Brain presentation

I learned a lot in Karen Williams lecture at the Decorah Middle School, about the brain and how it works. She did a very effective way in explaining how the food you eat, things you drink, and the amount of sleep you get helps impact the damage to your brain, and the development of your learning in general.

It was very interesting to me to learn about the alcoholic intake in relationship to how well your body performs on different types of tasks. It was interesting to learn how long it affects your performance, lasting up to 72 hours before you can be at full potential. The study done by the National Institutes for Health click here, proved that it takes 25 years to mature and build the basics that most individuals need to be completely mature into an adult.

Her presentation style was also very interesting to me. I found it to be occasionally effective. I don't think that i could listen to a lecture similar to hers more than once a week. I think that once in a while that the presentation style was very effective and got the attention of everyone in the room. It almost made you scared not to listen. Her voices were very amusing and made the somewhat 'boring' information, very interesting to listen to. Her examples on life helped her audience apply the facts to their own life.

Last Child in the Woods

"Last Child in the Woods" was a very interesting book that discussed the possibility of generations diagnosed with nature deficit disorder. It made me really think about life and what I do personally to stay active and stay in touch with nature. It also helped me reflect on things in the past and as a child that I did to keep in touch with nature. I think that this book has a really good message. Our ed physch group used this book to make an imovie presentation book report. Below you are able to watch this report.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ovJCZr-cgg


Our group did really well together bouncing ideas off one another and trying to produce a quality imovie. We really wanted the viewer to be able to visualize and have their own creative thoughts when they were watching the video. We made it so there was enough video and pictures playing with the music for one to be very creative. We also were able to shoot the video in places in Decorah so that people in the class could really relate to the images being shown. Also, we liked to be ourselves in the video and tape one another hiking, and exploring so that we could show everyone they could be the ones to do the same things that we were doing.

I really enjoyed this project, because it was nice to be able to be creative and do what we wanted to do for a project. It allowed our group to think of our own ideas and learn a lot about trail and error with a new computer program.

After playing our video in class, I think we had a good vibe, and the class enjoyed watching our video. The class gave us lots of compliments which made the movie and all the time we put in worth while. It was fun to see the end result! Overall, I really enjoyed the book as well. I liked thinking about my past and what I have done personally to 'overcome' nature deficit disorder. I think that a lot of people are faced with the potential to have this disorder, especially people that live in the inner-city and people that are not around nature and don't have that exposure. I think that even being active daily will help with this disorder and help prevent it.

Helping with field day @ St. Ben's

On Friday, May 1st, I helped out with a Field Day at St. Ben's school in Decorah. Jess Tangen asked if I could help out with setting up all of the activities as well as helping with running the day. I really enjoyed being able to help out. Jess Tangen is a physical education and health teacher at this K-8 school. She attended Luther College and is just an amazing teacher. I learned a lot from her in the day that will help me for future teaching. Jess taught me different teaching techniques for a physical education teacher that will help me be a lot more organized for the future.

After setting up all of the activities, the whole school proceeded to come outside to get ready for the big event. They did a dance that the whole school had learned and then they separated off into different groups for the different activities. I learned that you must set boundaries and rules for all the games, or else the students will attempt to set new rules and new boundaries! I also learned how excited all of the students get when they are told they get to play outside and doing activities! Some of the students I worked with explained to me how they'd been excited for weeks for this Field Day!

Jess used an incentive for the students to work out and be active. They all logged their minutes for a certain period team and it was a small competition between grade levels. They all presented how many min they had per grade, as well as an average activity time per student! At the end of the day the students got lanyards for participating. They were all so excited and it motivated them to be more and more active. It really helped the students think about what they were doing in their spare time, because they could do something for their friends and peers by being active.

Overall, I really enjoyed this experience. It helped me learn different ideas for the future and different techniques for teaching. I love to work with kids and I love to promote being active among younger kids. The early they start... the longer they will continue. I think this will help with obesity rates and what not. This day made me think of the book I read as well, Last Child in the Woods, because it is about being active at a young age.

What Makes Finnish Kids So Smart?

I really enjoyed reading the article, "What Makes Finnish Kids So Smart?" It really helped me put a perspective on the education system in the United States. Finnish students are among the smartest people in the world, and their system for homework and school is a lot different than expected. The article states that "students rarely get more than a half-hour of homework a night." Students in the United States are known to get more than an hour or two of homework nightly. I think that less homework that means more helps students in the long run. If you tire them out by doing long tedious homework, they are not likely to put the needed time into it. I think that shorter to the point assignments are more beneficial to the student as well as the instructor.

They also mentioned in the article that there aren't as many standardized tests in Finland. I think that this is better because in the United States, teachers tend to teach to the test. They need so many students to pass the standardized tests to meet different requirements and the easiest way instead of teaching needed material is to teach the exact information on the test. I don't think this is beneficial to the students in the long run because they learn and memorize information for the test but do not keep that information in their brain.

Teaching Abroad

At the beginning of the semester I got the opportunity to listen to a guest speaker that teaches in Singapore at Singapore American School (est. 1956). Singapore is a good country to teach in if you are an English speaking person because it is an English speaking country. The Sinabpore American School has lots of students that are very eager to learn and recognize the importance of education. He was able to explain different overseas education opportunities that students can take advantage of. He stated in his lecture that "Overseas education is one of the best kept secrets in the world." After studying abroad, I have learned to believe that that statement could be very true. By learning overseas it gives you an opportunity to learn in the eyes of others as well as learning yourself. I think that if gives an individual more than one perspective to learning which is always a positive.

The guest speaker also gave us information on some benefits of overseas teaching. He stated how the schools provide a good salary and an allowance for housing. Although there are some good benefits to teaching abroad, the key to finding the best place to teach is to find the match of things you are interested in and what the schools have to offer.

As a Physical Education Teaching major, I feel that if I were to teach overseas, it would be difficult to learn the different popular sports and activities to do according to each country. Countries have different activities that are taught in physical education classes based on their culture. I think that it would be a lot of fun and interesting to learn the different activities based on the country I would teach in.

Guest Speaker from Vietnam

I enjoyed listening to Dr. Du speak. It was very interesting to hear the different perspectives that people in Vietnam have according to education, family, and relationships. They really have an emphasis on family. Their family continuously lives with them in the same house until death. It really puts things in perspective of how important relationships among family members are. Also, he explained to us the differences in relationships. They do not have a "Valentine's Day" because they do not believe that they should buy expensive gifts to say 'I love you.' One should always show to their loved one that they love them.

Overall, it was hard to understand Dr. Du, but it was very interesting to hear what he had to say and the differences in culture between the United States and Vietnam.

Chalk

I really enjoyed the film "Chalk." I thought that it was very funny as well as informational. It taught me some of the best approaches to being a teacher and what not. Mr. Stroope was very funny and really wanted to be teacher of the year. I thought it was good that he ccontinued to try and learn even though his students were using words that he didn't understand. He went to the library to get books describing how to be a better teacher. I think that ist is good to admit that he needs work and is trying to learn to do that. I also think that it is important to have goals in his teaching career like Mr. Stroope did. I think that by having goals and setting guidelines for attaining these goals that it is easier to accomplish them.

Autism and Education

I really enjoyed reading about this article because it put a good perspective on life. It was neat to realize that this mother, although having two completely different children tried to treat them very equally. She hated to say it, but she made a good point that maybe some of the money that we are giving to disabled individuals, should be spend on individuals that are very gifted to help them exceed to farther places in life. By giving money to gifted students, they have the potential to figure out information about helping cure different disabilities.

I thought it was interesting to see how there is no government money given to gifted education until recently there was a federal grant available. I think that there is maybe too much money and emphasis given toward "No Child Left Behind" and that there should be more money given toward students and individuals that have a greater potential in their career path.

Overall, I really enjoyed this article and I could relate it back to another Developmental Adapted Physical Education course I am taking, because we have been talking about the Rehabilitation Act, in Section 504. We have been discussing treating everyone equally and giving everyone an equal opportunity.

I also found this website that helped me better understand the No Child Left Behind Act. It describes in detail different aspects to No Child Left Behind. http://www.nea.org/home/NoChildLeftBehindAct.html

Steve Chambliss

I really enjoyed listening to Steve Chambliss speak about his experience within the schools over the past 41 years. He really emphasized not doing the same thing for 41 years, and I couldn't agree more. I think that you need to be experienced in different fields and have a whole grasp on life before you can be an effective teacher. I also think that his point about allowing yourself to be diverse and putting yourself out there... out of your comfort zone is very important. It allows and forces you to learn more about yourself as well as the most effective teaching style for you personally.

I thought that it was a really good point that Steve Chambliss emphasized by saying that you need to get the kids involved more in situations. The more they are involved in the better they will learn. I think that hands-on experiences, especially as a young child, the better that a student can comprehend a certain concept.

I thought it was very beneficial for Steve Chambliss to talk to our class and I really enjoyed listening to his experiences.

Teacher Panel

On Monday, there were three new teachers that came in from the Decorah area. They tried to explain to us their prospective on their new experiences with teaching. It was very interesting to learn their views toward teaching after just newly experiencing it. A couple of them came from smaller school districts and therefore were more than just teachers. It was neat to hear how the male teacher was involved by being various head coaches, special ed teacher, as well as the athletic director. His stories were neat because at his school, all of the students have lap top computers. He explained to us how internet sabby they are, considering everytime they had a break or free time, they would all check their email and get on facebook at a young age.

It was also interesting to hear Jess Tangen talk about her recent expierences. Jess is my track coach, so I haven't ever gotten the opportunity to hear about her stories. It was nice to finally get to do that.

Overall, I thought it was good to hear what the new teachers had to say. It gave me an idea of where I want to go in the future and different things they wish they would have known before where they are at now.

Blog1

In our small group first meeting, we discussed how the movie "Paper Clips" is directly related to chapter one of our reading. The teachers in the school used the constructivist style of teaching, by allowing the students to have a hands-on experience. The Holocaust project involves a lot of interacting with other people, in order for the students to get first hand knowledge. The teacher's attitudes toward the project was so positive that in influenced the students to become more involved in the project. They got to write letters, draw posters, and be interactive with speakers. By using the Dewey approach, it allowed the students to learn more and be influenced in a more positive way.

In our second group meeting, we discussed what development is, why understanding development is important, and how development related to chapter two of the reading, and well as the second half of "Paper Clips." We decided that development was age-related but is not age-dependent. This means that depending on how fast an individual matures and develops, doesn't necessarily depend on their age, but is related to how old they are. We also discussed the stages of development, and the appropriateness of teaching students certain skills depending on how developed they are. The appropriateness of a hands on experience was perfect for the age level of the students. They were the right age to get involved and the activities made learning fun for the students.