Hi everyone! I’m Luke Popovich, I am attending Whitewater with a major in Physical Education and I have a double minor in Health and Adaptive PE. I am still really trying to figure out what age group I want to teach. I could see myself teaching elementary, middle school, or high school. There are pro’s and con’s to all, so I will have to figure that out.
I want to teach Physical Education because I believe that being able to be physically active(however a person chooses) is very healthy, physically and mentally. I have always been one to stay physically active so it’s nice because I will be getting to teach something that I love. I also love to help others when I can- so that’s two in one! I know some Physical Education teachers can tend to focus more on the athletes, but I already know that I will be spending a lot of time focusing on the students who are not as athletic. I want everyone to be able to feel free while being physically active. I am an athlete, but I have grown up in a household full of non-athletes who were interested in things other than sports. But as I have grown older, I have seen some of my family members take to a lifestyle that involves more physical activity- and when they have, they just seem happier. That drives me to want every student to feel that. I know not everyone will, but I want to try my best to have it happen.
I have had some pretty great teachers in my past that have inspired me in different ways. Many different characteristics pop out at me when thinking of my past teachers that I have enjoyed, but I have to say that having enthusiasm for the subject they are teaching is the best quality that I have seen. My 8th grade English teacher was the most influential teacher I have ever had because she had lots of enthusiasm about the subjects she taught, and it really made me want to do all of the activities that she chose. She also never took herself too seriously which was nice, but she had control of the classroom because we knew exactly when she wanted us to pay attention. Enthusiasm is something that you can sense right away, and its contagious. Not everyone has the luxury of having this, but when a teacher does, it’s awesome! I hope I have great enthusiasm when teaching so my students can get the most of it.
This is actually pretty funny because I just watched the 2 video clip links after writing what I have up to this point, and the clips have to do with enthusiasm, exactly what I was talking about. Robin Williams in The Dead Poets Society was definitely a better teacher- he was full of life and he was enthusiastic about the subject he was teaching. You can tell the students were having fun, and were genuinely interested in what Williams was saying. They also seemed very inspired. Ben Stein in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off on the other hand was drier than camels forehead. I think by just taking one look at any of those students faces, you can just feel the boredom oozing from them.
The video above has many aspects to it, but enthusiasm is definitely part of what is trying to be said here . I believe the term “magic” is used in place of enthusiasm and inspiration. I think that Chris in this video really makes some good points about how many teachers learn all about concepts and standards but don’t always learn how to be engaging to their students. This is a skill that I don’t believe comes easy, but can be learned. This is something that I know I have to work on, but its most definitely a skill that I wish to gain- being able to deliver my enthusiasm for PE teaching in an inspiring way.
I am really excited to take what we learn from Educational Psychology and apply it to real life scenarios in the future. It seems like a class that will be very beneficial to any kind of teaching that we choose to do. All of the methods and philosophies that we will talk about will be great tools in the future. Some examples of these would be applying learner-centered methods and applying theories of learning to instructional strategies. there will also be many others we will learn about which will be very beneficial to student learning outcomes.