Mini Convention- Elementary Performances

Slippery Rock University held it's annual mini convention today.  Many physical educators throughout Western PA come to this event.  I had the opportunity to observe three school districts perform different forms of dance.  The first group consisted of students from Mars School District and they did an outstanding job performing with jump ropes.  I saw the kids do moves that I didn't even know were possible.  They really impressed me with their dedication.  The next group to perform were fourth and fifth graders from a Pittsburgh public school.  In their school, the music teacher and the physical educator work together for their classes.  The students performed square dancing and ballroom dancing.  It was really nice to see all the students working together and smiling and having fun.  The last group to go was Slippery Rock Elementary School students.  These students performed to three different songs-the last song being Thriller by Michael Jackson.  These kids were a joy to watch because they had the freedom to dance however they wanted at times.  All in all, I think each student did a fabulous job today and I can't wait to teach dance in my physical education classes!

Powerpoint Videos

My electronic e-folio was due today for Technology PETE.  It was a big project that took a lot of time and work.  I created my e-folio is Powerpoint.  Last night, I tested my e-folio on my friends computers just to make sure everything worked ok.  It was a good thing I did that because I discovered that my videos do not play on Mac computers.  Then I tested my e-folio on a friend's PC and was able to get my introduction video to play, but my digital "how to" video would not play.  I panicked a little bit but I was able to stay calm because I knew my videos played in the lab in the field house.  I guess the moral of the story is, you  never know with technology and it's a good thing I tested my videos out because then I was able to write on the rubric that they won't play on Macs.

Golf with a Surprise on the Side

Today in my Life and Leisure Activities class we were practicing adapted golf techniques.  I thought the lesson was very interesting because I very much enjoy learning about adapted physical activity.  First we golfed sitting down in a folding chair.  This was a very awkward move because I was not sure of where to place my legs and I had to move far away from the golf ball.  Then we golfed gently sitting on the top of the folding chair.  After that we tied our non dominant hand down so we could experience what an arm amputee would feel like golfing.  The last thing we did was golfing with a blindfold.  I thought the blindfold was the most difficult one because I had no idea where to hit the ball!  Anyway, while we were learning about adapted golf, a guy that wasn't in our class ran through our class with his arms spread out, shaking his head, and gobbling like a turkey.  It was definitely an odd experience but we all got a laugh out of it.  What a day for golf.

Dance Class-Polka

I am currently taking Dance Fundamentals at Slippery Rock University.  I am anxious to go to class tomorrow because we are learning the polka.  I really enjoy this dance.  The steps are easy to handle and you have freedom as to where you would like to move throughout the dance floor.  The dance is started by the man asking a woman if "he may have this dance".  The woman responds "yes you may," and the dance begins.  It begins formally but the polka is the first dance in history that allows man and woman to be so close to each other during dance.  The man places his hand on the ladies' shoulder blade and the woman rests her hand on top of the man's shoulder.  I hope that we continue to do this dance for at least the week because it's been my favorite part of the class so far.