September 26, 2014- Beep Test

I am ecstatic to be back in gym class for my grade ten year, and it is really nice to see all the gym teachers again. After having a successful year in gym in grade 9, I can't wait to face new challenges, create and achieve new goals, and continue to take more initiative this year in grade 10. I am excited to see which steps I will take in order to encounter obstacles that come in my way during the course of the semester.
With September 26 as being the first beep test of the semester, I was really proud of myself as I was able to take on a small leadership role, by helping three new students  (Jasneet, Karen and Meghan) on how the beep test works, and what to do with the six activities after completing the test. I could tell Jasneet, Meghan and Karen were a little nervous before starting the test, but I'm glad I was able to make them less anxious by telling them to stand beside me while doing it and to just try their best, because when you try your best, you can't become disappointed in yourself. I was able to get a 7.2 on the beep test, and when we do the beep test again this semester, I hope to improve my score and I have the confidence in myself that I will definitely be able to do so. My goals for the next beep test, is to reach level 8, and to try to do the T-test in a shorter amount of time. I believe in myself that I will be able to achieve these goals  as I have the perseverance in myself to do so, and as we continue to exercise in gym class, my fitness will slowly improve. I did notice that I improved in the flexibility category from last year, as it became easier for me to touch my toes this time. I still have the same sit and reach level from last year, but it wasn't as difficult for me to reach level one this time. I also had a better structure for my push ups, as I have been practising my push ups during the summer so I was glad to see an improvement in this area.  Here are all of my results:

Beep test Level: 7.2
Max vertical length:
                            F:215
                            S:245
                            D:30
Body Press (Push ups):10
Body Bridge: 65 seconds
T-Test: 13.28 seconds
Sit and Reach: Level 1
Board Touches (30 seconds): 14

Here is a picture shortly after doing the beep test:

Final Portfolio Assessment "Report Card" Post - Active Learning 2014

Going into my first gym class, I would never have expected gym to have this much of a positive impact on me. Active Learning this year provided me with a year full of determination and improvements. In September, I was always a little bit nervous of coming to gym class, but whenever I come to gym class now I am excited for whatever is planned as long as we are getting a good exercise. I actually look forward for third block to come because I know I will have an enjoyable time no matter what has happened earlier in the day.

Participation:  My attendance has been excellent and I am able to get changed into my gym strip before Mr. Neufeld enters one of the facilities and starts class, which also connects to my punctuality as I have never come late to gym. I have brought my gym strip along with appropriate shoes every single day of gym as this is something I have always been in the habit of doing since elementary school. During games on choice days, or just regular gym blocks with just our class, I've participated on a  higher level than I did in the beginning of the year. Even if we play an activity where I have to step outside of my comfort zone, I am ready to do it, thus I believe I have become successful in this area at this point in the year. Getting out of my comfort zone was a main aspect in the beginning of the year that I was afraid of doing. For instance, playing Capture the Flag for the first time in gym in November did not result in as much fun when playing Capture the Flag now. I was able to take little steps in Capture the Flag to reach the point of how I play it now. As you have been following my blog posts, I've made so many small improvements each time I played Capture the Flag this year and as a result, it made a huge difference at the end. The first time I played it I did not really run to the other side and instead stayed on my territory to tag people, however the last time I played in May, I was able to bring back two footballs, run way more, and take risks which resulted in so much fun! Without a doubt my intensity during fitness and in just regular gym classes has increased, as I motivate myself to not stop because I know my hard work will soon pay off. In the beginning of the year, I was not that skillful at volleyball. On June 5 it was just Karen, Simran and I in the small gym and we played volleyball. We didn't actually play a game, but instead practiced volleying the ball and improving our skills. Both Karen and Simran helped me with my volleyball skills by always telling me to volley the ball when it came to me instead of backing away. I actually think this gym block improved my volleyball skills because I just primarily focused on skill. On choice days I always pick an activity in which I know my participation will be maximized. I have also chosen activities that I wished to get better at, which allows me to try something new. (ex/volleyball) I try to have a variety of activities played during choice because it's not beneficial to play the same activity every time. For the participation category I think I deserve 24/25.

Hill Run From September:

Hill Run from May:            

Here are some more pictures:

Social Responsibility and Contribution to the Class - Whenever we are put into groups for an activity or during fitness, I love to encourage others because it feels good when you know someone is aware that you're trying hard and it also gains confidence in many people; including myself.  Things like hi fiving and saying words of encouragement is what keeps my peers to feel good about themselves inside. When Mr. Neuf or our T.A is organizing teams, I pay attention to how they deal with the situation and when we are given an opportunity to try this, I usually make little contributions which help the game to get started. When setting up to play Capture the Flag on May 14, I set up the cones for the safe. By just doing that little thing, I contributed to the organization of the game.  When dealing with thirty classmates its sometimes difficult to construct each individual student, so instead of using this as an excuse to not do anything, I found ways around it and contributed in different ways as described.  I've noticed that I helped out with equipment much more during semester two without anybody telling me to do it. For example, on May 21, when we played Capture the Flag my legs were aching but I still ran to the end of the field to gather the cones. Not only have I put cones away, but I have also put away pinnies, footballs, and badminton rackets. These little things that I do in gym classes is what makes myself proud at the end of the day. My positive attitude towards every activity we do in gym is part of the reason why I have been able to improve in so many ways since the midterm and the beginning of the year.  I'm always willing to do whatever activity in gym because I know I will learn something new about myself every single time. I am not as shy or quiet as I was in the beginning of the year and by being more outgoing it has positively affected my participation in gym. This semester I volunteered with my community more by being a part of the Adopt-A-Street Program, by cleaning our streets. For my Social Responsibility and Contribution to the Class, I think I deserve 23/25.

Healthy Living- Each of the the four times we did the beep test I was able to improve by a little bit on each one. I started off at a 7.2 and ended off with a 8.7 and I am so pleased with this result due to the fact that I was able to improve! These fitness scores taught me that I was able to become both physically and mentally stronger throughout the year. I'm sure you already know that I started off the year a little reserved, but ended off the year a lot more outgoing and this affected how hard I pushed myself too. As a result. I truly believe my fitness has increased and improved since September. For instance, giving my 100% in September was different than my 100% that I give now. In September I gave it my 100% but because I've improved in my fitness, I feel like my 100% now is much more than it was before. If there are any barriers in gym I try to ignore them and just focus on my exercising. I was able to remain healthy this year which helped me to stay persistent. I eat very many healthy foods because I know this leads to a good health. I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables daily, such as apples, grapes, and strawberries. I'm able to eat a variety of foods from the four food groups. Especially in the summer, I get a lot of exercise as I play badminton in my backyard with my family, go for jogs around my neighbourhood, walks in the evenings, ride my bike and play basketball with my brother at the park. I love exercising outside and summer is the perfect month to do that! I regularly exercise as home and as you know, I have shared some of my home exercising with you on my blog. For Healthy Living I think I deserve 24/25.

Digital Portfolio and Reflective Skills: I'm really happy that I was able to have over 90 posts for just this year because at first I didn't know how I was going to develop a good blog, but because I worked at it, I overcame this obstacle. Not only did I post about in class activities, but I also wrote blog posts about exercising that I did at home and provided digital evidence as well. By having photos, it allowed me to look at my structure and see how I can improve upon it. After most gym classes, I took the time and effort to update my blog and reflect on what we did in class. It's apparent how I've put a lot of thought in to every single blog post I've written as I was able to tell you about how the class went, explain my improvements, tell you about my goals and how I felt during the gym block. I also reflected on how I felt prior to starting the activity, during the activity and at the end of the activity. The reason why I did this was because all three phases differ in how I felt. When I exercise at home, I do some research about which muscles I'm working out and include this research in my blog posts. I am always checking the blogs from other students in our class about once a week and I also read my other peer's blog posts regularly too because I like to see what kind of exercising other students are doing and to see how other students felt about a particular in-class activity. I enjoy commenting on my classmates' blogs so I can offer them some tips so I can see them improve. On the first day of school I was a little worried about how I would overcome various challenges presented in this class and how everything was going to play out in gym this year. After completing this year in gym, Active Learning has become way more important than I thought it was. When introduced to the concept of blogging, I was a little nervous because I was unsure as to how I was going to provide digital evidence and share my results on my blog. It was my first time creating my blogger profile, and I felt like this was going to be something I would have difficulties in because I didn't have a phone to take pictures with.  Since blogging came up as a challenge to me, I found ways to overcome this barrier and I ended up creating a good blog which shows my learning growth throughout the year. Rather than thinking of excuses,  I had the determination in myself to do well, and so I overcame this challenge and I am very proud about doing so. For my Digital Portfolio and Reflective Skills I think I deserve 25/25.

It makes me overjoyed how much I have opened up  by the end of the year compared to when I first started. Mr. Neuf was able to get me to move past my comfort zone, allow me to come even more out of my shell and show everyone what I can offer. Mr. Neuf has been a supportive teacher and my motivation behind fitness days. I know this year has ended, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop exercising.  My main goal for this year was to always improve, because to me it doesn't matter how good you are at a sport or activity; as long as you're able to improve, it shows how much you've grown in the course. I was able to improve in so many aspects of gym and being able to get better at things that  I was once were weak in, gained my confidence and it feels amazing.  I didn't just improve overnight but over the course of the year. For these reasons, I think I deserve an A and a G for work habits because of my hard work and dedication throughout the course. To conclude, I have accomplished so much this year in Active Learning and I can't wait to continue my Active Learning journey next year with Mr. Neuf along with the other supportive gym teachers as I will continue encounter new challenges and work hard to overcome them! 

Behaviour of Our Class With No Teacher

Throughout the year, Mr. Neufeld's goal was to train the class so that there was no need for a teacher to supervise us and so the class would be able to operate without a teacher telling us what to do. On May 12 when Mr. Neufeld was not teaching the class, we played Speed Ball on the lower field. This was the first day where we were expected to take the initiative to set up the game, organize teams and participate in the activity with no teacher help besides from our T.A. This class was not our best class as we were not used to the idea of having no teacher to motivate us along. As a result, people started to not participate in the activity which made the gym block less fun. When Mr. Neuf heard what happened in this block, I could tell he was disappointed in us because he knew we were much better than that. Mr. Neuf then told us that we should be able to operate the class even if Jassi is away and we end up having a substitute who doesn't really know whats going on. The next class when both Mr. Neuf and Jassi were away on May 16 (fitness Friday), our class changed in a positive way. Everyone put their maximum effort into the activity as usual like when Mr. Neufeld would be here. We had a bit of a shaky start during Speed Ball but were able to make up for it during the next class when we did the Hill Run. We were able to show all the other gym classes that our class is just as strong without Mr. Neuf. On the day where we had the incident while playing Speed Ball, I believed that our class had the ability to easily come together and be functional without Mr. Neuf and Jassi, and I hoped that we would be given another opportunity to prove this. Luckily, we were given a second chance to show this when both teachers were away during the hill run. After we did the Hill Run at City Hall even though Mr. Neuf wasn't their supervising us, everyone still demonstrated such great efforts which showed that we exercised for our own use. I don't really understand why certain individuals don't try as hard when there is no teacher watching us. Exercising in gym class is for your own benefit and so you're not exercising to show the teacher but you're doing it for yourself. It bothers me when some people only give it their all just for the teachers in order for them to get a good mark. I give my maximum effort in gym even when there is no teacher and I carry on this exercising outside of gym class at home, which shows that exercising is truly for my own benefit. By trying  hard everyday, the gym teachers should take note of that and give me a mark that I deserve. So instead of working hard solely for the mark, students need to understand the actual purpose of Active Learning. I feel like every student in our class tries hard everyday, and on top of that we all bring a positive attitude to the class whether Mr. Neuf is away or not.  If Mr. Neuf and the T.A were away in the beginning of the year, and we were expected to operate the class successfully, I don't think we would of been able to do it. With that said, because we already spent the majority of the year with Mr. Neuf, everyone built up the confidence in themselves to succeed without our teacher.

May 28, 2014- Atomic Volleyball

On Wednesday May 28, the gym block played Atomic Volleyball. When Mr. Pederson first told us that we were going to play Atomic Volleyball, the name was familiar to me because I remember a couple of people who have gym on the other day talking to me about it, and I also read a couple of blog posts on Atomic Volleyball from some of the students blogs from the other gym class. I had five people in my group and when we first started playing the game, Mr. Vaughan guided my team for the first couple of minutes until we got the hang of it. It was so nice to see shy students be so involved in the activity. Atomic Volleyball allowed me to forget about having skills and to primarily focus on having fun and getting a good workout. In my opinion, Atomic Volleyball is way better to play than regular volleyball because it allowed everyone to worry less on the skills. Thus, this allowed people to not panic when the ball came in their direction because all you had to do was catch it. I liked the idea of switching/rotating every time someone from your team threw the ball to the other side. Just by switching, it increased my heart rate and made my breathing faster. While switching, it was fun when I would sometimes bump into the other person switching with me. The easiest way to get someone out from the other team was because they forgot to rotate. Switching was such an important aspect of the game because it forced you to be alert, aware and to pay attention at all times. In the very beginning of the game my team members and I sometimes forgot to switch, however as the game progressed I immediately switched right after one of my team members threw the ball over. When one of my team members were out, they would yell out "switch" every time the ball was thrown over the net. I found this helpful and by doing this, we were able to work together as a team. As I looked across the gym, almost everyone had a smile on their face which was so nice to see. I actually thought this gym class had the most positive attitude compared to other gym classes. I was able to be the last person left on my team a few times. It was a little more challenging when you were the only person on your team when most of the team members from the other team were still there. One time, when I was the only person left on my team, the entire other team was still in, and so their strategy was to throw the ball in different directions so it would be more difficult for me to catch the ball. They made me run more, but I didn't mind it because it gave myself a challenge and made the game more interesting for me. In the beginning of the block when Mr. Pederson first told us we were going to play Atomic Volleyball, I was actually a bit nervous because at first I thought it was going to involve more skill and it was going to be a harder version of the regular volleyball. However, when we started playing I had a lot of fun and I didn't want the gym block to end. It felt like this gym block went by really fast! Before the year ends I hope we can play Atomic Volleyball one more time because it was a game that the majority of people liked. At the end of the block, the smiles on my team members faces instantly told me how they felt about this game. To conclude, this game generated a lot of enthusiasm and positivity which allowed everyone to get a good exercise in a very fun way!

May 26, 2014-Keeping Stretching Fun

I'm always trying to find new ways of warming up or stretching before going out for a run or bike ride. I found that stretching the same way everyday sometimes gets boring. So this weekend I discovered that stretch bands, are also good strength-training tools that provide resistance during exercises. The benefits of using stretch bands over dumbbells is that the bands allow for a greater range of motion. Stretch bands are also great to strengthen your biceps.

May 21, 2014-Capture the Flag

On Wednesday May 21, since our gym class was smaller this time, we had the option to join Mr. Pederson's and Mr. Vaughan's class to play a big Capture the Flag game. The weather was really nice so I was glad we were able to do an activity outdoors. Karen, Simran and I joined Mr. Vaughan's team in Capture the Flag. It was nice to join another class because this allowed me to meet new people and get a feel of how Mr. Vaughan's class is run. Mr. Vaughan's class is just as energetic and enthusiastic as our class, which is great because it allowed everyone to have a positive attitude for the whole gym block.  I've mentioned in other blog posts that I'm able to keep on improving every time we play an activity. While reflecting on today's gym block, I've made my biggest improvements in Capture the Flag  from the time I played it today. When we played Capture the Flag last week I was able to run to the other side and back without getting tagged, but I  unable to bring back a football. When we played Capture the Flag this time, I brought a football back and a frisbee back. So I ran there and back while bringing a football or frisbee to my team, two times! From all the times we have played Capture the Flag, I have never brought back a frisbee or football because I was always to shy to run to the other side so I played it safe and stayed on my side. However, by bringing the frisbee/football to my team, it gained my confidence and made myself very proud. When I brought the football back to my territory, I decided to go again because the worst that can happen is that I get tagged and I have to run around the safe. In the beginning of the gym block, Mr. Vaughan told us to take risks and so this is exactly why I decided to go to the other side again to try to bring back another football. I ended up coming back with a frisbee which was good news for me! Not only did I bring back two items to my team but I also ran four more times to the other side, but I got tagged while doing so. I don't think getting tagged was a very big deal because the "punishment" of running was considered to be a benefit to me as you are getting more exercise in this way.  At the end of the game, I took the initiative and ran to the end of the field to help out with cleanup. It didn't feel right for me to just leave without putting the equipment away. Even though my legs were already tired from the game, I still put in the extra effort and ran to pick up the cones. I don't think I would of done this leadership in September as I was not as outgoing then. The only thing that I disliked in the game was when people continued to run after they got tagged. For example, I tagged a person while he was running to my territory and he knew he got tagged but carried on running. Karen also noticed people were cheating too. Even though a few students were cheating it wasn't going to bring the game down for me. Out of all the Capture the Flag games that I have played this year, this one made me the most tired at the end which could be because I noticed that I ran even more this time. Going up the stairs to my fourth block class was hard because my legs were burning as I was going up, which tells me that my participation was definitely maximized in the block. My face was also very red and continued to be red after gym class. In brief, improving is such an important aspect of gym and I'm glad I am able to identify things I need to work on and then take the action to get better at them!

May 18, 2014-Strength Training with Weights

This weekend I was reading an article in the fitness magazine "Women's Health" titled "7 ways to Balance Strength Training and Cardio." It  made me think, and I knew I was lately getting more Cardio, so I decided to do some strength training. I learnt that strength training would benefit or give a boost to my running performance. Also, strong muscles help improve form and help you run with more stability and control. Having strong muscles will definitely help me with my structure of the plank and my structure of push ups.