Teaching PE was quite fun. It made me a lot less nervous about teaching PE to real elementary students. Teaching PE made me take note of a few of my bad habits that I will work on before teaching. I realized that I have a tendency to hurry as I worry too much about time limits. I now see that clarity (ex. boundaries) is just as important as time to play the game. I also realized how often I use non-gender neutral terms, specifically “you guys.” I am glad that I have time to shift my word use to more inclusive terms. Preparing for the PE lesson was a great learning experience. It was wonderful seeing all the resources and pre-made games that are easily available. As someone that is more drawn to bottom-up teaching for games, I was happy to see there were plenty of resources.
We were fortunate to have such a wonderful group of “students.” I am looking forward to seeing what teaching PE to real elementary students will be like.
Great post Carrie! Your group did a great job leading the group teach this week. You guys were very well organized and kept it simple, yet gave us the option of making it more challenging if we chose to do so. I agree with you about being less nervous and more confident about teaching an actual class of students PE. Watching each group present to us and carry out activities each week has been very insightful and I am happy to know that there are so many resources readily available to us. You, Travis and Jennie had great teacher voices!
Carrie,
Your group teach was inspirational, you kept us busy and informed for the entire duration of the class. I never felt confused, or needed further direction! The conga line was incredible, what a great way to warm up a class in a fun and functional way. On our trip outside I was leading the group, I must say, there was a great deal of skill needed, both for leaders and followers; maintaining a speed, pulling the students behind you as well as attempting to keep dancing rhythmically to the music. What fun! The “dance off” exercise too was a pleasure, I most certainly was warmed up by the end of it.
I really enjoyed the section of the lesson where we were able to extend the exercise and sit before jumping up to try and catch the birdie. It was incredibly hard, and I appreciated the fact that your group offered that extension as an optional measure for whoever felt they wanted to go the extra mile in the game. I’m glad we were able to practice in partners before the initial game, it looked easier than it was!
I enjoyed our discussions on assessment. It is interesting to see the curriculum transforming, and assessment with it. Obviously times were different when we were young, and PE too employed competitive assessment. I can’t imagine having to give a child a bad grade when he or she is putting in their full effort, but somehow cannot manage to successfully complete an activity. I fully understand that if the child is not comprehending the fundamentals of a kinesthetic activity, this may be for a number of reasons, however I would like to think that if the reason is not a lack of effort that child must not fail his or her assessment. Learners are not reflections of each other, just like in all other subjects, we do not develop at the same pace, and this must be taken into consideration in PE because here is where the advanced child will most obviously succeed in comparison to the child less developed in this area. It is a fragile learning experience for children, and it is the teacher who must facilitate life long physicality in a positively memorable way.