St. Mary's: Outside Looking In!

               These past few weeks attending St. Mary’s as a TA for the Motor Development class have been special. I feel more comfortable than I ever have, establishing a leadership role juggling both the SUNY Cortland students and the St. Mary’s students. The goal I set for myself in becoming a Teacher’s Assistant has provided me with the experience I am looking for. This past Monday, my group did a great job establishing an active and fun environment for the St. Mary’s Pre-K. The SUNY Cortland students seemed more comfortable and confident with providing their tasks to the St. Mary’s students. As a group, they need to work on their creativity to the games they choose from a motivating stand point. Looking up games that already exist is great but incorporating your own twist and mark on the game keeps will eventually allow you to make your own games up. The relativity to the themes each week can also use some improving. Again this is all just being able to work on the creativity portion of their lesson plans. Other than that it has been a successful and fun semester with the Motor Development group at St. Mary’s too say the least!

Cortland Mini-Conference

           
           The Cortland Mini-Conference provided many unique ideas to help express Physical Education in our future classrooms. The Conference started off with excitement with a flash mob representing SUNY Cortland, which was created by Dr. Yang. SUNY students in Dr. Yang’s Motor Development and EDU 255 classes including myself, helped structure and coordinate the dance, props, and technology to establish a successful beginning of the conference.

Being a member of APEM, I had the opportunity to work the conference and help presenters with the technical services that they needed to help get there information across to the visitors attending. Listening into some of the presentations, I became interested in many of the topics that expressed technology in there PE programs.

            Most of my time was spent in the Exergaming Room, which provided different ways to perform physical activity while playing videogames. I have had strong interest in this area since the NYSAAPHERD Conference I attended at C.W. Post back in 2008. The motivation that comes with playing these Exergames is extraordinary. It will only be a matter of time before this area of physical activity becomes a huge impact in what PE majors like me are trying to accomplish in this field.

Lab B: Jump Roping

A reality check was presented to me on this particular lab assignment. After viewing my last performance, I worked harder and prepared more in advance to improve my teaching performance. Unfortunately, my nerves had gotten the best of me. Although, I improved some of the bad habits I had in the prior lab, I failed to target the smaller things needed for the lesson. Even though they are considered small they are still extremely important to the learning process. Such things consisted of safety rules, signaling for attention and specific feedback.

I was extremely disappointed with my performance after putting in such time and effort to this lab. I didn’t doubt what I wanted to do with my career but if I was good enough for it. I care so much about the impact of learning I have on future students that it left me with a stomach ache. I was thinking too much about what I should be doing right and what I was doing wrong throughout the performance. The concentration of my lessons needs to be the quality of learning that I establish within the students comprehension.

After watching the video though, it didn’t look as bad as it felt. You could tell of my nervousness but on a positive note my speaking was clear with less slang and at times I showed signs of confidence. The structure of the lesson could have been organized better, breaking down the motor task further. Overall though this lab has shown me that I have come a long way but also have a lot more to learn.


Transcript/Time Code

Lab A: Four Minute Lesson Drill

Preparation, enthusiasm, and confidence go a long way in Physical Education. I learned that through this lesson's experience. There were many differences as well as unfortunate similarities in the second video of the four minute instructing drill that was retaken from the first video made on an ambush first day back challenge.

Based on the evidence from the first video it was obvious that I was completely unprepared, stuttering over my words while looking up at the ceiling as a force of habit for thinking out loud. The introduction was cold and meaningless. There was absolutely no enthusiasm but that was based on the intensity of nervousness. I had given no feedback or positive comments and had trouble explaining and expressing the motor task. I even confused the students by mixing up the rules of the game Knockout and Horse. The positive aspect that I saw in this video was the tool of demonstration to show the students how to shoot the basketball but did not demonstrate it correctly. Furthermore, telling the students they could shoot it anyway they want is not an intelligent request. At that point I felt compelled to hurry the instruction so I could lose the center of attention.

            The second time around was much better although I forgot one of the most important things, the introduction. I was prepared, enthusiastic, and much more confident. I slowed down the lesson a little bit from the last video but would have liked to have slowed it down even more and still felt like I rushed through the processes. I repeated myself a lot trying to teach the lesson and have a heavy slang and New York accent. I need to be clearer on my pronunciation. I was louder which gave me the opportunity to hear the video as opposed to the last video, so if I could hear it they could hear it. Need to keep the approach of teaching the motor skill more simple. It was a long explanation of the lesson. The mind set I need to have going into a lesson is being calmer and slowing down the pace of translating the point I am trying to get across. Rushing gives me less time to think and distracts me when, what I am thinking to say is racing in my head a 100 mph. Composure is a key element. I also need to establish CFU’s and key point cues into my lesson. Overall though, I felt there was much progress made compared to the first video.



Transcript

EDU 255 Chapter 2 & 4 Questions

Chapter 2

3.) Describe what a student would look like who is in different stages of learning a motor skill.

Learning a motor skill is not considered the same as learning or teaching a skill of sport such as hockey. Motor skills can be refined and enhanced by a teacher but for the most part these skills are learned along the way by a particular person. An example of this would be walking, this process of learning may be sped up by a teacher but learning the skill has a lot to do with the person’s environment. Encouragement from a parent to have their child try and walk sets up an environment that allows this, then the child will be more likely to learn quicker. In this particular scenario the parent induced the child's walking but the environment and child's will to walk is stronger. But as teachers this doesn't mean that we can't help to teach to students how to become better at motor movements. Although most kids can run already this doesn't mean a game can't be introduced to allow more running. While teaching these skills teachers must be persistent because we must realize the student has to learn this skill.

 4.) What is the difference between the way closed skills, open skills, discrete skills, and serial skills should be taught?

Open skills and closed skills should both be taught differently because they both propose different situations. For instance open skills shouldn't be taught in closed situations because it is unrealistic. It would be a waste of time to practice a foul shot in a situation where a defender can block the shot, just like it would be irrelevant to scrimmage and so nobody can play defense. The skills must be taught in a certain manor otherwise they are a waste of time. A discrete skill is something that is performed, and has a clear start and stop to the skill. For instance the book gives an example of throwing javelin, you begin by running down the run away and then throw the javelin. That is the entire skill and then it is over. A serial skill is a little different. It is a few skills combined into a sequence. In baseball fielding a ground ball is considered a serial skill. You must field the ball, come up with it and throw the ball to the first baseman. All of these skills must be taught separately because in game situations if they present themselves the student must be prepared.

Chapter 4

2.) What are some things teachers can do to improve communication with learners in task presentation?

Being a physical educator is very difficult to communicate with students because our job does not take place in a quiet classroom, but a loud gymnasium. The key component of communication is getting the students attention. Gaining this is also difficult because of the environment the gym is an easy place for a kid to get lost mentally especially once they get their mind hooked on playing a game. To get this factor out teachers should lay down clear rules that students can easily follow and understand. Another great way to eliminate students not being attentive is by saying what must be said quickly and talking minimally. Get everybody in a huddle and right back out into an activity.




 
3.) What are guidelines for using demonstration effectively?

Providing a demonstration is key in Physical Education because many people must be able to see the skill that they are asked to perform and can't just hear an explanation. Some keys to demonstrating are to make sure that a demonstration is accurate and what you are looking for. Another tool to use is let students demonstrate, this keeps everybody interested because they could be asked to demonstrate next. While demonstrating it is pivotal that the teacher is not only showing the skill but talking through it as well. Be sure to have cues to emphasize the important aspects of the skill.
 

 

5.) What are the characteristics of good learning cues? Design a set of learning cues you would use with young beginning learners and then for older advanced learners for a closed skill, open skill, and movement concept.

A good cue is a clear and sequential description about the movement. It is important to be sequential while teaching the skill so that the students understand how to do the skill. While teaching a closed skill verbal cues are very important rather than just a demonstration. Having cues in their memory would be effective because when they are in the moment the student can talk themselves through the situation. Open skills is a little bit different because demonstrations are very important to learning them. This happens in a more active setting where people are running around and moving therefore mental cues may be hard to remember. If you are playing basketball and a defender is in your face it is hard to think rather than just react.

EDU 255 Chapter 1 Questions

1.      What is meant by the idea that teaching is a goal-oriented activity?

 The idea that teaching is a goal-oriented activity implies that the teacher designs a process in which a goal is supplied regarding what the student will learn. If the goal is not met then the student did not learn the proper material.

5.   Why is the movement task- student response unit of analysis so important in physical education?

The movement task – student response unit of analysis is extremely important in physical education because it sets up process in which teachers can observe, help, and assess students on the task that is trying to be achieved. It also gives teachers the ability to redesign the task once the task is completed properly or the students are having trouble completing the task. The ability to observe the students response to one significant task allows teachers to concentrate on what problems have to be worked out to help that student reach his/her goal.

7.   What is the relationship between teaching functions and teaching skills? List two teaching functions teachers must perform, and describe two alternative behaviors teachers can choose to perform these functions.

Teaching functions and teaching skills are relative to each other because a teacher’s responsibilities are influenced by the proper teaching functions established in a classroom and the skills are a teacher’s tool that helps achieve responsibilities. Teaching functions include being able to demonstrate, analyze, and most importantly teach but without teaching skills none of those are possible. An example would be getting kids to listen and have them quiet. Phrases like "criss-cross apple sauce" or clap three times if you can hear me help teachers get the students attention. All of these skills enable us to teach more proficiently which in the end results in the students being successful.

First Day Back and Teacher's Assistant Experience!

The first week of a new semester brought past memories back from PED 201. In professor Yang's EDU 255 class we were put to work right where we left off, having to instruct a 4 minute session of any particular skill of sport to the rest of the class. I was extremely rusty and had realized the confidence I had gained last semester had evaporated. I have many things to work on in this upcoming semester. Touring the new group of SUNY Cortland students, which are in line to experience what St. Mary's has to offer, I passed the torch of important knowledge I had learned in the previous semester. The comfort ability and ease of being able to instruct a group almost felt natural the second time around. This was and will be my continuing goal throughout the semester to try and gain as much experience as possible through the Teacher's Assistant position.