Assignment #11

Description of Unit (Aim):

In this unit, students will understand the importance of physical activity. By the participation in various different sports, the students will participate in and research the importance of staying active for life. The students will be able to pick any sport that is reviewed over the course of the semester and present with a partner the importance of playing that particular sport and how it can promote a healthy life style.

Learning Objectives:

The purpose of this lesson is to get students to realize the importance of physical activity in there lives in hope to get them to stay active throughout life. 

Through this lesson, it is my hope that through the combination of physical activity and research of the importance of staying active the students will change their outlook on the dreaded "gym class". I know when I was in high school, I loved gym class, but I also knew a majority of people didn’t like gym class and thought it to be "pointless". So as I plan this lesson I am going to be aiming to sway the young learners mindsets through technology to show how important physical activity is in their lives. 

This lesson will help aid and support other activities in this unit by looking at each lesson being reviewed (football, baseball, basketball, soccer, etc) and identifying why it is important to participate. It will ask the students to think outside the box as to why participation in class is not the only reason it is important but why is participation in the desired sport outside of class important to maintain a healthy life style. 

Specific Curriculum Objectives:

Physical Education Objectives:

1.) Movement skill performance is primarily impacted by the quality of instruction, practice, assessment, feedback, and effort. 

                                  2.5.12.A.2&4

-Analyze application of force and motion (weight transfer, power, speed, agility, range of motion) and modify movement to impact performance.

-Critique a movement skill/performance and discuss how each part can be made more interesting, creative, efficient, and effective.   

2.) Taking personal responsibility to develop and maintain physical activity levels provides opportunities for increased health, fitness, enjoyment, challenges, self-expression, and social interaction.

                                  2.6.12.A.1-5  

-Compare the short- and long-term impact on wellness associated with physical inactivity.

-Design, implement, and evaluate a fitness plan that reflects knowledge and application of fitness-training principles.  

-Determine the role of genetics, gender, age, nutrition, activity level, and exercise type on body composition.  

-Compare and contrast the impact of health-related fitness components as a measure of fitness and health.     

-Debate the use of performance-enhancing substances (i.e., anabolic steroids and other legal and illegal substances) to improve performance. 

Technology Objectives: 

1.) The use of technology and digital tools requires knowledge and appropriate use of operations and related applications. 

                                8.1.12.A.2

-Produce and edit a multi-page document for a commercial or professional audience using desktop publishing and/or graphics software.

2.) Technology products and systems impact every aspect of the world in which we live.

                                8.2.12.A.1 

-Design and create a technology product or system that improves the quality of life and identify trade-offs, risks, and benefits.    

Substance of Lesson/Activity 

Technology to be used in this activity: 

Upon completion of this semester, students will be asked to complete, with their partner, a multi-slide presentation using the Microsoft Power-Point application. The students will also be asked to create a calendar, program, or system to assist/aid in their quality of life in the participation of a sport of their choice.

The reason for using this technology is because Power Point is an application that is used throughout college and beyond the walls of the classroom when they reach the working world. It is a tool that can be a tremendous addition to their arsenal if learned at an early age. The second aspect the students are asked to explore involves more creativity where they can travel down a number of different paths to create a calendar, program, or system (using any form of technology) that can aid or assist in the promotion of an active/healthy life style. 

Students will be asked to learn how to create a presentation using pictures, sounds, and will be asked to post the presentation onto a class workspace where students can go on and view them. The students will also be asked to use another application of their choice (other than Power Point) where they create the second aspect of this assignment. The students must demonstrate a considerable effort to go beyond the normal functions of these applications. 

Activity Timeline/Procedures:

There will be one class day assigned for teacher demonstrations of previous assignments that are acceptable, questions to be asked, and any extra time can be used for student selection of partners and then brainstorming possible topics. This assignment must be done outside of the classroom with the student’s partner and will be submitted the Monday before midterm exams. 

The unit will be divided up by 8 sports/activities over 4 months. Since the semester is 5 months long that will leave the students one month to choose from all the offered sports/activities to complete their assignment. Sports will include:

                                      - Football                        - Baseball

                                      - Basketball                    - Soccer

                                      - Floor Hockey               - Track & Field

                                      - Volleyball                     - Lacrosse

Students will come prepared to class each day with appropriate clothes to participate in. The students will be taught to essentials of each sport for one week of the lesson and the final week of the lesson will be attributed to competition and games. Each lesson will last for a half of a month each and the students will be asked to come to class at the conclusion of each lesson on the sport with one reason as to why and how participating in the sport can help me reach my daily recommended requirement for physical activity and stay active for life? This question is an acceptable question to ask students as it lists in Bridgewater-Raritan curriculum's page. As the teacher, It will be my job to relay as many important aspects of the sports as possible to the students to make sure they have a broad view of each sport and they can choose an area to research that is outside of their comfort zone. Students will be given websites to look at that promote healthy lifestyles and general knowledge of sports and it's background. I will also bring to the attention when sports are in the news and ask that the students bring clippings in to discuss how their article relates to society today as we are aiming to maintain a healthy life style. 

Assessment:

Assessment is applying a procedure to measure the results of efforts toward a desired
goal. Also, taken from the Bridgewater-Raritan High School curriculum website, during their physical education classes the following techniques might be used:

• Observation                 • Performance activities
• Performance projects   • Portfolios
• Rubrics                        • Skill checklist
• Motor skill checklist    • Tests and quizzes
• Open ended questions  • Student logs
• Student journals           • Role playing

However, I would think that I would use observation, performance in activities (effort given by student), and the majority of their grade will be dependent on their completion of the semester assignment. Also, as the students will be posting their presentations on the class workspace, I will ask each group to watch and listen to their classmates presentations and ask them to provide their own feed back that will be sent for me to view only. Student’s assessment will be responsible for 60% of their grade, as I will compose the remaining 40%. 

Criteria for success will be based on creativity, thinking outside the box, level of difficulty, and clear and concise delivery. I would like to see evidence that the students have spent a significant amount of time on this project. 

I believe that I will know when the students have had a learning experience accomplished by the learning goals I set out for them by the type of work I receive from them. I think that because this project gives them a lot of different sports to choose from they will be able to choose something they are slightly interested in and then look even further into that sport to find something that may spark their interest even more.

Assignment #10

I can remember when I was in high school and using a calling card to call my Mom to come pick me up (don't laugh, it was once cool to get picked up by your mom). Back then, in my high school, it was the norm to receive a cell phone once you got your drivers license. Even when you had it only the coolest of the cool phones had texting capabilities. Therefore, there were not problems in my school with sexting - at least I'd like to think there were not. I think this is a problem today - most kids have access to cell phones today and are taking advantage of little liberties and privileges. I believe technology is a very powerful tool and if used to correct way can be beneficial, however, when used the wrong way can easily snowball and get out of control. I think this snowballing effect on the use of technology when teamed up with bullying has proved to be extremely costly. It is because of this, I feel that there should be more of a roll schools should take in teaching the proper use of technology. I don't have a perfect plan in place, but I do think that there must be some preventative steps that could be taken to prevent the improper use of text messaging. I think everyone can agree that times have changed and when times change, people change, therefore, why do we fight addressing some of this huge issues?
Bullying is something that no child should ever have to experience. Growing up in a huge family myself, I was on the short end of the stick with some misfortunes when I was younger. However, I think what I went through and bullying are two totally different topics. Bullying seems to take things to the next level of inappropriateness. I know it is not easy to do, but identifying a way to prevent things before they become a problem would be key in situations like this.
I would love to see some changes made in schools that can prevent inappropriate use of technology. I watch my little sister text with out even looking at her phone, which proves to me that she has found ways to text during school without being caught. I think things like this need to be addressed, I feel like she is not getting the most out of her day in school.