Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Lab D- Badminton


Well we are here, the end of the semester. I have always enjoyed playing badminton which is why I have chosen to teach it for my lab D. This is the last time I would have to listen to myself talk and type out everything I say for my transcript . I have seen a great deal of improvement from the first time I listened to myself. I no longer use as much filler words all though I do say all right and ummmm a few to many times. I also noticed that I was giving more feedback to my students, but not just any feedback it was meaningful and was related to the cues I gave at the beginning of the lesson. My use of time has also improved form the beginning on the semester. I now spend more time on activity and less time with instruction. Overall I think the lesson went very well. As I was listening to the playback of myself I heard a lot of laughing in the background which means that the students were having fun. There are a few things I find that i can improve on though.I should work on my set inductions to help get the students excited for the lesson and also changing my voice around to increase enthusiasm. I am looking forward to what the future holds because I know that what I have learned from professor Yang will be very valuable later on down the road.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

The MAN behind it all




As the semester is rapidly coming to a close i feel as though it is important to reflect upon what we have learned. Professor Yang (Pictured above) has thoroughly prepared us (our 255 class) for any situation that may arise throughout our teaching career. I feel as though i have grown tremendously as a teacher as well as a human being through out this course. This class has helped me in so many other courses already and has really opened my eyes on how to become an effective teacher. There are some many little components of a lesson that I had no idea about before completing this course. This is one class that I can honestly say I enjoyed coming to because it was something new and exciting everyday. Not only was professor Yang a great teacher but the students in the class were great as well. We were able to laugh together and sometimes vent our frustrations with one another but in the long run it only made us closer as a group. Our class seems as though it has become a support group for one another and we will be able to communicate with one another in the future. I must admit in the beginning this whole "blogging" thing seemed a little crazy but i have grown to enjoy it. Viewing other students blogs can help you improve your blog but also keep in touch with your peers. It is almost like an educational facebook.

Disc Golf- Lab C Day 2


Documents

Lab C Time coding form

Lab C Transcript

Lab C Feedback form

So we have just completed lab C. This means that it is time to begin looking at things such as speech transcripts, feedback to students and use of time (Links are above). Since we have been learning different techniques regarding throwing a disc I thought it would be a great time to incorporate different throws in a sequence at targets. The first station was set up for a hyzer throw. Here students were asked to throw around a tree (or a tree like object) and into a target on the other side. The next station delt with finesse. At this station students had to softly throw a disc hopefully having it land on or near a chair. This represents putting in Disc golf. Lastly students were then asked to work on accuracy throwing through two tree like objects. We all know that you are not always going o have easy shots when playing on a course so this is a good time to work on fundamental techniques. Once the students completed the mini course one time they were then asked to retry the course only this time challenging their partner in a competition of who could complete the course in the least amount of throws. Overall I though the lesson went well, the students were really into it. There are some things that i could have done better though. When dealing with feedback it would have been better to focus more on specific and congruent feedback and not so much on the behavioral aspect. Disc golf is a great activity because it can be done anywhere and is also a lifelong activity. Lab D is coming up soon so it will be interesting to see what is in store for these disc throwing experts!!!!

Lab C- Day 1

So the semester is winding down and the labs are getting more intense. We are beginning lab C and I have decided to teach Frisbee golf. I wanted to focus on something that was unique and unfamiliar to the students. I decided the Hyzer throw (curving around trees and other obstacles) was something that all the students could challenge themselves with. To represent trees we used big signs that stood about 8 feet in the air. The only down side to the lab is that we were pressed for time so we were not able to go as in depth as we wanted, but the students enjoyed the lab and showed great enthusiasm for the task. Next class we will be in the field house working on putting multiple throws together to complete a Frisbee golf course. I wish that we could have had more time so that i was able to give feedback to more of the students and they were able to have more time to practice the task.

Documents

Here are some documents for everyone to look at and learn from.

Lab C Lesson Plan
Lab D Lesson Plan
Lab D Resource Packet

Monday, December 1, 2008