Final 470 Paper: Comparing the Methods and Curriculum's of 7 Schools

Here is my 470 Final Paper!
The paper explains the methods and curriculum's of 7 schools; Home, Montessori, Common, Public, Charter, Magnet, and Private.  I talked about the curriculum standards, teaching methods, and atmosphere of all seven schools.

Physical Education Philosophy

Nicole Tucker

Physical Education Philosophy

The purpose of Physical Education is to create physically educated people who can stay healthy for a lifetime.  To help people become physically educated they need to be taught about physical education in all three learning domains; psychomotor, cognitive, and affective.  I think that the psychomotor domain is the most important and 70% of class time should be dedicated to kids being physically active and getting a good workout.  The cognitive and affective domains should each take up 15% of the lesson because they are both required to create a well educated person. 

To physically educate students in the psychomotor domain, a teacher must get kids active, excited to move, and interested in an activity that will keep them fit for a lifetime.  Some kids do not participate in free play or sports and therefore are only physically active during PE class.  Teachers in the PE setting have a duty to get kids participating at a moderate to vigorous intensity level during every lesson.  Teachers also need to create excitement about being physically active.  If a teacher puts in extra effort and makes physical activity fun, kids will want to participate and will become better movers.  Along with making physical activity fun, teachers need to explore a variety of activities so that every child will find an activity that he or she will want to use to stay healthy for life.  Most people stop playing team sports after high school or college so teaching other forms of physical activity is very important. 

To help students see the validity of PE, physical educators should teach in the cognitive domain.  Students need to understand the benefits of being physically active, and the hazards of a sedentary lifestyle.  PE teachers should teach their students how to make a personal fitness plan, how to use resources in the community to stay active, and how to maintain a healthy lifestyle past working out.  If students are aware of the hard facts behind physical activity they will be more likely to participate in class, and more likely to stay active even after physical education classed end. 

Teaching the affective domain is important in physical education because it teaches students safety and sportsperson ship.  Physical activity can be dangerous and a physical educator should always let students know about any injury that could occur during exercise or play.  PE is also a great way for students to learn how to win and lose in a gracious manner.  It is a responsibility of a physical educator to make sure that students are taught the etiquette of how to lose so that they are well prepared to compete in the future if they choose and not know how to lose. 

If a physical educator teaches lessons that touch on all three of these domains, students will become physically educated and will have the desire and knowledge to stay fit for life.  Teaching students a variety of psychomotor skills will show them how to perform a task, teaching the cognitive aspect of that task will teach them how to continue the skill throughout their life, and teaching in the affective domain will show students how to be safe and responsible during physical activity.  

Coaching Philosophy

Coaching means training or instructing someone.  In order to do that successfully, a coach must emphasize trust, skill, and sportsperson ship.  The relationship that a I, as a coach, want to have with my athletes is based off of these three principals.  There is a balance between them that needs to be maintained, but if it is done properly the athletes will have a successful and rewarding experience. 

Trust is the biggest factor of being a coach.  It is necessary so that athletes know what to expect, and therefore can focus on playing the game.  Trust of athletes is gained through routines, contracts, and my ability to stick to my word.  If athletes know what to expect from practices and games, they will be able to put their effort into playing and not have to stress about the politics of the game.  Being able to keep my word is essential to maintaining trust because athletes need to know that I am a reliable person in their life.  As I want my athletes to trust me, I want to be able to trust them.  Through the same protocols (routines, contracts, and going through with what they promise) I will be able to trust them. 

Skill is necessary for any team that is successful.  In order for a team to become skilled, there must be a preexisting level of fitness.  My athletes will do a pre-season work out to make sure that they are in shape before they come to practices.  There will be an emphasis on fitness in every in season practice, but the main focus will be skill development.  Athletes need to spend a lot of time learning the techniques of their sport and that is what practice time will be used for. I will do extensive research in the sport I am coaching and will keep my athletes competitive by teaching them the most efficient and useful skills for that sport.  

Sportsperson ship means that athletes are acting as good citizens.  I will demand my athletes to have a good academic standing, be respectful, and not have any disciplinary problems.  While athletes may be outstanding at the high school level, chances are that they will not make a living playing sports, this is why I will require my athletes to have high grades.  Athletes need to be respectful of coaches, other athletes, parents, referees, and any other personnel involved in the sport because it will teach them how they should conduct themselves in the real world.  Being an athlete is a privilege that must be earned and my athletes will need to be good citizens in order to play for me. 

By developing trust, teaching proper skills, and demanding that my athletes be good citizens, I believe that I will have a successful team that is made up of well rounded, good citizens. 

Education Philosophy

Education is receiving or giving information, and is what shapes out society.  Education allows people to make decisions about their own beliefs and in effect guides the way they live their lives.  The most prevalent place to receive education is from a school.  There are three parts that make up a positive educational environment and they are teachers, students, and the administration.   

Teachers exist for the sole purpose of improving the lives of children.  A balance of compassion, patience, knowledge, trust, and a general desire to help children is needed to create a positive and safe learning environment for kids.  A compassionate teacher understands that all kids are different and embraces those differences.  Embracing differences involves changing lesson plans and putting in extra work to make sure that every child is set up for success and optimal learning.  A teacher who has patience will take time out of their lesson to help students learn something that they are having trouble with while also challenging the more advance students in the class.  Teachers should not get frustrated easily and should not hold grudges against students.  A good teacher should also be knowledgeable in the subject that he or she is teaching.  There is always more than one way to teach something and teachers should have multiple ways of teaching one thing so that more students can learn at their highest potential.  A genuine desire to improve a child’s life is also needed.  A teacher should always put student’s education before any other outside assignment in the district.  Coaching, advising a club, or working on outside projects cannot get in the way of teaching.  The last and most important quality of a good teacher is trustworthiness.  Students, parents, and administration need to be sure that a teacher is creating a safe environment in which children can learn to their fullest potential. 

Students need to be willing to learn, and open to forming their own ideas about what they are being taught.  Receiving information from a teacher should not be enough, students need to process the information and add their own life experiences into the mix to come up with their own ideas.  It is easy to accept what is taught at face value, but students need to be encouraged to challenge what they are being told if they don’t agree, and add more personal insight to the information if they do agree. 

The environment that education takes place in can have a large impact on the quality of that education.  Students and teachers should feel as though the district or administration is supporting the enhancement of education.  A district can show support through funding, openness to new ideas and programs, and constant contact.  A school district should know what is going on in the classroom or gymnasium at all times, and should be providing sufficient equipment and supplies to make sure that positive, beneficial learning is taking place. 

If teachers, students, and administration are all compliant to these ideas, I feel as though maximum learning will occur, and students will be well prepared individual thinkers in society. 

Bullying in Schools

Here is a great resource to find out ways to handle bullying, stats on bullying, and anything else a future educator should know about bullying!

  http://www.kenrigby.net/

It's about time!

Being a Physical Educator, I realize the importance of Physical Activity for academic improvement, but others are just catching on.  Kids should not be inactive for more than 2 hours at a time, so as a PE teacher try implementing programs in your school such as before school warm-ups, recess organized games, and other short segments of physical activity throughout the day.  This article tells of how one physical educator increased the amount of Physical Activity his students participated in each day. 

For all of those doubters out there

As PE majors, we are constantly being questioned about the integrity of our profession.  I came across a website that has a list of websites that are all about making PE as credible as possible.  Some of the articles include things such as how physical activity improves academics, how to fight obesity in schools, and why dodge ball should not be played in schools.  PECentral has this list of websites, or can be found by clicking here.  I hope this helps!