Volleyball Bump and Set #2

On the second time around teaching this lesson I tried to be more informative with the students to help them understand how exactly to do the bump and the set properly. However, I may have taken a little too long on the instruction of the lesson and not enough activity time. Also, I tried to give as much feedback to the students as possible. To help the students self-esteem when the are doing good and to improve skills when they are not doing as well. After reviewing my lesson and filling in my Time Coding Form I learned really on what I should work on and will be prepared for future lessons.

How am I doing? I need some Feedback!

In physical education there are many different ways of teaching lessons and different aspects of teaching. One of the major aspects of teaching a lesson is giving feedback to the students. Feedback is a way for a teacher to help their students progress at something or let them know that they are doing a good job. Feedback is a good tool for teachers because it lets the students know that the teacher is paying attention so they will always try and it can help the student become better at the activity if they keep getting feedback.
Even though feedback is a very powerful tool to use, you must give the feedback to the student in a way that they will receive criticism the best. Such as a student will learn more from positive feedback or more from negative feedback. As a teacher you should always use positive feedback in a classroom setting. It could be different when you are coaching a sport. As a teacher and coach you must know how the students will react to different criticism.

First Taught Lesson

My first lesson's outline, taken during 255 on the first day of classes.

What Have We Learned?

· What I have learned for the students at St. Mary’s is that if you as a teacher is having as much fun as possible, they will have as much fun as possible too. You can spin everything into a fun way with the children and they will loosen up to you more and more. Some examples were when I as was with the Pre-K and had my Santa Claus hat on and pretended that the children were reindeers and we went around delivering presents. Making things that are out of the ordinary into a fun game is what they are looking for. No games seemed inappropriate that were taught to the children.
Working with the PRE-K is easier and a better experience in some ways because you have to work harder to do things that the children will understand, and the games can seem farfetched and boring. However, there is more you can do with the PRE-K because they are always ready to try things. The older students do what they like and won’t listen to you because they don’t know you. However, you don’t have to think up things as much and not so much as on the spot, they like common sports.

In the fine motor skills area, the younger children seemed to have more problems with eating as in dropping their food and making as mess, also missing the garbage pail and when they played the simple games they had trouble in such as connect four in being able to put the correct colors in the spot they wanted. We as Physical Educators can work on hand-eye coordination with the students, to understand limitations and how things move to help the students fine motor skills

Getting on the Children's Level

Some of the challenges that I have faced recently has been the cooperation of the children. It all depends on the day that we happen to catch the children on and depending on the game. If the previous labs have had a similar game to the one’s we are playing then they lose interest and make it difficult to keep the kids in line and attentions spans run short. Also, the age differences that are within the groups that we work with, who can make it difficult to keep all the children interested in the game. In the beginning of the time spent at St. Mary’s the nerves and the lack of knowledge with the children also made it difficult for most in both lab groups. However, after going there a few times and learning more about the children it has become easier and more comforting
I think that we should all get more on the children’s level, get to be more like them so that they will get more excited about the games that we are excited about the game. Make them think that since the teacher who is just like them likes the game then it must be fun so they will want to play. However, even though we want to make them play in the games that we are making them seem more fun, we also need to have that teacher-student relationship, where we have the control and they have respect. Don’t be afraid to open up and let them know, and keep control.

Imagination

Something that I've learned over my time spent at St. Mary's school as a student teacher so to say is that you must loosen yourself up. Being a good teacher to young children is getting on the same level as them so to speak. Think things up on the spot and don't be afraid or embarrassed of being a good teacher. I learned this though holiday games, a game where me and the students used our imaginations on the spot to create a game that not only they had fun, but I had fun as well. This game is called Santa's Reindeer's, and the object of the game is for the students, who are the reindeer, and myself, who was Santa, were to leap around like we were flying and arrive at houses and put presents under Christmas trees, put as many as we can as fast as we can. Might not seem as fun to older kids, but as to PRE-K students these types of games is what keeps them interested the entire time.

How About Those Games?

Many of the games that we as a lab group have used all were appropriate for the students in all ways. Some happened to work better then others because of the teaching strategy that was displayed. In the beginning of our labs the games did not take as well because most of us were still getting used to working with the children and getting comfortable. Later on in the labs after everyone got more comfortable the children seemed to get more interested and more kids played the games. As for skill wise, again some were better then others because it was harder to find games that incorporated the throw and the catch for some of the games as did kicking and dribbling. However, all in all the activities/games were all appropriate for the children at St. Mary’s.

Some limitations to the games or activities are such that you must make sure that every student has the opportunity to do each motor skill more then once for the purpose of the child having more fun and for the other college students to assess. Also, to have less of everything scattered, more organization keeps the games moving and doesn’t slow anything, resulting in more reps for the child and the child will want to continue to play.