When I was a youngster I loved. reading.  One memory that always sticks
out in my mind was in first grade.  Wehad to read these little books that the teacher gave us.  We could take one home, practice reading it,then bring it back and pass it off to one of the room mothers that would come listen to us read.  Once it was passed off we could take the next book and practice reading it.  I was a very good reader, because my mom made me practice long before I went into Kindergarten.  I was the first one to pass off all the books my first grade teacher had.  So she
called my mom and told her that she needed to come down to the school.  When my mom arrived in my classroom, my first grade teacher, Miss Spendlove, started playing the graduation song and had me walk up and down each isle in the classroom. When I made it to the front of the class, she had a trophy and a certificate for me.   My mom always took me to the library to pick out new books each week.  From that point on I was always wanted to be the best reader in every class.

This helped me with all my school work and I was also on a 12^th grade reading level by the time I was in 6^th or 7^th grade. I liked to read as long as it was about something I was interested in.  I did not like to read when a teacher assigned me a book.  It was better for me when the teacher had a list of books and I was able to choose from the list. The older I got the less I liked to read.  My
mom and sister always trade books back and forth all the time, but I’d rather be outside doing something.  I will occasionally pick up a novel to read, but it is hard with all the other homework I have, to find time to read a book of my choice.  I would say I’m more likely to look up something on the internet to read now.

            Physical education is a little different discipline from all the others.  I would like to have the students be able to pick out a sport or activity they like, and read a book on that subject.  I would
them have them right a paper about the book, not about the summary or plot, but about if the book inspired them to become a better athlete or things like that.

Am I a Writer?

My writing career as a child consisted of sidewalk chalk, a Lisa Frank Diary that had a hard shaped lock with a tiny key (that in my mind was unbreakable) so my brothers couldn’t get into it.  I continue to write today, sometime in a journal, sometimes a blog, sometime through poetry but most often it is through photography that I use my creativity and express myself. 

            As a child I loved to write stories, but it always took me so long to decide what I wanted to write about.  When I was in 6th grade my teacher Mrs. Bradshaw had us write all the time.  She gave us a certain topic to write about and then at the end of the year we had to draw illustrations for each of our writing assignments.  We put it together in the layout of a book and she had them sent away and bound in a hard cover.  So I guess I could say I was an author at the age of 12 haha.  When I was about 4 one of my siblings was practicing cursive at the table.  I stood there and watched him for awhile and decided I too new how to write in cursive.  Just to get in some practice I decided to write my name in “cursive” all over the inside of my closet door.  It wasn’t tell I moved when I was 14 that my mom discovered what I did.  I also loved to scrapbook and got into that when I was younger, now its easier to do it digitally.

            I don’t think there’s a day that goes by that I don’t write in some way shape or form. I have always loved photography and I think it’s because it can tell a story without words.  I use email, facebook, text messaging, and I dispatch of the USU Police department and have to constantly log the activity of the officer and what calls there on in a program called eforce.  I am not very good at talking when something bothers me, so I have always written out my thoughts and feelings as my way of venting.  Sometime its writing a letter, or times its just random thoughts all over a page, and sometimes writing a poem helps me sort out my thoughts.  In my sophomore English class we did a big unit on poetry so that was probably my favorite writing assignment I’ve had to do. 

            I think that its important to give students a chance to express themselves in a way that they feel most comfortable.  Sometimes its good for them to branch out, but when it comes to writing I would like to give my students the opportunity to pick the type of writing they’d like to use to express a certain topic. 

Second Blog Post

My childhood = Soccer, basketball, softball, golf,   

snowboarding, wakeboarding, hunting, horseback riding

.... you get the point!

As I thought about this blog topic, it brought back so many memories from when I was a child.  From the time I can remember, on Saturdays I was drug from one game to another all morning long.  Being the youngest of four kids, I was too young to play but had to go to all my siblings’ games.  I remember begging my mom to sign me up for soccer in the fall, then Jr. Jazz in the winter, and T-ball in the summer.   Finally, I at age 4 I was old enough to play soccer and T-ball, but had to wait a few years to before they had enough girls to play Jr. Jazz basketball.  Then as I got older I began playing soccer year round, softball 3 seasons out of the year, basketball and snowboarding in the winter, swimming and started golfing on a league during the summer.  My life revolved around being physically active. 

Besides playing sports I think about my childhood and think about all the time I spent outside.  I road bikes all summer long, and even to school, which was a couple miles away from my house.  My family spent a lot of time in the outdoors going camping, fishing, hunting, and horseback riding.  I was lucky enough to even have a pony when I was little and my friends always wanted to come ride him.  I even took him to school in the 2^nd grade when we our unit at the time was about mammals. 

Physical activity had been part of everyday life for me ever since I can remember. I love everything about being active.  I love the way my body feels after a hard workout, or hiking to the top of a hill, but most of all I think about the benefits of being in shape.  It was hard for me to decide what I wanted to be when I grew up and changed my mind a million times.   When I started college I was going to major in athletic training, but then decided that I wanted to teach.  I wanted to be able to pass on the passion I have for physical fitness and teach kids at a young age how important it is to take care of our bodies. 

My life experiences have everything to do with how I feel about Physical Education and Health Education.  I cringe when I hear about school taking P.E. out of their curriculum.  It’s just crazy talk! I believe that every subject is important, but really if the future generation knows nothing about being fit and healthy, they’re not going to be around to use the knowledge they’ve gained in their other course. I’ve experienced firsthand the benefits of being active.  I perform much better academically when I take the time to exercise and releases endorphins that make you feel good.  I believe that when a teacher is passionate about the subject they are teaching it catches the student’s attention.  I think because of my background knowledge and the fact that I’ve been active  for my entire life it can only influence my teaching that much more.