This week’s gymnastics lesson was my first group teach experience and I think it went quite well! Maria, Sienna and I put together a very in depth, detailed lesson plan, and I think that helped in our delivery of it. The very descriptive lesson plan that we created could easily be followed and implemented by another person who was not part of the planning process because we put every single little detail we could think of into it!
Steve posed a very good question to us during our lesson which was along the lines of, if you were one person, how would you be able to control the circuit from the middle of the room? Little changes could have been made such as leaving instructions at the stations to remind students of what they are supposed to do as well as larger lesson changes. Another option was to focus on just one of the three stations per class with the circuit occurring in the fourth class, after everyone had experienced the activity together. With the grade level we were “teaching” (grade 2) it would have been beneficial to do everything together and move through the activities as a class as it would have really solidified the instructions for the students.
It was also suggested that should have done our demonstrations at each of their respective areas in the circuit. This was a discussion we had prior to our group teach and we decided with the time frame we had and the logistics of moving “grade 2s” to and from each station, it would just eat up too much of our time. With a real class of grade 2s and a longer amount of time to teach the lesson, it would be very beneficial to demonstrate at each station since it would help the students remember which balancing activity instructions were associated with which station.
It was important for us to remain flexible during this activity. Although it was designed for grade 2 students, in reality it was adults doing the activities and the activities were obviously quite easy and quick for our group to complete. Because of the lack of difficulty presented for our adult students, we modified our activities, adding in different variations. For example, the activity where we asked students to balance bean bags on their head and walk along the gym floor lines was changed so students had to move quicker, dance, and play tag. These changes were made with the intent of keeping students involved and engaged.
With our lesson plan at least, I don’t think teaching gymnastics will always be scary. Once you start introducing more complex activities and gymnastic structures such as high beams, then no doubt the risk factor will increase. I hope my experience teaching this lesson is indicative of future gymnastic lessons in that it had little risk and no injuries!
Thank you all for being such great students despite the repetition and easiness of our activities!
I really enjoyed reading your post Sydney! And I had a great time participating in your gymnastics lesson. You, Sienna, and Maria did an amazing job planning and implementing each activity. My favourite activity was practicing walking and stepping on the bench. Even now, my balance is not great but as a grade 2 student, I think this lesson on balance is extremely important. It acts as a foundation that will help with your stance, posture, fundamental movement skills, and ability to do well in sports. Children might not know the importance of balance so I think it is important to make students aware of its benefits. I liked how Sienna spoke about needing good balance to throw or catch a ball. This way, students can relate to their own experience and interests. If a student wants to join a baseball team they will know that having good balance will improve their throwing and catching skills.
I also thought that Steve brought up a good point when stating that there will be only one teacher in a PE class. It is important to think about how to construct activities and games where one teacher can observe and monitor every student.
Your group did a great job enforcing the safety components of each activity, which is so important in a gymnastics class. Risk management is a critical component in PE activities to ensure each student is aware of possible risks and what to do in case of an emergency. I look forward to teaching gymnastics in future PE classes, thank you for demonstrating a great example!