"Making Yourself Tired Today for a Stronger Tomorrow"

The first field trip our leadership group took this semester, was to a small school in Fayetteville, NY called Mott Road Elementary School. Walking up to the school you can tell a lot just by looking at it. The school had one floor and every classroom window seemed to be decorated with student art work, which may be typical of any upstate elementary school. But once you walked inside its almost as if you walked into a world of student achievement. You can tell from the atmosphere that Mott Road Elementary School was big on character education and started it from a very early age. Throughout the school there were several bulletin boards that displayed good behavior or acts rewards that the students received monthly.

Leadership Practicum

Last semester whooo hooo! It's getting closer and closer to May 11th and just like any other graduate, I'm extremely excited. In case you didn't know before, I attend SUNY Cortland and I'm in the first cohort of its Physical Education Leadership Master program. 

Need some Motivation ideas?

Need to motivate your students for P.E. After doing some observation work for multiple districts in the inner city I know that motivation is key to dealing with these students. Most of them just want to know that you care, others just want a challenge, either way you look at it these students need your motivation.

This is a board I did for Boys and Girls High School in Brooklyn, NY. Students loved it. 

Here is a link for 50 Tips to motivate your students. (Click the picture for the link)

Updated Graded Book

Heres a screen shot of an updated grade book using Microsoft Excel. Thank to ADD PE for helping me on my sick day.

Technology goes a long way including helping the education world go paperless. This can be used in any education setting not only in PE.

Cultural Competence

Heres a powerpoint presentation I did for another class on Cultural Competence.

In Order To Teach PE You Have to Do PE!

Here are some random recent pics of me being active!

More InTechgration - Dance Dance Revolution

Anyone that knows me know that I love anything with a rhythm and a beat! Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) is a new and exciting way for me integrate what I love and technology and share it with students. What does DDR entail? In DDR players stand on a "dance platform" or stage and hit colored arrows laid out in a cross  with their feet to musical and visual cues. Players are judged by how well they time their dance to the patterns presented to them and are allowed to choose more music to play to if they receive a passing score.


 Why and How DDR should be used in school?

Do you want to Gamerizeee?!?!

Well first, you need to hook it up. Here are some step by step instructions on how to hook up your X-Box to a projector and gamerize equipment

Get Into the Race To Space

Today's assignment was to create a lesson segment using basic technology. I was able to use a product called Hyper Dash and integrate it into my lesson warm-up. In your warms ups or instant activities, you want to include the many of the components of sport and health-related fitness. This is exactly what this warm up does! This warm-up includes agility, coordination, reaction time, speed and power while students work cardiovascular endurance and muscular strength.

This warm-up was prepared to teach to middle school age students but can be modified to fit all age groups. The props were add-ons so you are able to tailor the activity to your liking. After watching the video I would change a few things: 1) I would make sure I had working batteries 2) I would change the locomotor movements throughout the activity 3) make better use of space. Overall, I believe it was a pretty good warm.  A warm-up like this is best used at the end of a unit because students really enjoy this type of team activities and it gives them incentive to work harder.

When you hear technology in physical education you don't always have to think, "Well I don't have the budget for that." The Hyper Dash and similar tools are available at very low prices. Hyper Dash is priced at 19.99 and can be found at your local children's store. I believe using smalls tools like this will help motivate your students, and now I ask you this... Are you ready to change P.E?

P.E is a good thang!

I dont think people understand how much I love what I do. How many people can truly say they enjoy the career path they've chosen? Not many but I can. Shout out to the Faculty members at SUNY Cortland to all the time and effort they invested in my well-being.

Heres a video I created sometime ago that I really take to heart. The assignment was to create a video that includes audio and visuals of your choice that expresses the way you feel about your journey to become a teacher. Listen to the words of the songs that I used... Live in my moment.

New to Project from A MAC?

Need to project from a macbook ... I have the information YOU need.  Even though you are very capable everyone needs help sometimes right????

Here you go ...hope its helpful, please comment if you think I should add anything

The Tip of the Iceberg

Today we worked on making presentation that can be used in the physical education classroom.

The assignment was do a project called "30 Things about me" Hope you enjoy!

(To control the "prezi" use the arrows keys)

Guess Whose Back!!

 Hey, it's your favorite P. E Queen here to update you on whats been going on in my world. Since the last time we talked, I've graduated from SUNY Cortland with my Bachelors in Physical Education!!! Yes, finally after all this time I'm done "Momma I made it!"and to kick off this wonderful celebration guess whatI have planned ??? I'm taking a trip to Disneyland  SUNY Cortland Grad School! More school but I'm still excited.
Now in the next ten days I'll be taking this explosive crash course called Technology in Physical Education. As if physical education couldn't be more fun, I'll be learning to apply different types of technology in the classroom to attract and keep students in engaged. People, I'm excited for what the next couple of weeks has in store for me and you have a backstage pass into whats going on

Strap on your seat belts, its gonna be a wild ride...

256 Anyone?!?!

I felt the urge to blog about today. I really wanted to fight it, class is over but I just want to bloggggggggg lol (dont judge me). So while I watch the game ...heres how my day went (current score: magics 86 celtics 86)


Today, I attended Boys and Girls High school in Brooklyn, NY. Back when I was in high school this was one of the best schools in the Brooklyn now, since the old principal has passed away, the school going through reconstruction of sort. The school is now dealing with student scoring within level 1 and 2 on standardize test and students that dont really want to learn. Now my host teachers name is Kendra Nelson who is one of the youngest in the P.E. staff. I find her to be quite fascinating because she's actually finding new ways to keep her students involved and engaged.
The classes I'm working with are all inclusive which mean that special needs students are integrated in our class. Kendra is a great teacher for these students and a great teacher me she allows me to share ideas with her that would increase activity in the classroom. Hopefully tomorrow was as great as today!

Professional Portfoilio Day!!!

From I am what you strive to be ... Teacher of PE

This was a great thing to go to I really enjoyed myself when I went. I was able to steal some ideas from graduates about what makes their portfolios stand out from everyone else. One girl used ribbons another fancy paper. But overall the content they used was profound and reading reflections of different students had were amazing. I can def get jiggy with the like of them and just goes to show me the work i have cut out for me next semester.
 Picture take by Carlos Malve lol

Time spent in out of class in Physical Activity and Teaching

                    My time throughout this semester was well spent. As you may know I am a very involved leader on this SUNY Cortland campus at times this was overwhelming but  getting my 10 of outside practice was a breeze.
                    During this semester I was granted a Resident Assistant position in Glass Tower. As an RA you are responsible for putting on programs for the residence that live there. I recently I did a program on stress relief and taught the students various yoga positions and then as a group we put them altogether into one routine. The students enjoyed this program so much they wanted to do it again. This was valuable experience working with my peers and giving them feedback on their technique, in return the students gave me feed on how well the program was and rate me on my teaching techniques.
                    Throughout the year I also serve on the executive board of the Caribbean Students Association. Throughout the semester we hold club meetings and event where we teach our members bout issues and events concerning the Caribbean. I feel this time spent can contribute to the outside teaching because in order for each meeting to go on it took a lot of planning and implementing. A lot of what I learned in 255 this semester I even used during our meeting time like instant activities and hooking our members into coming back again next week.
                     Another extracurricular activity I have is babysitting an 10 month old baby name Jaylah Scott. She was bunches of fun. I would spend time going over ABC's and doing recognition activities with her. By the end of our times together I feel that she really did learn the differences between shapes and recognized some her ABC's.
                    So all together I reached the goal of 10 hours of outside practice.
 RA programs 1.5 x 2= 3
CSA meetings and Event =5x 1=5
Baby Sitting Hours 2 x 3 = 6
total =14 hours!!!!!!!


unfortunately I dont have a camera and my camera phone is broken. :(

Letter to Superintendent

Dear Superintendent of my Dream school,

 I am writing to let you know i would like to re-vamp the P.E. program here at I.S.82.  Teaching here has become a big part of my life and I have grow close to the students here. So close in fact I know that the students need and want to get out of the gym. At this point you must be saying " Well why don't you plan lessons and just do it?." unfortunately because of budget cuts at our school we were forced to cut the budget for the Physical Education program to less than half it was last year. Our school in is desperate need for new equipment and supplies. We have a school yard that has not been used in years because of its and unsafe environment to bring students into. As an Physical Educator it is my duty to raise physically competent students, now I'm doing the best I can with what we have here but its sad to say that it is not enough.

My colleagues and have created P.E units that are cost effective.I have built a successful unit around the sport Disc Golf.  This is a upcoming sport that the students have shown interest in and a chance to show students that Physical Education can happen outside the gym as well. This is more than just a cry for money this is heart felt letter saying we need to do more for our students. Thank you for taking the time out to read my letter I hope to take it into consideration. Feel free to contact me through email regina.morgan23@gmail.com I look forward to hearing from you.

Regina Morgan

 Here's a video I created to further help with your decision 

Disc golf presentation

View more presentations from tigg3r8907.

255 1C

Questions Refer to video Brain Gains 

1) Where is the web-site from? Where in the world? Which country? What city and state/province is the story from?

This website is based in Canada, Canadian Broadcasting Company/ Radio is where they deliver information through tv and radio. The story is comes from Canada in the Province of Saskatoon.

  

2) What do you think about this news piece....interesting...why or why not?

This was a very interesting news piece to my surprised. The information that was given through the video shows why we need "good physical education" in schools. I wasn't surprised at the fact that students learning increase because its proven that physical activity places you in a more focused state of mind. Physical activity like this should be placed in classroom all around the world but still adding other technology aspects of P.E. like DDR. 

3) Why don’t we hear anything about the PE teacher being involved with City Park Collegiate experiment? How will ensure that your PE program will be a benefit to the students and faculty of your school

As they said in the video this was an alternative school. Schools like this don't put as much focus P.E. as they would math or science. The main focus of alternative schools is to improve the students knowledge to get them into the next level. Is this good? No! If this was my school I turn the whole project around into a reason of why we need vigorous and longer period for physical Education in order to improve the students in ALL subjects not just one or two while also improving students over health and increasing years of healthy life.

4) What are were the main outcomes/benefits of the program? Were you surprised from their findings? Are these outcomes similar to our New York State PE Standards? Explain your answer by giving details and examples, while comparing and contrasting.

The main benefits of the program are that the students improve in their academics and were more focus and easier to handle in the classroom. Like I said before I didn't find the results to surprising because as a teacher of P.E. I know that after vigorous workout I more relaxed, attentive and after a workout is when i do my best work. I find it upsetting that the teachers didn't speak on the added benefits throughout the video yes the students the were able to get their heart rates up but they also shed calories and lost weight due to the program overall. 

I would say that the outcomes fitness program meets the New York State physical education standards. Standard 1, personal health and fitness, is achieved because students are improving their health by decreasing their risk of obesity and increasing their physical fitness levels by participating in physical activity. Standard 2, safe and healthy environment, is achieved through this program because the teachers are involved in leading vigorous workouts for the students. Improving the student’s health is achieved in a safe environment, the school. Getting the students energy out by a vigorous workout will increase classroom productivity because the students will be more focused and there will be a decrease in hostility. Standard 3, resource management, is achieved through this program by providing students opportunities outside of the classroom to be involved in physical activity. The teacher can discuss places for students to go to work out or participate in physical activity outside of the school.

5) What is BDNF and what does it have to do with PE and learning? How do you get BDNF or other associated goodies? What are the names of two of the “key” books and their authors that currently outline the benefits of exercise and learning/academics? At least one is mentioned in the news piece

Increase levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and other growth factors, stimulate neurogenesis, increase resistance to brain insult and improve learning and mental performance. Article called Exercise Enhances Learning and Dr. John Ratey’s Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain are the key books associated with the findings.

DISC GOLf (I Got That Fire!!!!)

This lab was definitely a success. Everything that we been working on the entire semester came together April 7, 2010 @ 11:35 am.

First let me say during this I was a nervous a high school students taking their SATs. Whoooooooooooosaaaaaaaa once I was going I was gone. During this lesson I felt I had a lot to prove to myself and to Mr Yang that I could do this this teacher thing and I understand whats going on. I believe I passed that obstacle with flying colors. Although, when the music during my instant activity went off and so did I, but recovered quite well .

I believe this class help me somewhat get over my fear of public speaking, forced me to be extra prepared. Throughout the semester I improved on all the points on the C9 my main dilemma is probably time management, actually getting the students into more activity rather than just talking to them for more than half of the lesson. I talked for one whole segment of the video -_- no bueno. But I'm still working on it, like wine I get better with time. Most things really came together for me during this lesson except for my shirt -_- ugh! Lets not talk about it (I was in such a rush to leave and set up the lesson that I picked up put on the wrong shirt)

Overall I really enjoyed teaching this lesson, I enjoyed teaching with my peers. Waiting for 355 356 in the fall is really bitter sweet

Disc Golf Lesson Plan

Activity Progression

Assessment

C9 form

Time Coding Form

FeedBack

Content Development

Broom Ball Reggie Style !!!

First off let me say, I reached an all time high level of anxiety with this lesson. I know in my last post that this was something i was going to work on but there was so much that factored in with this one lesson. Girl born raise in Brooklyn teaching broom-ball I sport I never even heard of before I transferred into C-State. Two this was a group project ( kinda - sorta a lil) but me and group projects just don't get along. Three I know I'm a PE major but me and tactical sports never see eye to eye (sorry I don't fit your stereotype I want to teach dance but yes i will include EVERYTHING into the program.) Then Four everything else in life that decided to hit all at once and i just didn't know how to deal, I couldn't function it was a very grey period. *sidebar * this is not a cop out honest truth I was very overwhelmed. Which is the reason I'm late with this post.

With this lesson I wanna pat my self on the back *pat pat * because I was so well prepared I felt in the beginning stages. Everything I felt I planned out I was going great until it came to the actual teaching time I choked. I didn't have enough balls for my instant activity monkey in the middle. Then everything kinda went down hill from there. *Note* You could never be over prepared. By right i should of had two activities prepared but I didn't. In this lesson I prepared Strategic plays for the class to learn and perform during a game- like situation. ( which i came up with myself *pat pat* .) These were good but I should of went through each play with the group demonstrate what I want to see from them. Watching the video some of the class looked lost even though I went around and asked how everyone was doing with the plays and try to explain it, a demo would of had them going a lot sooner.

I really need to work one being clear to the students. I realize that when i actually go out in the teaching field students will be younger most times they wont understand the thoughts flowing through my head ( heck! half the time I don't) but I have some key points in preparation that I did for this lesson that I didn't do for others, and key points in preparation for other that i didn't do here. Now I just need to work on bringing all the points together for a stella performance on lab D.

Time Coding

Activity Progression WorkSheet

Feedback

Content Development