Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Comfort over Everything Else

In this video attached, I watched a short experiment conducted by Harry Harlow. In this experiment, he was trying to prove that infants, if given a choice would choose comfort over any other variable. The way he proved his thesis was through a lab monkey, which was given two separate choices for "mothers." The first mother had a bottle attached to it, but was made out of wire. The second mother was made of cloth, and was more comforting. The monkey was released from it's cage, and immediately went to the wire mother for food. Harlow said it best "he has to eat to survive." However, after a few seconds, he went to the cloth mother. The monkey would go to eat once more to fulfill it's apetite, but would ultimately stay with the cloth mother. Once and for all proving Harlow's thesis that when given a choice, an infant will choose comfort over any other variable.

I learned from this experiment. I always knew that infants would choose comfort, but I also thought that food would be near that level. However, as Harlow proved, a baby when put in an uncomfortable situation like the monkey was with the wire, would only eat the bare minimum to substain it's desire for food. I would assume that most infants would drink from a bottle until it was out, or they were completely full before going back for comfort. Infants do become attached to the love and comfort they receieve from their mother. It's important that they receive this growing up in their early years. However, as Physical Education teachers, we have to be prepared for students who come from broken homes, or have situations where they're moved around in foster care that don't receive a lot of love or attention. This will occur, and we have to make school enjoyable for them so they have something to look forward to.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Reach for the Sky

This week was our sixth lab at St Mary's Elementary school, with the theme this week as Toy Story. Our focus was on dribbling and kicking this week. I felt this lab went pretty well given the circumstances. When we got to the school, we found out that we would be running our activities outside for the day. I was prepared for this since we knew that Monday's lab was also outside. My game, Zone B, is an activity that can be played either inside or outside.

One thing that I didn't do correctly at first this week was explaining the rules to the game. The students were scoring easily, and were getting frustrated. I stopped the activity to go over the rules again, so the students wouldn't be as frustrated. Although it slowed the activity down, it actually made the game better. The students weren't scoring as much, and the game became more challenging. This is a part of PE, adapting games to either make them more challenging or easier. I knew the game was a success, because one of the students didn't want to participate in the beginning, but was very involved in the game as it progressed.

This lab didn't start off the greatest, but it ended well. All I can do is learn from my mistakes. This week, the way I explained the instructions wasn't as good as it could of been. However, this will ensure that the next time I explain the rules that it will be better. I don't want to be in a situation again where I have to stop the activity to mention the rules. I dressed up as Woody this week, since the theme was Toy Story. I felt dressing up helped the activity go along a lot better, since it helps get students interested. A lot of students were talking to me while we were just waiting in the hallway.

At St Mary's we look at student's progression involving different motor skills. However, I feel that I've progressed at a student learning to become a Physical Education teacher since the first lab. The first game that I presented wasn't very good at all. It had to do with the way I was presenting the games, and not showing a lot of excitement. However, as I've gotten used to the school, and received different amounts of advice, I've learned to become a better instructor for the students at St Mary's. It's important to listen to the advice given to you, and to learn from your mistakes. You'll have a better end result.