Chapter 9 (Rink)

• Motivation is a key element in teaching, for it has a direct correlation to learning/personal growth. Here are a few general principles that I found contribute to motivation, learning/personal growth. I believe that being positive is key to promoting motivation. If you as a teacher act positive to the students, meeting their needs then in turn they will act positive back and be open to what you have to teach. Having a variety of teaching strategies is also important, because no two students are the same. So in order to influence every student as a teacher you may have to teach different ways. This way no one is left behind. Also going along with this the teacher must allow the student to function with autonomy, making sure that each task presented is meaningful to the student. If the student feels a greater connection to the task at hand the will be more motivated to complete it. For younger students external motivators like a prize for a certain action could keep the student attentive and active throughout the lesson, also making them work harder so that they can earn the prize. Lastly by helping the student create a longterm goal for themselves within the Physical Education environment will help the student develop intrinsic motivation, the internal feeling of self motivation. 
• Teachers can promote personal growth of students through personal interaction in many ways. First simply the act of learning the students name gives the student the since that you know them as a person and not a group. Enthusiasm plays a key role in teaching, because the students will feed off of your emotions, if you as a teacher are positive, then the students will be also. Be caring to your students, take in account their feelings and respect them for who they are. Reinforcing morals to your students is a key element. I personally feel that many people now lack respect, and common courtesy. This idea will help them greatly later in life. In turn this teaching of morals will allow the students to understand what are wrong attributes to carry with them. As a teacher do not allow a students misbehavior to effect you personally. Handle it in a positive so that the situation does not progress. The treating of all students equally takes away any jealousy issues that students may have toward classmates, and is a professional act by the teacher. Listen to your students, and observe their responses. This allows the students to voice their feelings, and responses to a task. Personally developing yourself as a teacher is key. Your students will look up to you because of this and strive to be like you. 

Lab B: Jump-Rope Lab

For Lab B I had to teach two skills these being the forward straddle, and the straddle cross. These two skills for jumping rope were new to me, so therefore I had to learn them before I taught my lesson.
Before I taught the lesson to my class I tried to memorize the words that I was going to say ahead of time so that I could explain my directions more clearly to the class without hesitation. This initial part of my lesson I thought went quite well. I tried to imitate my TA's (Gino) lesson from the previous week, because I thought that he ran the class quite well during his demonstration. I broke the lesson into two parts, the first half being for the first skill, and the second half for the last skill. The first skill was the forward straddle which was easier for me, because I knew how to do it. I planned that half of the lesson out completely. It did not really go the way I planned though. I originally thought with our low numbered class that I could teach everyone on one line, but two additionally participants and the TA's were part of the group. So I had the group work on two lines instead. This worked wonderfully because it allowed the participants to already be in group lines when the turned around to perform the task. This was an unexpected turn of events that ended up benefiting my lesson. In class for the past week everyone has been learning how to properly give feedback to participants, so as they group performed the skill I tried to incorporate what I learned in class. This was a great tool, and I felt as though it helped the participants feel better about their actions. While watching the film for my first half of the lesson their was a point when I was having the group perform the forward straddle without the use of the jump-rope. I instructed everyone to try and lean forward to help them stay on the balls of their feet, almost instantly I saw everyone lean forward as though they were one unit and follow my prompt. That for me was such an inspiring moment. It really made me feel like I was a real teacher, and I was helping them learn a new skill.
For the second half of my lesson I had not really fully planned. For this I followed some of the ideas that my TA Anthony had given me the week before, which helped me greatly in relating the skill to the participants. This skill for me was the most difficult to perform, but I just worked through it. I have found that when something does not go the right way as you had planned just to keep working through it. I worked through the difficulty of not knowing how to do the skill, and it worked out great. I do not believe anyone caught on to it during the lesson. This half of the lesson though my Professor had one of the students pretend like he did not want to do anything, and sit off to the side. I went through the whole second half of my lesson without even noticing this. It was quite embarrassing to hear at the end of my lesson I did not notice this. I felt as though I had let my TA and Professor down. Next time I will be sure to be more observant with my participants, for I do not want this kind of mistake to happen again.

This lesson has felt like my best lesson yet. This is true even though I made a few mistakes throughout it. Last lesson I had much more instruction and class management issues, with limited activity. My time managing for this lesson I felt was much better, but not perfect. The next lesson I teach I am going to really strive for putting everything I have learned together to make my lesson perfect.

Chapter 7 (Rink)

• Six behaviors a teacher can engage in during an activity that have the potential to to directly contribute to a lessons objectives are; maintaining a safe learning environment, clarifying and reinforcing tasks for learners, observing and analyzing student responses,providing feedback to learners, changing or modifying tasks for individuals and small groups, and maintaining a productive learning environment. 
• Specific feedback is a good tool in keeping an off-task student on task. This is because when a student is given a general feedback like "Good" the student has no idea what "good" may mean. It could stand for a multitude of actions they are doing and cause confusion. So specifically telling the student what they are doing "good" keeps them involved. Also making sure the student has an understanding of what you as a teacher are trying to teach them will help the student stay on task. This will allow for less confusion on the part of the student. 

Examples of feedback

General: "Good Job"

Positive: "Nice follow-through on that throw"

Directed to Class: "Many of you are dribbling with your palms. Make sure to use your finger pads."

Evaluative: "The class has improved 50% since last time."

Specific: "Nice job dribbling the ball with your finger pads" 

Negative: "Don't dribble the ball that way"

Directed to a Group: "Maybe you four should try and toss around the beach-ball first." 

Incongruent: "Don't throw the ball until you make eye contact with him."

Corrective: "Jaimie bend your knees more."

Specific: "Good work while crossing the finish line. I liked the extra effort." 

Positive: "Gina you are doing great with your pitches today." 

Directed to an Individual: "John try and swing your hips into your swing. This will help with your follow-through." 

Corrective: "Swing your hips."

Congruent: "Your forward step was not big enough."

The Situation, Task and Criteria for my Jump-roping Lesson

Here is part of my lesson plan for EDU 255: Jumping into Lab B. This is the Situation, Task, and Criteria incorporated into the three domains of Physical Education.

 Psychomotor: 1A/1

1. By the end of the class, the students will be able to perform the forward straddle with proper form (feet 8”-12” apart, on the balls of the feet, and leaning slightly forward), for at least 8 out of 10 times.

2. By the end of the class, the students will be able to perform the straddle cross with proper form (staying on the balls of the feet, and having the proper leg crossed at the proper time), for at least 8 out of 10 times.

Affective: 2/5

2. During the lesson, students will show an ability to participate in a safe manor by being in their own personal space, and using the jump-ropes properly.

Cognitive: 1A/2

3. By the end of the lesson, the students will show understanding of the forward straddle and the forward cross by reciting the cues of each skill to the teacher.

Safety Statement: 2/5

4. Students will need to be aware of their surroundings, as well as how to properly hold a jump rope.

Grading of Physical Education in the Midlakes School District

Earlier this afternoon I interviewed a Physical Educator from the Midlakes School District. He works with younger children around the elementary level. In his classes the students are graded in accordance with the three domains; these being psychomotor, affective, and cognitive.
First the students performance of a task/skill within a lesson are assessed. Then if the child is prepared for physical activities (correct equipment). Lastly the child's understanding of the skill being taught is taken into consideration. These understanding of skills are assessed through quizzes given throughout a unit. Also at this level of teaching it is important for the students to have proper social behavior, because social interaction is crucial for the child's overall cognitive development. With all of these factors taken into account the child is given a letter grade between 1-4 which correlates to the level of functioning that they individually are at. For Middle and High School levels this grading system is similar, with slight variations to account for the age and development of the students. An example of this would be at the High School level where participation, and cognitive understanding of the task/skill is greater emphasized.
Sadly though Physical Education within the Midlakes School District does not count on the overall grade that the student receives in their report cards. Which could be the reason I could not find a link to the grading system for P.E. on their Website. The Physical Educators of Midlakes are in my preference some of the best I have met, for they inspired me to learn to become a Physical Educator. I thank them for everything they have done for me. I have recently found out that they are currently trying to get Physical Education to be a graded class on the student report cards. I have faith that they will succeed in doing so!

Chapter 2 (Rink)

• For a child to learn a motor skill they must first have prerequisites of easier related skill or abilities that tie into the larger skill being taught. Then after this it is necessary for the child to have a clear understanding of what is being taught. If they do not have a clear understanding of the task being taught then the mind will send the wrong information to the body resulting in failure, even though the body of the child can perform the task. This mind to body information is called motor programs. The students must also be motivated to perform the given task. Motivation is a directly correlated as to whether the student cognitively understood the original task. This is so because if the student did not understand they may get confused, and discouraged to perform the task. This is the teachers job to make sure the student understands the task, and what they are asking so the students can be motivated to perform the task. Once the student has understood the task and is able to complete the skill then they must practice that skill repetitively. This helps to develop the motor programs necessary to do the certain skill properly, and in doing so increase the percentage of its effectiveness. During this practice phase it is the teachers job to give the students feedback as to whether or not they are doing the skill properly. Having this external feedback allows for a decrease in error of the skill being performed. 
• I believe open skills should be taught in a dynamic setting where the environment is always changing. This is because during the open skills no two scenarios may be the same, so the learner must be able to accommodate for all possible outcomes of the environment. Closed skills on the other hand are static in nature and I believe would be best taught with the constant repetition of a skill in a set environment. I believe this would allow for the development of better motor programs. Discrete skills are like closed skills in the manner that they too are developed by constant repetitive actions. These are the building blocks of larger skills. When you put multiple discrete skills together you get a serial skill. An example of this would be a double-leg take down to a half, as performed in wrestling. It is key though that as a teacher discrete skills are first mastered before going on to more complex serial skills. 

Re-Teaching of Lesson One

In this lesson I had to re-teach the lesson I had taught the first day using the skills I have picked up in the past week and a half of classes. The lesson as before was on Volleyball, and how to properly set a ball. I have no experience in volleyball so the first lesson I taught was well below my capabilities as a teacher, for I had no preparation time. This time though I was able to prepare, and felt confident going into class. When coming up with a lesson you try to imagine what you will say, and some of the reactions of the students. From there as a teacher you come up with a kind of script you want to teach by. When I started teaching I felt like things were not going as I planned. I was lost for words at some points, even though I knew what I wanted to say, and I felt that some of the students were confused by my directions. I have noticed when you are teaching and you feel as though a part of your lesson is going wrong time seems to slow down, and then you begin to get nervous. This happened to me when the students did not understand my directions to form two lines facing the wall. In actuality though it was only a few seconds, but for me it was forever.

While doing this assignment I reviewed my video and I felt a little better about my lesson. It looked as though everything had went well. I was speaking much louder, and clearer,I used different techniques like pinpointing, and checking for understanding. Even while writing my verbal transcript I noticed I made fewer mistakes speaking, like not stuttering. It was not until I went and wrote up my time coding form, which I modified to better suite my lesson that I noticed a huge flaw in my teaching. Instruction had taken up much of my lesson, about 60%. The amount of activity actually performed measure around 28% of my lesson. This was quite embarrassing to see. If this lesson was to be graded by the time coding form alone I would get a 1/5. Even though it looked as if it was well put together in actuality it was not.

The activity I chose I felt was designed to get the most touches of the volley ball in with each student in the alloted time. It was not specific to the game Volleyball, but worked on the principals used in setting. I think if I had more time that the activity portion of my lesson would have been greater. Still even so I believe I need to shorten the length of my instructions. I will try to do a better job of this in my next lesson.

Chapter Questions (Rink)

• Teaching is most definitely a goal oriented process. The goals of the course goes along a curriculum. This outlines all of the instruction that is necessary within the class, and where the student's level of learning should be at a specific time. The problem with most physical educators is that they do not always stick to the curriculum that they had previously designed. This then effects the main outcome, or goal of the lesson. This causes the accountability of physical educators in a school to be lowered due this inefficient planning. This is why it is imperative for goals to be kept, and to follow a curriculum. 
• Choosing an instructional process for the curriculum is extremely important. These instructional processes are specifically chosen to match the final outcome (goal). So therefore a teacher may need to development many individual instructional processes for short term goals within a curriculum. Then eventually these will lead to the longterm goal. 
• The students response to  lesson within a movement task is key observable moment for the teacher. During this time the teacher must observe if the students have properly followed the instruction, are in a safe environment, and if the students are on task. This is a period of assessment for the teacher, and how the students respond determines the next appropriate teaching move. This can tell if the students need more instruction on a task, and therefore more time in that particular lesson, or if the students are ready to move on with the another lesson. 

Teaching by Invitation and Intra-Task Variation

Teaching by invitation can be an extremely affective tool for any teacher at all levels. I recently had a lab for PED 434 in which we learned about teaching by invitation to a greater detail than I previously had. Teaching by invitation allows the student to choose the different parameters of a task to match their own specific skills. This allows the teacher to have a greater variety of skill in their classroom while still being on target with their lesson. I found this video below showing examples of this skill being used in the classroom.

I am now going to incorporate this teaching skill into my lessons. I feel like this teaching style will work great for students of all ages.
Another skill that I learned about in more depth was intra-task variation.This allows for the teacher to adjust the skill level of a task for a group, or an individual while the lesson is still in process. This is different from teaching by invitation because the teacher is the one making the decision of about the skill level, and not the student. I have previously heard about this type of teaching skill, but never fully understood how it could be used. Now realizing how great of a tool this can be I will also try and incorporate this method into my lessons. Teaching styles like these two will most certainly make me more confident in my own teaching abilities.