PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND PHYSICAL LITERACY

Describe the type of teacher you want to become.

I want to be a strong, trustworthy, respectful, and confident teacher. I strive to be a role-model to my students and a good partner to my peers. I want to be fair and equitable in all of my lessons. I will do everything I can to create a culturally inclusive environment for students of varying ability levels. My future as a teacher will be achieved through hard work and determination. I believe that teachers should never stop learning and should be consistently working on improving their teaching style. I will follow my beliefs, but also keep an open mind when learning new things.

Describe what a class in the life of one of your students would look like.

My students will understand my routines by practicing at the start of the year. They will know “Mr. Veszi likes starting the day sitting in a circle.” Warm-ups are led by students and must follow some of “Mr. Veszi’s mandatory stretches/movements.” The students will be allowed to get creative with warm-ups after the first few months. (after building standards/comfort). The students will know that the more effort they put into their skill practices, the more time they get to apply them in “real”/” fun” game like settings. They also know that I like to get creative when creating games based on their skills. Finally, my student’s will know that at the end of class Mr. Veszi asks important questions based on the skills they’ve learned.

What learning experiences do you have to provide for your students?

• 3 years of classroom and extended teaching.

• 6 years of post-secondary education.

• Several years instructing karate and teaching self-defence.

• Coaching experience in a variety of elementary and high school sports.

• 8 years of teaching leadership skills at the YMCA of Saskatoon.

• Comfort with leading group activities through several years of Before and After School Care programming.

• Grew up in lower-middle class home, can reach out to students in similar situations.

As a future physical educator, what are your biggest aspirations about teaching PE?

            My goal as a physical educator is to ensure all my students feel confident in their own bodies. I would like every student to feel physically literate and comfortable performing tasks that involve bodily movement. These goals will then influence their willingness and ability to be active fore life. In my opinion, students being active for life is the ultimate goal for physical educators.

What are you biggest fears about teaching PE?

            My two biggest fears are the thought that upcoming distractions and trends will be more important to my students than my lessons, and not being able to connect with future students in need. Technology is advancing and so are our students, therefore my fear is that I will not have a strong enough understanding of those advancements (e.g. cell phone apps/watches/fit bits/etc.) I want to be ahead of the game and use those advancements to my advantage. I want to be confident in my skills to address the importance of physical activity in everyday life, but I am afraid those distractions will take away from my goals. My other fear is that one day I may not be able to connect with a student that really needs help. I know that not everyone wants to be active for life and that it is our job to promote it. However, I am afraid that I may fail to connect that goal with someone who really needs it.