This I Believe Proposal

            In my paper I will be arguing that schools for all grade levels should be required to have students participating in a full hour of physical education every day. The reason I believe this is because there are many different health benefits that are included for students who participate in some sort of physical education. I also believe this should be a rule because it has been proven that students who do participate in some sort of exercise can have better grades in the classroom. A final reason I believe schools should have to offer physical education is because it can lead students to learn more about themselves and to also become better individuals in the real world.

            The problem with this topic is that many schools believe that physical education is just a big waste of time and is getting students out of doing “real work.” Schools don’t realize that physical education is more important than most of the classes’ students are actually taking. Many classes talk about just one thing or focus on one subject. Physical education however, covers numerous subjects throughout its course. It shows you how to be a leader in the real world. It can also show you how to live a healthier lifestyle and teach you to be a better student in the classroom. Finally, physical education teaches you about the risks of sitting in front of a television, cellphone, or computer screen all day and what can happen to you. There are many advantages to physical education that schools have simply gone blind to.

            There are many different things I hope to learn while writing this paper. I hope to learn why the faculty of schools are so against giving children a little bit of time each day to get some well needed exercise. Another thing I am interested in finding out is why the schools who do require physical education allow students to just walk during the class and not actually participate in the activity. The reason I say this is because at the high school I attended students didn’t have to play the sport we were doing all you had to do to pass the class was wear the proper uniform and walk. I find this to be a completely unsuccessful idea. I will be able to get this paper done on time because I have found very credible sources that are loaded with helpful information on my topic. I want my reader to agree that physical education is something that is important and that it is something that schools should want to provide to their students for success.

Observation Hours: Class 5

This was my last visit to Mrs. Lytle's first grade class. I was very sad to have it all come to an end because I was really enjoying seeing the class during these visits. The question that I had walking into the class was what are the students going to do since it is the day before Halloween? I remember when I was in elementary school we always did something fun to celebrate the holiday. From what I saw not much had changed. One thing I did not do much of this class was take notes. I wanted to work hands on with the children and also get a chance to see what they were all doing for the day. When I arrived the students were coming back from computer class. When they got back from computer class the students were reviewing words that they had practiced previously. They only did this for a little bit of time because they had to get to the fun activities they were going to do in honor of Halloween. The class and the rest of the school did many various activities to celebrate Halloween. Since I was only there for a short period of the day I didn't get to see many of the activities they participated in. However, I had the chance to see a few. First, they had the chance to work on their iPads to study words they had already learned also, they got to practice Halloween words that had the sounds of previous words. I found this to useful to the class because they had the chance to study old words and sounds they already knew, but had the chance to make it fun by adding in words relating to Halloween. After this activity was completed, the class had the chance to make Halloween pictures to bring home and show their families. The teacher let each student pick 10 stickers to add to the pictures they had already drawn. Many of the students really wanted to show me what they had drawn and I saw that they all were very creative and had very different ideas of what they wanted to draw. You can tell they all had an open mind and wanted to take time and draw something they took pride in. After they completed this activity it was time for them to get ready for recess and also to get ready for the parade they had the chance to attend later. Every student in the school had the chance to walk around in their costume and show what they were going to be for Halloween. Many of the students in the class really wanted to show me what they were going to be and just tell me small stories about their families and what they were going to do Halloween. It felt great to do this since I knew this was going to be my last visit of the year with the class. In conclusion, I had a great time spending my 10 hours with Mrs. Lytle and her first grade class. They all showed me that teaching is definitely the right career for myself. I hope one day by the end of the year I have the chance to go back and see the class because I enjoyed every second of being there. The students and Mrs. Lytle made this experience very enjoyable and I am glad I had the chance to take part in the classroom.

Observation Hours: Class 4

For my fourth time of being at Mrs. Lytle's class I couldn't believe how fast the hours were going. It felt like I was just starting and now I was already practically ending. The "special" class of the day was computer class. When they arrived back from computer the students who became very open to me welcomed me with a warm smile. One of the students was acting up a little bit that day and the teacher called him to the back of the class to talk to him. I was very curious as to what was going to happen in this situation. The teacher talked to him and asked him to settle down and he obeyed with her as his attitude the rest of the class was visibly more mellow. The students joined at the carpet to learn a new sound. The sound of the day was "qu" which I thought could be very challenging to learn. Actually it was the opposite for theses students, they all picked it up in an instant and it was great to see. The class also talked about stamina and how it could be involved in the way that they read a book. For the rest of my time there the class used iPads to practice the "qu" words. Also, they read a decodable that was all about "qu." Every day that I have been with the class I have seen how all of them want to learn more and want to do great things in the classroom. Mrs. Lytle definitely helps with this as you can see how committed to her job she is, and how much she truly cares.

Obseravtion Hours: Class 3

When I arrived for my third visit at Wickliffe Elementary School I felt a lot more comfortable compared to the first two trips. The children were very welcoming of me as if I was going to be there everyday. When I arrived they were just getting back from their "special" class of the day which was music. I found out on the two days I usually went, which were Wednesday and Friday, was the days where the students had Music and Computer as their special class. Upon arrival the students ate a snack and then, had the chance to grab a book to read from the "browsing box." I figured this was a box they chose a book from once a week to read and then put back when they were done. When they put it back they wrote down the book they read on a piece of paper that they kept in their desks. After reading, the class gathered on the carpet and practiced words that were hard to pronounce and also syllables. Then, the class had to take a test on the words that they had just learned. Upon completion of that test the class had to take another test, but this one was about adding and subtracting. I thought this could be challenging for students because they are so young, but they still had to take two different tests back to back. You can definitely tell how focused each student was and how bad they wanted a good grade on the tests, which is something you do not always see with older students. There is quite an amazing difference between all grade levels with the way everyone acts. In three short visits to Mrs. Lytle's class it has been amazing to see how much these children can learn in a short amount of time. It just shows that if you put your mind to something you really can do it. I am looking forward to my final two visits, I can not believe I am already half way done with my observation hours.

Observation Hours: Class 2

For the second time that I went to Mrs. Lytle's class I stayed for two hours. I noticed many similar things between  the first class and then, this class. When I arrived the class was coming back from their "special" class of the day which was computer. The first thing they did when returning from computer was take a 15 minute snack break. One thing I noticed this class that I did not notice in the first class was the writing on the board that read "surprise." However, there was no "e" at the end of the word. I figured that the class had done something wrong and lost the letter and they also may be losing out on some sort of reward if the rest of the word is erased. I find this to be helpful because it can keep the kids calm if they want the surprise. While the students were enjoying their snacks a couple of them had to go to the back of the classroom with the teacher to practice reading. After the snack break, the students gathered on the carpet in the front of the room to practice nouns, capitalization, and punctuation. One thing I noticed during this was that the class paid a lot of attention to the teacher and did not slack off or fall asleep. Many times in high school classes you may find many students to not pay attention or even fall asleep, but that was definitely not the case for these young students. The class read a "decodable" again for the day and this one was called "In A Jar." The reason they read this particular decodable was because it dealt with their sound of the day. The sound of the day was "ar." The final object the children completed for the class before I left was writing a short story about themselves. After they wrote the stories they had the chance to read it aloud to a partner of their choice. Many of the children came up to me and shared their stories with me, this made me feel very welcome and accepted to the class. My second trip to the class was great and I am looking forward to my last few days with the class in the next few weeks.

Observation Hours: Class 1

The school that I completed my observation hours at was Wickliffe Elementary School. This was the first time I was going back to my old elementary school for the first time in a long time. I was a bit nervous, but I was also excited to see what teachers were still there and what things have changed in the past ten years. I noticed immediately that many of the teachers were still there, but also a few teachers had retired. I had the honor to sit in on Mrs. Lytle's class for my ten hours. It was an amazing experience and I got to witness a lot of awesome things. Mrs. Lytle was a kindergarten teacher when I attended the school, but now she teaches first grade. On my first day the students welcomed me with smiles, and hello's which made me feel comfortable instantly. The class just got back from their "special" class of the day which happened to be music. When they arrived back to their regular classroom the class did a lesson about how "or" is used in certain words. They only did this for a short period of time because they had a special presentation about fire safety. The class had a chance to watch a video about getting out of their house if there was a fire. Also, the students had a chance to look at fire trucks, and ambulances. Next, they had the chance to look at all the equipment and tools fire fighters use in case of an emergency. When the students arrived back to their regular classroom they started to read short stories which were called "decodables." There was a couple of interesting ways that students received an award or prize. The first was coupons, and the second way was a chart that measured behavior. It had a stoplight format so, if you were good you put your piece on the green spot, but if you acted up your piece was put on the red sport. I found these both to be interesting and helpful techniques. One final thing I noticed before leaving the class on my first day was how passionate the teacher was about her job. You can definitely tell how much she cares for each student and it was something that was amazing to see. My first experience back at my old school was great, and I am looking forward to the final four trips back there.

Blog Post 10: Blog Summary

Throughout all of my blog posts and my many classroom observation hours I have figured out that Early Childhood Education is the career that I hope to end up in. From the beginning it has been where I want to be and all my classroom experiences have just encouraged me to keep this as my intended major. My many experiences in the classroom at Wickliffe Elementary School have shown me that the teachers, and faculty love their jobs and enjoy going to work every day. One major thing that I discovered about myself is that children and my passion and I really enjoy teaching them as well as just being around them. They always have a positive attitude and children are just very creative and it is something that is amazing to witness. I do still have several concerns about the field of education as a whole. I wonder if I will be able to get a job because I know this is a field where a lot of people are fighting to get a position. Also, since I am a male I want to know if that is going to help me get a job in early childhood or if it will lower my chances. To wrap it up, keeping this blog was something that definitely helped me see my growth from the beginning on college to now, it has helped me see that this is the career for me and hopefully one day I will be lucky enough to wake up each day and go do something that I love.