Week 5

Week 5 led to many great points for me. This week I feel that I have hit my stride as a student-teacher. I continue to get more and more comfortable when teaching. This week I had my first observation with my college supervisor. Additionally, I was able to create a fun and engaging activity for my students with cooperating teamwork.

On Thursday I had my first observation of the year with Mr. Shafer. The day before he arrived I had the opportunity to sit down with my cooperating teacher to discuss what my lesson entailed. Sitting down and having this conversation with my cooperating teacher made me feel comfortable and eased some of my anxiety going into this first observation. On the day of my observation, I was able to use my planning period to gather all of my materials and supplies for the lesson. The lesson I had planned to teach involved gathering hula hoops, cones, jump ropes. The class period before my observation lesson is my planning period, thus this gave me the opportunity to set up for the lesson and double-check that I had everything ready. I also made a few changes to my lesson plan during this time. Once the observation period started I felt very well prepared even though I was still a little bit nervous. Following the period Mr. Shafer informed me that he thought I did a great job instructing the lesson, involving all students and having the students activity during the majority of the class period. This made me feel more confident in my teaching abilities and lesson designs. Some constructive feedback that I received during this observation was slowing down with instruction to ensure all students understand the activity and to project my voice so all students can hear me. I will take this constructive feedback into my teaching practices and for my next observation.

The next point I would like to touch on from this week is the cooperating teamwork activity I created. My cooperating teacher played this game with our fifth-hour class and they really enjoyed it. I chode to make a few changes to fit into our previous unit of teamwork. The class had the opportunity to work together in various situations such as strategizing during relay races and scrambled eggs ( trying to get three bean bags into a hula hoop and the ability to steal from other teams). This was exciting for the students to work with different peers to meet a common goal. Additionally, this lesson challenged the students to use their strategies as a team to win the relay race or the game of scrambled eggs. Looking back at this lesson, I would have the students each do different movements in the relay races and have them chose the order of who goes first. This lesson allowed me to build on the importance of teamwork and strategies when working in a team setting.


Classroom confidential 

In chapter 2 Schmidt focuses on the topic of eptness. This week I learned eptness is extremely important in regard to the success of a teacher or a sign that a teacher is great.  Schmidt states “Eptness is when the teacher may not set the culture of their school, but they set the culture of their classrooms”. I believe allowing teachers to have the opportunity to determine what their classroom environment is going to allow for student success. In chapter 2 it is mentioned that a teacher should not view their classroom as a place where they are the sole person who makes decisions rather it should be a collaborative effort between the teacher and students. Additionally, I believe it is important for teachers to identify where each student is comfortable and how they learn to ensure they are reaching their highest potential.  

The first point of eptness, I would use in my classroom is encouragement. I believe encouragement is vital for keeping students engaged in a lesson especially in physical education. During my physical education classes, I like to tell my students they are doing a great job on the activity. I have found using encouragement allows my students to continue to work hard even though a lesson may be out of their comfort zone. Schmidt states, “encouragement aides with the students knowing what to do and how to complete the task at hand”.

 The second point of eptness, I would include in my instruction is model learning. In physical education, I sense many of my students don’t recognize how important 30 minutes of exercise a day can help succeed in other aspects of learning. I believe it is critical that my students learn from everyday situations and being able to connect it to other aspects of their lives. One thing that I like to do with my students is to ask them if they learned anything new today and how can they use it during physical education or activity.

Lastly, I believe it is important for my students to learn how to use their problem-solving skills on a daily basis. I try to provide my students with opportunities to find the answer by themselves first and then we talk about it as a class and then I will go help students who may need more clarification. I want to assist my students in learning how to be more independent in their learning as they are starting college soon.