NBCAM

I know it's a little late, but I wanted to do a post on breast cancer awareness month. Over the past 10-15 years, the color pink has become more known for breast cancer than anything else I can think of. I think it's very important for people to realize how much of an impact this disease has on people in this country. Breast cancer is the most common source for women in the United States, aside from skin cancer. "According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), an estimated 192,370 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed among women in the United States this year." However, in today's society, there are approximatley 2.5 million survivors from breast cancer. The advertising they do for breast cancer is everywhere, which is why I believe they are so many survivors. It's neat to see how sports teams supports it as well such as football. Players wear pink gloves, socks, shoes and more to show their support. The picture on the left is reggie bush wearing pink wrist bands and gloves. The picture on the top right, is a New York Giants football player getting tackles is the end zone. During the game I noticed that the end zone was outlined in pink which was interesting because not many teams in the league do that, if any at all.

Breast cancer is a deadly disease that is divided into two main categories; noninvasive cancers and invasive cancers. The noninvasive cancer does not spread to the surrounding tissue, while invasive does spread. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death to women, behind lung cancer. As a male, my chances are significantly lower, but it does occur in men around 60- 70 years of age. The movement that the NBCAM (National Breast Cancer Awareness Month) has done to promote awareness and educate the public is amazing. Most of the information I have talked about is from http://www.nbcam.org/index.cfm. Support breast cancer awareness month!

NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children)

After reading chapter 3, I decided to search the web for some more information on diversity in schools. The more I know about cultures in schools, the easier it will b for me to adapt my lesson's and really understand these students. I came across the NAEYC from a PBS website that has a few articles related to cultural diversity in the classroom. In these articles they try to give teachers and parents ideas that can help with different languages and finding a connection between school and home. I encourage others to read any articles that they find interesting because there are some great ideas there. http://www.pbs.org/kcts/preciouschildren/diversity/index.html

Once I read through the articles, I found a link which led me to the homepage for the NAEYC. http://www.naeyc.org/ Searching through this site, I found tons of resources that can be used if you are in an elementary setting. Whether teaching physical education or any other subject, learning about the way young children learn and some of there characteristics will help to teach them correctly.

Fairness

As most people know, America has become an extremely diverse country over the past century. More schools are becoming diverse with children from all over the world. The question is, are schools adapting there ways to accommodate ESL students, and others so they can succeed? According to our textbook, 'Hispanic, Native American, and African American students score consistently lower on standardized tests than do their Asian and white classmates.' 'In Houston, Oakland, Cleveland, and New York, with large populations of poor and students of color, between 60 and 70 percent of the students do not graduate high school.' This problem can become worse as time goes on if schools do not start making their tests and curriculum to fit these students. There are several theories that explain why some students do good in school, and why others struggle. The deficit theory discusses how students struggle due to social or linguistic problems. Not all students speak English as there first language, so this puts them at a disadvantage for reading and writing. The expectation theory states that students do poorly because there teachers do not expect much from certain racial and ethnic groups. The teacher will teach these students differently thinking they are doing the right thing, but in reality they are making it worse. If the student does poorly on the test, the teacher believes it's because they are from a certain racial or ethnic group. The last theory is called the cultural difference theory which tries to explain how academic problems can be fixed it we study the cultural gap between the students home life, and their life at school. If I had to choose a theory based on which decreases the students chances to succeed, it would be the deficit theory. While doing my 256 field experience at Brewster High School in Putnam County, I got the chance to observe a former ESL student. Both of her parents were from separate, Spanish speaking countries, and raised their children to speak Spanish because that was the only language they knew at the time. She went on to tell me how it was hard growing up trying to learn a new language, and at the same time trying to learn what the class was learning. As a teacher, you have to be aware of the student's in your class, and adjust or modify the lesson so these students can succeed as well.

Why I chose Physical Education

It's easy to say that Phys. Ed was my favorite class throughout middle and high school. Everyday it was the only class i looked forward too, other than lunch, of course. Many times, I would find myself in the gym during my free period, playing in whatever class the teacher would let me in. In my high school, there were usually 2-3 teachers per period teaching a different thing. Usually there was one teacher in the weight room at all times, and the two other teachers were doing different sports. For me, just playing sports and being in that environment helped my day's go by quicker. The time I had during my Phys. Ed classes definitely influenced why I want to become a teacher. Being able to make students days better, like my teacher did to me is something that interests me and motivates me to become a better teacher. Obviously there was one teacher who influenced me the most, but I had a great relationship with all of them, so whomever was my teacher for the year, it didn't matter to me.
Another person who I believe inspired me in my little sister. She was born when I was eight years old. She was born with a disability so the doctors always told my parents her physical activity would be limited. As she got older, I was able to help her improve her loco motor skills to the next level. Knowing that I was the one helping her (along with my parents and brother) made me feel good about myself. As she got even older, I was able to help her with the sports they were doing in the 'regular' physical education class. For years she was put in the adapted physical education class, but this year the teacher is willing to help accommodate her so she can participate with her friends in the class. All along I knew she was capable of being in the class she wanted, and I'm happy to see that a teacher is willing to work with her so that she can succeed in physical education. To me, that's a great accomplishment seeing my sister be happy, and be able to be physically active after all she has been through.
As a teacher, I feel like you have the ability to impact so many students lives. While in raquette lake this past summer, we were doing our night activity when our leader told us a story about his physical education class. He wanted to make a point to his students who truly influences there lives and there future. He had several questions such as: List the last five American idol winner, the last five super bowl, mlb, NBA champions, the last 5 winners on survivor, and a few other questions along those line. The last question on the test was list your teachers starting from kindergarten. What he found was that all of his students could name there teachers, and not answer the rest of the questions. His point was simply that teachers are the ones who influence our lives, and everything else going on around the world that we think is important, and influencing our life, is really not as important as we think. I thought that was the coolest was to prove to students who has an influence on there life, and definitely plan on using that at some point in my career.

Time Management In The Gymnasium

The key to becoming an efficient physical educator is to use all the time I have properly. It may sound easy, but with 20-30 students running around in a small gym, it may cause some unexpected things to come up. Unlike other subjects, physical education is different between school districts. The time you are given with your students, is all the time you have to make sure you get your point across. Being able to transition from different activities will help keep the students moving and not allow the students to get side tracked. Personally, I like to write in depth lesson plans stating exactly how much time I will spend on each activity, like I had done in one of my classes. As I learned quickly, the time you have set, doesn't always go as planned. Having backup ideas in your lesson plan will be reassuring just in case the lesson gets out of control.
Having other options like a whistle, scoreboard, stopwatch, etc. will be good to start and stop activities going on. This is not just about physical education either, I'm talking about all subjects. Lot's of time during classes are spent doing miscellaneous things that are to benefiting the student. It may be easier to me to talk about it because I currently have a sister in 8Th grade. I get to see her schedule and talk to her about other things going on inside the school. Many teacher's often ave there lesson and expect the student's to learn through doing homework or other assignments. Unfortunately there are more than one way to learn (visual, auditory or experiential), and the teacher should try to accommodate the different styles, In the gymnasium this may be a little tougher, but bringing in visual aids and videos can help.
Going back to the physical education perspective, time in the gym is the most crucial thing a teacher must keep in the back of their mind. For example, if your lesson plan says your spending a certain amount of time on this activity, then switching, but you never switch, you could be liable if it came down to it. Making sure you stick to your lesson plan, and make reasonable times for each activity and transition. It's easy to forget about transition time while writing lesson plans, but having a general idea will keep the times as realistic as possible. Whatever setting you are in (inside or outside), have a plan, and stick to it.

Man Without Legs Hopes To Inspire Students As A Physical Education Teacher

Before beginning to read another chapter of our textbook, I decided to search online for interesting physical education articles. Ones that were interesting enough to talk about and grasp peoples attention. While I was scrolling through google, I came across an article, 'Man Without Legs Hopes to Inspire Students as Physical Education Teacher.' This caught my attention because I also am considering working with disabled students when I graduate from college. The man on the right, is a 24 year old college student, studying to become a physical education teacher to students with special needs. His name is Doug Forbis, and has a goal to help students just like him to be successful at whatever they want.
At two years old Doug had his legs removed due to a disease called Sacral Agenesis. After reading the article, it made me think about all the discussions I've had in my adapted physical education class, and here is Doug answering most of them. According to Doug, he doesn't know any other lifestyle than having no legs. He's used to walking on his hands or in a wheelchair, he's used to doing thing differently than others because of his disability, but that makes him unique, and one of a kind. Doug currently drives a minivan, with hand controls. A topic in class that came up was should disabled people be able to drive, and the answer is why not? Just because they have an issue in there life does not mean they are any different from you or I.
In 2008, Doug tried out for the U.S. paralympic team, where he felt more comfortable being around people with similar problems. As for the mental aspect of Doug's life, he says he has no physical problems, but does get frustrated when people look at him funny in the mall, or wonder why hes hanging around certain people. A lot of people have close minded opinions, and don't want to learn about anything but themselves. Being optimistic and willing to learn, will make you an overall better person. On the left is Doug playing Frisbee with another person, but I thought it was interesting to see how he was throwing the Frisbee from a physical education perspective. He is balancing on one hand, which is very difficult and requires strength. I assume he will then somehow twist his body to gain enough whip on his throw. Regardless, it is very impressive to see someone with no legs, balance on one hand and throw a Frisbee.
Is it beneficial to have a disabled physical education teacher, teaching students with special needs? Of course everyone is going to have different opinions, but I'm going to tell you mine. I believe it is definitely beneficial for a few reasons. For one, the students will be much more comfortable seeing someone else with a similar problem, trying to complete the same tasks they are. Second, the teacher will be able to recognize what the student is doing wrong and be able to give them feedback quicker. Third, while giving demonstrations, they will be more realistic, than if these students had a stud athlete doing it to perfection every time; it could discourage the students. Being around students and peers with similar abilities makes it more fun for everyone because nobody is left out, and everyone has equal chances to participate to there full ability. Below is the link for the article, I encourage everyone to read it, it's a great story.
http://www.aolnews.com/2011/04/12/man-without-legs-hopes-to-inspire-students-as-physical-education/

Cultural Diversity

As time goes on, things are changing all over the world. More than ever, people are coming from different countries to America for a better life; a better education for their children. Schools are becoming more diverse, and the major minority group is becoming extinct. One in every five children speak a language other than English at home, which is extremely higher than in the mid 1900's. Cultures that are becoming more popular are Hispanics, Asians/ pacific islanders, and American Indian. Everywhere around us things are changing to accommodate our new citizens. Just thinking about it, I can name the SAP button on the television, voice mails asking to press a button for which language, and the newspapers printing out there own Latino section. Accommodations are mainly made for the Hispanic culture since Spanish is the second language. But the question is, will English ever become the second language? I doubt it, but it could happen. Currently only 30 states have English as there official language, while 20 others no no such law. Very interesting.
Along with cultural diversity in school comes racism, one of the worst things a person can do to another person. In high schools throughout the country there are extremely diverse schools, and some that are solely one race. The one race schools probably don't have much to worry about in there schools, but the schools in urban areas and suburban areas have problems with racism every year. In one of my classes we watched a movie about dance in new york city schools. However, it wasn't just about dance, it was about bilingual students communicating with their teachers, learning something new. I think that's what this world has to do to accept all the diversity, be willing to learn something new. If you are not willing to learn about your peers and there culture then you will never know if the way you are living is better or worse, in your own eyes. Diversity is part of our lives and is becoming apart of most cultures. Being able to embrace it and learn from others, will help the communities come together and become one.

Special Education

An interesting topic that I came across while reading the "Teachers, schools, and society" textbook was special education, and how it compares later years to today's society. It mentions bits and pieces of information about how special education came about, and a little historical background of some important information. It was weird to read how people in the 1800's and earlier, perceived this type of movement. Before the revolutionary war, the most that was offered to these students was protective care in an asylum, which is definitely inadequate to say the least. After the revolutionary war, procedures were made to help the blind and the deaf, which was the first step in the right direction. In the beginning of the 19th century was the first time people were attempting to educate these students.

It's good to see that there were movements made at that time, but it wasn't until post world war 2 where the world saw and emergence of new pioneers (Grace Fernald, Marianne Frostig and Heinz Werner) that helped further develop special education. Finally, in 1970, parents took this issue to the courts where they decided on five critical principles of special education: zero reject, nondiscriminatory education, appropriate education, least-restrictive environment and procedural due process.
The zero reject principle states that no child with disabilities may be denied free, appropriate education. The nondiscriminatory education principle states that all children with disabilities be fairly assessed so they are protected from inappropriate classifications. To me, this is important because a correct assessment of the student will determine what the next step will be do helping them. If students were assessed wrong and were told to do certain things they cannot, it's not giving them a fair chance to succeed, and will most likely end up in failure. The appropriate education principle goes along with the first two previously stated. It assures that the student's education will be based on his individual needs. Least-restrictive environment states that children with disabilities are no segregated from the rest of there peers. The ideal situation would be for students with disabilities to work with students who are no disabled. This is where inclusion comes into play because if possible, you want all your students to be together, all doing the same activities. Lastly, the procedural due process principle which entails that family to be notified of any decisions that are going to be made about that child. These 5 principles were passed in 1975 and were recently expanded in 1991 by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The IDEA provided a more in depth description for these principles and expanded to cover all disabilities.
Another positive that came along with the expansion of the IDEA is the law that states each student must have an Individual Education plan (IEP) written for them. This is awesome because the parents can make sure the teacher is doing the right thing, and the parent can see the long term goals for there student. In a situation like this, both the parents and the teacher can work towards these goals which will give the child a better chance at succeeding. In today's society, one in every eight students has special needs, which has grown 30% since 1990. If the number keeps rising, more and more will need to be done to accommodate, but for now things are going good in this field, and the progress made throughout the years is amazing.