Visiting old Seneca

Seneca Valley has been my school since my first grade year, and I have had many different physical education instructors through the system. In attempt to visit some of my old high school coaches, I revisited the Intermediate high school in hope of a recommendation letter. I was able to get into the gymnasium at the end of the day when students were fleeing to the buses. My eighth grade assistant football coach, who is also a ninth grade phys ed teacher, happened to be in his office. In the same office sat another PE teacher, the ninth grade basketball coach, who is also a friend of mine. Both teachers said that they would support my career in any way possible, and that they would notify the two coaches who I had intended to see in the first place. Knowing that my old PE instructors and coaches will support me gives me hope and confidence in the major. I think that these individuals can help fuel me to finding a job and teach me many helpful tactics in the teacher lifestyle.

MLB beginning

Although the Pens seem to be the highlight of Pittsburgh sporting events for the time being, the Pirates have also begun their season. Baseball has never been a favorite sport of mine because the gameplay has never seemed to provide enough action for interest. The pirates are of interest to me though, but I never know what to expect. Last season they started off strong and ended up with a weak record. I do not have very high standards set for Pittsburgh baseball, yet I always cross my fingers in hope of playoff contention. Baseball seems like a sport based on money considering that the NY Yankees are always competing for the title with their stacked schedule built upon an unlimited salary cap. It is an unfair business, but baseball is only one of the many games that seem this way.

NBA playoffs

The NBA playoffs have been in progression at the same time as the NHL playoff contention. I was watching the New Orleans game the other night and guard Chris Paul is a tough contender. I was unfamiliar with Paul prior to the season because I do not think he use to get the recognition that he has received this season. Sportscenter newscasters predict him to be the next blowup guard and a first seed contender for a spot on this year's all star team. Paul can shoot, dish, and take it to the bucket as well as anyone. His well rounded game play make him the complete player for the point guard position. He could spring the Hornets into the NBA championship, most likely against Boston.

MLS

Lately while I have been watching tv and switching through the channels, much of my stoppage has been on soccer. For a long time, I have paid no attention to the sport. I guess that old interests catch back up with a person becasue soccer was my main interest for many years. Since I spent high school without any attention directed at the sport, I miss it somewhat. The sport is unique from all other sports aired on TV because soccer is of international interest. America is not the dominant force in the game, for many small unknown countries and islands support soccer from the time of extremely young age. I have plenty of respect for soccer and watching it has been pleasant. Come to think of it, I have not kicked a soccer ball for many years. Olayyyyyyy Olay Olay Olay

New Balance

The commercial that has air for New Balance shoe company recently has been a very interesting one. The commercial stresses the importance of running and how it creates a balance in our lives. It is said to create a balance between love and hate. The insightful commercial had me thinkin about the importance of shoes in our lives. New balance has been a favorite shoe of mine in the past during track and field events. I am representing new balance shoes this year, and they are excellent. I feel like as if I could chase down a wild animal with the comfort and support offered by the product.

Miss Basketball

Since spring has rolled around, nice weather has shined down on the blacktops across Slippery Rock campus. The site of campus makes me want to play basketball, which is no longer an option of mine. Since my knee has only 60 percent of the maniscus remaining, I will no longer be able to cut or tread on hardtop surfaces. I should probably direct my focus to athletics such as badmitten, batgammon, fox hunting, curling, or swimming. Basketball was always my favorite activity to perform in my spare time during high school. I could play for hours, even by myself, as long as my game was improving. I quit basketball in Junior High with injury, but always loved playing as a hobby after that.

Pens

The Pens won the series last night against Ottowa. The pens ended up sweeping the series with a 4-0 streak. I think that their great play and motivation came from the fierce competition in last year's series. Ottowa ended up taking the Pens out of playoff contention. Sydney Crosby explained that there motivation was losing to Ottowa, but their edge must remain for the rest of playoffs. I think that the Pens have a legit shot at the Cup this year even though Pittsburgh has the youngest age average of any team in the NHL. The pens look to have a bright future in upcoming seasons but even more importantly, for the rest of the playoff race.

Powerpoint complete

The other night, I finally finished my powerpoint presentation in the library. Powerpoint is a program that I am a little familiar with, so the work was not too overwhelming. Most of my work has been directed towards endurance and distance training, and I figured that I would switch it up this time. The topic of my project was Sprinting, for I have been more involved in those activities in my prior athletics. I was able to find interesting information on Olympic athletes and much of my knowledge was able to fill in information as well. I can remember watching the Olympics with my family while Michael Johnson would smoke the competition in his golden shoes. I also remember his showdown with Donovan Bailey in the 150 meter sprint that would determine who would claim the title of the world's fastest man.

E Folio

The electronic portfolio project that we have to do is a serious matter. The project is dependent on our senior seminar portfolio that we must submit for job opportunities. The work requires plenty of old material that many students maintained from classes earlier in their college careers. I have been collecting all of my old materials that I need to scan, just to fulfill some of the domain areas of the portfolio. The portfolio requires almost everything from our prior careers, including recommendation letters, sport experience, work history, and all identification. The portfolio seems like an important component to graduation, but the great news of the whole project is, the class has about one week left to finish. Technology is crushing my ability to perform tasks because my electronic skills are below par.

Dancing In Class

Lately in movement education, we have been performing square dances and other farmlike stepping activities. I am very unfamiliar with these ways of dance. Most of the dancing that I am use to was introduced during school dances and stuff that I was interested in at a young age. Now I am at college and learning to swing girls around while skipping to old john tucker or "old cattle ranch" tones. The songs are pretty funny but the skipping is hard for me to get use to. I like swinging the females because they are light and seem to enjoy the rush of rotating at high speeds. I guess we all need to be well rounded in this society of so many backgrounds. Most people conform to rap, but lately country seems to be on the rise. I must admit, the music is relaxing and has positive messages. Any music that men and women can enjoy by mutual dancing is good music.

Podcasting

Today chelsea jones and I did some work on our podcast. Since the podcast had to cover a topic either related to health or physical education, we figured that a topic males and females could relate to was safe sex. College is a time when kids want to feel free or independent, and many are explorers when it comes to their sex life away from their original family and friends. Chelsea and I created a real life story that many high school students may experience in a modern situation. With both a male and female perspective on the subject, I think that the project should turn out to be interesting and enjoyable. Many students may find it humorous or a laughing matter, but people tend to have unsafe sex. Children are giving birth to children and men and women are spreading STDs like it is not a problem.

Reading instructions

Much of the problem with my work has been inability to follow directions. I have been trying to perform tasks in this class without realizing that the information is in the handbook. If I could stop and concentrate on one thing at a time, tasks could be performed at a quicker rate. Atleast my Naspe Forum and Talk assignments are done. If I was trying to finish that while working on my digital video over the work, I would lose it. I cannot figure out how to get the bonus points for posting though. Today I was searching for responses to my threads and I could not find the link to find anything related to my topics. Again, maybe I am missing something? I need to complete my projects thoroughly or else I stress because I know that my work is not up to par.

Digital Video

I have been working on my digital video all weekend and it has taken about six minutes of film to cover my material on free throw shooting. I started to have trouble when converting the taped film onto the computer for editing. Hopefully I can gain access to the camera again and get some help in class tomorrow. I enjoyed video taping the routine because I feel that it is a strong part of my subject knowledge. If my knowledge for computers were as high as my sport IQ, this would be a golden product for me.

The importance of Swimming

Lately, my knee has been giving me problems. It feels very brittle and open to injury. I have started to focus my energy to swimming as a source of rehabilitation. I hear that water resistance is one of the most effective ways to create strength as well as flexibility when returning from injuries, especially to joints and muscle tissue. I am very eager to just get my knee back to normal so that I can enjoy some of the activities that I use to perform as daily hobbies. Knee surgery is no fun, and rehabilitation takes a long time. It also requires thinking in order to maintain a consistent workout regime that will build the knee gradually. My knee feels like it has the potential to collapse at any minute, therefore, returning to square one all over again. That is the last think that I want to happen, a third ACL reconstruction surgery.

Back from Break awakening

The end of break has come and it is time to get back into the swing of the regular school schedule. This technology class has offered a rude awakening to the students. Students are responsible for a welcome back test on chapters 5 and 6, as well as a mid term on chapters 1 through 6 on Thursday. Keeping track of work in this class is probably the most difficult task. Aside from the tests, students are also responsible for the newsletter and brochure assignments due tomorrow. Besides learning from technology and its relation to physical education, the class builds a sense of responsibility because there are so many assignments to focus on. After this week, I need to start to work on multiple assignments offered from this course. Besides this class, all students must start thinking about the upcoming year and registration with academic advisors.

Lebron James

The world of athletics has seen numbers of superstars in each sport, but the King is something else. Michael Jordan use to be considered untouchable, the most spectacular athlete to play the game, let alone any sport. The other day, I was watching Sportscenter and they were speaking of the past superstar. A poll was taken and Americans were to vote whether they believed Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan was the most complete athlete of modern times. To my surprise, Michael won the votes of only 2 states, one being his home state. Now that Michael has been overshadowed by Tiger Woods, I realize that perhaps Lebron will be considered the new strength of sports in the future. He already has conquered so much and he is such a young individual. Who knows what the future offers for such a superior being in this competitive lifestyle he lives.

Mid Term Week

One of the toughest weeks of the semester is taking place as I write this paragraph. School continues to stress students out, for a large number of tests require countless studying. Many students talk of their need to concentrate on each test, not realizing that multitasking is the only way to cover each subject. If students cannot learn to multitask, they will not be able to complete the week's work. Besides finals, mid terms can be considered the harshest week of school for almost anyone.

Technology vs. Activity

Technology is considered an important component of Physical Education. When I chose phys ed to be my major, I was unaware of the involvement of technology in the teacher curriculum. When I think of teaching gym class, I am thinking of me wearing sweats to teach people play dodgeball, basketball, and the importance of physical activity in everyday living. When I am forced to leave the gymnasium and give my students a health approach, then computers and other devices may come more into play. I hate using computers even now. Maybe as I learn more of my field of study, I will become more fond of modern technology and incorporating it in teaching.

Webpage

The electronic webpage created on Microsoft Frontpage is a new program to me. In fact, I have never created a real webpage before. The topic is anabolic steroids and I there is plenty of information to be shared on the topic. The only thing slowing down this project is learning how to operate all of the functions offered by frontpage. I have no problem distributing my wealth of knowledge on the subject. I hope that everything is put together well. The hyperlinks have been giving me trouble.

Moving to the City

Lately I have been brainstorming on my activities outside of the classroom. Without the ability to compete at an athletic level, I need to find a way to make money. Many of the individuals that I have met this semester live near the city, mostly Bellevue and Avalon. I think that the urban setting would suite myself better than the suburban setting in Cranberry Township. I would be close to the city of Pittsburgh and job opportunities would be more common. Perhaps I could find a job working with children or simply work on a main avenue. Either way, I think that the city would be a more suiting place for myself. I do not know how or where to live though.

Class in the Snow

Today is Tuesday, February 12 and the weather outside is horrific. I am very surprised that classes were still held today, considering that the weather channel predicts up to a foot of snow until tomorrow. This cold weather is hard on my knee also, and I fear a single slip in the snow could send me back to rehabilitation. I like snow. I do not like snow when I am injured and slowed down like an old man ready to enter a nursing home.

Movement Ed

My only other physical education credit this semester will be earned through my Movement Education class. This class is beneficial to me because it has allowed me to understand my capabilities with my knewly reconstructed knee. Although I will never move like I once could on my feet, I am still able to do simple daily exercise that will carry me through the remainder of life. Also, the teacher Mr. Slautterback is something else. He seems so connected with his student and has over 50 years of teaching under his belt. Hopefully I can learn from him.

Week by Week

It is now the third week of school and still I am questioning others on how to blog correctly. This technology class covers material that is completely new in all aspects. Although I have used many of these programs before, I am introduced to unfamiliar things within them. This class probably requires most of my time when compared to others, but the weight of this class is more convenient than last semesters classes.

Cookies and Cake

My name is Patrick Prazer. I am a sophomore college student at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania. I major in Physical Education and have been an extremely active individual all of my life. I like sports of all kind and my favorite food is real spicy, so Mexican is excellent. After my meal is finished and my mouth is on fire, I enjoy cooling it down with a glass of juice and dessert, preferably cookies and cake. I feel like I am growing old with the coming of age 21. Hopefully my desserts do not catch up to me and take away from my physique. Food often transforms people of older age, but not this future gym teacher.