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.