Date: October 18th, 2012 Location: Urbana High School Grade Levels: 15 years old 21 years old Organization

n of Class: This is an adapted p.e. class. The class was organized in a very relaxed manner. The students and their individual aids all came in at different times throughout the class. After ten minutes into the period, the substitute teacher got everyone together to explain what the plan for the day was. He then opened the equipment closet and told the kids to grab whichever balls they wanted and then let them do whatever they wanted from there. Most of the students stayed the entire hour, but some of the students left early. I do not know the students enough yet to know why they left early, but it did not seem like it was because they wanted to leave. It seemed as though the aid was getting bored and wanted to bring the student back to the next classroom. Class Activities: The substitute teacher and aids led the students in stretching for ten minutes from 8:08 a.m. 8:12 a.m. Then the substitute teacher brought out all of the different types of balls that the students could play with. From here he just let the students do whatever they wanted without any further instruction. Some students chose to shoot hoops with the basketballs, others chose to play catch with their aid with a football, some chose to bounce on exercise balls, and other chose to just sit there. The students did this for the remainder of the class period until 8:45 a.m. Instructional Strategies: The only type of teaching that the substitute teacher did was leading the stretches and telling the students what they were doing in class for the day. I understand that he is a substitute teacher, but he has subbed for the class before so one would assume he is capable of running a more interactive class since he knows how the system works and the capabilities of the students. My Responsibilities: I did not participate with the students in this class because I did not know what the rules were of the actual teacher, Mr. Tim Murray. Since this was my first time there, I sat off to the side and just watched the substitute teacher, the aids, and the students for the entire class period. Occasionally some students would come up to me to introduce themselves and ask what my name is, but that was the only interaction I had with anyone in the class. Personal Reflections: Throughout the entire period I was frustrated, starting with the first bell. The substitute teacher took his time to get into the gym from the office, showing up five minutes after the bell rang. He then just stood around and talked with the students instead of taking attendance to make sure everyone was there so he could start teaching them. I was hoping things would change once the lesson started, but it only got worse from here. I did not like how he just gave the kids a cart of balls to go and do whatever they wanted. Once the substitute gave the kids the balls he just stood there, talking to the aids and occasionally one of the students who was not participating at that time. This upset me because to me it seemed that the reason a lot of the students were not participating the entire period was because they got bored very easily. The students wanted the aids and substitute to play catch with them, bounce volleyballs, and shoot hoops for example, yet none of them would. They just stood there and talked to each other. A few of the aids did get involved, and the students whom they were playing with had a blast. I really wanted to join and participate, but without having a chance to speak with the actual teacher and learn the rules of the class, I figured it was best to just sit and observe. I would have liked to see more interaction from the aids with the students since the students clearly love and thrive off of the attention given to them. This would have made a much more interactive class, resulting in more students participating in physical activity rather than sitting on the side of the basketball court doing nothing. The aids and substitute made no effort to get these students involvedthey just let the students sit there and not participate, resulting in no physical activity for the class period, which is unacceptable to me. I am hoping things will be better when the actual teacher is back.

Date: October 19th, 2012 Location: Urbana High School Grade Levels: 15 years old 21 years old Organization of Class: This is an adapted p.e. class. The class was organized in a very relaxed manner. Since this was the first period of the school day, the students were coming in late. It took around ten minutes for half of the class to arrive, and after half of the class did arrive, the teacher brought the students and the aids upstairs into the weight room. The teacher led the class in stretches and then the students were given a free day to do whatever they wanted in the weight room. Class Activities: The students started by doing very basic stretches once they were in the weight room. This consisted of doing arm circles, stretching out the neck, and jumping jacks. After this, the students were able to do whatever they wanted. Two students chose to lift weights, once chose to do bicep curls with the dumbbells, and the other eight students chose to bounce on the yoga balls. Instructional Strategies: The main thing that the teacher did was leading the class in stretches, and giving them instructions for what they were allowed to do in the weight room. Their options were to lift weights, walk the treadmill at 2 mph, or to bounce on the yoga balls. There was no push by the aids or by the teacher to get the students to lift weights or walk on the treadmill. It seemed as though as long as the students were not complaining, the teacher and aids were happy. The part that upset me was that there were two students attempting to lift, clearly showing no knowledge of proper form. Instead of intervening and teaching the kids how to properly lift the weights, the teacher just continued to sit there and talk with the other students. The one thing I liked that the teacher did do this time though was that he interacted with the students. Last time he mainly talked to other aids and teachers, but this time he talked with the students bouncing on the yoga balls for the majority of the period. My Responsibilities: During this class period I sat off to the side on one of the benches and watched the students, aids, and head teacher. I did not interact with the students other than saying hello when I walked into the classroom and when they wanted to shake my hand and introduce themselves and find out my name. Personal Reflections: There were parts of this class period that I liked more than the last time I was there, and there were also things that really disappointed me. I liked how there was more involvement by the aids and head teacher. Last time the aids ignored the students and stood off to the side, but this time they interacted with the student they were in charge of for the day. I stated in my last journal entry that the students would participate more if the aids played with them, and I was right. By the aids interacting with the students they were in charge of, this resulted in the students doing something other than sitting on the floor. Although most of the students chose to bounce on the yoga balls, I still see this as an improvement from sitting on the floor against the wall. I still think the aids need to push their students to participate in class and do something more active. I want to note though that I do not completely blame the aids. In my eyes, the head teacher causes all of this. The teacher needs to set an example for the class and tell the aids what to do, yet this teacher does not do any of that. This teacher leads the stretches, and then lets everyone do whatever they want. I think he views the students as not capable of doing much, and therefore, lets them do whatever they want as long as they are happy. He said the students will be starting a volleyball unit next week though, so hopefully there will be some changes in his teaching strategies and he will push the students to get more active and participate.

The one other thing that upset me the most in this class period was how the teacher ignored the two students who chose to try and lift weights. The two students would go from machine to machine and put the weight at a random number, and then try to perform the exercise. The students clearly did not understand how to perform the exercise, yet no aid or teacher explained to them how to properly do the exercises. The head teacher only would lower the weight when the students put the pin at too heavy of a weight and he also told them what machines they were not allowed to use. I do not know if the teacher himself did not know how to properly do the exercises, or if he just did not care that they were doing the exercises improperly. I hope he just did not realize they were doing the exercises incorrectly, and if this were the case, he should go on the computer and learn how to properly do the exercises so he can show the students how to properly do them, preventing any injury in the future.

Date: October 25th, 2012 Location: Urbana High School Grade Levels: 15 years old 21 years old Organization of Class: This is an adapted p.e. class. Once all of the students met in the main gym the class went outside to the track to start the class. The students started by stretching out, led by the head teacher. After stretching, the students were told to go around the track, either by running or walking. The goal was for each student to finish at least 4 laps. This was easy for some of the students, and harder for others due to the different types of disabilities. Class Activities: The only two activities of this class period were stretching and walking around the track. One student chose to run, but other than him, everyone else either sat on the side and watched, or walked the track. Instructional Strategies: The head teacher did not show much improvement this time compared to the last class I observed of his. All he did was take attendance, lead the class in a few stretches, and then he told them to walk the track. There were a few students that were not motivated to walk around the track and chose to sit down, and the head teacher did keep trying to push these kids to get up and walk, which I was happy about. My Responsibilities: I did not participate in this class period. I stood off to the side and talked with the head teacher, even though he should have been working with the students and pushing them to get more active and get their heart rates up. Personal Reflections: I did not like the activity chosen by the head teacher for this class period. Walking or running the track would be good for a warm up, but not for an entire class period; there was an entire football field not being used that the teacher could have used for some activities. I did not like how the aids chose to stand off to the side and watch the kids run the track as well. The students feed off of the participation by the aids, and when the aids show they do not want to participate, this results in the students wanting to stand around too. If the aids even walked the track this would be better than nothing because then it would get the students to walk too. The one thing I saw that I did like this class period though was that the head teacher pushed the students to participate and walk the track. There was one girl in particular who refused to stand up and participate. The teacher told me that she rarely participates, but instead of giving up on her, it seemed as though the teacher took it as a challenge to get her involved. He continuously would ask her to participate and finally, after continuously telling the head teacher no, she gave in and walked the track for the remainder of the period. It was nice to see the head teacher get involved and promote physical activity. The one other thing that I got out of this class period was a very informational discussion about IEPs with the head teacher. I started off the conversation by asking him if he was involved in the process of writing the IEP and if he had seem the IEPs for each individual student. The teacher told me that he was not physically involved in writing the IEPs, but he was involved in the meetings when the IEPs were being revised. He explained to me how some parents get involved and want the best for their child, whereas there are other parents who make the process extremely difficult. He said some parents see the school as a babysitting service and as a way to get away from their child for a few hours during the day. I could not believe that some parents viewed their child as a burden. There was one set of parents who wanted to kick their child out of the house as soon as he turned 22, which made me furious. I always heard about parents like this, but never was told directly about a specific instance where it occurred. According to the teacher this student had a severe disability, and there was no way he could live on his own. The teacher told me that I will be faced with some parents like this and as much as I am going to want to freak out at the parents, I am going to have to hold it in because if I do that then it will be even harder to get the parents to agree to some IEP goals. This conversation was very

enlightening and gave me some exposure to what I might see when I become a physical education teacher and how react and how not to react.

Date: November 1st, 2012 Location: Urbana High School Grade Levels: 15 years old 21 years old Organization of Class: This is an adapted p.e. class. The class was run just like all of the other classes, meaning students strolled in whenever they got there and the class started about ten minutes late. Once around half of the class got there, the teacher brought the students into the gym that they would be in for the period. The aids got extremely involved this time and worked with the student they were in charge of, and the head teacher got involved at first, but then started to drift away from the lesson and talk to the other teacher in that gym. Class Activities: The unit that the class was in at the time was volleyball, so that is what they were doing this class period. As always, the class started by stretching, and then started playing volleyball for the remainder of the class period. Instructional Strategies: The head teacher led the stretches, and then he explained the rules to the game. He attempted to make some adaptations, as listed above, with the goal of the students being able to play a variation of what an actual volleyball game would look like. The teacher chose to use a big ball that was soft, in place of an actual volleyball, and then had one net for one large game of volleyball. The adapted rules were that each student was allowed one bounce after it was hit over the net, they did not have to serve from the service line, and the students did not have to rotate each time they got a point when they were in serve receive. The teachers main goal was to have the students play without catching the ball. Many students preferred to catch the ball and then hit it over the net, but the teacher wanted the students to break this habit and have them hit it out of the air or off of a bounce. My Responsibilities: During this class period I chose to sit off to the side instead of participating. There was hardly enough room on the court for the students and aids combined, so I figured it was best if I just sat out to the side. Now that I have a feel for how the class is run and have developed a friendly and professional relationship with the teacher, I do not think he will mind if I get involved in the class. He has not invited me to participate, but I do not think he will mind if I do and I plan on doing so in future class periods. Personal Reflections: During this class period there were things that I think could have been modified to maximize participation and some things that I did not like, but there also were some things that I liked too. In regards to the head teacher, I liked how he made some adaptations to allow the students to participate, such as using a bigger ball and allowing them to hit the ball off of a bounce. It can be very difficult to hit the small volleyball, especially when it is being hit at you, so I think using a bigger ball and allowing a bounce gave the students a higher chance to feel a sense of achievement when they were able to hit the ball back over the net. I also liked how he tried to enforce the rules at the beginning. Whenever a student would catch the ball, he would remind the student that he or she could not catch the ball when it came over the net and that he or she had to either hit it right away or off of a bounce. The part that upset me though was once one of the other physical education teachers brought his class into the room, the head teacher chose to talk with him instead of focusing on his own class. He would occasionally try to remind the students the rules from afar, but it was very ineffective since he was not involved with the lesson anymore. My only other complaint was that I think the teacher could have made even more adaptations than he already did. There were at least twelve students on each side of net, which meant each student rarely got a chance to hit the ball. Some of the students took control and would run in front of other students, attempting to hit the ball, ultimately stealing that students opportunity at hitting the ball. If the teacher split up the class into smaller teams and used the other net as well, this would have

resulted in more students getting the opportunity to touch the ball and attempt to hit it over the net. I also would like to make note of the involvement of the aids. The aids got very involved this class period, which had a huge effect on the class. By every aid playing, that resulted in every student playing as well. If the student that the aid was in charge of lacked the coordination to hit it when it was hit over the net to him or her, the aid would catch the ball and toss it to the student so he or she could still get the satisfaction of participating. The end result was students participating that never participated before. The girl who refused to walk the track got involved and ended up being one of the better students, a student who has downs syndrome and chose to sit on the side most class periods got involved and had a smile on her face the entire class period, and one student who was very shy and would never participate had a blast and loved the feeling of being able to hit the ball successfully over the net. Maybe next time I can make the suggestion to the head teacher to use two notes so the students get more opportunities at hitting the ball. It was very obvious that the students loved playing volleyball, and I think that was due to the level of energy and encouragement from the aids. If the aids were to show this enthusiasm in the other class periods I observed I think those classes could have gone better as well.

Date: November 1st, 2012 Location: Urbana High School Grade Levels: 15 years old 21 years old Organization of Class: This is an adapted p.e. class. As usual, this class started ten minutes late. There were fewer students at first, but as the period went on, more students arrived. The aids did not look like they wanted to be there, which led to a very boring class for the students. Class Activities: Once the class finally started, the head teacher led the students in stretches, which the aids participated in as well. Then the head teacher told the students that they had a free day and could do whatever they wanted in the gym with the balls that they were given. This consisted of shooting hoops, bouncing a volleyball back and forth, or bouncing on big yoga balls. Instructional Strategies: The head teacher led the students in stretches and then just opened the closet and brought out a basket of random balls for the students to use. After doing this, he stood off to the side and just talked with some students who did not feel like participating at the moment, or he would talk with a few of the students as they shot basketball hoops. He explained to me how at the end of the semester him and the aids would be taking the students to the bowling alley, which I thought was great, but this had nothing to do with what the students were doing in that specific class period and was something he could have told me when we were sitting in his office before class started. My Responsibilities: At first I did as I usually would, which was sitting off to the side and observing the class. Once the students were done stretching and I heard the head teacher tell them they could do whatever they wanted, I knew this was going to be just like the first lesson I observed, where the aids and head teacher stood around and very few students participated since no one would play with them. Sure enough, five minutes into the free day, this is exactly what happened. The aids looked like they came straight into work from a long night out, and the head teacher showed no signs of wanting to get involved and get the kids participating. I told myself the last time that I would get involved the next time I was observing, and that is exactly what I did. Myself and the other student observer went onto the court and started shooting hoops with a few of the students. I could see how happy the two students were that we came out to shoot hoops with them by the big smiles on their faces. They wanted to show us their skills and how far away from the basket they could be and still make the shot. It led to a modified game of horse where occasionally the student would shoot from somewhere and then let me try to make it as well, but then at other times I was just a rebounder and gave the student the ball so they could shoot again. It was a lot of fun and I look forward to getting involved the next time I am there, observing, if I am able to participate. Personal Reflections: I did not like this class period at all, except for the part where I got to play basketball with a few of the students. As I saw in previous class periods, as long as the aids get involved, the students are happy and will participate. During this class period though, the aids did the opposite. They stood off to the side with their coffees and talked. When a student would ask them to play, occasionally an aid would play with the student for a few minutes, but then he or she would tell the student to go play with another student instead. I also do not like how the head teacher gives these students free days. This might be possible for a lesson in a general physical education class, but I do not see it as a possibility in an adapted physical education class. When the students in this class are not given a specific activity, most do not know what to do and choose to sit and do nothing. They first look at their aids, and if their aids choose to stand off to the side, then that is exactly what the students tend to do as well. If the teacher is going to give a free day to the students, then he needs to actively participate in the class and play with the students in order to get them involved as well. Without the enthusiasm and participation from the aids and head teacher though, the students will not participate.

I am very frustrated by this lack of participation from the aids and head teacher, and I want someone to come in and say something to these teachers. I was thinking of ways that I could say something and I came up with the idea that maybe one time when I am observing I can make note to the head teacher or another aid how awesome it is that one of the aids is getting involved because I can see how it is causing many of the students to get involved too. Maybe this will result in the aid opening up his or her eyes and realizing how big of a role they play in the physical education class of their students and the development of their motor skills. The only way the students can improve their motor skills is by participating, and if the aids get involved in the class, this will lead to more participation from the students. I do not completely blame the aids though. The head teacher must lead the class and set an example for the aids. The image that the head teacher set for the aids though in this class is that standing off to the side is ok, so therefore, the aids do as the head teacher does, meaning they stand off to the side and talk amongst themselves instead of participating with the students.

Date: November 15th, 2012 Location: IAHPERD Conference Title of Lecture: Systematic Observation in Adapted PE: Evidence to Support Best Practice Presenter: Laurie Zittel Focus of Lecture: This lecture went over ways to explain what students are doing in their adapted p.e. class, with the hope of gaining more support for adapted p.e. services. According to the lecturer, there is a lack of support for adapted p.e. services, so p.e. teachers need a way to justify that more services are needed. To do this, teachers need to collect evidence, and we were taught two different types of tests that we can easily use or have an aid use in the classroom to collect data. This lecture focused on collecting data on the physical activity level of the students in early childhood, using two different tests, which were SOFIT and PALS. What I Learned: Before coming into this lecture, I did not know how to properly collect data to show the parents and other individuals involved in the students education that my teaching ways were working, or that the student needs more services then he or she is being provided with. I first learned about different tools for observation, such as pedometers, accelerometers, and heart rate monitors, discussing the pros and cons to both. The main focus of the lecture was going over how to properly record the data for a PALS test and SOFIT test. We watched a video and practiced scoring the level of the students physical activity every 15 seconds for a 3-minute clip. I thought it was extremely helpful to practice the different evaluation methods because it is one thing being told about it, and another thing to actually do it. The lecturer also was planning on putting evaluation sheets online so we can start evaluating our students as soon as possible. I did not realize how many teachers had trouble with their students not being given the proper related services, especially for p.e., so this meeting really opened up my eyes towards the field of adapted p.e. We ended the lecture by going over what to report in an IEP meeting after collecting this data. The lecturer said to let the related services do the standardized test, and that we should just focus on practical tests and least restrictive environment, in order to see where the student fits best. These tests will help us justify where everyone is in the class, teachers and students, explicitly showing if students are getting enough physical activity and if the teachers in the classroom are doing their job. It is up to us to bring this up in an IEP meeting because data speaks, and an IEP is not just social skills; the students need physical activity and a healthy lifestyle.

Date: November 15th, 2012 Location: IAHPERD Conference Title of Lecture: Issues in Adapted P.E. Presenter: Steve Breen Focus of Lecture: This particular lecture was turned into a discussion. Everyone in the room sat around in a circle, and brought up issues that they were facing in their school district or classroom. The other teachers would then provide any suggestions they had for things that worked for them that might help solve that individuals issue. Steve Breen served as a mediator and made sure that the discussion did not spend too much time on one question so other people could ask their question, and he also provided additional insight when the other teachers could not. He had issues to bring up that were common in adapted p.e. classes, but we did not go over them because everyone else had questions of their own to bring up, which actually addressed some of the things he had written down. What I Learned: To break down what I learned in this discussion session, I am going to break it down issue by issue since I learned something from every question that was brought up. I learned more from some compared to others, so I will focus on the ones I learned the most from. The first question was about a student with an IEP where the goal for p.e. was social integration, with nothing about physical activity; the teacher wanted to know if she just had to accept this, or if she could do something about it to get physical activity as a goal (felt she did not have a voice since she was not an administrator). The response was no, this is not acceptable. The advice given to her was to document what was occurring in the classroom with someone in special services because an individual from special services tends to have a key role in the development of the IEP. If the teacher cannot get a goal on the IEP, then the teachers recommended that she does what she can on her own first. As long as she makes sure to focus on social integration, she can still include physical activity for that student, especially since this is a p.e. class. The next question was from a teacher who had a class that only had autistic children, and he was wondering what would be some good activities for them. The main recommendation was to keep the lesson basic, similar to a lesson plan for kindergarten through 2nd grade. According to the other teachers, autistic children enjoy obstacle courses, and they need a consistent, routine structure. Stations seem to help too, especially with visuals, such as pictures, of real people performing the skill. Written instructions can help too, sometimes more than a voice, especially if the student has aspergers. If a student is bilingual, this could help even more because they will be associating the picture with the word, resulting in the student learning the English language as well. The only other suggestion given was to have rewards at the end of the class period if students do well enough on that day. An example of this would be being allowed to use the iPad for ten minutes when returning to the classroom to play games before starting a new lesson. Another question came from a man who has children K-12 with behavioral and emotional issues. Currently he is doing weekly units with them, but was wondering if anyone had any suggestions. The other teachers said that he should do a new activity every day since these students tend to get bored and frustrated with skills if they have to do them for long periods of time. The most important thing to make note of though is that when the teachers suggested switching up the lessons, they did not mean in a drastic way. It is important to still have a set schedule, just with a variety of activities. If the teacher does not have a set schedule, this could upset the students because they tend to dislike any surprises in their day. Another suggestion was to include an incentive program to help the students behave better, such as if they earn enough points throughout the week then they can do their favorite activity on Friday. Empowerment models are helpful and a good strategy for a p.e. curriculum because they force the students to take responsibility for their actions.

The most helpful question was the one asked by me, and I asked what recommendations the teacher had for me since I will be a new teacher very soon. I was wondering what were some things I could do to make the transition for a student with a disability, and me, a lot smoother and easier for the both of us. Every teacher raised their hand to give me a recommendation, some of them we discussed in class. Some of these recommendations were: to look over each students IEP, bring my list of students to the main office and ask if any of those students have an IEP that I should be aware of (p.e. teachers are not always given the IEP), talk to the school nurse since he or she more than likely knows the student pretty well, adjust the equipment for the specific need of the child, have high expectations for the child (if too easy then child will slack off a student with a disability is capable of doing many more things than people realize), and that I should make sure an assistant is there in the classroom working with the students as well (many aids treat p.e. as a break and will not show up). These recommendations were extremely helpful. Some of the ones that I never thought of doing before were bringing my list of students down to the office. It is a really good idea because then I can make sure that I know everything there is to know about my students, allowing me to make my lesson as individualized as possible. The other big issue that was addressed in this discussion session was that there is a lack of understanding at the high administrative level that p.e. is a direct service, not indirect. Steve Breen and a group he is apart of is currently working on papers to give to teachers who are dealing with this problem in their school district, which will hopefully help push the issue of getting these students with disabilities the necessary services in order to optimize their physical activity and participation in p.e.

Date: November 15th, 2012 Location: IAHPERD Conference Title of Lecture: Collaborative Teaching in Adapted P.E. Presenter: Cathy Holbrook Focus of Lecture: This lecture talked about ways that the special education program and general education p.e. class can work together. Cathy Holbrook and her associate went over some suggestions of how to make the two function properly and smoothly together. The presentation gave the perspective of a general education teacher and a special education teacher, showing how each of them view different situations. The presenters also gave suggestions on things to incorporate in the classroom, but this was not the main focus of the presentation. What I Learned: The first thing that the general education teacher said to us in the room was that he was extremely fortunate to have the help of the special education program, and how he would not be able to teach some of the students if it were not for the teachers in the special education program, which opened my eyes. Before I thought with inclusion I would have to face everything on my own, and it was reassuring to hear there were ways to get help from other teachers in the classroom. For example, the general education teacher would give the special education teachers his lesson plan for the entire week, allowing the teachers to go over the lesson with the students with disabilities, preparing them in advance for an upcoming class. On top of this, the general education teacher recommended including the special education teachers in the general education meetings. He said that the two programs need to work with each other and incorporate goals in each others classrooms. This teacher is completely rightcommunication is key. The special education teacher can give recommendations and advice on what to do to help the class move more smoothly, especially with some of the students that can be difficult at times for any variety of reasons. The two presenters then went over some techniques to help some students learn easier, by giving some examples that they used in their classrooms. The first thing Cathy Holbrook said was to have high expectations for all students. We need to tell the students specifically what is expected of them before class starts, this way there is no confusion of what they are required to do. To supplement this, pictures of real humans practicing the skills can help the students learn a lot too. It can help the students learn quicker, especially if the student has autism, which will result in a smoother class. The presenters then went over some adaptations for the sports of flag football, soccer, floor hockey, basketball, and volleyball. For the most part, these adaptations were about removing some rules in games, making it easier for some of the students to participate. For example, in flag football, instead of having the student play offense and defense, just have the student play one specific position for the entire game, making him or her focus on one task instead of several, resulting in a higher chance at succeeding. Another example would be removing the dribble in basketball. The adaptation I found to be most interesting was using scooters. This slows the game down, giving the students with certain disabilities a better chance at competing with the other students (especially students with a behavioral issue). The presenters finished the presentation by going over some general guidelines for running the classroom. A lot of general education teachers and special education teachers have troubles with aids, mainly as a result of them have no sense of power or feeling uncomfortable, especially in the p.e. environment (brings back bad memories). To help deal with this issue, the head teachers need to give the aids specific jobs in the class and lesson plans ahead of time, giving them time to prepare and ask questions as needed. By having the aids record data of the students progress throughout the class and having them apart of the activities, this will result in not only the students from the special education program respecting the aids as teachers, but the students from the general education class as well. This presentation was extremely helpful and the presenters had very good advice on how to run a classroom with inclusion.

Date: November 15th, 2012 Location: IAHPERD Conference Title of Lecture: Goal Ball and Other Adapted Sports Presenter: Chadd Morrissy and Susan Nicholas Focus of Presentation: This presentation went over adaptations that can be made in sports to allow for maximum participation from a wide range of ability levels, specifically with ways to include a student with a disability in the classroom, depending on the disability. The presenter focused on goal ball at first, but then also went over some other sport adaptations as well. What I Learned: Chadd Morrissy gave a very in depth explanation of how he discovered goal ball, and what I got the most out of this part was how to play the game in the gym. To set up the court, I will need rope to make the boundaries, taped down by tape. Since the students will have their eyes covered, having the rope allows the students to feel where they are on the court. I thought this was a very cool sport to have the class play, especially if there was a student with a visual impairment in the class. This will completely level the playing field and let the student with the visual impairment feel equal to his or her classmates. I also think this would be a good sport to play in the classroom, even if there is no student with a visual impairment, because of what the students can get out of it. This sport can show the students how someone who has a visual impairment needs to rely on their sense of touch and hearing to move around and how it can be difficult. I think this will increase the level of respect and awareness for these students who do not have a visual impairment. The next activity that we went over was seated volleyball. With everyone having to sit on the ground, this also will level the playing field (especially if a student is in a wheel chair because he or she cannot use his or her legs). The net should be around 3- ft. tall, or around the height of a badminton net. The students can use a blown up beach volleyball to make it even easier since it was a difficult sport to play at first. I volunteered to play, and even though I play volleyball, my skills and knowledge of the sport seemed to diminish when we had to sit on the ground. This really would help level the playing field because since not many students have played volleyball sitting down before, it will be a new sport for everyone, therefore making the skill levels very similar too. Some other adaptations introduced to the class were for badminton. If a student has a visual impairment, using a brighter shuttlecock helps a lot. Susan Nicholas would use the bright ones in her class because it was extremely difficult for a few of her students to see the white shuttlecock, and eventually, every student wanted to use the bright shuttlecock because it was easier for them to see as well. I thought this was cool because it goes to show that these adaptations do not only have to be beneficial for a student with a disability or impairment, but they can be for everyone in the class. Some of the other adaptations were using different sized balls with different textures and colors as well, which once again can benefit all of the students in the classroom. All of these adaptations are things that I can definitely use in my classroom one day in the future.

Date: November 16th, 2012 Location: IAHPERD Conference Title of Lecture: Effective Collaboration with Paraprofessionals in Adapted P.E. Lecturer: Heather Shaffer Focus of Lecture: In this lecture Heater Shaffer went over strategies to set up the environment in the classroom. We went over different strategies for teaching students, responsibilities to give the aids, and how to solve some common problems with aids. Basically, this lecture was about developing relationships with the aids in the classroom, going over ways to keep them busy in the classroom, and ways to make the aids feel important and like teachers, not servants. What I Learned: There was a lot of information in this lecture, so I am focusing on the things I found to be most interesting and important to include in my classroom in the future. The first thing Heather Shaffer said was that it seems as though all of this planning is for the kids, but it is for the aids in the classroom too. By creating a system within the program and classroom, this will make sure everyone is on the same schedule, which I think is very important. By having a set schedule too, more can be accomplished in the classes. Heather explained how it is important to remind the aids that physical education is not a recess and that they still have to work. She has a data sheet for each kid that needs to be filled out during the class (gave everyone at this lecture as visual copy, which I thought was extremely helpful and made it easier to follow what she was saying when she was explaining these data sheets), and all the aids have to fill them out for whichever student she assigns them to for the day. These data sheets are used to write IEP goals, so it is very important that the aids know what to fill in and look for. Heather also brought up a good point that it is important to switch the student that the aids work with. Some students can be more difficult to manage, so by rotating the aids, this will result in less tension between them. Another great tip was that, as a teacher, we must make sure to include ourselves with the tough students as well. If we give the aids the tough students and just stand there and watch, then the aids will not feel like they are an authority and important in the class. If I, as the teacher, get involved and do diapers or take responsibility for a student that is being difficult, this will show the aids that we are a team and must work together. On top of this, switching up the students the aids work with will also prevent the aids from getting burned out, resulting in them working harder in the classroom. These aids have to work with these students all day every day, whereas we only see the students once a day, 5 times a week if we are lucky. If Heather sees that her aids are having a rough day, she will walk up to them and give them their one day off, where they can go and relax (basically can be anywhere except in the classroom). I thought this was a great idea because it shows the aids that I, as the teacher, care about them and their health, leading to a stronger relationship between them and myself. We then discussed some of the most common problems that teachers face with aids, with the main one being that the aids do not do anything when they come to p.e. Heathers approach is not demanding they work, but asking if they can come help her work with the students. By doing this it seems sincere, and by asking for help, this will prevent the situation from seeming like the teacher is superior to the aids. The fact that the teacher is asking the aids for help makes the aids feel wanted and on an even level of power as the teacher since they can do things that the teacher cannot (aids know the students better since they work with them the entire day). Another way to prevent the aids from not doing anything is by assigning them specific kids and giving them tasks to complete before the class is over. Having clear expectations helps and can prevent any bad habits from being formed as the school year goes on. It is also important to inform the aids of these expectations ahead of time so they know what they have to do when they come to your class and are ready to work. We, as p.e. teachers, need to teach them how to teach in a p.e. class. The reason for this is that not many know about physical activity and did not like p.e. when they were a kid, so we have to boost their knowledge so they are confident and want to

get involved, and do not just stand off to the side. Some of the teachers brought up in the meeting how they noticed it is not that the aids do not want to help, but they are worried they will say something wrong or make a fool out of himself or herself when trying to participate, so they stand off to the side to prevent themselves from any type of embarrassment. Heather finished the presentation by explaining how as physical education teachers, we need to have a relationship with the special education program and the aids, because they will be the ones that help us be successful in our lessons. One way of doing this is by going to the special educations meetings and by having them come to our staff meetings, resulting in everyone working together and being on the same page. I think this is very smart and would result in a very healthy adapted p.e. program, and general p.e. program with inclusion, in the school. Heather taught me a lot and gave me a lot of insight on how to develop relationships with aids that I may work with in the future. She gave great suggestions on how to approach the aids without seeming like I am pointing a finger at them, resulting in a strong relationship between them and myself. I found it very interesting how much changing a few words can change the way something comes across, and I am now more aware of how to build a strong relationship with the staff that will be supporting me in my classes.