Journal 2

I spent 2 hours at Westview Elementary School during the week of September 15th 2014
working with 4 students on the treadmill program. The treadmill program is much different then
what most of my peers in adapted practicum are doing as it is not a class but a way for students
who are having trouble focusing in class to spend 15 minutes a day running and performing other
essential activities to help enhance their focus. I was able to meet the students I will be working
with throughout the semester on Wednesday the 17th. During the first session I worked with both
James and Claire. James is a trouble maker with a dysfunctional family background and needs
the program to expend some energy on the treadmill so that he will focus and remain calm in
other classes. Claire is in the treadmill program because her parent had requested that she
participate in hopes she would remain focused and get better grades. They both are very social
and were not shy when they first met me. In the second session I worked with Gavin. Gavin has
mild autism and has trouble really focusing in class. He was also very social and really enjoys
running but becomes fatigued very easily. In my third session I worked with Juan. He has a
limited vocabulary and is very shy. He did a good job on the treadmill the first day but refused to
take his hands off the rails. I had all four students just run the whole 15 minutes while we got to
know each other.
On Friday September 19th I had my students run for about 10 minutes and included
incline to make it tougher. If they did as they were told then the last five minutes I let them walk
sideways and backwards. James, Claire and Gavin all were able to achieve this but Juan on the
other hand was a different story. Juan was throwing one of his famous temper tantrums that
day and his teacher and I had to help guide him to the treadmill. Once there he sat down and
refused to get on so I summoned Mr. Woodworth and he picked Juan up and put him on the
treadmill and started it. I had to stand behind him and make sure he did not fall. He was able to
get a decent 5 minutes in before I had to return him to his class.
Through the first two hours of pre-student teaching, I learned that I still have a lot more
to learn before my actual student teaching experience but I plan on working hard and getting
their before the end of this semester. This week didnt really teach me anything about being a
teacher but I did learn what I need to do to make sure every student is successful in this program.
Overall I really enjoyed this week and I am looking forward to the rest of the semester. I
currently have no questions that could help me with this experience. Scott Woodworth has been
very helpful as well as some of the other teachers at the school.

Case Studies in Adapted Physical Education

Case 6: Creating and Conducting a Self Contained Adapted Physical Education Program

1. What is the primary issue in this case?

The Primary issue in this case is that Adams middle school does not have an APE program and
all students with disabilities are thrown into GPE with limited adaptations
2. What are some preliminary things Coach Jacobs should do to prepare for this program?
Why do you think these things are important?
Coach Jacobs could begin by Contacting other local physical education teachers who teach APE
and could try and get advice and ideas for his curriculum. He could also use the internet and
library to find articles and books on APE. Coach Jacobs needs to get a general background so
that he has a foundation to build his program on.
3. Do you think that Coach Jacobs should do the same activity with each student, or should
each student have their own individual plan? Why?
Each student should have their own individual plan so that they all can succeed. Some students
disabilities are more severe so it wouldnt be fair to them or the other students if they had to
perform the same plans.
4. If you think that each student should have his or her own program how can such a
program be implemented?
Each student can work on the same unit but each assessment plan will have to be written to
pertain to each student individually.
5. How can Coach Jacobs report to the parents on a regular basis as to what he is doing and
how well their children are doing?
Coach Jacobs can create a personalized news letter for each student and mail them home every
two weeks. He can also create a website and chart down progress with videos so that parents can
see the progress that their children are making.