Elementary Experience

The past two weeks I have been attending Parker Elementary School, in Cortland and I have been to observe and analyze the physical education classes. For my EDU 355 class, I am required I certain amount of hours to observe in the elementary school and work with younger kids. Before my experience in Parker, I have never worked with kids younger then fourth grade; however, I am really enjoying my experience and learning a lot about physical education in the younger grades.

Parker has a great physical education program and also a teacher that works well with the students. He is able to maintain control over the class, making sure the students are well behaved and he also has a gift of motivating the students regularly. I have been observing one kindergarten physical education class for the past few days and from the first time I met the kids, they immediately blew me away. Kindergartners have such high energy all the time and they are constantly trying to grab the teachers attention. I was not aware of how active and spontaneous kindergartners were until I began observing their classes.

The kids have been wonderful so far, and I have enjoyed getting to know their names and the skills they most enjoy. Currently, the kindergartners are going through an entire gymnastics unit, in which forces them to go outside of their comfort zone and try new things. I have been very impressed at their skill level and their ability to accomplish tasks that I did not think a kindergartner would be able to complete. The students are walking easily on the high balance beam, they are doing flips over the uneven parallel bars, and they are easily able to walk across the parallel bars without any fear. These students have truly amazed me with their skills and their fearlessness. Throughout the class there are four of us there observing and teaching, including the actual teacher, a student teacher, another student observer, and myself. Between the four of us, we are able to spot the students at the four stations set up throughout the gym, allowing the students to get more repetitions and experience on new equipment. My job has been to spot the children on the various stations set up as well as to help and teach them be successful. Immediately from the first day, I was right in there teaching the students and helping them improve on their skills which was great. Even though I have only been in the class three times, I have learned the importance of management and keeping track of every student at all times. There have been a few behavioral issues, though the teacher has handled them well, which is another tactic I have learned from him. I look forward to continuing my learning experience and cannot wait for future lessons.