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13 January 2025 About Me, Uncategorized Post a Comment

Personal Learning Profile

About me:

My name is Sarah Norman and I am a fourth year student at UVic. I started my degree in New Brunswick, where I was in a concurrent BA/BEd program and playing varsity volleyball. I decided to transfer to UVic to come play volleyball for the Vikes and to be closer to home. I grew up in Nanaimo, BC but knew it was not my forever city. I’ve always been a very active person, and my love for physical health has grown tremendously over the years. I started playing volleyball in grade 6, joined mariners club volleyball for grades 8-12, and captained my high school teams at Dover Bay. My major at UVic is in English, with my minor being in EPHE. I’m planning to do the PDP at UVic after I complete my BA with my teachables being in English and Gym. I went into my degree thinking I’d like to teach kindergarten, however, after working from ages 15-21 with elementary aged children in recreation, I decided high school is more up my ally. I started working with youth at the City of Nanaimo, volunteering over 630 hours over two summers in summer camps, doing the LIT and Quest program. After that, I worked as a Rec 2 leader running Jr. LIT camp. I coached volleyball in New Brunswick for Wolfpack Club. Upon returning to Victoria, I joined South Island Volleyball club and have been playing in their grass doubles league, as well as captaining two intramural teams each semester (we won last year!). Additionally, I started working for Oak Bay Recreation two summers ago as a Team Leader, managing two summer camps and a staff team of 8-10 people. My end goal is to become a high school principal, however, I’m very excited to teach first. I have known since grade 7 that I wanted to be a teacher.

Over the past few years, I’ve dealt with severe health issues that greatly impacted my physical and mental well being. I started lifting towards the end of high school, and then fell in love with it while training during the varsity season. I hope to mentor young students, supporting them in loving themselves no matter how they look. I got bullied during high school by volleyball teammates who commented on my weight and took a photo of me sleeping in the hotel room one night at Nationals, sending it around with a caption about how heavy I was. Having been bullied in high school, mainly for how I look, I hope to use my past experiences to remind students they aren’t alone, and to help provide an outlet through physical activity for self growth. I believe physical activity improves how one feels about themselves, and I hope my love of sports can shine through for anyone I work with. Additionally, due to the mental health struggles I’ve faced on top of physical barriers, I hope to be a relatable teacher that can support students in all aspects of life, not just in the gym.

My favourite sports to play aside from volleyball are basketball, pickleball and badminton. I also have developed a love for hiking and the outdoors. I find nature connects me spiritually and that I can feel Gods word through it. The most recent hike I did was at Elk Island in Alberta! I want to complete the Grouse Grind in Vancouver next. 

Strengths:

In my life, I’m a very outgoing person who likes things done a certain way and will certainly advocate for what I believe in or need. As a teacher, I believe my strengths are setting standards, using a range of teaching styles to connect with more students, and creating a safe space for students. I also bring a lot of passion to the job which is apparent within schools.

Areas of Growth: I’ve learned a lot of strategies through recreation, but want to know more about classroom management skills working with a range of abilities. I’d also love to continue learning about special needs children and how to adapt activities (especially for physical barriers).

Goals Related to Physical Health Education:  

I’ve really enjoyed being challenged to make adaptations in other EPHE classes, and look forward to putting to use all I’ve learned over the last 4 years of university. My mom is a teacher so I’ve seen the dedication it takes and all the extra hours outside of contracted work it requires to do the job as best as possible. My goals will be to increase the amount of physical activity youth undergo. Additionally, for when I teach English, I’m interested in teaching outdoors rather than in the classroom all the time, modelling what Socrates taught us.

Thank you for reading all about me!

8 January 2025 Blog Posts, Uncategorized Post a Comment

Blog Post #1

My name is Sarah Norman. I’m in my 4th year of my BA with a major in English and a minor in EPHE. During my educational journey, I have been working at Oak Bay Recreation doing after school care programming and team leading camps. I’ve enjoyed working with elementary school kids; however, I decided early on that high school teaching is the route I want to take. Active health education can shape young people’s attitudes toward health and wellness by creating a positive image of how wellness can benefit one’s life. Educators need to understand key components of health because these key concepts as a core focus will benefit both students and educators. By taking the time to learn both from studies and students shared experiences, educators can foster a safe environment with open discussion about why we do what we do when it comes to movement. The key issue in youth physical activity is lack of awareness, relating specifically to girls in sport. Growing up playing sports, majority of my coaches were males, often who’d never instructed girls before. There was pressure to perform at the same levels as boys, or limitations for sports teams because not enough girls signed up. I wanted to play football in grade 7 but was unable to due to there being only enough boys wanting to and not being able to join the boys’ team. Additionally, girls’ bodies have different developmental stages than boys, and this often got overlooked. As a future leader in sport and health education, I will work to educate colleagues of all genders on developmental stages in female youth and discuss ways programs can be adapted to become more inclusive. Through working in recreation, I’ve learned how every year an increasing number of youth spend their time indoors. Sedentary behaviour is not the fault of a child. Guardians and role models in a child’s life can demonstrate healthy behaviors. Many families struggle to maintain a healthy, active life, and these habits fall onto the children. It’s easy to become lazy and lose motivation, and as a teacher if I see certain patterns relating to sedentary behavior that is cause for concern, I’ll try to inspire the child to become excited about moving their body and fall in love with feeling good. To promote an active lifestyle, I’ll try a variety of activities such as outdoor ed or frisbee golf, to cater to a wide range of interests. Also, speaking to the children about what activities or sports they’re interested in doing will allow me to adjust lessons and choose activities that spark interest in my class. Using the five-step model as a guide, as a teacher I will assess individual needs and fitness levels, set goals and create action plans unique to students requests, organize programs of interest to students to take part in outside of school hours, take feedback from students, and finally evaluate students and adjust how I’m teaching to help students improve their understanding and skills. Lastly, promoting health competencies can impact physical development by enabling students to learn about the importance of regular physical activity, proper nutrition, hydration, and sleep, contributing to overall physical health. Additionally, by developing skills in physical activity, students are more confident in their abilities, contributing to better performance in sports and physical tasks. Health competencies can lead to overall improvement in spirit, mind, and body for students. With targets on social, emotional, and physical development, these competencies provide the foundation for students to thrive by fostering healthy habits, emotional resilience, and strong relationships. As a teacher, I plan to integrate these competencies into my practice by creating a safe, open environment that encourages lifelong health, well-being, and community engagement. 

Images cited: Woman Running Free Stock Photo – Public Domain Pictures & 6dvotamb3ddiy7qw.jpg (1920×1358)