Saturday, September 20, 2008

Beginning the Journey

I've been a wrestler for 10 years. I've also been very active in many other aspects of my life, but I have never felt like I was a professional until I started taking this EDU 255 class. Being a physical education student here at SUNY Cortland, it is obvious that we are at one of the most prestigious universities for the physical education major and the overall education field. I feel that many other students would agree with me that it is hard to find motivation to become interested in a lot of the required classes for our major and to be honest, it can be hard at times to find relevance for some of the required classes. But for the first time in my college career I feel that this class is what will make an inexperienced student into a trained professional or professional in training. I recently was videotaped teaching the class for the first time. After reviewing the tape and analyzing how I taught. I can honestly say that it was probably the most embarrassing 5 minutes I had experienced in a long time. The feeling became even worse when I was assessing my teaching based on the criteria that I was provided with. It was absolutely horrible. I did take into consideration the subject that I was teaching, Sit-ups and Push-ups. Its hard to make those two exercises into fun filled games for students. However, I am sure that a trained professional would have no problem doing so. I constantly try and try to think of ways to calm my nerves down and not to feel so "put on the spot" during teaching sessions. I guess that its just beginners nerves. At least, I'm really hoping so. I have had some teachers through out my years in grade school that have made an everlasting impression on me. I strive and it is by far my ultimate goal to someday be that person for a student. I want to be the coach who teaches his athletes about the importance of a sport making its impact in your life, not the gold medals and trophies. I want to be the physical education teacher who helps students who think they can't believe that they can and make them certain that eventually they will. I know I'm just getting ahead of myself now but those are long term goals that I have for my future and I strongly feel that through this class, It will bring me one step closer to achieving that and being able to do so in a professional manner. As for now, this is just the beginning of my journey.