related articles

• Survey: Most homes own at least one tech gadget (news.cnet.com)
• Report: 90% of Americans own a computerized gadget (cnn.com)

EDU 255 - Jumping into Lab B

 Jump Rope Teaching Assignments

Why jump rope? After all there is only one way to jump rope, right? WRONG! There is an incredible amount of things you can do with a jump rope! The jump rope packet is a valuable tool to break down jump roping into progressions. It gives you (the teacher) the opportunity to focus in on specific skills, and break them down into simple cues for your students to work on. Lab B will be based on the jump rope packet, and will give you the opportunity to focus on the critical teaching elements including: introduction, hook, signal for attention, cues, and demonstration. So brush up your jump rope skills rockers and great ready to jump into lab B!

Jump Rope Packet

Return on Educational Investment (ROI)

Educational Productivity (ROI)

Economists at the Center for American Progress announced an online interactive website that compares the educational productivity of 9,000 United States school districts.

This report is the culmination of a yearlong effort to study the efficiency of the nation’s public education system and includes the first-ever attempt to evaluate the productivity of almost every major school district in the country.

Findings:

• Highly productive districts are focused on improving student outcomes. 
• More education spending will not automatically improve student outcomes. 
• The nation’s least-productive districts spend more on administration
• Most states and districts have not done nearly enough to measure or produce the productivity gains our education system so desperately needs. 

Focus Questions
Above is the interactive map for New York with a special emphasis on Cortland City School District.

1. Is Cortland's "Yellow" rating good enough for you and why might Groton, McGraw, Dryden, Ithaca be so different?
2. Can you find your home school district and see how they performed? 
3. What do these findings tell you about your school's level of performance?
4. Is it accurate according to what you remember and know? 
5. Do you agree with their research methodology and recommendations? 
6. How are you staying up-to-date with research, policy and practice?

Boser, U. Return on Educational InvestmentA District-by-District Evaluation of U.S. Educational Productivity. January 19, 2011.

SCOPE Media: Multiple Intelligence Theories & Learning

Welcome to SCOPE Media's Initial Broadcast regarding Multiple Intelligences. Well Done and Bravo to all those involved and assisting behind the camera. Stay tuned for much much more SCOPE Media!

Student Life @ Home & School (470)

How are you going to help maximize on-task learning time or as some researchers quantify as ALT (Academic Learning Time - ALT)?  There are ALT scales just for the classrooms and those just for PE.  Can you locate them, read them and read what the research says on the effects of high ALT on student learning, class climate, and peer interactions.

Guiding Questions and Key Terms:

1. What rituals and routines shape classroom life?

2. How is class time related to student achievement?

3. How does the teacher's gatekeeping function influence classroom roles?

4. What is tracking, and what are its advantages and disadvantages?

5. Why has "detracking" become a popular movement?

6. How do peer groups impact elementary school life?

7. In what ways does the adolescent culture shape teenage perceptions and behaviors?

8. What impact do changing family patterns and economic issues have on children and schools?

9. How can educators respond to social issues that place children at risk?

10. What steps can educators take to create a more supportive school environment?

New tool aimed at teens with autism

Image via WikipediaNew tool aimed at teens with autism
Be sure to check out this awesome Autism Speaks Toolkit for teens with Autism. As a teacher you will need learn to seek out the best resources to help all of your students and to put them first and not their disability.

Related articles

• Spurwink iPhone App
• Spurwink and Mowbi Autism iPhone App Launched and Left in Limbo (autisminnb.blogspot.com)
• Samsung & Dan Marino "Team Up for Autism" With Online Campaign (mashable.com)
• Adults with Autism May Not Understand Others' Intentions (nlm.nih.gov)