Student Teaching

I am the last student in my class without a student teaching placement. I was set on a school district close to my house in Pittsburgh, however, it seems as though they are not going to take a student teacher. The good news is I might get placed in a better school district, one that is not even an option. I actually know a lot of teachers in this school district through my wrestling career. It would truly be amazing to get into this school district and continue coaching during this wrestling year.

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This week for my elementary field I have a unique assignment. Today, 11/27, I am teaching two full lessons as usual. However on Thursday, a substitute teacher is coming in for my co-op. This means I'm running the class without her. This should not be a big deal due to the fact I have been teaching these k-2 students since August, but it will provide me with a means in which to gauge my teaching and classroom management skills I have acquired within the 13 weeks of teaching.

Loopholes in PE

The National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) recently conducted a study called the 2012 State of the Nation Report. In this study, NASPE found that 74.5% of states within the U.S. mandated PE. However, few states specify the amount of time a student has to participate in PE. NASPE also found that nearly half of the states allow exceptions, waivers and substitutions to PE. NASPE believes this is a problem because it allows students to find ways to avoid physical activity. I believe there has to be a curriculum change nation wide that mandates physical education. The mandated PE would come with mandated hours and all school districts should have to turn data in on their students to show they are achieving moderate to vigorous physical activity on a weekly basis. What are some thought out there on this matter?

PE Intervention

A middle school in California has set up an intervention program in physical education. If students are not meeting the predetermined state health and fitness requirements, the students have to take the class as a remedial/ intervention.  Instead of the students enrolling in life time activities and sports, students who aren't in the healthy range have to enroll in the intervention class that is primarily focused on fitness. Just after the first year, this school had 18% more students score in the healthy range than the state average. This program has seemed to gain the attention of more schools in California who wish to implement similar programs.