Lab C: Parkour For the Future

As you can see above parkour was the theme for my Lab C teaching. This was by far the best lab i have taught and i had the most fun doing. Preparing for this lab and seeing it through to the end has given me great confidence also, i have found another interest in doing so.

Before i discuss how i felt i did during the lesson why don't you take a look below and see for yourself (the video is in two parts).

Now here is what i think of my Lab C. I believe i have grown greatly from our first lab to now. I know what i need to do and how to get there. I understand how to break things down and convey what i want to the class. I mover around more, i speak much louder than i use to, i give more feedback and i am able to apply intratask variation more effectively. The confidence and being able to envision where i want the lesson to go i believe has helped me grow exponentially. The ability to see the finished product allows you to understand how to get there in the beginning.

Don't get me wrong there is always room for improvement. I need to slow down more and choose my words more precisely so i don't talk so much. I still want to get all the information in my head out at once and i need to slow down and just say what i need to. I will continue to work on all the other skills teachers need and i will just keep growing. I hope to carry this into lab D and perform even better.

To see my Time coding sheet click here.
For my feedback information click here.

Lab B2: Jump Rope Finale

Sadly Lab B2 was the last of our class teaching jump rope skills. With in learning how to teach our jump rope skills we also became much better at jump roping. If you dont think about it you may not realize that in the process of us becoming better teachers by learning how to teach our given skills we became much more proficent in jump roping itself. You learn just as much from teaching as you do from being taught.

In this lab i further progressed in some areas of my teaching. I moved around the gym more giving more congruent feedback and also increased the activity time of my lesson. cutting down on instruction time was one of my goals. Having a goal for every lesson is important so i don't try to fix everything at once because that can lead to missing them all. Of course there is always room for improvement.

Next lab my main goal will be to slow down when i give instructions. I try to speak a mile a minute and get every detail and word i think of out there to help the class. I need to slow down and be selective with my words to give the best instruction. I also want to project my voice more when giving feedback so i can be anywhere in the gym and students on the other side can here my feedback so they know i am paying attention.

My time coding form can be found here.
Also my feedback form to the class can be found here. 

On an end note jump roping was a lot of fun. As seen here above there are thousands of ways to jump rope and adding the freedom of personality into a lesson is always a good thing. Now it is time for Lab C which i am excited for and am anxious to teach.

Until next time.

Challenges Every Day

As I move along in 255 and all my other PE courses i find new challenges to over come everyday. Physical and mental challenges come my way all the time. Some people frown on challenges and just wish everything was easy. I on the other hand welcome these challenges because they help me grow as a future educator. Having everything handed to you doesn't prepare you for the real world. Being able to problem solve and think on your feet is vital for a healthy and successful career in PE. You never know what you will get.

Moving on to another topic i would like to discuss is a story i read on the Rockstarpe blog. Apparently NY is thinking about requiring license plates to ride a bicycle to generate money. This is an awful idea. Yes we need money but there are other things we can do to dig ourselves out of the hole we dug. Making physical activity less appealing to those that already don't like it is awful for our field. If all someone does is ride a bicycle now they may not even do that. This is just another sign that we need to support and advocate many different ways to stay active throughout our life. At this rate you might have to pay by the mile every time you run.

Jump Rope Extravaganza

Lab B was my next adventure in 255. This time i had to teach a skill using jump ropes. My skill was the front cross. Now this took some thought on how to teach it and to relate the cues. It was interesting to see how i could do with an actual lesson. Lets take a look below.


    

To read what i said in more detail you can find my transcript here.

How do i feel about lab B?

In lab i think i worked on my voice some more projecting and i cut down on my instruction time. I still need to cut down on it a little more and this time i believe i would have been very solid had i gave more specific feedback and moved around the gym more. More positives would be my hook a good hook can have a big influence on how your lesson will go also my energy was close to where i wanted it. As always these labs are to help me get better and learn. After each lesson i see what i can do and what i need to work on and i believe i am improving my methods every time.

A good demonstration that you can explain in different ways to try to get the movement understood is vital to reaching every student. In my lesson i went over it and tried to explain it in different ways or to try new ways to approach the skill.

To see how my lesson broke down time wise you can click here for my time coding sheet.

Also to see my feedback form you can check here.

Lab 2

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Spendin Time on Chapter Nine

Question 2: State at least five general principals that are implications for teaching from motivation theory

First off teachers need to create a positive teaching environment and by doing that they can then find ways for students to meet their needs in positive ways.

Second using  a variety of teaching strategies is a must. Doing the same thing every lesson can get boring. Command, command and then some more command can turn students off and can decrease productivity.

Use external forms of motivation with care. Having external motivators need to be used with care and in certain ways. Having them skill based can leave students out. It can be a very powerful tool if used properly.

Another principal i hold highly is to help students attribute their success and failure to a cause that they control. Effort, focus, listening to directions. When they think its something out of their control they can get frustrated and give up.

Lastly i believe an integral part to effective instruction is humor. Having humor creates the best environment for learning when done correctly. It relaxes everyone and is responded to well.


Question 3: Describe nine ways that teachers can promote the personal growth of students through personal interaction. 

1. Students names. Learning the names of your students and using them makes it a more personal and inviting relationship. Students are more prone to enjoy the class and participate with the basic form of recognition.

2. Be enthusiastic and positive about what you are doing. Very self explanatory in that if you are not exciting about what you are teaching the students will read that and not want to do it either. Being enthusiastic will get your students more excited.

3. Have a caring attitude towards students. Caring makes every students feel better, every person for that matter. When you show that you care they will respond positively. Care when they are off-task as well responding in the appropriate way can work wonders.

4. Reinforce basic school etiquette. Building a honest, respectful and positive environment and reinforcing it can carry over to out of the class room. Teachers must remember that what they teach gos much farther than the classroom.

5. Stop destructive behaviors ,don't ignore them. By ignoring you are promoting them because you show no consequence. Making it clear what is acceptable and what is not is vital to classroom harmony and student growth.

6. Do not be threatened by student misbehavior. Taking misbehavior personally and reacting negatively will be counter productive and can lead to problems for you and lack of student growth. Do not take it personally and work with the student in a positive manor to allow for them to grow.

7. Treat all students equitably and be aware of how you communicate with different students. Try not to only gravitate and give feedback to your best and worst students alone. The students in the middle cant be left out. Trying to reach every student should be a goal.

8.Learn to listen and observe students responses. Understanding your students and knowing what their reactions and small mannerisms mean can go along way. That way you know how motivate and help them because you understand what they need or want.

9.Challenge and track yourself. Knowing your goals and trying to grow as a person can help you help others. Setting goals for yourself to accomplish as well as following your own progress as a teacher and a person will help you grow.

RunningThrough Chapter 7

More questions answered from the text below  for reading pleasure below.

Question 4: Teachers have direct effects on a class that can be both positive and negative. Some positive behaviors teachers can perform  are as follows. Maintaining a safe learning environment because no productive class can take place in  any other environment. Making sure tasks are clarified and reinforced to the learners. Observing and understanding student responses and body language. Responding to the learners with feedback to questions and your observations. Modifying a given task to help increase productivity and skill gained for a group or individual, making it easier or harder. Lastly having an overall productive learning environment.

Question 6: There are different ways to get off-task students back no track. One way is to change the task for the student to make it more challenging if that is the problem or vice versa.  Giving feedback to the student specifically but towards the whole class may get them motivated and excited again. By using certain types of feed back you can increase productivity and re-focus the class or individual students.

Question 7: Examples of types of feedback. (1)A statement that is general, positive, directed to the class and evaluative "Nice job jump roping today, the only thing we need to work on is turning those wrists". (2) Team B none of you are touching the bases, when you pass them you need to step on them." (3) I like how you stepped forward when you did your chest pass Ben, just make sure you aiming at the chest of who you are passing to."