Get Ready to MOVE

Done with Lab D!

After a long semester has come to the end, I am proud to say I have grown. I finished my final lab on Wednesday April 20th. This journey has not been easy, but it has been very rewarding. Before I get into my reflection for Lab D I would like to thank everyone involved in this class this semester, Professor Yang especially. I have learned a great deal from him and so much from the TA's and other students. Thank you for being available for help and inspiring me with new ideas to use in my lessons.













Now on to Zumba!! Take a look here at the video of my lesson:





After watching my videos and completing the Time Coding form, I see I still have some work to do. Although students got more than %50 activity, they were still being instructed for too long and had waiting periods. With more planning and practice I believe I can adjust my lessons to make things more efficient.

Regarding the C-9 form, there are some points that I missed or didn't quite cover thoroughly enough.I should have gone over safety a bit more instead of just reminding students to be aware of their space. I had a good instant activity that got students moving, and after bringing them in I successfully introduced myself. I missed out on checking for understanding with students after the demonstration, and also need to work on my feedback. I give feedback but very rarely is it congruent feedback. I encourage students and tell them they are doing a good job, but not specifically enough to students and I don't tell them exactly what they are doing a good job at. To see a detailed transcript of the lesson click here. This is one area I still need to grow in. I also had to face some tech challenges in this lesson. I had a nice powerpoint to show the class, but couldn't get it hooked up to the projector so it was only shown on the small screen of my lap top. This visual aid could have helped me in gaining more points on the C-9. One thing that surprised me while watching this video was my confidence. Usually I am very energetic and confident in my lessons and within class. I have to admit for this lab D I was very nervous. This was one subject I knew almost nothing about and was not familiar with. I knew a lot was riding on this final lab and I believe my nerves got to me a bit. But once again this is a learning experience, and although I didn't do as well as I would have wanted, I was exposed to teaching new skills in a new environment. I will only learn by doing and I'm very glad to have had the experience here at SUNY Cortland to better myself.

To see my content development form click here. 

ZUMBA!!

Lab D crept up quickly! We're already at the end of the semester. When I look back on each lab I can proudly say I've improved little by little each time. My speaking has improved, organization, as well as visual aids. Although I have improved on some things, there is still a long road ahead. Even seasoned teachers have room for improvement every day. I am very thankful to have had this experience with our 255 class. We have learned a lot together and had a lot of fun. I'm excited and nervous for my Lab D!  
Students will learn a few Zumba moves as well as a brief history of Zumba. The students will also be asked to complete a small assignment and attend a Zumba class or event.

Pleased with Polo

After the anticipation of how much lab C really counts for, I think I did well once I got into teaching. I was very nervous and stressed out before this lab because it is longer and used a different skill that most people are not familiar with. I looked up rules of Polo, a brief history, and passing techniques. I decided that I wanted some fake horses for the students to ride on while passing the foam ball to each other.

Some positive things I did was the organization with the cards for partners. I made index cards with numbers on them. I had 1-4 with blue maker, and 1-4 with red marker. 1's paired up with 1's, 2's with 2's and so on. When the students paired up I had them work on a slow smooth pass to a partner while standing without their "horse". Once students got that down, which happens so fast in our class compared to how it will happen when we're teaching high school or grade school students. Once this pass was done well we moved on to back hand passing. The progressions start at forehand passes on the right side, and moved up to back hand passing and a neck pass or tail pass.

One thing I wish I did more was manage my time so the students could play a full field game longer. I could cut off some time from our passing progressions and get more into game play.I think my feedback in this lesson was better than my previous lessons. I used the cue's "slow and smooth" while talking to the students in class. I can still work on my volume and also make my visual aids larger. They seem so big when I'm in my apartment but then I get to a gym and they're not so huge any more! I am pleased with this lesson and the way I taught it and am exited (and a bit nervous) to move on to Lab D!

Partner Jumping Reaction

Every day teaching gets easier and easier. With practice I think I am becoming more clear and effective with my teaching. I taught 2 partners in 1 rope and 2 partners in one rope alternating partners. This skill was pretty easy, yet hard to explain. I was pleased with my visual aids I used for this lesson. They were pretty cute and would be great to be used at an elementary school level. I think a common theme within our class is the size of posters. We all have great visuals but some of us need to make them a bit bigger, myself included.

Teaching the class partner skills was fun! I was amazed with how many things you can do with a jump rope. Having each of us teach multiple lessons using jump ropes and almost every skill is different than the one before keeps people interested in the lesson. Part one of my lesson was pretty simple and I think I demonstrated it clearly and effectively.  I demonstrated it without the rope just jumping with a partner then had the students break up with their assigned partner (that I used with the numbered cards). Once students seemed comfortable with that skill I called them back in to work on 2 in 1 alternating partners. This skill seems hard at first but after I demonstrated it in slow motion I think the students got it. This skill is good to have the students go out and work on things themselves.




My voice is at a good level and my confidence is high. I think I could work on demonstrating more. Once without the rope slow motion, once with a rope slow motion, ten the full motion of jump rope at live speed so students know what they should be doing. Also my positioning in the classroom gets off a few times. I rarely but sometimes had students behind me while I was watching other students.

Overall I think the lesson went well. I could work on using more congruent feedback with the students. Also I notice give feedback to those who are closest to me usually. I have to work on giving everyone positive feedback that correlates with the cues given in the beginning of class.

Tentative Plan for lab C- POLO

This lab I was assigned Polo. I plan to give a brief history of polo (hook), and show the students the various passes that can be used in polo. I will also review defensive rules and regulation. Once students are comfortable with all passing skills while on the move at different speeds, we will play a mini polo game!

Feel free to view my lesson plan and task progression sheets for this lesson.

Lab B2

Here you can see my tentative lesson plan for Lab B2 which I will teach on Friday, March 11th.