My favorite assignment....

OK, teaching cyber school physical education is unique in itself. Certainly the assignments we post are different in their own right as well. I was thinking how I enjoyed our recent "exercise unit" that we just wrapped up this week. One of the assignments I issue pertains to the 6 factors of exercise (a PA state standard). You know what they are: finances, access to equipment/facility, motivation, physical benefits, personal challenge and self improvement.

My assignment simply asks the students to choose any 3 out of the 6 factors that relate best to the way they go about attaining physical activity each week. In addition, students are required to select any exercise they like and perform and dcoument 4 different days on their own.

If it sounds simple, it is. The students like this assignment as well. They can be introspective here and have the freedom to choose whatever exercise suits them best. You can imagine that finances and access to activity shape the way teenagers exercise these days.

I like to post the following comment to students after the submit this particular assignment: What would you do for exercise if you had unlimited resources?

I know I would work out at the YMCA every day and meet with a personal trainer at least once a week. I would probably get in a tennis game once a week as well as a good swim a few times a month. Wouldn't it be cool to access DDR and Wii systems whenever you felt like it? How about climbing a treadwall? Would having perpetual up to date statistics on recent workouts come in handy?

That would be just the tip of the ice berg for me. I get a wide variety of suggestions from students on this question. Some choose only what they know but others seem to get the big picture and dream big. Some day I would like to get them all to think that way.

PE Field Trips?.....

Teaching in a cyber school does not allow much face to fact contact with students. So, one way to develop a repoire with students would be to arrange a "field trip" of some sorts in the area.

Last year, our school held a trip at the Pittsburgh Science Center. We did take in the Sport Works as well. Although we did not get as many students to attend as planned, it was a successful outing nonetheless.

Next month, the PE department, along with select teachers, will be chaperoning dozens of elementary and middle school students at the Mellon Arena to take part of the Pittsburgh Penguins visit practice day. Interest in attending was fast and furious for students that age.

Our department, as mentioned on other blog posts, is planning on taking high school students to the Camp Guyasuta Ropes course next spring. Interest amongst the students part appears to be favorable with the previews given to them so far this school year.

We are also considering a YMCA invitational type of day as well, if we can find a cooperating facility.

So, have any of you taken your PE class on a field trip? Where and how did it go?

Hey, how about those PITT PANTHERS tonight!

OK, this post does not have much to do with PE or teaching but after sitting through an emotional game like I did today....I had to comment about it.

PITT beat ND in South Bend today in 4 over times. It was a very long game and it could have gone either way. Sure this isn't a great ND team, not a great PITT squad either, although not bad. But a shout out to the boys in Oakland that came back from a 17-3 half time deficit and put it into OT and gutted out a 36-33 win. You don't have to be a panther fan to appreciate what they did, and there are many local sports fans that do NOT like the panthers. Give credit where it is due.

Hail to PITT!

How do the live classes work?

You might be wondering if we ever interact with our students beyond email messages. Well, yes, as a matter of fact. I hold live classes for my students each week. In fact, I conduct a few during the day and one in the evening to give the students that work during the day, or have conflicting schedules, a chance to meet as well.

I can talk to the students and they can hear me. They can talk to me, too. We can text chat as well during the session. I can show them pictures to help illustrate key points. I can post several different kind of questions to guage their understanding of various concepts as well as to get an opinion on important matters. I can play music, I can open up additional browsers for students to review as well as video clips. Teachers at our school will eventually utilize webcams attached to our computer to make yet another visible connection. At this time, students do not have this capability. However, with advent of laptops with built in cameras, we probably will be experiencing something comparable to a face to face video conference in the not so distant future.

For our purposes, nothing beats the meeting in gymnasiums but this is a start and chance for students to connect a little with each other and the teacher. We have been experiencing great live class attendance this year. It is a start and we see things getting better.

Gym teacher, the movie?

Did anybody see this movie on Nickelodeon last month? Kind of like the 1970's without the wide lapels and side burns.

See for yourself in this short clip: http://www.nickatnite.com/gymteacher/

I watched it this evening. It was humorous and kind of interesting. It was also massively stereotypical as well.

Sure PE teachers are known to wear the long white tube socks, the tight polyester shorts, carry the whistle and be all about sports, dodge ball and climbing ropes.

Perhaps most of us still are but we go about it in a different way these days. We now focus on more fitness oriented lessons and as well more student centered instruction. Whistles are not so important these days and we dress to be comfortable and not to fit a dubious image. We don't even refer to ourselves as gym teachers anymore, although many parents still consider as as such.

We also use technology now more than ever to augment instruction and student participation. Heck, we even have preceptors nowadays that practice our craft via use of the Internet.

Well, if you have not seen the film yet, give it a whirl. Just don't believe everything you see in the movies!

The topic of physical education has been featured in many motion pictures over the past couple of decades. What movie reminds you most of PE or gym class?

Student work....

Somebody asked earlier this month if it was possible to show some cyber school PE student work. Well, after securing permission from the students, I thought I would post a few worthy projects. Now granted these are two of the better submissions I have received recently but worthy of mention.

11th grade PE submission for the Interval training assignment:

"1. Describe what activity you selected and performed for this interval training assignment?
(examples: running, swimming, biking, etc….)

I chose lap swimming because I’m already on the team and we do interval training already.

2. How did you incorporate intervals in your activity? (an interval is a period of time where did the activity. Another interval is when you took a rest after the activity)

Since we are still at the beginning of the season we did 2 sets of 5x100s on two minutes. The faster we did the 100s the more break we would get.

3. SELF-EVALUATION: Explain, illustrate or summarize what your experience was like during your interval training activities?

It was alright. When our coach makes us do sets like that it tires me out really easily, but I feel the burn more and it makes competing in the actual races easier because if me work at it hard it slowly conditions me so that I get better without really realizing it."

12th grade Example for the Isometric, Isotonic, Isokinetic activity:

"List an example for each “iso” activity: (use the links on the blackboard)
3 pts.

Isotonic: lifting free weights

Isometric: hand wall press

Isokinetic: swimming


Try to do some of these activities on your own. What did you do for each one? 3 pts.

Isotonic:
Sit ups, getting up from squat position, lifting objects over head, throwing a ball, walking

Isometric:
Curling arm while applying pressure with the other, wall pushes, chair leg extension, Hand Press

Isokinetic:
I wasn’t sure what to do…most of the exercises said machines were needed…

Cite an example for both of the following: 2 points

Concentric contraction -
Bicep curl

Eccentric contraction –
Running downhill

Take a look at the principles of exercise glossary terms (overload, specificity, progression). You can find them in the glossary on the PE blackboard.

Which principle would you apply to isotonic exercises and why? 6 points

Principle:

Specificity
Definition:

Principle of exercise that says: Specific kinds of exercises must be done to develop specific aspects of the body/ fitness.
Why did you select this:

Isotonic exercises are suppose to enhance certain parts of the body like the chest, without going at an extreme pace or gradually increasing (progression); or having people exercise under high intensity or going exercise crazy (Overload). So, I chose Specificity since it seemed to fit the bill.

Matching: (review the ISO video for insight) 6 points

A. Isotonic B. Isometric C. Isokinetic

1. Which one is most likely to be used in therapy/rehabilitation? (swimming?)
2. Bench and leg presses are most likely which type of Iso activities? (up and down motion)
3. Which of the three offers the least amount of concentric and eccentric muscle contractions? (which one pushes against the wall)

Letter Number
C1
A2
B3"

Check out these video clips.....

Check out both of the videos posted below. As promised in my last post, I would show the videos of yours truly in action as soon as I got them. So here goes...enjoy.

It took me a little longer than planned to get up the wall but I made it. The zip line was just cool drop.

In-service day.....

Yesterday, teachers around Allegheny county took a break from teaching classes as it was Columbus Day. Instead, we participated in some type of in-service training, either in house or somewhere else around the area.

My colleagues and I roughed it at the Camp Guyasuta Ropes Course in Sharpsburg. We took part in the team building and initiative activities in the morning. After lunch we hit the high ropes course, which turned out to be the highlight of the day.

I had done stuff like this in the past but not this high off the ground. I belayed and repelled the 50 foot wall. I made my way up to the zip line and traversed across the course. I also tried my luck with the vine line and the 3 rope line as well.

Fortunately, we brought our school's video camera to capture some of the action. We plan to use it as instructional video for upcoming rock climbing lessons/activities.

In addition, there is a good chance we will set up a field trip for some of our students to attend next spring. The videos and pictures we took yesterday, along with experiences we have to share, would likely drum up quite a bit of interest from the student body.

With a little luck I hope to show a video clip of yours truly scaling the great climbing wall of Sharpsburg and flying the sky scraping zip line across the fierce Guyasuta topography.

Aftermath of the PALO open house....

Well an open house came and went this week. It was a success by all accounts. We had more students and parents attend than we did a year ago. In addition, our school continues to show its pride by welcoming visitors to a receptive room with food, lighting, music, videos, PowerPoint's, food, art supplies, instruments, books, toys, food, smiles, laughter, food and even opportunities to win prizes. OK, I went a little overboard with the food but it was there if one wanted it.

I had no fewer than 20 students/parents approach me during the two hours. It was a positive experience on all accounts. We just want to now keep the momentum going for a good finish to the first quarter.

Coming soon---- a post with some student work.

Open House....

This week our school is conducting its annual open house for all students and parents. It is a chance for cyber school teachers and students to meet, even if for only an hour or two.

Students will get a chance to interact with teachers and school officials but will also get a chance to visit with their peers as well. This is all in an effort to foster some unity and resiliency on the part of the school, teachers and students as well.

The event will be held at night in our offices for about 2 hours. The PE department plans to show off some great videos that we have used for instruction as well as an informative PowerPoint highlighting what we do. I look forward to meeting students taking my class this semester. It can only help to support a better rapport with the student body. In turn, that hopefully makes a more productive student base.

Working the phones....

Part of being a cyber school teacher, regardless of teaching discipline, is to use the telephones to get in touch with students. I spent about 7 hours on the phone one day this week getting in touch with as many 11th and 12th grade PE students that I could.

I talked to some students, some parents, and left a number of encouraging or reminder like messages. This was all in an effort to get students to either catch up on missed assignments or to encourage them to keep up the good efforts.

Our school actually will issue mid-quarter grades early next week. I am pleased to say that majority of my students will be earning a passing grade. That may not sound like much but it is not as easy as it seems. We expect our students to complete and submit as many assignments as possible during the grading period, and that includes high school PE.

The fact is, I am experiencing my best year at this school and I have been there since early 2004. The FAQ's about how we teach PE online are still there but it gets a little easier to explain with each semester. Things are gradually falling into place.

So how do we know if the students are really doing the work?

This is the question I get a lot from outsiders, insiders too. I even was dubious about it myself when I first interviewed for the job.

We pretty much let student go on the honor system. I tend to give assignments that include concepts and require written feedback from the student. As a result, they can tell me they did an activity but they have to explain it adequately to satisfy my concern that they did what they say they did. This may not always be enough, however.

Lately, I have been working on developing a plan that would require students to "prove" or authenticate that they are doing the physical activity portions of the assignment. There are a number of ways - students get a notarized signature that they participated in an activity, send pictures or film of themselves performing the assigned task or activity, meet students at scheduled locations during the semester etc.....

One idea I have been considering is that if students cannot prove they did the physical activity then they can only pass with a certain grade, maybe a C letter grade at best. I would not fail students for lack of evidence of working out, particularly if they do everything else that is required, but I am thinking that they should no longer pass with flying colors either.

Any thoughts out there on this sensitive issue? I think the ideas in my blog are a step in the right direction.

MyFitnessPal

I asked my 12th grade students to check out the http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ website this past week. Students were required to log in every day and record their meals. The website diary would then generate a list of calories consumed and break it down to protein, fat and carbohydrates.

I also asked students to log in any physical activity that they did on those days as well. The net product was a report that the website generated tabulating 4 days worth of food consumption and physical activity. The results so far have been good. While requesting this kind of assignment may not be so unique, it seems to have a lot of merit because it ties nutrition and physical activity together as well as physical education with technology.

Sportsmanship sound-off.....

Do you know who this guy is in the picture? Well, I decided to ask my 11th and 12th grade students the same question. The reason why I ask is that this guy has been involved in a bit of controversy in the NFL. Seems Mr. Hochuli, the officials name, made a mistake in judgement in a recent pro football game that ended up costing the San Diego Chargers a potential victory. Well, Mr. Hochuli came out shortly after the game and admitted that he made a mistake and even apologized in public. In fact, he responded to the several hundred pieces of "hate" email that he received after the game as well.

In my humble opinion, Hochuli did not have to do this. I respect and admire him for doing so. So I asked my students to elaborate on whether Hochuli, or any other official, should be expected to respond to emails in the future, especially if they have already made a public statement. It is too early to post any results from my class. What say you?

Surge training article and comments....

Hi all,

I read the surge training article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette yesterday. It fascinated me. I teach what I call an exercise unit. One of the lessons I feature is interval training. Surge training is similar except it advocates that the exerciser do the quick bursts about 3 times and then stop. The article, featuring a Pittsburgh based chiropractor, also suggests that surge training is best for losing weight and most effective after a resistance training workout (weights primarily). I don't know why it would be better to do the surge training post weight training activities but I am curious to find out more. Anybody else read this article or have any thoughts on the matter? I think I just found some quality reading material for my 12th graders next month.

My first post of this week 9/15....

Hi all,

Thanks for checking in on me. Today at my school we had an in-service day. Why such an early date, I don't know, but we did. It was uneventful, in my opininion.

One thing I did accomplish today was submitting my HighMark Healthy High 5 grant proposal for typing. I have never applied for a grant in the past. I am confident that our school will be granted some money this year. We would like to purchase pedometers for as many of our students as possible. In addition, we hope to purchase some heart rate monitors as well. We could use those in some upcoming face to face meetings with our students.

I actually developed a program for this grant proposal that would fit in nicely with my planned idea for the practicum. If everything works out here, I could get money for the school and purchase much needed equipment for cyber school students. Furthermore, I could then develop then put to life a plan I had actually developed about two years ago which would help me finally meet the requirements of finishing all class work at SRU.

Have any of you applied for this grant and/or done so in the past and been awarded any grant money? I would be curious to know what you received and what you did with it.

Thanks for reading. More to come later in the week.

RAC

Welcome to the Campsie blog....

Hi,

I am Rich Campsie and you have found my blog. I teach high school physical education these days at PA Learners Online. Yes, that's right I teach on-line pe courses for a regional cyber charter school.

I have some different perspectives on teaching physical education these days and I am here to share my thoughts and view points. Enjoy and feel free to respond to my thoughts.

Thanks,

R. A. Campsie