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Philosophy Of Teaching

Alexis Murrieta

Arizona State University

PPE 397 Clinical Experience: PE SED

Dr. Van Der Mars

February 20, 2017

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Philosophy Paper

Originally, becoming a physical educator was not my goal nor did it never cross

my mind that one day I would develop a passion for teaching. I got into this major

pursing a career in physical therapy, but during my short time in the program, I have

fallen in love with the impact I can make on the lives of the youth and the world as an

educator. During my first semester of the physical education program one of my

professors shared a story about a kid thrillingly running into the gym for Physical

Education class, but as he turned the corner and saw the climbing ropes hanging from the

ceiling, his demeanor changed from excitement to fear of failure. This story deeply

saddened me and immediately go me thinking about what I could do to fix this.

Unexpectedly, I came across a similar situation in my second week of my elementary

internship. I was walking with a young student who was over the moon excited about

playing a game in class, but as he turned the corner and saw the dodge balls lined up he

froze and told his teacher and me, Awwwe man, I suck at dodge ball. Im not fast and

they always get me out. He walked in with his head down with no joy in participating in

physical activity for the day and his teacher did not make an attempt to encourage the

boy. As it was my second week and I was only suppose to be observing I felt it was not

my place to interfere yet, but I was drawn to the situation feeling that it was my place to

do something. All he needed was a few words of encouragement and a little strategy and

he lasted until the end of every round. By the end of the class he was boasting about how

good he was. That made my day and it changed his whole outlook on dodgeball. I can

confidently say that this was the moment that made me realize the real impact I can make

as a teacher and my passion now lies in this profession.

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Physical education is a career where I can make a difference in the world. I can

help be one of the factors that made a change in childhood obesity and the health issues

that arise from this. If I can help the future of our nation lead a healthier and more

fulfilling life I will be fine living off a teachers salary. My goal is to instill physical

education so deep into these students lives that physical activity will cease to be a chore

for them like it is for so many Americans. Physical activity should start becoming an

essential part of life, just like sleeping and eating. I am extremely passionate about

physical education because, so many people around the world do not have this amazing

opportunity and yet we take it for granted and have record-breaking numbers in horrible

areas like the number of overweight people and obesity. My parents are an example of

two people who did not have this opportunity. My mother specifically never had a

physical education class growing up in Mexico. She did not learn how to balance, throw a

ball, leap, jump, or any of that. To this day, despite my efforts she does not participate in

daily physical activity because it has never been a part of her life. My job will be to show

the importance of this subject and make its positive effects well known around my

community.

I believe that physical education should include a variety of different content. I do not

think it is possible to have a strong physical education program only incorporating the

content you are into. The purpose of my job is to create physically literate individuals and

give them the tools to be physically active for a lifetime. I need to understand that not all

of my students are going to like sports. Some might enjoy running, hiking, rock climbing,

dance, so I need to train myself in all these aspects and share the knowledge with my

students to make the lessons fun and relatable to their interests.

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The first step in making a change to the perception of physical activity is

becoming a great physical education instructor. The most important part of teaching

physical education is classroom management. Since teaching cannot be done with out

having the kids attention this is the most important step. Because of this, it is imperative

to have a great set of rules, procedures, and consequences that I can consistently refer to

when students do not follow directions. It is vital for the success of my classroom

management that I use the consequences on all student that feel it is okay to disrupt the

class. A very important lesson I learned this year is that we need to start off as strict

teachers and then get softer as the years go on. It is almost impossible to start off as a

lenient teacher and try to get strict as the year moves forward. Students will not respond

to this type of teaching because you did not establish good classroom management.

Establishing a great physical education program in my eyes is only the beginning.

I recognize that I will be giving students options, sharing the joy and knowledge of

physical activity, and preparing them for life lead with physical activity, but how does

anyone else know? The end goal of my program is to have anyone that walk by my class

say, wow, look how amazing that teacher and his class are. As a physical educator I

need to be involved and immersed in a lesson that I am teaching. I need to avoid standing

on the sideline, and instead I need to continuously look for ways I can make things

challenging and exciting for all my students. My program also needs to be controlled and

organized. This means I cannot have students scattered around a field or a gymnasium

standing around doing nothing. There always needs to be some sort of organization in my

program and a smile on every students face while performing physical activity. Most

importantly, I believe that my class cannot be caught going through a transition phase by
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anyone passing by. Because of this my transition need to be quick and smooth to benefit

both my students and my program. At the end of my program students should walk away

with an understanding of how to perform physical activity outside of the classroom in

multiple setting and especially in the activity of their interest. Students will know to set

up the activity and understand the workings of all aspects of the activity. This deeper

knowledge of the activity will give the students the opportunity and confidence to share

the activity with other classmates and their families. For example, if a student knows how

to play volleyball, but doesnt know the rules, scoring system, positions, or roles it is

unlikely that they will be sharing the activity with anyone else. On the other hand, one of

my students that does have this understanding will likely take the lead in finding a group

of friends or family and set up a realistic game setting with scoring, rules, and positions. I

can only hope this cycle will continue because my student will teach others how to play,

and their friends will then teach someone else and so on.

Another important aspect of a successful physical education program is a grading

system. I believe that there should be a grading system for Physical Education and in my

personal opinion it should be done on an A-F grading system for all the grade levels.

Implementing a grading system not only improves my credibility as a teacher, but it also

benefits students and parents when conferences come around. I will have visible data that

I can refer to when speaking about a student to parents or to a principal. An A-F grading

system is something I feel comfortable teaching to students of all ages. Since I believe

getting students to participate in Physical Activity inside and outside of school is the

purpose of my profession, my main focus when grading will be on participation and

following rules. Having participation in Physical Activity determine the grade they get,
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will eliminate the problem of trying to get kids that cannot read and ELL students to be

successful on written exams. I will begin by giving students ten points to start the class

and they can lose points for not following rules or not participating, but they can also

gain back the points for positive behavior. A score of one-five is an F, six is a D, seven is

a C, eight is a B, and nine/ten is an A. I believe that showing an understanding of the

activities we are performing is a must in my program. Just as a person certified in CPR

and First Aid needs to perform the act before they can be certified, my students must also

show me that they understand an activity. My main assignment will put students in

groups and they will lead a sport or activity for the class encompassing all aspects of the

game. This includes rules, teams, positions, and roles. I want is to see is improvement

from when they first began the activity. At these ages, skill is mostly based on genetics,

so I refuse to fail a student for working hard, but ultimately failing to complete the

activity.

I will become a great physical education teacher because I am passionate about

this profession and I have the knowledge and training to make a difference. I plan on

attending conferences and subscribing to academic journals like S.H.A.P.E. to continue

learning more about the current and best techniques to teach my students that physical

activity in the classroom can transfer into everyday life.