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School of Physical Education
One goal within the Physical Education
Teacher Education Program is to provide our students the opportunity to
teach children with special needs. The course focuses on issues relating
to laws, procedures, and curriculum development for special needs children
as well as focusing on each area of exceptionality and specific teaching
techniques that assist in maximizing learning.
Children from the Monongalia County School System are brought to the Natatorium and Shell buildings on Friday mornings. They are assessed, and an individual physical education program is planned based on the specific needs of each child. The children have a wide range of needs and this supervised learning experience is valuable in preparing our students to be successful teachers.
Three clinics operate simultaneously: developmental, fitness/sport skills, and aquatics. Children enrolled in the developmental clinic spend a high percentage of learning time engaged in activities of fundamental skills: locomotor movement, manipulative skills, creative movement/dance, and fine motor skills. The fitness/sport clinic focuses on lifetime opportunities for fitness and enjoyment of sport with skill acquisition activities and cooperation and teamwork as well as individual sport skills. Children learn to overcome their fear of water and in some cases learn to swim in the aquatics clinic. The children often must believe in themselves in order for their fears to be reduced and so the students are counselors and encouragers as well as teachers. The program offers experience in inclusion and exclusion physical education which aids in evaluating children. Children are pre-tested at the beginning of the semester and post-tested at the end to determine gains. The clinics are designed for optimum learning by the student and the child.
The ability to work with special needs children in a supervised setting is critical for growth and knowledge of the students enrolled in Physical Education Teacher Education. They are supervised by graduate students and one faculty member. Evaluations are lengthy and designed to show all aspects of teacher student behavior. The information is discussed with the student and suggestions are made to improve or modify the lesson for next week. Lesson plans are reviewed several days prior to the lesson and returned to the students for clarification. Students maintain a weekly journal, highlighting areas that were of concern as well as areas that were extremely successful.
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