The Story Behind the Legend

One’s life is commonly defined by the achievements they have accomplished and the impacts that they have on society. We sometimes are unfamiliar with their story and how they came to be such a celeb. Xavier Waddles, the creator of broomball, is such that individual. His accomplishments throughout his life are many and known to all. Let’s take a look at how he achieved international fame.

On December 21, 1976, Luis and Alexandra Waddles welcomed their new son Xavier into the world. He was instantly one of the cutest baby penguins in the province of Ontario let alone the entire nation of Canada. Xavier was the second child born to Luis and Alexandra; their first being a daughter, Colleen. With their new baby boy brought into the world, Luis and Alexandra could not be any happier.

Growing up in Ontario was difficult in the 1970’s. Luis was often out of work as the weather was too warm for ice to form. He then moved his family up to the Yukon province where he flourished in the ice distribution industry. From a very young age, Xavier enjoyed school. He always looked for new and challenging tasks to accomplish. As he progressed through the years in school, he was a standout athlete in ice hockey and won over his high school crush, Angela. Upon graduation, Xavier was atop his class and was accepted into various higher education institutions. He settled on attending the University of Waddles Worth in the province of Manitoba in the Business Economics major. College proved to be a tough time for Xavier. His father died in a freak accident on the job when a whale burst through the ice at the factory causing life threatening injuries to Luis. Xavier was hit hard and suffered emotionally. This made him determined to finish school. He did so in 1998 and attained his master’s in 1999. He then went to the United States for his doctorate in philosophy from Texas Woman’s University. It was during this time that Alexandra Waddles passed away. Xavier was devastated.

In 2002, Xavier moved back to Ontario and married his high school sweetheart Angela. He dedicated the ceremony to his parents and rejoiced. Angela had always been there for Xavier and now, she always would be. They gave birth to their first child, Alexandra, in 2003.

Xavier struggled finding a job following the birth of his child. He eventually began working for ‘March of the Ice Sweepers, Company,’ a cleaning profession. He moved through the ranks and eventually became president and chief executive officer of the company. One particular day was the turning point in Xavier’s career. He and his employees were cleaning the ice one day and began hitting around the garbage on the ice with their brooms. They used the garbage bins as goals and ran around with their sneakers. Having been an ice hockey superstar in the past, Xavier saw something unique. He felt that there was a new sport forming right before his eyes. What Xavier saw was the first game of broomball.

From that day forward, Xavier became an international icon. The game of broomball exploded across the world. Everyone wanted to play it and everyone wanted to have Xavier involved in one of their projects. He was selected as a judge for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games as well as a judge for the new and upcoming iDance competitions. And he ultimately achieved his dream job becoming Professor Xavier Waddles, Ph.D., at the University of Toronto.

Xavier Waddles has faced numerous challenges in his life and has attained the much of his goals he has set out to achieve. He attributes much of his success to the love and support of his family and emphasizes this bond for all people. As his life enters a new chapter, he welcomed a baby boy, Xavier Junior, into the world. New tasks and challenges await him in his future and he will be more than willing to accept. We have yet to see the last of Xavier Waddles.

Red Carpet Premiere Featuring the Biggest Ensemble Cast in Hollywood

An Unforgetable Class with an Unforgetable Cast

As the semester came to a close so did our EDU 255 class. This was one of our first major teaching courses and it was guarenteed to be memorable. Our class began as a collection of physical education majors and ended as a class of close friends and family. We were all elevated to A-list celeb status and had an amazing time in S's class together. Here is a look at our unforgetable class with our unforgetable cast.

Haven't seen enough of the Fall 2009 EDU 255 celeb class? Then take a look at Mike Koral's tribute to the class. As you watch, you may begin to notice that something is happening!

Going the Extra Mile

More often than not, I find that many of my fellow physical education majors work toward their degree by only pursuing what is required for them to do. They go by what needs to be achieved on their CAP report to graduate and do not do much else in terms of teaching or assisting with their time at Cortland. Experience is key in developing as a teacher and sometimes one needs to engage in tasks outside of what is required of them. As teacher candidates, we should be looking for as many opportunities to get involved with teaching in order to improve our skills and help out others.

This past semester, I engaged in a number of hours of teaching/assisting outside of what was required. One of my tasks was being a lab assistant for PED 201: Motor Development. For PED 201, I was a lab assistant and did just that; assisted with the labs. At St. Mary's School Cortland, I would assist the students in Stephen Yang's class with preparing, performing, and debriefing activities. This was a very hands on experience as I was assisting students who were just beginning their teaching experience as well as interacting with the students at St. Mary's. I tried to go above and beyond what was expected of me, I would try and meet with my group as well as other groups for assistance, I would help coordinate the theme and make sure everyone was active at all times, and I also went to both labs in order to use my skills to help those students who were not receiving adequate help from others. The most rewarding part of this experience was helping others. It is good to see yourself improve as a teacher, but it is even better when you see others improve because of your teaching.

Aside from being a lab assistant, I was also a teacher's assistant for PED 288: Rhythms and Dance with Colleen Buchanan. My job was to assist in the teaching of the dances, provide feedback and assistance to the students, and help assess. I was only required to T.A. for one class but due to Ms. Buchanan not having anyone else, I T.A.-ed for two classes and was available for help for her other two. I will detail my experience as a teacher's assistant in a later post. But just as being a lab assistant, the most rewarding experience was seeing students improve because of your help.

Each week, I would go to at least one PED 201 lab at St. Mary's School and I would go to four dance classes during the week. This was my decision and I'm glad I did this. Some of my fellow students do not see the value in taking up the opportunity for volunteer teaching. However, I feel that the more experience I have, the more I will improve.

World's Fair Hits SUNY Cortland!!

On Friday December 4, 2009, the 2nd Annual ExerGame Expo was held in the dance studio in Park Center. On showcase in this world class exposition were some of the lastest and most technologically advanced exergames out on the market. As this was the last day of EDU 255, we all were expected to attend, and we anticipated the day...

ExerGames are new ways to incorporate physical activity into not only physical education but also daily life. As more and more people are remaining sedentary, it is difficult to get them active and engage in physical activity. Many of these people play video games which add to their sedentary lifestyle. What better way to combat this trend then to incorporate fitness into video games. Here at the expo, we had numerous exergames for everyone to try out.

One of the flashiest exhibits was the street fighter game. Here, there were two motion pads and two sense towers available as controls one for each player. In order to defend one's self in the game, they would move using the pads and punch the tower in order to combat against an enemy. This was very unique and I had never seen such a thing before. The NBA 2k8 video game set-up made its return. The object here is to remain on one's 'mini-eliptical' and keep walking while playing the game. The catch? If you stop walking, the game controller stops working. This is a great way to keep people active as it is crucial to play the game. The exercise bike and video game set up made its return as well. One would use the bike to control a car on the video game set-up. The movable controller acted as the steering wheel and the pedals as the gas. DDR was set up for people to try this classic game as well. But it may be becoming obsolete...

The crown jewel of the exposition was the brand new iDance system, a next generation DDR platform. With 19 dance pads and detailed individual feedback and results, this is the one game that was designed for physical education class. We were excited to use this again as we learned it all week. Seeing the reaction of people new to it was priceless. They were truly amazed by the complexity of it.

The 2nd Annual ExerGame Expo was a success! There was a far larger turn out than last year and everyone had a lot of fun. ExerGames are beginning to make their way out into mainstream society as alternatives to traditional physical activity. As this change continues to happen, we as physical educators must work with this and incorporate it when possible. This truly could be a look at the future of physical education.

Recreating Our World Through Wellness: NYS AHPERD 2009

From Thursday November 19, 2009 - Saturday November 21, 2009, I attended the 2009 New York State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (AHPERD) Annual Conference at the Turning Stone Resort and Convention Center in Verona, NY. This was my first time attending an AHPERD conference other than the SUNY Cortland Mini-Conference. I wasn't quite sure what it would be like but I had a decent idea of what to expect. After leaving Cortland and hitting the road, we arrived and Turning Stone ready for the conference...

Upon arriving at the event center, we parked the car and walked to the registration table. From there, we received our conference materials and were off to explore what there was being offered. We first stopped at the SUNY Cortland booth to say hello to our fellow Physical Education majors and see what other booths were available. We noticed that there was a game with the booths that if you got a stamp from most of them you were eligible to win a prize. So we got all the stamps but needless to say, we didn't win! From here, we were ready to explore the different presentations.

There was a vast amount of variety in the presentations available. Our first stop was 'Enjoyable and Innovative Fitness Routines for All Students' presented by a crew of one instructor and several students from SUNY Brockport. They presented several activities that incorporated fitness activities into the games. Many of them were fun to participate in while others were a bit too complicated. It was fun to spark up a rivalry between us and the Brockport students about whose school is better. This was in good spirits and carried on throughout the conference. Following this session, we attended 'THRILLER... Dance with a Modern Inter City Twist' in the exotic Lava Room. This was a fun session as it was interactive and allowed a lot of participation. Andrew Steinberg, the presenter, was very lively and loved what he was doing. Although he made a few mistakes throughout, it was still a worthwhile presentation. Our last session for the afternoon was 'Professional Growth: What's Your Game Plan?' presented by SUNY Cortland Professor Jeff Walkuski. This was a very interesting lecture as Dr. Walkuski made us aware of the fact that we should have a game plan for our future and set goals to achieve. It was very inspirational and interesting. Following the presentation, an administrator from a school district was in attendance and praised Dr. Walkuski for his information and presentation and told us what to expect when we looked for a job. After all the presentations, it was time to relax and take it easy. We wandered through the casino and socialized with many others. With all the excitement from today, we hoped the next day would be just as good.

On Friday morning, we decided to attend the first general session of the day. This presentation entitled, 'Essential Keys to Wellness: Recreating Life's Vitality' was presented by keynote speaker Brian Luke Seaward. This was truly an inspirational keynote. Mr. Seaward spoke of personal stories and how it related to living life the way you want and how wellness will keep life fresh and interesting. One of the most interesting phrases was "to know and not to do, is not to know." If you do not apply what you know and thus do not use it, then there is no use in having that knowledge and it is truly being wasted. He then spoke of a woman from China and the life she lived. He quoted her as saying, "Humans are like tea bags, you do not know their strength until they are put in hot water." This is one of the most true statements I have ever heard. For if you do not test yourself or fight in difficult situations, you do not know your own strength. This was truly a great seminar and I am glad to have attended. Following this presentation, we went off to attend SUNY Cortland Professor JoEllen Bailey's presentation, 'Affective Assessment: Why and How.' However, unfortunately she was sick and could not attend the conference. We hope that she will present this at the college!We instead went to the 'Future Professionals Section Business Meeting and Luncheon' to see fellow SUNY Cortland student Ryan Ingalls officially be swore in as President of the club. This was a great sight to see and I also won a whistle! We then moved down to 'Great Games and Activities for Elementary Physical Education Classes' presented by the 2009 Elementary Teacher of the Year Laura Petersen-Shaw. This was a great presentation where we played various activities and learned them from a great instructor. All of the games were very elementary approriate and it was fun to act like a little kid while doing so. Cortland students were the only ones participating and it showed the dedication we all had. The final presentation of the day I attended was 'Wii Sports and Fit for Adapted Physical Education' presented by Michelle Sicurella. This was quite interesting as she showed ways to adapt the Wii for adapted students. These methods were very effective and very fun and everyone had a great time. Later that evening, we attended the Jay B. Nash Awards Dinner. This was a great experience as many teachers were recognized for their outstanding performance as well as fellow students for their achievements. The food was great and so was the atmosphere! After this, it was time yet again to relax and take it easy. We once again wandered the casino and attended the social for all conference attendees. This was another great day and we were ready for tomorrow.

Saturday morning was the last day of the conference. And this was going to be a special day for me as I was a presenter in the 'Spice Up Your Warm-Up!' presentation. The idea for the workshop is to introduce new warm up ideas for physical education classes that are more creative and more fun than just doing traditional laps. I presented alongside fellow SUNY Cortland Physical Education majors Brandon Herwick, James Thompson, Steven Jacob Colwell, Kate Bartholomew, and Dustin Pritzert. My presentation was the same as it was at the SUNY Cortland Mini-Conference. After PED 288: Rhythms and Dance, I learned to appreicate dance in physical education so much I became a teacher's assistant for the class and felt it would be appropriate to use dance in my warm up. The first part of my warm up include the locomotor skills of gallop, hop, jump, and run around each side of a square to the song, "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel. Following this brief introduction, I opened the signs I made to reveal different tasks such as leap frog, wheelbarrow run, piggy back run, and slidding around the square to "Celebrate" by Kool & the Gang. This was the last component of that warm up and I moved to my next one. It was a circle dance to "Shout!" by the Temptations. We would run and jump to music and strut like cool cats when appropriate! It turned out to be a huge hit and everyone had a great time! Following our presentation, the conference was over and it was time to head back to Cortland. After an exciting weekend, I was ready to go back home.


The 2009 New York State AHPERD Conference was my first time attending a professional conference. And I have to say, it was an unbelievable experience. There was so much to learn and so little time to do it in. I found myself scrambling between workshops and having to decide which ones to go to when I wanted to attend all of them! It is amazing to see how many people from all over the state come to this conference. I happened to run into my former high school health teacher at one point in the weekend. I initially didn't recognize her until it was too late but luckily I got called back up and got to chat for a bit. There are so many people to meet and they all love to strike up a conversation if you have the time. You realize how passionate these people truly are about what they do and the desire they have to better themselves and help others by attending these conferences.


Having been able to present at this conference was an unreal experience. Halfway through my warm-up, I thought to myself, "wow, I'm really presenting at the state conference... this is awesome." It continued to confirm my decision in becoming a physical educator and has made me hungry for more. I have now presented at the SUNY Cortland Mini-Conference and the NYS AHPERD Conference. I will present at these again next year but I now want to go further and hpefully present at the EDA Conference and perhaps the national conference. These events truly help your professional growth but more importantly help you answer why you're doing this in the first place.

Ariel's Under the Sea Adventure!!

On Wednesday November 11, 2009, we continued with our peer teaching lessons in Lab D! For this lab, we were to pick an activity in which we were not very proficient in the skills or the task itself. From this, we had to also incorporate a form of technology into the lesson to show its value and use in a Physical Education setting. This was the second day of teaching and everyone had done very well so far. After the first lesson was over, it was now my turn to teach...

One of the most uninteresting and boring activities to me is aquatics. It can be very boring just doing strokes in class and the students can get very tired of the same old activities day in and day out. I felt just this way when I took aquatics last year. While also not being a strong swimmer, I did not enjoy the class and on many occassions felt unmotivated to perform. For Lab D, I was determined to make aquatics fun. When I sat down to make my lesson plan, I wanted to take a fun component of the class and wrap a story around it in order to keep everyone's attention and also immerse them in it so that they will truly have fun and relate to the content.

For Lab D, I decided to teach the flutter kick. This is a simple movement in which the legs move for many of the strokes. However, in order to make this fun, I added flippers into the lesson in order to speed everyone up and allow them to see how fast they can move as well as increase the splash size! Using flippers had another secret motive; mermaids. In the lesson, the students were preparing to go under the sea and become mermaids to help save Ariel from Ursula. They were immediately hooked!

To begin the lesson, I stood before a bulletin board provided by the Amity Police Department. There have been some strange sightings in the water and they asked me to teach a few strokes to help eveyone stay safe in the water. However, as I am about to begin, the sea siren goes off and King Triton calls me to say Ariel has been kidnapped by Ursula and needs our help to rescue her. At this moment, I inform the students that we will alter our plans and instead go under the sea and to help Ariel. We begin by splashing our feet in the water while holding on to the side to get a feel for the kick. Then, I had them flutter kick across the pool on their backs to see how fast they could move. Seeing that we will need to move faster, I had the students put on flippers to become more like mermaids. We redid the first few activities and added a race into the mix to see how fast they could go. Following these few tasks, I had them practice going to the bottom of the pool and touching the bottom all the while using the flutter kick. After all, we were about to go under the sea so we needed some practice! Next, we performed our recovery misson and retrieve some 'poor unfortunate souls' from the center of the pools with our teams. To wrap up, I received a message from King Triton that Ariel was released and thanking us for our help. And then I informed the students that next class, since Crush the sea turtle was watching, we would take a trip on the East Austrailan Current to keep an eye on Nemo!

Going into this lesson, I felt that I was very well prepared and ready to teach. I had practiced and felt confident. When the day came to teach, one problem arose; the medicine ball for underwater soccer was not to be found. While this could have been a huge dilemma, I got past it and adapted some other equipment for a different activity to replace that of underwater soccer. Luckily I had plenty of tasks on the activity progression sheet to use instead. And I was able to develop the content rather well. This game proved to be very popular so I am glad the change happened. One of the strongest portions of my lesson was, as always, the introduction/hook. When coming up with the lesson, I wanted to use a Disney reference as we could all relate very fondly to it. We grew up with these Disney movies and it would be a great experience to relive it once again. The cues for the flutter kick were very simple; Look. Arms. Feet. Splash. These four cues were easy to remember and simple to execute allowing a facilitated acqusition of the skills. The activities used in the lesson were very appropriate for the skill being used/assessed and they were progressionally appropriate. I was also very loud and my voice was clear for the students to understand. My verbal transcription shows how I was very detailed with what I was saying. With a good story and simple cues, a lesson can be very successful in allowing students to acquire a skill.

While I did have plenty of positives about my lesson, it wasn't without its share of negatives. Many of these problems are easily noticable on my time coding sheet. One of the biggest problems was instruction time. I spoke for long amounts of time throughout the lesson leading to reduced activity time. I felt that my cues and instructions were simple enough, but some of the directions for the activities may have been a little unclear leading to many questions by the students. I have to limit this instruction and become more clear with what I want to happen. Another error was classroom management. There were numerous occurances where the transitions between activities took way too long. One spot where this could have been avoided was with the flipper distribution. I had ample time to take out and lay out the flippers before I taught and did not do so. This would have sped up the transition and allowed more time for the activity to be played. To fix this, I need to play out transitions more clearly and make equipment readily available. One of the most crucial parts of being a teacher is providing feedback. You need to tell the students how they are doing. In this lesson, I did awful with this. I initially provided zero feedback in the beginning and did not realize this until halfway through and attempted to fix it. As you can see on my feedback analysis sheet, I did not get to alot of students. I also need to check to make sure the students understand the cues and activities more often. This could lead to less confusion and quicker transitions. While these problems may have seemed major in this lesson, they can be easily fixed with better planning.

Teaching in the pool was a very unique experience. I had never done so before and I was excited to attempt to do so for Lab D. I am very pleased with how my lesson went and with how well everyone else did in their lesson as well. Everything is broken down on my Self C-9 Sheet on how I did according to what was expected of me. While my mistakes out-weigh what went right, I learned a lot from this experience and feel I could fix them next time I am able to teach. Like I always say, nothing beats a great story!

In case you could not find them in my analysis, here are the links to my documents!

• Feedback Analysis
• Time Coding
• Verbal Transcription
• Lesson Plan
• Activity Progressions
• C-9 Sheet
• Content Development

March of the Ice Sweepers Company!!

On Wednesday October 28, 2009, we continued our 'team-teaching' lessons for the International Lab C! For this lab, we were to select a nation and choose a game/sport that had originated in it. Through this, not only were we to learn about the sport itself, but also the history and culture behind it and how the sport began. This was the third day of teaching and all of the groups had done very well up until now. And after the first presentation, it was our turn to introduce our lesson...

For International Lab C, I was partnered with Patrick Wingler. Together, we chose to teach broomball a sport that had originated in Canada. When doing research on the sport and developing our lesson plan, we uncovered that there was very little knowledge of how the sport began and that Canada is attributed as it's origin due to it's similarity and likeness to the sport of hockey which is also a Canadian trademark. Due to this, we were left without a histroical approach to broomball's creation. With this in mind, we decided to create an elaborate backstory to the creation of broomball and attributed its creation to a penguin, Xavier Waddles, Ph.D. As legend has it, Dr. Waddles' cleaning company, 'March of the Ice Sweepers', was cleaning an ice rink before the Canadian winter Olympics. When a ball was hit onto the ice by accident, he swept it over to one of his employees who shot it into the net. Right here he saw an idea that would become an international phenomenon; hockey without the skates. Dr. Waddles ran over to get small kickballs and had his employees shoot them around the ice all the while running around and slipping wearing their sneakers. Broomball was invented on this day and was immediately beloved by those who came into contact with it. Xavier Waddles has gone into the history books as a not only a fine cleaner, but an extraordinary innovator.

To begin the lesson, I had the students grab a broomball stick and stand around the center circle. From here, I had them start walking around in the circle and sweep the ice clean to get a feel for it. I tossed a ball into the circle and had them sweep it amongst each other to get a feel for what the game entailed. Then, I had them move a bit faster so they could see what they needed to do to maintain balance while moving quickly. It was at this point I introduced a safety statement about how slippery the ice was. And at that moment... I slipped and fell:

I told the class it was a demonstration of what not to do when moving quickly and wrapped up the activity. I brought them in and used my visual aides to tell the history of broomball I noted earlier. I told everyone they were now employed by Dr. Waddles and we were all working together and using broomball to get the ice clean. We emphasized the cues of 'step, look, and sweep' to clean up. Following this introduction, I explained and demonstrated the first task, the 'four into three' passing drill. In groups of three, students stand on a square and pass to the open spot and one of the others follows it. This was a fun passing drill and worked on passing and moving to the ball all the while still emphasizing the cleaning theme of the lesson. Following this, we moved into the explanation and demonstration of a shooting drill. In groups of three, one person would stand in the middle and pass to the next person standing twenty feet ahead. They would then pass to the other student standing on the post who would shoot the ball into the goal or 'sweep the trash into the garbage'. This drill allowed them to work on shooting skill as well as passing learned earlier. As always we continued our cleaning theme here. Following this drill, I brought all the students back together and handed the next half of the lesson over to Pat. At this point I was done instructing but continued to assist Pat and observe his half of the lesson as he did with mine.

Going into this lesson, I was very stressed and anxious. Prior to class, there were no broomballs to use and I had to fun around looking for something to use and finally got kickballs from the equipment room. I was also late getting to the ice rink due to retesting in volleyball. Luckily Bradley and Richard went first allowing us to compose ourselves a little more. I feel the best part of my lesson was when I slipped and fell on the ice. Being able to laugh after doing something dumb got me to relax alot more and got all the stress out. As usual, the strongest part of my lesson was the introduction/hook. My Xavier Waddles story was a success and framed the entire lesson not just the beginning of it. The students enjoyed it and thats what matters most. We also used very simple cues for everyone to remember. Step. Look. Sweep. These three are so simple but are crucial to the task completion. They were easy to remember and applied to the whole lesson which helped unite both mine and Patrick's lesson segments. The demonstrations were also very simple following the outline of the cues as well as following the story of the lesson and there were plenty of activity progressions available. With simple cues and a story, it's easy to keep the students' attention.

While I did have plenty of positives in my lesson, it wasn't without its lowpoints. This was my first time teaching in the ice rink which was a learning experience not only for me but for all the students as well. I need to provide a clear safety statement and equipment to ensure their safety and constantly reinforce it. It can be rather difficult to teach in the ice rink. With all the equipment running, it can be rather difficult to hear the instructor. As my transcription shows, it was difficult to hear what I was saying to the class. One of the major issues was too much instruction time. I spoke a lot between the introduction and demonstrations which left a smaller amount of time alloted for activity. This can be seen in my time coding sheet, but there was a decent amount of playtime. Moving around on the ice can be challenging. Therefore I didn't get around enough to see everyone playing. I need to provide more feedback to everyone as best as I can so I can see how everyone is doing.

Teaching broomball was an outstanding experience! It was really fun to teach in an environment other than a gymnasium. The challenge that comes with figuring out a new venue is something I love trying to tackle. Patrick did a great job with his half of the lesson and the students left with a new understanding of the concepts of a sport they may have never heard of. In the big picture, nothing beats a strong story!

In case you could not find them in the analysis, here are the links to my documents!

• Feedback Analysis
• Time Coding
• Verbal Transcription
• Lesson Plan
• Activity Progressions

Inspiring the Imagination!

A brief journey through my physical education career from the very beginning to right now!

Working with Underprivileged Children: A Unique Experience

On Saturday October 17, 2009, I participated in a workshop for migrant and underprivileged children in the Van Hoesen building on the SUNY Cortland campus. Not fully sure of what this workshop entailed, I decided to participate in it in order to gain an understanding of the different types of children I will encounter when I become a teacher. With all the possibilities of what it would be like flowing through my head, Saturday morning arrived and I was ready to go...

Early last week, Dr. Luis Columna mentioned that if anyone were staying in Cortland over the upcoming 'October Break' weekend, there was a workshop Saturday morning that they could participate in if they chose to. Thinking I was going to go home that weekend, I brushed it off. At the end of the week, the person I was going to go home with decided to leave early. I couldn't go any earlier than we had stated so I was stuck in Cortland that weekend. I approached Dr. Columna and offered my help for the workshop. He explained what it was all about and I agreed and would meet him bright and early Saturday morning.


When Saturday morning arrived, I walked down to Park Center ready to start the day. I met Dr. Columna and the two others who were helping out. It was nice to see that Dr. Stephen Yang was also running the program as well. Here I found out that we were using 'exergames' in the workshop. Once we loaded up Columna's Jeep with dance dance revolution pads and other equipment, we were ready to head up to Van Hoesen.

Once up the hill, we unloaded all the equipment and set up in two classrooms. It was here I found out that many of these children did not speak English and only Spanish. This would be interesting as I can only speak English and nothing else! Then 10am rolled around and the children arrived. The first to come were very small; about ages 2 to 5. I began with a game that uses an electronic giraffe to help find other animals 'lost' around the hallway. When I began to explain the directions and activity, I had to have Dr. Columna there to translate so the children would understand what was going on. It was a relatively simple game so not much language was needed. The giraffe made other animal sounds and said the animal names and most children understood this rather easy. But they sure did love it! We played this game for almost half an hour moving the anmals around and having them 'run' from being captured. It was quite an experience!

Next, some older children came in a were semi-reluctant to participate. But once we demonstrated how fun it all was, they were quick to join! DDR was very popular as well as the Jackie Chan running game. But nothing was more popular than the 'eyetoy' for Playstation 2. In this interactive game, the kids could see themselves on tv and moving around interacting with the digital environment. Once these kids left, the workshop was completed and ready to be broken down.


This was quite a unique learning experience for me. Not having ever worked with children who do not speak English or who are underprivileged, I did not know what to expect. But these kids are just like any other kids out there. They love to play and get involved in activities assuming you are there to help them and make sure they have a good time. The language barrier never really seemed to be an issue. There are many universal words and body language that are readable in any language making this just a little bit less difficult. I learned that all the kids you encounter in schools will not be the same. It's not like you're going to get the great kids at St. Mary's all the time. There are children whose families are poor and struggling to get new clothes and keep food on the table all the while making sure their children get a quality education. But underneathe this surface, they're just like any other child. It takes a dedicated teacher and a patient individual to work with them and ensure they receive attention equal to all the other children out there. "Give them the skills, and they will be active."

As a professional, I anticipate the challenges I will meet in the classroom. I do not truly know what to expect but can gather a general idea. Workshops like these are crucial to the development of an individual as a teacher. You cannot learn this through courses taught at the college. It has to be experienced for one to truly learn. I thank Dr. Columna and Dr. Yang for allowing me to help and hope to participate in another workshop soon!

2009 SUNY Cortland Physical Education Mini-Conference!!

On Friday October 9, 2009, SUNY Cortland hosted its annual Physical Education Mini-Conference. This is a very special occassion as it similar in many aspects to the New York State APHERD Conference as well as the National AAPHERD Conference. Throughout the day, there were various presentations all centered around physical education, health, recreation, and dance. We were very honored to have Dr. Judy Rink, a Cortland alumna, come and give the keynote address to open the conference. Not only would this be a special conference for all involved, but for me it was a busy one as I presided over a couple of presentations and made a presentation of my own during a session. This looked to be an exciting day...

After weeks of preparation with the SUNY Cortland Physical Education Majors Club (APEM) and meeting on a weekly basis with Dr. Eric Malmberg, we were ready to begin the conference after setting up the previous night. Our keynote speaker, Judy Rink, addressed the full capacity crowd with her speech, 'Windows of Opportunity Don't Come Often." Being a SUNY Cortland graduate, as well as a world renowned and respected individual in the field, it was especially exciting to have her here to give a speech. She stressed the importance of what a teacher should do and the means to which acquire it for the benefit of the students. A few quotes especially stood out to me, "give them the skills, and they will be active" as well as using the line, "if you build it, they will come." These lines left me in awe as I listened to every word she had to say. Following her speech, Dr. Rink was given a hearty round of applause and warm thank you.


Now it was time for me to begin my duties for the afternoon. I was now to preside for Dr. Diane Craft in her presentation, 'Active Play! Fun Physical Activities for Young Children Pre-K & K.' This was an exceptionally good presentation as Dr. Craft detailed many different activities and games would could have younger children participate in. These games inspired me to recommend some to my motor development group for games to use at St. Mary's School Cortland. I look forward to taking her for EDU 355 in the spring! Following Dr. Craft's presentation, it was time for me to preside over the next workshop. This presentation, entitled 'Tag Games Unlimited,' was presented by Chris Wert, a Cortland graduate and current Elementary/Middle School Physical Education President of NYS APHERD. Mr. Wert was a great man to meet. His tag activities were very creative and very unique. Everyone who participated, throughly enjoyed the tag games and Chris offered the games to anyone who wanted them. This was a great session and I'm glad I was able to experience it!

As the 12:20 session came upon us, it was time for me to go and prepare to give my presentation. Started last year, "Spice Up Your Warm Ups" was created by the Cortland Majors Club APEM to provide new and creative ways to warm up your class rather than doing traditional laps. Our President, Brandon Herwick, stated a week ago that they were looking for an additional person to present a warm up at the Mini Conference. I felt that this would be an excellent experience and decided to volunteer. I decided that I wanted my warm up to include elements of dance and music in it. After PED 288: Rhythms and Dance, I learned to appreicate dance in physical education so much I became a teacher's assistant for the class and felt it would be appropriate to use dance in my warm up. The first part of my warm up include the locomotor skills of gallop, hop, jump, and run around each side of a square to the song, "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel. Following this brief introduction, I opened the signs I made to reveal different tasks such as leap frog, wheelbarrow run, piggy back run, and slidding around the square to "Celebrate" by Kool & the Gang. This was the last component of that warm up and I moved to my next one. I was a circle dance to "Shout!" by the Temptations. We would run and jump to music and strut like cool cats when appropriate! It turned out to be a huge hit and everyone had a great time! Congratulations to Brandon, Kate, James, and Dustin on great presentations as well!

The SUNY Cortland Physical Education Mini-Conference was an amazing learning experience. I had such a great time attending the various workshops and meeting new people. I had a blast making my presentation and while I may have been nervous going into it, I'm glad that I volunteered to do it. I cannot wait until next year to present once again and to attend the NYS APHERD Conference in November!

Ultimate Frisbee Banana Toss!!

On Friday October 2, 2009, we had our second day of peer teaching continuing our Ultimate Frisbee unit in EDU 255 class! For the last few class sessions, we were introduced to the various skills, plays, formations, and techniques involved in Ultimate Frisbee. And after all that, it was time for us to get in front of the class and teach a certain skill or play. After a few presentations by my classmates, it was my turn to teach...

Would you like to hear my lesson? Then have a listen right here!

After practicing the skill and rehearsing what I wanted to say and touch upon, I was ready to teach my lesson. This was a simple monkey in the middle-like activity. Two players were on offense with one other player on defense. When the Frisbee was passed, the thrower followed it and became the new defender while the former defender moved to offense and the other offensive player not had the Frisbee. I started the lesson with a hook that caught the attention of my classmates and got them interested in what I was going to teach. I proceeded to introduce the skill and provide cues and a simple demonstration. The students then broke into groups of three and began executing the task. As they worked, I walked arounf to the various groups and provided feedback to as many students as I could. When I saw that each student was proficent at the task and were performing it with ease, I altered the task as to challenge the students. Afterward, I brought them in and reviewed the cues and objectives of the lesson and provided a closure to get them excited about next class.

Upon listening to the audio from my lesson and the feedback provided from my lab assistants, I noticed several things that went well as well as several things that need to be worked on. One of the most positive parts of my lesson were my attitude, excitement, and enthusiasm. I displayed a positive environment which showed the students I was happy to be there and excited about the lesson which brought them in as well. My voice was loud and clear and all words audible for my transcription. I caught their attention with my hook which is personally my favorite part of the whole lesson plan. By relating the task to monkeys playing keep away with a banana, it gave them a vivid picture for their imaginations to refer. By providing a short and simple demonstration, I made the task look simple and easy for anyone to do. When the class broke into groups and began the activity, I walked around providing feedback to students to reinforce positive behavior and help adjust problems they may be having. When I saw proficiency, I altered the task by removing the backhand pass and dominant hand usage to make it more challenging giving them something to work for. Again, I walked around providing feedback at this time. Following the activity, I restated the objectives and checked for understanding then proceeded to hang the carrot for next class promising them a fun activity in the mud! Upon filling out my time coding sheet, I scored a 5/5. I provided the class with ample activity time and limited instruction time and eliminated waiting time. This gave everyone plenty of time to play!

While I had plenty of positive components of my lesson, there were still small details and areas of which I can improve upon. When I was walking around giving feedback during the activity, I turned my back to the rest of the class/gym to speak to other students. This is an issue as students may be acting out or horsing around behind you. Also, students may get up and leave at any point and as a teacher, you have to be aware that all students are in the room and participating. I also should have provided a bit more specific feedback to the students pertaining to the activity. While I did give congruent feedback, there were still a lot of 'good throws' and 'nice jobs.' Although small, these issues could become larger if not addressed in the future.
Overall, I would rate this experience as a success! I feel as if it is getting easier and easier to get in front of the class and teach. I am much more comfortable up there compared to the beginning of the semester and greatly improved over the beginning of PED 201. I can't wait to get back up in front of the class and teach once again!

In case you could not find them in the analysis, here are the links to my documents!

• Feedback Analysis
• Time Coding
• Verbal Transcription

Mini-Skill Lesson Take 2!!

On Friday September 18, 2009, we had the opportunity to reteach our initial mini-skill lesson from the first day of EDU 255 class! For the last few class sessions, Professor Yang and our lab instructors indroduced us to the components that make up a proper lesson plan. Each day, we practiced with each individual component to become more familiar with the format. And finally, this past Friday we were able to teach a skill in a 3-5 minute lesson and try to hit each component. Once again, we were split into two groups and taught a 3-5 minute lesson on a skill using a soccer ball, a basketball, a volleyball, or a football. After a few presentations by my classmates, it was my turn to teach...

This time around, I felt more comfortable and prepared to go in front of the class and teach a quick lesson. I decided to teach how to head a soccer ball as I felt that it would be better suited for a quick skill lesson. I began with a simple hook that caught my classmates' attention and caused them to listen into what I was going to teach. I proceeded to introduced the skill and provide cues and a simple demonstration. The students broke into pairs and practiced heading the ball to one another. After provided feedback to as many students as I could, I altered the task as to challenge the students. Afterward, I brought them in and reviewed the cues and objectives of the lesson and provided a closure to get them excited about next class.

Upon watching my video and listening to the feedback provided from my lab assistants, I noticed several things that went well as well as several things that need to be worked on. One of the most apparent positives of my lesson is my body language and voice. I look very comfortable to be up there and excited to get my students involved in the activity. My voice was loud and clear and easily understandable from a distance away, making it easy to write the transcription of the segment. I provided clear rules and cues as well as a demonstration and got all students involved at the same time. When there was proficiency in the skill, I introduced a variation to challenge the students to work harder and improve their performance and tried to provide feedback to as many students as i could. Following the lecutre, I restated the objectives and checked for understanding then proceeded to hang the carrot with the activity for next class.

As much as I improved from my first teaching attempt, there were a number of things that needed to be worked on. When i completed my time coding of this lab, I noticed I spent too much time giving instruction than allowing the students to play. During the activity, I generally stayed central and observed the class rather than walking from station to station providing each student with personal feedback. Another problem was that I didn't notice one of my students leave when I turned my back! Dan walked away and I didn't even notice it. I should be more aware of who is in my class and the number I have in the beginning is the same i have throughout. These mistakes can be fixed quite easily.

Overall, I would rate this experience as a success! I improved greatly over my first attempt and can see the places in which i need improvement. I can't wait to teach once again and see if I can top this performance!

In case you could not find them in the analysis, here are the links to my documents!

• Feedback Analysis
• Time Coding
• Verbal Transcription

Passion and Devotion to One's Craft

In PED 201 and EDU 255, Professor Yang stresses the importance of having a passion for your work and career as well as being able to communicate your enthusiasm and knowledge to your students. You have to show to the students that you enjoy the material and never show signs of being bored or unwilling to go above and beyond. To demonstrate this, we were show to videos that epitomized this philosophy...

In this video from the Live Aid Concert from 1985, Queen performs in front of an endless sea of fans and concert goers. When the song "Radio Ga-Ga" begins, Freddie Mercury rises and begins his 'lesson.' Immediatley from the start, you see his passion for his work. He moves about the stage dancing and all the time smiling enjoying what he is doing. As Dr. Yang pointed out, this song was performed by Queen thousands of times before Live Aid and from this video, you couldn't tell that as Mercury was as enthusiastic as he was when he first performed the song. As the act progresses, the audience takes cues from Mercury in the form of singing and clapping in sync with the music when he tells them to. He has the full control and attention of a stadium packed with tens of thousands of people. The audience sees his passion and responds with equal passion and enjoyment to his music. As a teacher, I hope to attain the same outcome. I want my students to see my passion for my work and show the same desire to learn. However, it's quite doubtful I'll be teaching in front of a sold out stadium!

In this video from a show called 'The X-Factor', a school teacher auditions by singing a song in front of a panel of judges and a live audience in the studio as well as a television audience seen by thousands. From the beginning of his audition, you could see his passion and desire for the task he was performing. He was very animated and clear with his performance of this Beatles classic. You could tell he was having a blast singing and the audience was immediately captivated by his performance and give him their full and undivided attention. As a future teacher, I hope to be as animated and happy to be performing my tasks in front of my students and having them by captivated by my performance and respond positively and to their best abilities.

In any field, you can see that passion and communication to your audience will provide excellent feedback and solidify your reputation in your field!

A Formal Yet Informal Teaching Experience

On Wednesday September 2, 2009, myself and fellow Physical Education student Pat Wingler began our lab assistant responsibilities for PED 201: Motor Development. The lab was not at St. Mary's School but rather in the rock climbing gym in Park Center. It would be the 201 students, us lab assistants, and Dr. Yang. Earlier in the day, we were told by Dr. Yang that would could decide what activities to do with the students in the lab on our own giving us freedom to test our skills...

Before the lab, we sat down with our Adventure Activities notebook and searched for activities. When we found a handful of activities we agreed on, we were ready for the lab. Upon arriving, we were introduced and got into an instant activity; Buffalo Bill Tag. The students were very enthusiatic and were having plenty of fun playing the game all the while listening to Queen music. We then transitioned to Triangle Tag as well as another tag game. Following these games, we introduced Chuck the Chicken. This activity had the students working in groups to quickly attain their goals before the others did. Everyone was very active and had great attitudes toward us and eachother. We then moved onto a name game where we would go in a circle saying our name and something we liked to do and the next person would repeat the people's before their's and themselves. This turned out great as the students all go to know each other's names and more about eachother. After a quick debrief and a photo, we completed our first 201 lab assistant duties.

This experience was truly important as it put us on the other side of the mirror. We were the one's running the activities and ensuring that everyone was participating and having a good time. Although we had some flubs here and there, Pat and I had done an excellent job and we look forward to working with these students again in the future!

Ambush Teaching Kicks Off the Semester!!

On Monday August 31, 2009, my Physical Education journey began once again with the commencement of a new semester! To kick off EDU 255: Basics of Effective Instruction in Physical Education, Professor Stephen Yang told us what better way to see our skills at work than to begin teaching right away. We were split into two groups and taught a 3-5 minute lesson on a skill using a soccer ball, a basketball, a volleyball, or a football. And after putting everyone on the spot, I was first to teach in my group...

Since I was first to teach, I had to quickly decide which sport skill to teach to my classmates. With my soccer experience, I decided that I would teach a simple lesson on how to properly pass the ball to one another. After my classmates practiced a few times with this skill, I moved to the next step in the progression which was passing to one another on while jogging in a straight line and then back. This turned out quite well as the students all respectfully listened and worked together to complete their task. However, there are plenty of good and bad components of my mini-lesson...

Being that these mini-lessons were a part of ambush teaching, it is understandable to see the mistakes and flaws in the delivery of the performance. Upon viewing my video, I noticed several things about myself. I looked rather 'stiff' and uncomfortable on camera as if I were nervous (even though I was!). However, I was quite confident in myself and knew the material and the skill well enough to give a proper lesson. There were moments where I was smiling and enjoying teaching while there were others where I stumbled. My voice was clear and the delivery of speech was concise. I may have, however, went through the material a little too quickly which could possibly lead to student confusion. There were moments in the lesson where stray soccer balls were lying around and could have potentially been a safety risk. These mistakes and highlights will surely change as I grow as an instructor.

In order to make my class exciting and fun for the students, I need to be more animated and moving around keeping their attention and making them want to be active. I also could use props to visual improve the lesson and relate what I'm teaching to a story or moment they can relate to. Also, not having such a teacher centered model would be more efficient and stimulating. Having the students get more involved and learn not only from me but also each other would increase their enjoyment of the class.

After this experience, I've been getting more and more excited to teach yet again and improve my skills to become a better teacher. As the saying goes... practice makes perfect!