355 Field Experience: Week 5 (2nd/3rd Grade)

Students were having a "carnival" day in class. This included a bounce house, the Wii fit, walking on stilts, and other stations. This class seemed to be a little more hyper than usual and my master teacher informed me about one of the students special needs. One student in particular he informed me of how he had ADHD and that he was highly medicated. It just so happened that the student hadn't taken his medication that day and he was more of a distraction than usual. Knowing this was the case, my master teacher seemed to have a little more patience with him but at the same time he was very concentrated on making sure he stated his expectations early and often and constantly reminded the student of classroom behavior to keep him in check and to avoid him becoming a distraction to his classmates.

355 Field Experience: Classroom Observation

We observed a first grade classroom for our classroom observation. During the class the students were listening to the teacher read them a book and after they completed the story, they began playing "Time Bingo" as a way of learning how to tell time on a clock. The classroom was arranged with posters with days of the week, months of the year, different punctuation, vowels, maps, and math symbols.Students were sitting at desks in groups around the classroom as opposed to sitting on the floor in groups in the gymnasium. The students seemed much calmer and attentive in the classroom. The most important thing I learned from the classroom observation was that it is important to keep students interest level up to keep them on task. Once students lose interest in the lesson, that is when they start misbehaving.

355 Field Experience: Week 4 (2nd/3rd Grade)

For this class we did the same as the 4th grade class where they were broken up into stations and in our station we worked on volleying. The 2nd and 3rd graders were slightly less skilled than the 4th graders but our findings showed that they were having similar troubles as the 4th graders when it came to volleying. Next time we go to the school we are going to work on volleying again and come up with some activities to help them with their volleying.

355 Field Experience: Week 4 (4th Grade)

This week in field observation we did our pre-assessment for volleying, so overall we focused on "skill themes and student abilities". The students were working in stations each one using a different skill theme so we felt it was appropriate to make our own station for volleying where not only did it coincide with what our master teacher had going on in his class but it also gave us the opportunity to assess our students' volleying skills. The groups had about 4-6 students and we introduced the skill and then had them get with a partner and spread out about 10 feet apart. My partner gave feedback to the students while they volleyed a beach ball back an forth while I assessed the students using a rubric I designed specifically for volleying. From the information we gathered it was apparent that the students needed to work on keeping their knees bent and striking the ball with their forearm as opposed to their fist.

Lab 13: Scooter Activities

1. Design a scooter obstacle course for DVL 1 students to negotiate throughout a gymnasium.

Set up lanes/roads with stop signs and "traffic lights", students must maneuver throughout the "neighborhood" obeying stop signs/traffic lights and also go around, under, over, and thru different obstacles laid out throughout the gymnasium.

2. Explain to a parent the benefits of having children participate in scooter activities.

Scooter activities make it so students behave in a safe and responsible manner because there are added risks of injury if you are not using a scooter properly. Also students must cooperate with classmates and be aware of their surroundings at all times while using the scooters.

3. What team strategy concepts would you stress in scooter basketball?

I would stress passing and finding open lanes. It is important to find open space to get away from defenders and to also use teamwork and pass the ball to get closer to the basket.

355 Field Experience: Week 2 (2nd/3rd Grade)

For our second week of field experience we observed again. Just like in our first observation of the 2nd/3rd grade class they did stations that focused on different skills such as balance, hand-eye coordination, and hopping. After each group did each station they gathered for a whole class activity of "Shark Attack" which was basically a tag game that involved sharks and doctors. They were going to do an additional activity but ran out of time because the students were taking too long to get into quiet lines and settle down between activities. This just reminded me of how important classroom management is while teaching.

355 Field Experience: Week 2 (6th Grade)

This past week we still just observed the classes at the school. The 6th grade class was pretty interesting to observe this time. Their class was in the middle of a "Create A Game" unit where the students were split up into groups and plan and organize games using only household objects. They are given a sheet where they have to write down the rules/objects needed/ and a brief description of how to play. Once they came up with a game they then had to teach their classmates the game and play in class. I thought it was a great unit because it allowed for children to be the teachers for a day and think outside the box. Also the games could be used in a classroom setting as well as at home. One group came up with a game that was kind of like capture the flag using boxes and socks. I think it also showed students what it's like when students don't listen to directions or act out while the teacher is speaking so maybe they will be more sensitive to it in the future.