More than Physical Education

Who would have thought that so many more things are involved in Physical Education than playing sports? Well I learned so much, and now have such a better grasp on the effects, demonstrations, and skills that I can teach my students through Physical Education. For example, using vocabulary words. Physical Education has a wide variety of words, it is pretty much it's own language for someone that does not understand sport lingo. It is just as important to help students understand these words so they can comprehend and excel in this content area just as in any other. One of many ways I might incorporate this would be to have a word wall in my gym with the words that will be used during particular activities. In Basketball I would have the words "Offense, Defense, dribble, pass, screen, drive, cross over, layup, jump shot, zone, backboard," and more to indicate and help students to put the terms with the movements or skills. 

Relating to basketball again, students have to learn how to talk and use oral skills especially during play. Communication is key in sports and in physical activities, especially in team sports. When in my classroom, the oral language will be the same as it relates to sports and activities. Helping students learn grow and develop in groups and become leaders among their peers. They will be able to incorporate voice and expression during activities. 






One of the most exciting tools that I plan to put into my content area is digital technology. There has been so much developed in the digital physical activity world that it would be dumb not to use what is out there. Using apps to track body and nutrition for each individual. Breaking down skills on videos and helping students learn and develop. Watching videos or demonstrations if I the teacher am not able to do all the skills perfectly. It is an endless opportunity to make sure skills are taught, learned and transferred visually to the students to learn and perform them themselves. 
I want my classroom to be more than a place to go run and get out of the sit down everyday curriculum classes that they all enjoy so much :) I want it to be a learning environment, and place where students learn and develop. Not only in sports or activities, but in personal confidence, leadership skills, knowledge of other content areas incorporated to my classroom, peer relationships, teamwork abilities, and to enjoy the time they are in my class. I want to be a fun teacher, but one that is always teaching by word, skills, feedback, reinforcement, and example. The classroom is truly the greatest place to learn, and I plan to teach way more than Physical Education. 

~From the Fields to the Classrooms~

Paul Idaho, a small town right in the middle of the farms community in Southern Idaho. Growing up we spent our days in the fields doing harvest, playing games when we weren’t tied down to the truck with mom and throwing sugar beets into a truck that were left behind from the digger. It was all about fun, and competition. You see growing up I had an older brother, he was “the best” at everything and always was nagging me to try and be as good as him at everything. He became my role model and all I wanted to do was keep up with him, throw as far as he did, ran as fast as he could, and be the best like he was. Where ever he was, I was there to. Whatever he was doing, I was attempting it myself. It set me up for the rest of my life and gave me a drive to always be and do better in anything I ever did.

Well to this day I am so competitive! I like to win and I like to be “the best” at all I do! He rubbed off on me for sure, but I am grateful because it made me who I am today. The reward is far greater than I could have ever imagined. Not only do I love sports and such, but I see the lessons that I learned from it all. It wasn’t to beat him; it was for my own personal growth and development. It was to help me work hard and to accomplish and do hard things that I didn’t think possible. For the majority of the time we grow up together we were active and engaged in doing things, not sitting around. I developed a love for watching others grow and develop their own self worth through physical activities. It does not have to be a major sport, but in any skill that teaches them to learn and practice and grow. They will be engaged with others in my discipline area and will learn team building skills, leadership skills, work ethic, and so much more from this discipline and be able to use it in all aspects of their lives.

For me it started in the beet fields in Idaho. It has taken me farther than I ever imagined and I am far from done learning and growing. I want to simply help others get out and become someone that they are capable of becoming. They have every opportunity to learn how to work and to become someone great by learning life skills through the physical education program. I know that I am who I am today because of the opportunities I have been given, and I want to share them with as many students as I can in hopes that they can find joy and happiness throughout their lives in whatever they chose to do. “This life is to be enjoy, not just endured.”

The Book that Changed My Life

Am I a good reader…..In the World’s Eyes, not at all! Personally sitting down to read a book for recreation or comfort is not my ideal source of “FUN.” Especially when it came to required reading in school, which was my least favorite thing in the entire world. It didn’t give me a chance to be interested in the material so it was more of a drag to get through an entire book. When options were presented, I of course would read material that I liked, like sports books, or autobiography’s of my favorite college coaches and so forth. All through high school and college I never got into reading. It was not until a year and a half ago that a book really caught my interest. I decided to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Iowa. We believe in the “Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ” that we read with the Bible and together they make up the fullness of the everlasting gospel.

           

My entire childhood I was told to read this book, to learn about it and so forth, but I made the decision to not to. I did not want anyone to tell me what to do, so to sort of rebel I never read it. At age 22 I finally made the choice to read it for myself to know if it was true, and It changed my life forever. That book has brought more peace and understanding to my life than any other book I have ever read. I have read it time and time again in less than 2 years and will continue to read it throughout my life. Not only do I love that book, but I have grown to like reading more than ever. I actually now want to read other books that are related, and that means in many different aspects. The daily lives of individuals who have 

struggled with personal trials. How to be happy and find good in the world, inspirational stories and so on. The decision to read for myself, allowed my heart to open up to reading and learning from other sources as well. I am so grateful that it took me that long to enjoy reading, because now it means so much more to me to do it for myself and not for someone else.

I want to help students learn to read without forcing them to read material that does not interest them. I feel very strongly about meeting the needs of every individual and allowing them choices with things they will read and learn from in the classroom. With Physical Education and Health there are so many wonderful reading materials that I know can interest all minds. So they will be given options of what they want to read. They should enjoy the time they have to read and learn about people, health related material, sports, fitness, and so on. There is a never ending supply of inspirational stories, motivating words, and confidence building materials within these subjects. They deserve their own opinions and perceptions of what reading is to them, why they enjoy it, and how it can best influence their lives. Reading really is a wonderful thing and needs to be used to help and influence people, not force them to do things to do them. Book do change lives, and I am living proof of that. 

~Motive to Create a Happy Life Style~

Students lucky enough to enter my world, welcome to the greatest content area there is, Physical Education and Health! Not only do we get to have sooo much fun as we learn and grow in the wide variety of topics, but these will be used for generations to come. You will impact your own future posterity and theirs and so on. This is a never ending cause, and a cause that will be lifelong in each of our lives. Whether you like sports, nutrition, competition, the human body, diseases, lifetime sports, walking, biking, running, or anything that the body takes place in, oh wait it is in everything!!!! How could someone possibly not learn and grow in these subjects?! Even if you don’t love sports, there is always something to learn, maybe you enjoy watching more than playing…great, we can teach the rules and help you become more familiar with each sport. Maybe you enjoy eating junk food, I know I doJ, but we can learn how to do it in moderation with adequate exercise that may not be as extreme as people make it out to be. Here is one of my favorite websites to learn and engage in activities. I especially like the portion control portion and trying to guess the calories of each food from years previous to food we eat now.

http://www.choosemyplate.gov/supertracker-tools/portion-distortion.html

Make Exercise fun!!!! Watch how easy it is to find things to do all around you!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlYa7z7txgM

Future students, get ready to have some fun, get ready to learn the most interesting facts and how things can be prevented or how things can be achieved. You will learn lots about the world around us, how to take care of our bodies, how to have fun, how to be on teams, how to work together with people around you, how to be happy, and how to make the most out of the life we have. I look forward to sooo many good times and learning experiences to come! Go ahead, eat that chocolate, be happy, we will learn how to do it healthy and in the right way! Calories only count if you count them :)

A Wonderful Beginning

Hi I am Keisha Lloyd, I am currently attending Utah State University to finish up my Secondary Education degree with a double major in Health and Physical Education. I am a very outgoing person and love to laugh. I enjoy new adventures and being active. Growing up playing sports became who I was. Basketball has always been my passion and I put most of my time and energy into it. Others sports are fun to play too....I unfortunately torn my ACL in both knees during high school, and at the time thought it would be the end of the world. What I did not understand was the opportunities that it opened up for me in my life. Coaching became my new passion, and my goal was to simply help them become "better players" on the court, but ultimately to help them become "better people" off the court. I took some time off coaching and my degree to serve a full time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints in Iowa. It was the best teaching opportunity I have had in my life, and makes me that much more excited to become a teacher.

Health and Physical Education to me is a way of life. Every step we take in our life's journey involves the well being of the human body. It provides ways to be healthy, active, alert, happy, and full of energy. That in turns helps us to function and think and do all other things that we do on a regular day to day basis. My life has always been involved in physical activity and nutrition and I love sharing my skills and knowledge with others. The middle school and high school age group is at a pivotal time in their lives to become aware of the Health and Physical Activity aspects in the world around them. In doing so they will be prepared to take care of their bodies throughout their lifetime. It is important for them to not only know the facts and to watch activities, but for them to be involved, for them to develop good habits that will help them be who they want to be. Every person is unique and different and these topics allows people to do things at their own pace and comfort level. It is a subject with limitless opportunities in which people can succeed and be happy in their own ways. 

Literacy is very much related to my content area. Literacy to me is a person's intellectual understanding and ability to apply that into daily functions. When we see someone grasp a concept, or become capable of completely a skill learned, they become literate and ably to complete or do the task at hand. For Health it may be recognizing the food content in each product and the balance of their diets. In Physical Education if may be a motor skill of learning how to properly throw a ball, and then having it become an automatic response.

I look forward to learning more and being able to apply more resources in my classroom!!!