Lauren Mitchell: Started on Gymbus, Now Competes at National Championships
Gymnastics in Australia is currently enjoying it’s national championships in Perth for the Women’s and the men’s in Canberra. Perth is hosting both Women’s Artistic and the Rhythmic competitions.
Today Tonight in Perth had a short two segment production on the WAIS girls program highlighting the efforts put into their chosen sport by the gymnasts, parents and coaching staff. If you were lucky enough to see it i’m sure you were impressed by how it was put together. It’s great to see one of the hardest sports getting some deserved promotion and recognition.
Lauren Mitchell is back in Action in Perth tonight. I believe she’s competing with her brand new floor routine and bar routine. With recent injury minimizing training on impact apparatus (floor and vault), Mitchell has increased the difficulty of her bar routine making her even more competitive on the international scene. Good Luck Lauren and all the other competitors with your individual and teams competitions.
Lauren Mitchells new Floor Routine
If you’re in Perth, there are still two days left of competition. If you’re in Canberra, there are still a few more days left so support our gymnasts, both guys and gals. CLICK HERE for details.
University of Minnesota Intern Works With TriSkills
Instead of enrolling in multiple classes, I decided to enroll in an internship, and was paired with a company called TriSkills. Before arriving in Australia, the TriSkills website was my only source for knowing what I was going to be doing for my six week stay in Australia. The website was a good source, but since I had no idea how the primary school system in Australia worked, including the physical education system, I was slightly confused as to what I would be doing. However, within the first week of being in Australia, I quickly learned how my time with TriSkills was going to be spent
I started out my internship working mostly with Julie Amanatidis, my supervisor, in athletics such as high jump and shot put. I really enjoyed working with Julie because she has a contagious passion for her job. She appears to highly enjoy working with the children as well as care about their success in the athletics activity, gymnastics, or sport that she is teaching. Julie was also a great source of Australian information for me; we spent many breaks comparing the United States and Australia (we even pulled up Google Maps one day and I showed her where my home state of Iowa is!).
Another person that I worked with on a regular basis was Amanda Sturgeon. Most of my internship was spent traveling around to different schools every day, meeting new children and participating in new activities; however, Wednesdays were slightly different. Every Wednesday of my six week internship, I went to Eastlakes Primary School to teach gymnastics with Amanda, as well as Ben Creed, which was great for me because I was able to get to know the children that we taught. Amanda is a great TriSkills teacher, definitely one of my favorites; she has so much energy during her lessons, which allows the children to have fun while also doing hard work.
One of my most memorable days while working with TriSkills will definitely be “Pirate Island”, as Amanda called it. For the last lesson of the term, she put on a bandana and talked like a pirate, and even set up the equipment in a cross shape. She even allowed the children to “walk the plank” and jump into a sea of sharks. The children loved it!
Working for TriSkills was definitely a new experience for me in many ways. Before coming to Australia, I was strictly a ball sports athlete. I knew nothing about gymnastics or dance, not to mention anything about teaching it, but the funny thing is that the activity that I taught the most while I was here was gymnastics. Although it is a relatively simple introductory level of gymnastics, it was amazing for me to learn how to teach the sport.
In America gymnastics is, to my knowledge, only taught in private organizations; it is never taught in the school physical education courses. So for me to come to Australia and teach gymnastics in a primary school classroom is fun. As well as spending a lot of time teaching gymnastics, I spent a lot of time at Carnivals, which were definitely my favorite days even though they could sometimes be hectic, or should I say organized chaos. No matter how chaotic, I always enjoyed them. It was great to be able to spend a day outside, watching the children compete and have fun in the activities that they had been practicing all term.
My experience as an intern for TriSkills was one that I will truly never forget. I came to Australia having little to no knowledge of Australia in general, or of the Australian primary school system which I was going to be working in. But now, as I look back on my six weeks as an intern for TriSkills, I feel I have gained knowledge and skills that will be very beneficial in my future. I have had the opportunity to work with children of many different cultures in many different athletic activities, and I have also had the chance to observe and take in multiple different teaching styles. All of the instructors that I had the pleasure of working with were welcoming and helpful. After only a few weeks I was allowed to begin truly interacting with the children, and I would like to thank all whom I worked with for helping me and welcoming me into your TriSkills team. I feel that I have become a better teacher and coach after this experience, and I will take all that I have learned here back to my future teaching career in America.
As advice to any future interns, I would like to say that you will have an amazing experience here in Sydney as well as with TriSkills. You will have daily activity with children and athletics and I feel that it will truly make you a better teacher or coach. Throughout your internship, be willing to learn new sports, new teaching styles, and have an open mind for everything. Having an open mind goes not only for your time spent working, but with everything you do while you are here in Sydney. It is an amazing city that has a lot to offer. Enjoy it while you have it, six weeks goes fast!
Brittany McNabb, University of Minnesota Intern at TriSkills Athletics Carnival
Australian Catholic University (ACU) Home Page
Improve Students Test Scores With Physical Activity
Combining Physical Activity With Classroom Lessons Results in Improved Test Scores
ScienceDaily (July 1, 2011) — When schools cut physical education programs so students can spend more time in the classroom, they may be missing a golden opportunity to promote learning, according to research presented on May 1, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Denver.
The study adds to growing evidence that exercise is good not only for the body but also the mind. It also shows that physical education and academic instruction need not be mutually exclusive.
Researchers Kathryn L. King, MD, and Carly J. Scahill, DO, pediatric residents at the Medical University of South Carolina Children’s Hospital, led by William S. Randazzo, MD, FAAP, and James T. McElligott, MD, sought to determine how implementing a daily physical activity program that incorporated classroom lessons would affect student achievement. First- through sixth-graders at an academically low-scoring elementary school in Charleston, S.C., took part in the program 40 minutes a day, five days a week. Prior to initiation of the program, students spent 40 minutes per week in physical education classes.
The school nurse was awarded several grants that were used to educate school administrators and revamp several classrooms into two gyms that housed equipment for an All Minds Exercise (AMX) room for older students and an Action Based Learning (ABL) lab for the younger schoolchildren.
“The teachers, administrators, parents and students at the school were brave enough to think out of the box to help the children learn in new ways,” Dr. King said.
First- and second-graders moved through stations in the ABL lab, learning developmentally appropriate movement skills while basic academic skills were reinforced. For example, children traced shapes on the ground while sitting on scooters and hopped through ladders while naming colors on each rung.
Students in third through sixth grades had access to exercise equipment with TV monitors. For instance, a treadmill had a monitor that played geography lessons as the student ran through the scene, and a rock-climbing wall was outfitted with numbers that changed as they climbed to help students work on math skills.
Researchers compared state standardized reading test scores for the year before and the year after initiation of the program. Each student took standardized tests in the fall and spring. In the fall, the results included an individualized goal for each student to reach on the spring test. Researchers measured the number of students who met or exceeded their goal score in the spring.
Results showed that the time spent out of a traditional classroom in order to increase physical education did not hurt students’ academic achievement. In fact, student test scores improved. Specifically, the percentage of students reaching their goal on the state tests increased from 55 percent before the program was initiated to 68.5 percent after the program was initiated.
“These data indicate that when carefully designed physical education programs are put into place, children’s academic achievement does not suffer,” Dr. King said.
“More studies are needed,” Dr. Scahill added, “but there is growing substantial evidence that this kind of physical activity may help improve academic behavior, cognitive skills and attitudes.”
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by American Academy of Pediatrics, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
What are some safety hints when teaching gymnastics?
Here is an article from the NSW Department of Education and Training (Original article). It provides some great pointers on how you can improve safety when teaching Gymnastics. Please remember that TriSkills offer accredited coaches for its Gymnastics Program and is endorsed by the NSW Education Department.
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In gymnastics, as with any physical activity, the issue of safety is particularly important. All skills should be taught in a developmental sequence that includes a number of gymnastic opportunities and lead-up activities. Lessons need to include a warm-up, developmental activities and a warm-down. The developmental activities will form the main body of the lesson and should provide the opportunity for students to be guided through a variety of learning experiences that lead to the development of student confidence and eventual achievement of each movement skill.
Teachers should also consider the following safety considerations when planning and implementing gymnastics lessons.
- Provide adequate warm-up before engaging in vigorous activity. As students move into Stage 2 and again into Stage 3, stretching becomes an increasingly important component of warm-up routines.
- Incorporate a warm-down routine at the completion of activity.
- Have a clear, predetermined signal to stop all students moving. This may be a whistle, a verbal cue or a visual cue such as the teacher raising an arm above their head.
- Check that equipment is in good condition before use and select appropriate equipment for each task.
- Use an appropriate surface for each activity and ensure that the area is free of obstacles.
- Use space effectively by limiting the number of students using an area.
- Teach students to be aware of others when moving about a space.
- Students should be encouraged to wear clothing that allows for freedom of movement and to wear appropriate footwear, such as sports shoes for indoor and outdoor activities.
Particular caution is required with jumping and landing activities, particularly when using mini-trampolines or when mounting or dismounting apparatus. Adequate supervision, correct technique and a safe landing area are required.
The document Guidelines for the safe conduct of sport and physical activity in schools (Department of Education and Training) was issued to all schools in 1999. The guidelines are designed to support teachers in implementing, leading and supervising sport and physical activities. Schools need to ensure that sport and physical activity is safe and enjoyable for all students. The gymnastics safety guidelines in this document apply to a range of gymnastics activities and should be followed by supervising teachers.
APPA Conference Demands Action From Garrett
Education Minister Garrett
The National Australian Primary Principal’s Association Conference has confronted Federal Education Minister Peter Garrett with a bold, unanimous statement calling for equality in resourcing and roll out of the upcoming National Curriculum.
Norm Hart
National President Norm Hart, told delegates it was vital that all Australian schools and their students be afforded equal status and financial resourcing in the roll out of the new curriculum. “We have to present a single, united front to ensure schools in all states, territories and educational regions. The tyranny of distance, moving from state based to a nationally based curriculum is an enormously challenging task,” he said.
This task will require education professionals receive dedicated training to ensure implementation within their classrooms. Teachers returning home tired after teaching all day are in no fit physical or psychological state to attend piece meal after hours training. This is our opportunity to change education Australia-wide.
The financial and human resources required to ensure the smooth transition require strong political leadership; understanding that primary, secondary and independent education sectors will be equally affected. Delegates sought that the the minister to show the political will to ensure the National Curriculum is an outstanding success in the coming 2 years.
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