Blog 3.6 All Classes Bracketology 101

This week is a special time in American sports culture. 65 of the top teams in college basketball will compete in a single elimination winner take all tournament, also known as March Madness. The fun thing about March Madness is you have no idea who is going to win.

For this week blog we are going to fill out a bracket and try to predict the winner. The students with the most correct picks will win a Chipotle lunch delivered to them by me during their lunch period.


To fill out a bracket copy and paste the url below and just click on the team you think will win. You do have to sign up for a CBS Sportsline membership in order to do this. If you do not want to do that you can use the second url below and print a bracket sheet and turn it in to me. Have fun.

http://mrkirk.mayhem.cbssports.com/e
Our Group Password is: Wootton2010

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/mayhem/brackets/printable_men?tag=pageRow;pageContainer

Period 6 Blog 3.5 Basketball

We will start our basketball unit today. Like our hockey this will be a quick one week unit designed to give you a quick look at the invasion game of basketball. We will start out in small game situations. Learning how to attack the basket and then pull back and work on some skill. For this weeks blog I want you to let me know what your experience level is with basketball. Have you ever played before, played with friends, in PE, on a team, JV etc.

Period 3 Weight Training Blog 3.5 Stretching

Last week we looked at the flexibility of our hamstrings. This is a problem area for many of us and as we said, lack of range of motion in a given joint because of flexibility issues limits the athletic potential of that joint. An increase in range of motion can be reached with a consistent focus on stretching. Many of us neglect this very important part of our workouts. Current research leans towards a dynamic warm-up and post strength work stretching as the best way to maintain range of motion of a given joint. I will start to build in time for us to stretch at the end of our workouts. It is up to you to use that time wisely. Below are some basic rules of static stretching that you can follow.

Rules for Static Stretching

Positioning is everything
Find that spot. Most people don't stretch; they just try to look like they are stretching.
Good stretching is uncomfortable but, not painful. Know the difference. A little discomfort means you are well positioned.

Use different techniques. Activate the antagonist; do long statics; use active stretches.
Use your bodyweight to assist. It should be both comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time.
Stretch all areas. Don't focus on one. We make sure we include one for each of the following - Adductors - Hip flexors - Lateral Hamstring - Hip Rotators

For this weeks blog I want you to explain the function of each of the muscle groups in bold above. I also want you to find time to stretch.

Period 7 Adv. Weight Traning Blog 3.5

Last week we looked at the flexibility of our hamstrings. This is a problem area for many of us and as we said, lack of range of motion in a given joint because of flexibility issues limits the athletic potential of that joint. An increase in range of motion can be reached with a consistent focus on stretching. Many of us neglect this very important part of our workouts. Current research leans towards a dynamic warm-up and post strength work stretching as the best way to maintain range of motion of a given joint. I will start to build in time for us to stretch at the end of our workouts. It is up to you to use that time wisely. Below are some basic rules of static stretching that you can follow.

Rules for Static Stretching

Positioning is everything
Find that spot. Most people don't stretch; they just try to look like they are stretching.
Good stretching is uncomfortable but, not painful. Know the difference. A little discomfort means you are well positioned.

Use different techniques. Activate the antagonist; do long statics; use active stretches.
Use your bodyweight to assist. It should be both comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time.
Stretch all areas. Don't focus on one. We make sure we include one for each of the following - Adductors - Hip flexors - Lateral Hamstring - Hip Rotators

For this weeks blog I want you to explain the function of each of the muscle groups in bold above. I also want you to find time to stretch.

Period 8 Principles of PE Blog 3.5 Rules

I was very unhappy with the way class ended last Friday and like I said then, I will take responsibility for not communicating my expectations of you clearly enough from the beginning of class. I will also take responsibility for making sure that those expectations are clear for the reaminder of the semester. I want you to be involved in this process. For this weeks blog we are going to come up with a list of class rules that everyone can agree on and that we all will follow. Your job is to list one rule that you think will help the class run smoother. We will take the top five and develop new proceedures for the class based on your rules. Next week we will take a look at consequences for breaking those rules.

Period 3 Blog 3.4 Adaptation

Great job, most of you in picking out your problem areas and thinking about ways to address them. I have been lifting weights for 20 years now and still have problem areas that I continue to address in my warm-ups and workouts.

This week we are going to take a look at "adaptation." Adaptation can also be called training effect. It is what we are looking for when we go into the weight room. We want to place our bodies under just enough stress that we cause them to adapt to that new stress but not so much that we run the risk of injury. This is a hard concept to grasp and it takes a level of maturity and trust to understand that most of the time less is more. Meaning you don't have to be sprawled out on the ground after each workout leaving your body so sore you cannot workout for the rest of the week. We will sprinkle in some of those grinders to shock the body and spur growth but they should not happen daily.

This is why we are trying to shift your focus in the weight room from the amount of weight you are doing to the performance of the lift itself. We will continue to emphasise proper form and treating each rep as an extremely important step towards getting stronger.

What can you do individually to help yourself maintain focus on each rep in the weight room?

Period 6 Blog 3.4 Floor Hockey

Today we will begin our floor hockey unit. Floor hockey is our first invasion game, meaning you are trying to invade another teams territory or prevent them from invading your territory. All invasion games share similar concepts or tactics and if you can grasp these concepts or tactics in floor hockey, you will be better prepared to play any other invasion game. Other invasion games include; soccer, basketball, football, ultimate frisbee, etc.

The first tactic or concept we are going to focus on is maintaining possession of the ball(puck). You can use various skills to help you and your team maintain possession of the ball in two areas. On the ball skills, this is when you have possession of the ball or off the ball movements, these are things you do when a teammate has possession of the ball to help support them.

For this weeks blog I want you to give me one, on the ball, skill you can use in floor hockey to help maintain possession of the puck and one off the ball, movement you can perform to help your team maintain possession of the puck.

Period 7 Weight Training Blog 3.4 Adaptation

Great job, most of you in picking out your problem areas and thinking about ways to address them. I have been lifting weights for 20 years now and still have problem areas that I continue to address in my warm-ups and workouts.

This week we are going to take a look at "adaptation." Adaptation can also be called training effect. It is what we are looking for when we go into the weight room. We want to place our bodies under just enough stress that we cause them to adapt to that new stress but not so much that we run the risk of injury. This is a hard concept to grasp and it takes a level of maturity and trust to understand that most of the time less is more. Meaning you don't have to be sprawled out on the ground after each workout leaving your body so sore you cannot workout for the rest of the week. We will sprinkle in some of those grinders to shock the body and spur growth but they should not happen daily.

This is why we are trying to shift your focus in the weight room from the amount of weight you are doing to the performance of the lift itself. We will continue to emphasise proper form and treating each rep as an extremely important step towards getting stronger.

What can you do individually to help yourself maintain focus on each rep in the weight room?

Period 8 Blog 3.4 Badminton

Badminton is an awesome sport. We will take a look at some important net and wall game tactics that can transfer over to any net or wall sport.

The first tactic we are going to look at this week is creating space on the opponents side of the net. We will go over this in class.

For this weeks blog, I want you to share with me some of the skills you used to create space on the opponents side of the net.