TV and students

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/05/03/kids.tv.school/index.html?iref=allsearch

My aiding partner and I discussed this article with our supervising teacher. Although it seems like a no brainer, that kids who watch more tv are less active, it is surprising to see an actual study done on it and the direct correlation in test scores based on hours of television. Many people believe that it's just that the amount of time spent watching tv is just less time the child spends doing homework or being active, but the fact is is that television can affect the way the brain works.

It seemed that our PE teacher believed that not only will it affect their scores in the classroom, but watching tv highly affects how active a student is. It seems obvious to say that if a child is watching tv, they are spending less time going outside and being active but the truth of the matter is that by watching tv, they are stunting their development in other ways that can lead to lack of physical activity as well. Our supervising teacher also believes that some tv is alright, as long as it's educational, but the best thing to do is to be active and be involved with other children because social interaction is an important part of growing up too. He also felt the if parents limit the amount of tv their child watches at any age, it could help the obesity rates. He also felt that students that participate in other clubs and in other aspects of school are more likely to participate in PE. He says that being active should be part of a lifestyle, not just a class, and when students are doing well in other aspects of their lives, then they will be more comfortable with themselves and will be more likely to be healthy mentally, physically, and emotionally.

The problem is, with so many different tv shows on now, kids are more likely to be sitting in front of the tv rather than getting out there and doing something. If this happens at young ages, then it can stunt their development and be a problem later on in life.

Why aren't parents more concerned with this finding?

Bloom's Taxonomy of Questions

P.E. classes don't offer a lot of areas for students to ask higher level questions. The questions asked in P.E. are often knowledge or comprehension based and occasionally application based. Questions include: "Are we going outside?", "What are we doing today?", "Can I go to the bathroom?", "Can I get a drink of water?", and the occasional "How do we do this?". The questions are usually just for clarification and there will just be one answer. The only thing I've noticed the P.E. teacher ask is "Did you guys bring coats?", "What game would you rather play?", "Why aren't you participating?", and when teaching a new game, "Does anyone have any questions?

The reasoning behind the shallowness of the questions is due to the fact that most classes are based around learning things that will increase your mental ability and require more thinking whereas P.E. is about physical activity and requires less thinking and more doing.

Art Club is similar. Because it's more about the students doing and the teacher clarifying and helping, the questions are about opinions and options as to what the students can do such as "Can we work with clay today?" or "Do we have any red paint?". I suppose a lot of the club/art in itself is application: you learn a technique and apply it to the project that you're working on.

Do you think that higher level questions CAN be used in P.E. and Art? How?

Lesson Clarity

I find that lesson clarity isn't always obvious when it comes to a PE classroom. Since every activity kind of just builds off of the basic skills that students have learned earlier in life (running, throwing, catching, etc). The times when I observed the most lesson clarity was when the teacher was explaining a new game or exercise. He would ask the students if any had played the game before and build off their understanding and make sure everyone understood before they started. The day I observed, he included a new warm-up/stretch and got down on the floor to demonstrate so the students knew exactly how to do it. With P.E., it isn't really necessary to summarize what was learned and what will happen next class unless it involves special things needed for them to bring or something.

I found that I witnessed a lot more of what could be described as lesson clarity while volunteering in the after school art club. The art teacher reviews what was done the previous time they met and what needs to be finished of those projects, and what they will be starting during this club meeting. She often has me help with demonstrations of the projects that the students will be working on, and for some of the younger students, she and I help with their specific projects to make sure everything goes smoothly for a good final project. She also has a lot of examples made in her classes in previous years so the students have something to aim toward.

On a side note, I really enjoyed the P.E. class I was helping in this week. We got a girl to overcome her fear of being made fun of and at least try the rock wall. It was great when her friends were cheering her on. :)

Classroom Management

I've found that in a P.E. class, classroom management is a very fuzzy issue. You want the students to be active and have fun without them going wild. I found that the teacher I observed, while being a student teacher, was still able to have control in the gym. The teacher started the day pretty much the same, so the kids knew exactly what to do and it was easy for the teacher to call kids out. Depending on their behavior, he would either call them out in front of the class, blow the whistle, or if they were just sitting and not participating, he would often squat down to their level and talk to them individually. I feel like the students (for the most part) have a respect for their teacher, even though he's not really their actual teacher. One day I arrived on time but the teacher was running a bit late. I sit on the sidelines and am not much of an authority figure to these children, yet even without their teacher there, they settled down to their roll-call spots and waited. I also find that with P.E. classes, the teachers tend to do a lot more of refereeing than teaching, especially in a sixth grade P.E. class because you want to keep things consistent but also keep kids from getting bored and misbehaving. I also found that the teacher I was observing kept on kids, rather than just letting those who chose not to participate continue to sit on the sidelines. He definitely has a passion for what he's doing and is determined to help kids stay healthy.

Teacher Philosophy

So, first off, update:

I actually have been placed in a P.E. only class, no health. The health teacher was no longer accepting teacher's aides and I wasn't informed. So remember that luck that I asked for? SEND MORE!

So after sitting and wandering around the gym for a few days watching the sixth graders do warm-ups and play kickball, and observing how the teacher (we've actually been observing a student teacher more often than our supervising teacher) responds and interacts with the children, we sat down with our supervising teacher to ask him about his teaching philosophy.

When asked about his role in the classroom (or in this case, the gym), he told us how he determines the activities for the day, leads the students to do what is expected, and ultimately promotes fitness and an active lifestyle. Although he thinks that it is important for the students to have a say in their curriculum, only to a point so that they enjoy what they do, he believes that ultimately they need to be guided. He believes that Physical and Health Education are important for everyone because of the immense benefits of an active and healthy lifestyle. He believes that ever teacher needs to be a leader, and be assertive, no matter the grade level or subject that they are teaching. Every teacher also needs to have a knowledge of their subject(s) and above all, enthusiasm for their job. He believes that the most important things that a teacher can teach a student are to be respectful and honest, to care about and be themselves, and most of all, to make the best choices for them.

I know I wasn't too thrilled about being in a P.E. class, but when he puts ideas in these ways, I feel like I can learn so many broad skills that I can take to any classroom, just by watching the different ways that he and his student teacher teach. I think that my passion for health and want for the future generations to be able to make informed choices will help lead me through teaching. I agree that it's definitely important to guide the students towards what is right and the main ideas, but in the end they are the ones who need to have the final say if it's important to them. A big thing I take away from this is to make sure the students enjoy their-selves along the way or otherwise, they won't want to continue with a certain aspect or subject in the future.

Oh... Middle School...

Middle school... I don't know about you, but those were some of the worst years of my life. So what am I doing? I'm going back... sort of... as a student teacher. So I've been placed into a health and PE class... which should be super interesting because I am a health ed major... NOT a PE major, or exercise enthusiast in the least. My only idea for PE days is to say "go guys! run faster or you'll turn out like me!" and to pray for a health day. And if somehow the period I'm placed in ONLY does PE and other periods do health.... I'm screwed. :-8
Well, wish me luck.