A summary of my experience

I had a outstanding experience at Marlington Middle School while completing my field placement. The experience was completely worthwhile for a variety of reasons. I had a great time, I learned a lot, and most importantly I reassured myself that teaching was the right profession for me. The whole experience was worthwhile.

One of the best parts of my experience was how welcoming the school was. Before starting my placement there I knew no one. Everyone from the secretary who showed me where the gym was on the first day to the principal to the principal who I talked to on my last day was extremely friendly and helpful. Another positive part about my experience was my reassurance about becoming a teacher. Normally I am not much of a morning person and would rather be sleeping in, but I actually looked forward to going into the school each day. This showed me that teaching was right for me.

I had a great experience at Marlington Middle School and would not change anything about it. I have taken a lot from it and I feel much more prepared to become a teacher now. My cooperating teacher Mr. Gabelt was very influential and helpful to me. He answered any questions I had and did a great job at helping me to get the most out of my experience. My whole experience was great and I will always remember it.

Various Types of Equipment

As you can see by the picture there are many resources for games available at Marlington Middle School. There are many different types of equipment in this picture that are available to students in class and this is not everything. On some days the door to this room will be open and students are free to get anything out of here and play any game they wish. A few other things not shown in this picture are hockey sticks and pucks, dodge balls, and kick balls.

Many times during Physical Education classes students are not given many options as to what activity they would like to do. This could lead to students not being as active as they should and most likely not getting much enjoyment out of the class. If students have the option of choosing what they would like to do then they will definitely get more out of it. I can relate to this when I had Physical Education classes. Many times we would just be given one option of what game to play and the class was not enjoyable. For example, if we played badminton I would not get much activity because that game did not interest me. But if we played basketball or football I was much more active and enjoyed the class a lot more. Students are much more likely to be more active if they are participating in an activity they enjoy and this will lead to them getting a better experience from their Physical Education class.

Physical Education Standards

During any Physical Education classes I had in school we never had to be tested in any type of skill. We just played a different game each day and that was our way of getting physical activity. This is most Physical Education classes are, but not Marlington Middle School. Mr. Gabelt has his students tested in several areas throughout the class. The picture above shows the standards for kids depending on their age.

The students are tested in push ups, sit ups, how long it takes them to run a certain distance, and pull ups. National and Presidential are the two main categories the students are in. Presidential is the highest level possible and most students strive for that. They are all tested as a class during the semester. At the end of the semester they have the opportunity to test in one or every area again if they are not satisfied with their results. I was surprised at the amount of students who tested again in an attempt to reach the Presidential level because the level the students achieve has no affect on their grade. Regardless of how good the students do, their grade will not change. Their grade is based on participation in class.

By having students tested in different areas it encourages them to be more active and get more out of the class. They see their friends and classmates and view them as rivals in a way during testing. Each of them strive to be the best in the class in a specific area or even every area.

Floor Hockey

There are many sports in our country available for both men and women. It is not uncommon to see men playing volleyball or girls playing football but in class the other day I saw an unusual combination: girls playing hockey. Not that there is anything wrong with this at all, but it is just not something you see everyday. I did not know until this year but it is an Olympic sport.

Hockey is a very physical sport and hard to play. Not that girls can't play a physical sport, but I was surprised how serious they were as middle school students in a physical education class. Not just girls, but many students do not put that much effort into gym class. They do what they have to do to get a good grade and they are often satisfied with that. The hockey game I witnessed the other day was the complete opposite of this.

The students were divided up into three teams. Two teams played while one team was on break. They played for three minutes and when time was up the team with the most goals got to continue to play. Even while on break, that team was very anxious to get back to playing. I was surprised by the intensity of a hockey game by middle school students.

Bat Ball

In class the other day the students played a game I had never heard of before. It was a mixture of mat ball and baseball and believe it or not it was called bat ball. Most people know what baseball is but maybe not mat ball. Mat ball is very similar to kickball but you have to run around the bases twice and there are four bases rather than just three. Other than these differences the game is basically the same.

During this game I got to pitch the whole time and play defense. I had the option of batting a few times but I chose not to because of the age difference between the students and I. The students like this game because it is something different and in some ways the best of both worlds. Kickball is a very common game in many Physical Education classes but it is also very well liked. Bat ball lets students continue to enjoy the game but with a little different twist to it.

Mixing up games like this is just one of the creative ways my teacher has tried to make class more fun for the students. Little things like this help students to enjoy the class more which will help them to get more out of it.

Classroom Management

Managing a Physical Education class by yourself can be hectic and stressful at times. My cooperating teacher Mr. Gabelt has found several ways to minimize these things and make his classes operate smoothly. Previously there were two teachers in the class which made things easier but due to budget cuts Mr. Gabelt has the class all to himself now. A few ways he has done this are letting students lead the class at times, giving students who can't participate in class something to do, and the use of gym aides.

At the beginning of each class, the students stretch as a group for about five minutes then jog a few laps around the gym. At the beginning of the year Mr. Gabelt goes through the stretches with the class but eventually they learn what to do and perform the stretches on their own. After stretching, one student volunteers to lead the class in jumping jacks. They finish these then continue on to jogging their laps around the gym. All this is done on their own which makes things easier on the teacher. Mr. Gabelt now the opportunity to set up the activity the students will be doing during class rather than having to lead them in stretches.

In almost every class, there are a few students who can not participate during class for one reason or another. Rather than just sit there the whole period, they are assigned to do something to help out during the class. This could be different things such as keeping score for a game, keeping the time, or be a referee. It all depends on the reason the student can not participate in the class. If it is something such as forgetting their gym clothes, then they can help out in almost any way. But if it something more serious like a doctor's excuse not to participate, then they will do something easy such as keep score. This not only benefits the teacher but giving him less responsibilities but also the student because he/she will not be bored the entire class.

Being in charge of a class full of kids running around the entire time can be very challenging but there are ways to help make things easier. Mr. Gabelt has found a few ways to help him and that makes his job much easier and less stressful.

The Classroom

The gym at Marlington Middle School has several features that help students increase their physical activity. This includes two full courts with six basketball hoops, a chin up bar, several mats for different exercises, and many different types of equipment to play with. I was very impressed with all these things offered by a middle school and did not expect the students to have this many options of activities to do.

Having two full courts with six basketball hoops give the students several options such as basketball, volleyball, kicking a soccer ball back and forth, throwing a football and more. Since the classes at Marlington are not that big, students can enjoy their different activities while having plenty of space to do so.

Another benefit of the gym is the chin up bar and exercise mats. Both of these are used to test the students in several areas throughout the class but they are always available to the students to use whenever they please. Some days there will be a few different options of activities to do in the class and students will utilize these two features. A few options are chin ups, sit ups, pushups, and a few more activities.

One of the best features of the gym is the quality and quantity of equipment available to the students. This list includes basketballs, volleyballs, footballs, soccer balls, dodge balls, hockey sticks and a pucks, baseball bats, and frisbees. I have seen almost all of this equipment used and that is beneficial to the students because they do not get bored just playing the same game over and over.

I was very impressed with the gym at Marlington Middle School. It offers an abundance of different ways for the students to be active. This will keep the students from getting bored with the same game and help them get more physical activity during the class.

School Environment

The environment at Marlington Middle School is very friendly, welcoming, and pleasant to be a part of. On my first day, I was not sure where I needed to go in the building but fortunately the secretary was very helpful. She walked me to the gym and also showed me a few other helpful things such as where to park, where the restrooms were in the building, and answered a few other questions I had. It would have been easy for her to just tell me where the gym was and send me on my way but she did the complete opposite. She was very helpful and got me started in the right direction from the start.

While walked through the halls to leave I was also greeted by three or four teachers. They all smiled and spoke to me and made me feel comfortable in the school. Mr. Gabelt also had a few other teachers in his class and they spoke to me too and were very welcoming. The students in the school were very friendly also. During class many of the students introduced themselves and asked a lot about me. They were very curious but also friendly at the same time.

The schools also has a great security feature. To get into the school, you have to buzz into the main office first and then the secretary must unlock the door to allow someone to enter. A camera is set up so she can see who is trying to come into the building. This would prevent any intruder from entering the building. As far as I know, this is the only door that people can enter into the building through.

Marlington Middle School has a great environment and I was fortunate to be placed in such a good school. They have made my teaching experience a great one and the environment has played a major part in that.

Care in Education

Compared to many other subject areas, Physical Education often gets overlooked and pushed aside. Subjects such as History, English, Math, and Science are typically considered more important are often given preference over Physical Education. An example of this would be if a student missed a class and needed to get the notes that were taken and make up a test. Teachers would often suggest doing this during their lunch or a Physical Education class. This is unfair to Physical Education classes and other classes who get treated this way. Many people consider those classes not as important because students don't get as much out of them as they do compared to other classes. But Mr. Gabelt has done a great job at getting much more out of the students in his class compared to other Physical Education classes.

Physical Education classes are meant to get students active and attempt to improve their health. Most classes just provide students with a game or activity to do and the students determine their own level of activity. But in Mr. Gabelt's class all of the students do several activities to ensure their activity. At the beginning of period all the students are required to do many stretches as a class to prepare themselves for the activity. After stretching, they do push ups, sit ups, and jumping jacks. This is already more than most Physical Education classes but it does not stop here. Then they usually have to run three or four laps around the gym too. They are also tested on all these things during the course of the class. By testing the students it brings out the competition in them and encourages them to try to do the most of one activity as they can such as push ups. The students don't look at this as exercising but rather having fun in a way and trying to be the best. Anytime students can have fun while doing something productive for themselves is always a good situation. Mr. Gabelt has found a way to make Physical Education meaningful for students and give it more respect compared to other classes because the students actually get something positive from the class.

Getting more involved

I have been shadowing for a few weeks now and I am getting more involved in the classroom each week. This week I helped out Mr. Gabelt by taking attendance for him while he got the equipment out for the game the students were going to play. For him taking attendance was easy because he knew the names of all the students in the class. I don't know all the names but I do know quite a few. Fortunately for me taking attendance was easy though because of how the class is set up. Before beginning the activity, the students line up in alphabetical order and do stretches. This meant that all I had to do was walk up and down the rows and make sure I had the right name and make sure the student was participating today. There were a few students who were not participating for various reasons. I had to write down why they were not playing but still give them credit for being in the class if they had a good reason not to participate such as a doctor's excuse. Mr Gabelt has done a good job of helping me to become more active each week and getting me comfortable about being in charge of the class.