Teaching PE is very different from any other kind of teaching that I have done, hands down! The day before and the morning of, there were a bit of nerves (as per usual), but this time I drew on my past experience of teaching during a practicum and I went into what I like to call: Teacher Mode. My voice was loud, I was prepared to give instructions (or at least I thought I was anyway), and my group and I had worked a lot about how we were going to teach.
Thinking back onto how the lesson went, I think that we could have done a better job with the flow of the lesson. Going outside just for the warm-up was for timing reasons, and I think we could have saved ourselves a lot of problems if we had picked another activity for the warmup. However, I did like the warmup that we chose because it was meant to introduce the idea of being mindful of the space around us and the people around us, which lead into being careful during volley-crosse.
I really liked the idea of changing up the difficulty of a game, but using the same rules. I never experienced that during my years taking PE and it is definitely something that I will keep in mind for my practicum!
One final thought that I had on teaching was the behaviour of the class. Since we are all adults in the class, we are all inclined to just listen and do what is asked of us, however I am sure in a real class situation, the lesson could have been infinitely more difficult.
I really enjoyed the lesson, and really liked playing volley-cross with a group. I also thought that it was a very interesting experience to change the difficulty level of the game. For our group, catching and throwing tennis balls with the lacrosse sticks was very challenging (but fun at the same time). When you suggested that we just use the tennis ball, it became easier and the game became faster. And when we switched to a larger size ball, we all became very proficient in catching and throwing. This progression made me feel that I was successful in the activity, and motivated me to continue playing games like these and to be active. It also helped me to think about physical literacy, because I could reflect on how it feels to be able to catch a ball and throw it to the other side of the net, to move as part of a team, and which movements I had to use for the different kind of equipment. It brought a rather abstract idea to life. Thank you for organizing a great session!
REFLECTION 3-GROUP B
Great work on your group teach Leandrea! Having just presented my EPSE308 group teach, I definitely can relate to the anxiety that you were feeling before your lesson. Regardless of how much our group has come together, it still makes me nervous getting in front of the whole class and turning on, as you like to call it, your “teacher mode.” You did an excellent job projecting your face and showing enthusiasm for the volleycrosse activity. I also loved how Kenthen took the opportunity to tie in Aboriginal ways of knowing into the lesson by linking the historical context of lacrosse, the principles of respect as well as sportsmanship
Having never held a lacrosse stick in my life, it was an interesting lesson to engage in! I felt that Leandrea did an excellent job monitoring our groups and modifying the game to tailor to our needs. At first our team struggled to get the hang of using our sticks so Leandrea simplified the game for us to make it more enjoyable and help us to practice the basic skills. The second things started to get too easy for both teams, she found a way to extend the very same game! I thought this technique was very mindful of the different skillset that each student possesses and helped us build our physical literacy. After each physical education group teach I find myself more thankful of the new progression models, warm up activities and cool down exercises that my peers have put together! As a person who has not had a prominent physical education background, I am actively putting all of these tactics in my bank of teacher resources and slowly shedding my fears of teaching physical education.