Short Practicum Observation and Language
During my two-week short practicum, I was introduced to many different students form different backgrounds. I found it interesting how there were not very many ELL students in my classes. This being said, I realized how important the LLED 360 class is and how useful it is for our practicum. One thing that I found myself doing when teaching was focusing on the language I use. In the discipline of physical education, I often just think, Oh everybody knows what this means, just because I have so much experience with the language. After taking a moment to think back, I realized that I did not learn about anything like Rate of Perceived Exertion or Maximal Heart Rate until I was in university. This being said, when I taught a lesson on Rate of Perceived Exertion, I really had to focus on the language I was using with my students. I often found myself repeating ideas in different words to try to make sure that everybody could understand what I was talking about.
Another thing that I realized about language during my practicum, is that the language you choose to use has a very big impact on how the class will run. For example I did a fitness circuit with a class one day. When most people hear fitness they do not get overly excited, therefore I tried to make it more fun. When students asked what we were going to do, I responded by saying that we are going to play this really fun fitness game using cards. I was surprised that by just using that simple word, game, all of the students were more excited to do the lesson that I had planned. When discussing this with my sponsor teacher after my lesson, she commented on how great it was that I called it a game and how important it is to make the lessons seem more fun and appealing for the students to do. Therefore, one of the biggest things that I learned through my two week practicum is how important language is and how you explain activities, what you refer to activities as for all students in your class.