The Visitor

After watching The Visitor I was really moved. The Visitor was a story about a professor who discovers a foreign couple living in his apartment. After finding out the couple are illegal immigrants and they have no where to stay, he lets them stay with him. While staying at the apartment the professor begins to build close bonds with the couple. While out with the Professor, Torek the drummer is stopped by police officers because of racial profiling and is arrested for not having a green card. The professor ends up helping Torek fight his case and finds himself with meaning again in his life.
This movie really moved me because it showed the struggles and biases immigrants face in this country. As a physical education teacher I will encounter a lot of diverse students with this new multicultural age. Understand the struggles they face and adopting a multicultural way of teaching is the first step in fostering a non-bias classroom. There are many things that make up a good teacher and cultural competence is a big one.

Total Hours- 3

Skill Builders and Challenger Sports

For about ten 11 weeks now I have been participating in Skill builders and Challenger Sports every Tuesday night. As a lab assistant I am required to come for Challenger Sports, but I volunteer to come to Skill Builders as well. While working in Challenger Sports I get to see the older students and in Skill Builders I get to interact with the younger students. During these sessions I get to see a variety of students with disabilities and how they interact with future PE teachers. Having an aunt with Cerebral Palsy really gives me a passion for working with people with disabilities. While working at both sessions it really is about finding student’s abilities and building on them, rather then looking at their disability. Once the teacher gets past the disability, they really start to connect with their students and build a positive and productive learning environment. Through out the time I spent observing and interacting with these groups I saw many different teaching styles used to coupe with diverse learning needs. Attending these programs has really been an exceptional learning experience as well as a lot of fun.

Total Hours- 11

2010 Polar Plunge Cedar Beach, LI

On Saturday November 20, I attended the Cedar Beach Polar Plunge to benefit the New York Special Olympics. While back on Long Island for the weekend I decided to check out the Cedar Beach Polar Plunge in Mount Sinai. At first I wasn’t sure what to expect, but when I got there it was a great time. It was amazing how many people came out on a Saturday morning in 50 degree weather wearing bathing suits ready to run down the beach and dive in to the salty water. Although I didn’t dive in myself, it was just good to be there raising money and supporting the cause. So many people were eager and ready to jump in and with life guards, scuba teams, and EMS crews standing by a few waves of people ran into the chilly water and quickly ran back out to the comfort of blankets and dry cloths. Altogether it was a great experience and it was said they raised around 25,000 dollars, so it was a successful event as well.

Total Hours- 6