Visiting Beachwood Middle School was my first field experience. While there I observed Mr. Gibbons and Mrs. Hollingsworth who is not only one of the middle school gym teachers but also teaches health at the high school. Mrs. Hollingsworth recommend that along with majoring in Mulit-Age Education I should also look into either double majoring in health or get a minor in heath. This is something I plan on talking to my advisor about to see what she thinks as well. The reason Mrs. Hollingsworth suggested that is because this is her last year teaching before she retires and without her certification in health she would have been cut but because of that certification she was able to fill both positions and able to keep her job. I was surprised but her great enthusiasm even though she is retiring. Many times you see teachers slack in their last year because they know they do not need anything from the district in years to come. Mrs. Hollingsworth also emphasized how important it is to have another certification besides just Physical Education because of the competitive job market for teachers.
I was able to observe two class periods in the gym while on my observation. Both classes had much diversity amongst the students. The class was primarily white but did have some racial diversity but also had a few kids with physical disabilities. In the class there were two kids who were deaf. To compensate for their hearing disability there was an aid in the gym as well who translated what the teachers were saying into sign. I thought it was great that the school provided this option that allowed the students to be integrated into the class but also allowed them to understand what was going on. I find that there are many school that do the opposite of this, they instead pull the challenged kids out so that they can learn at their own pace. I had a first hand experience with this when my cousin, Kevin, who has spinal bifida was put in a classroom full of kids with mental and physical disabilities even though he was able to handle the traditional classroom. Kevin started having behavioral issues because of the classroom and it took months to convince the school to put him back into a the regular classroom. I feel that if students are able to handle a integrated classroom and aren't a distraction to other students learning then they should be in those classrooms. During the first class I noticed the uniforms that the kids were wearing for gym. They were allowed to wear whatever bottoms they liked -- which ranged from jeans to athletic shorts -- but they all wore black t-shirts that said Beachwood Middle School on them. This was something that I didn't expect from a public school but see why they do it. During middle school and high school my phys. ed. teachers were constantly having to talk to students about their shirts being cut inappropriately or for having inappropriate images or writing on them. Having uniformed shirts takes away the issues. I feel that having uniformed shorts for gym may be a good idea because it is one less issue for the teachers to deal with. With gym uniforms I feel it still gives the kids the opportunity to express themselves during the school day in the clothes they wish but also allows them to change for gym into clothes that allow them to properly move during the class.
One of the biggest differences I noticed from the gym classes I participated in through school is that that the teachers at Beachwood Middle School involved themselves in the activates that took place in class. The teachers kept score and stopped the game when it was being played incorrect. I feel this is an very important role for the gym teachers to play. It allows the students to build relationships with their teachers, opposed to them just standing on the side talking to each other and yelling at the students when they were doing something wrong. There was one point in the game where a student was not participating in the game and the Mr. Gibbons went and talk to the girl on how she could participate more. The students were also very conscience of those students who were not participating as much and would toss them the ball to allow them to serve and involve them in the game. I was very surprised to see this as many of the students were competitive I thought they would be more of "ball hogs". I feel that because the teachers were standing right there and were involved in the game the students were less likely to misbehave, making the teachers job that much more easier. I felt the teachers also did a very good job of making sure their was little down time so the students were always doing something. When one team was waiting for another team to finish up playing the teacher split them up real quick to play against each other. The teachers also kept rotating the teams so that the kids didn't get bored and kept them interested. Gym teachers in a middle school have a tough job to find activities that interested all their students. Their classes ranged from sixth graders to eight graders. At this age there is a huge gap in the ability of the students. The teachers were aware of the gap though, as we discussed it between classes, and did a good job of finding activities that all of the students could participate in .
I feel the gym teaches at Beachwood Middle School do a very good job of building relationships with their students, which I find is the most important thing a teacher can do. Mr. Gibbon remember that a student was sick last class and asked him how he was feeling today. He also asked another student where his sister was because she wasn't in class earlier that day. Mrs. Hollingsworth told me a story how two of the girls in the class brought her earrings that they made during the first few weeks of class for just being a great teacher and now she wears a pair of the earnings almost everyday. These are the things that I feel really help build the relationship between a student and a teacher that is important for the student to make the most of their learning experience in a school.
One of the only negative things I found in the room was how early the students got released from class to go change. Most kids just wore the pants they wee wearing for the day in class so all they had to do was change their t-shirts. The teachers gave the kids about ten minutes to do so and many of the students were back out in the gym after just two or three minutes and were asking to get basketballs out to playing with until they leave. I feel leaving the students in class long would cut down on this nagging and also allows them to get more physical activity for the day.
Overall I am unsure if middle school gym is something that I am interested doing but it is not totally out of the question. I am excited to visit a high school and elementary school gym class to see the difference in them all.
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