On this page I will describe my two placements, the contributions I was able to make as well as what valuable experiences I gained within the industry of Kinesiology.
KIN 3090 - Field Placement I I obtained my third year placement at The Women's Fitness Clubs of Canada Promenade location. I worked under the clubs registered kinesiologist and attended seminars and work shops as well as shadowed training sessions. I completed foam rolling and fascial adhesion research as a topic of interest to my supervisor and also helped organize the clubs participation in the event held by the Cardiac Health Foundation of Canada, called The Walk of Life. To promote participation among the clubs members I was required to research and design walking programs for the 1 km walk, 3 km walk, 5 km walk, 5 km run, and 10 km run that would be held at the event. My promotion also included the design of an attention grabbing bulletin board posted in the front hall of the club.
Attached below is my work report for my third year placement experience. Through this report I outline my goals and tasks to be completed during my time at Women's Fitness Clubs of Canada. This assignment was a raw reflection of my experience and how it contributed to my decisions about my future career options. I believe that the initial placement experience is very important to lay the base for knowing what industry specifics you like and dislike. This opportunity gave me a better perspective of where I saw myself.
Due to the environment of my placement at a private school I was unable to take many pictures and videos of myself working with the students.
This is an image of myself outside of the school
KIN 3190 - Field Placement II My intentions for my fourth year placement were much more specific than those of my third year. I had already tried the kinesiology field through shadowing at a fitness club, but my plans for this years placement were much more tailored towards my future goals and ideals for continuing my education.
During my years of high school I had participated in every gym and fitness class offered at my school. My grade 9 physical education teacher had been one of my biggest inspirations throughout my high school experience and largely influenced my participation and achievement in multiple sports teams and classes. Throughout my time in high school this teacher had taught almost all of the classes I took through gym and fitness, mainly because I enjoyed her classes so much I picked them based on the fact that she would be teaching them. From grade 9 to grade 12 she has always told me that she saw me doing what she did and being a physical education teacher. At the time I would have never considered myself in her position, I could not imagine teaching my classmates. Following graduation from high school and as I pursued a future in kinesiology I thought more and more about where I saw myself in my career. The realization of becoming a teacher became more appealing as I found my niche and interests through a variety of courses offered in my undergraduate program.
When the opportunity arouse to pick a new placement for my final year of undergrad I immediately thought of working with her again. We had kept in touch briefly throughout the past 4 years and I knew that she had left our high school and was now in the private school sector. Her position was now the athletic director at The Bishop Strachan School in Toronto. I contacted her to see if she was willing to take on an internship student. She discussed with her administration team at the school as well as her teacher partners to make sure that my being in classes would not disrupt the learning of their students. The teachers were all very welcoming to me and were glad to have the extra help in their classes. Since she is the athletic director she does mostly overseeing of classes and sports teams. My role was mainly to shadow the teachers and fitness instructors and once I had gotten the hang for that I was able to lead and sometimes teach the classes. I worked with the senior school students, grades 7 to grade 12. I shadowed and also taught classes for both physical education (gym) and personal fitness.
My final worksite project, which is in it's final stages still, is to reflect upon my experiences as a student teacher in both the shadowing role and the teaching role. I was able to teach a structured class as well as a class where I was thrown into the situation last minute. Since our placement is still ongoing I have a few more experiences that I need to include in order to fully complete the work site project. I also have plans to discuss the different teaching styles that I observed as well as critique my own lesson plans and small tasks that I did while at placement. There were some very intuitive fitness lessons that I liked and would consider a great learning tool that I would love to write about an possible interpret for my own when I become a teacher. I will also touch upon my supervisors role as it is different from being a teacher and focuses mainly on the administrative side of things and less in the classroom.
I think that my overall experience in my fourth year placement has been very rewarding. I really enjoyed the population that I worked with as well as the faculty. Because my placement was in a private school and not in the public school sector I think that this broadened my views on what is available for myself going into teaching. At the beginning of my time at BSS I always compared everything to my own experiences as a high school student in public school, but I now realize that it is only slightly different. There are obviously many difference between public and private school but I believe the opportunities to learn are about the same. For myself, I feel that there is still an equal opportunity for me to make an impact and pass on my knowledge and skills to the students. I think that this placement experience has given me the chance to have a better look at where I see myself in the future. The more time I spend at the school, the more I enjoy it and can visualize myself being there one day. I am overall very satisfied with my choice in placement and the experience I gained from this particular opportunity.