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Reflection One:

In our first class, we were spoken to about the module outline and what we should aim to learn while completing this module. Fiona then started talking about pedagogy and the role it played in our course. This was something that I learned from this lesson as I did not fully understand it before this. We also spoke about the importance of planning as teachers and went through an example of a learning wall. David Didua explains in his blog that it is easy for students to forget information and so a learning wall can help the students retain information. After this lesson I became aware of how important it will be to be prepared and the benefits of learning walls for me as a future teacher. In our second lesson we spoke about rules and routines for classes. I learned the purpose of having a routine in a class, for example, by getting the students to stand in a certain place while you introduce the lesson, they will know that they have to do this for ever lesson and should allow the lesson to get started immediately. Rules also ensure that you have better control over the class. From this lesson I gathered that I should have a set of rules that I outline to the students and that I should get the students into a routine to ensure the lesson runs smoothly.

Reflection Two:

For this week we moved to the mardyke hall to being our peer teaching. We were placed into groups and given a strand of P.E. that we would have to teach. Before this lesson we met up as a group and planned the lesson, we felt that it was necessary to do this from what we learned in week two. We had our learning wall prepared for long distance running. We broke the class into small groups as they would be easier to teach and easier to manage. The class participated in various drills and tasks where they learned the different techniques of running and practiced them. As this was our first time doing peer teaching, I found that I had a lot to improve on, we received feedback on our teaching and I was told that I should have better voice projection.

Reflection Three:

This week we did peer teaching again. I felt that I had a better idea on how I should act as a teacher as I listened to the feedback that I received in week three. We had a lesson plan and learning wall prepared for our lesson as this would ensure we knew what we were teaching. I found that having these prepared were very useful as it allowed the lesson to run smoothly.  I found that I improved with my voice projection as I did not have to shout and the class could still here me. From this lesson, I learned that it was helpful to get the class to sit down when I was introducing the activity as they were more attentive and could all see me. The NCCA outlined in a report entitled “Being Personally Effective; Ideas from the Key Skills Classroom”, the importance of the students being able to hear and see you when you are explaining it as it more likely they will retain the information.

Reflection Four:

In this lesson, our group changed what we had to teach from athletics to Health Related Fitness. We decided to focus on teaching them about their heart rate. We got the class to measure their heart rate before and after the warm up so they could compare this and we explained to them why it changes. I found that at this stage I was quite comfortable with teaching the class compared to our first lesson. I took on board the feedback I was getting each week and so found myself slowly improving. This lesson ran smoothly as we each had our own group to teach so it made it easier to control them. We decided that we would try to break the class into groups when we could to ensure we could manage them effectively.

Reflection Five:

This class was our last lesson of peer teaching. Similar to previous weeks we came prepared by having our lesson plan done and having a clear learning wall for the class. We again taught HRF and so progressed our lesson from the week before. The class were engaged throughout the lesson and were kept active. I found that this led to fewer disruptions compared to when they were idle. During this lesson, I focused on giving the class feedback on what they were doing. I felt that they responded well to this as they felt they were learning better and more effectively. The lesson ran smoothly as we had a clear warm up, main body and cool down. As we had our lesson plan prepared everybody in our group knew what they had to do.

Reflection Six:

For this week, we went out to visit Bishopstown Boy’s School where we would be doing our placement. We were brought into the P.E. hall where we would be conducting our sessions. I took notes on the size of the hall and the equipment that would be available to us.  I have included a list of what was available to us. A leader in our group was also appointed to take note of this and pass it on to us. We had a quick walk around to get us familiar with the hall. Fiona also spoke to us about how we should behave professionally while on placement.

Reflection Seven:

Week eight was our first session teaching in the primary school. Prior to this class, our group met up to organise our lesson plan and learning wall. These proved to be very beneficial to us while teaching as we could refer to the learning wall during our lesson. In our first class I felt that a mistake we made was not splitting the class into small enough groups. We also only had maximum two people teaching at once which made it difficult to control the class. We were teaching the students middle distance running, I found that they knew little about this and so we had to explain it slowly to them. After this class I felt that I needed to improve on controlling the children and would take this into account for our next lesson.

Reflection Eight:

We continued our placement in week nine. Personally, I found I was more comfortable teaching this time around as I knew what to expect. We were each given a student to monitor and so today we spoke to them briefly and I observed him while he was participating in the class. My teaching slightly improved this week as I had more control over the class and did not have to speak above them. Our lesson ran smoothly as we progressed the activities and moved onto relay running. We referred back to what we did last week with the running techniques and taught them the different stages of a relay. I found that the students were well engaged and enjoyed the element of competition in the relay.

Reflection Nine:

Week ten we were again on placement in the primary school. For this lesson we decided to teach the students the position of a start in a race. Our learning wall was quite clear this week as we kept it simple with just having it on three sheets. Our warm up worked well as the students enjoyed our ‘jungle game’. However, I felt that as the lesson progressed I found that it began to fall apart as the students did not have enough space to be sprinting. I also found that we did not have as much control over the students as we usually did and that there was sometimes more than one teacher talking at once which may have confused them. Despite this, the children were constantly active and appeared to be enjoying the lesson.

Reflection Ten:

Following my weeks of teaching in Bishopstown I learned a lot in regards to my own teaching style. I learned various things such as the importance of planning and the benefits a learning wall can have for a class. At the beginning I was weary to teach a group of children. However, as the weeks went by I got settled and was comfortable teaching. I found that teaching a large group can be made easier by splitting the classes into smaller classes. I also realised the necessity to change a part of the lesson if the children are not responding well to it as otherwise the lesson may fall apart. Overall I enjoyed my teaching placement in Bishopstown as I gained a better insight into how a P.E. class is conducted.

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Case Study

For my case study student, I got paired with student number 9. For this section I intend on watching this student for the duration of our placement and analysing his behaviour in class. During our first session, I had a brief chat with this student. I had the intention of having a friendly chat as this was our first encounter together and wanted him to feel comfortable. I felt that it was important at this stage to get to know the student outside of school so I went about asking him about his family and his friends. I found that the student spoke abundantly about his family and friends. He was the eldest of three children and talked about his role as the eldest saying that he felt a certain amount of responsibility towards his younger brother and sister. He mentioned that he got on well with both especially his brother as he had a lot in common with him, they regularly play sports such as soccer together. We also spoke about his friends and what they would do outside of school. I found out that he was quite active as he frequently played soccer and hurling with his friends. I could also see this when he was participating in P.E. classes as he was very enthusiastic and active. He said he enjoyed P.E. as it gave him a break from the classroom where he could play games with his friends.

During our first session of placement in the school, I watched this student prior to speaking to him. During this session, the students were in large groups while doing the activity and he did not seem to be too enthusiastic in this session, he did not socialise with too many of the other students. He may have found it difficult as they were in big groups and so he did not get a chance to be himself. However, there was a notable difference the following week when the students were broken up into small groups. He was much more outgoing and it was clear that he felt comfortable in smaller groups. The way the students were broken up gave this student the opportunity to come out of his shell. The theory that placing students in small groups to aid learning and development is backed up by the Primary School Curriculum as it states; “the experience of collaborative learning facilitates the child’s social and personal development”. I strongly agree with this and it was clearly evident during my placement in the primary school as I noticed the difference it made in my case study pupil.

While watching this student, there was also notable changes in his skills in the activity he was being taught. This particular class was being taught dance, something that they would not have done often prior to this. The first class lacked enthusiasm as the boys were slightly apprehensive to participate. As I have already mentioned, in the first session the students were placed in two large groups, I noticed that it wasn’t just by student who felt uncomfortable in this situation. The next session however, the students were placed in smaller groups where they learned separate dances. I found that my student reacted much better to this set up and as the class progressed his quality of movement in regards to dance developed. The smaller groups enabled them to learn the specific moves better as there was roughly one teacher to a group of six students.

One of the other things I noticed about this student was the way he learned. Again, the way the students were placed in groups influenced his learning. The first session, I noticed that it was more difficult for him to see the demonstrations and so he did not learn the different dance moves effectively. During the next session, there was a major change in his ability to complete the dance sequence. This is most likely as a result of breaking the students into smaller groups as it became much easier for the student to see the demonstrations. It was also easier for the teacher to correct the students if they felt they made any mistakes. I found that my student reacted much better and improved his quality of movement in the next few session as opposed to the first as he was in a smaller group and learned well through demonstrations.

After noticing this about my student, I began to think of ways that I could use to teach him P.E. effectively. It is clear that demonstrations are crucial in this student learning and so I feel that when learning new things demonstrations should always be clear and concise. I also feel that it is important that the student can clearly see the demonstrations so he can learn to the best of ability. The student did not respond well to classes of dance, although it is not likely that every student will be passionate about every activity, relating it to an activity they do enjoy could improve their participation. For example, the teacher could explain how dance could help them with their GAA, as this is what my student said was his favourite activity. The teacher could mention that being light on your feet, which is crucial in dance, could also help in GAA as it is important to have quick feet. This could help the student enjoy dance more as they realise it can relate to many more activities. It is necessary to teach students in P.E. how to move well and often and so in order to this with my student I would aid his learning through demonstrations and try to relate the activity to something like hurling or football as these are the sports he is interested in.

By observing this particular student throughout the placement, I found it interesting to note the changes and progress he made in dance and also in his movements. I also noticed his improvement in socialising with the other students in his class after being placed in smaller groups. By simply observing the student and having a few chats with him to get to know him, I was able to learn of the methods he learned through and what he was passionate about when it came to P.E.

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Before going on placement in the primary school, it was necessary to read the curriculum in regards to physical education. By reading it I was much more informed and was able to plan the lessons more effectively. The curriculum is divided into six strands; athletics, dance, gymnastics, games, aquatics and outdoor and adventure education. My group decided to focus on athletics for the duration of our placement. The curriculum mentioned three key areas of athletics which were running, jumping and throwing. We knew as a group that our activities would have to include either of these activities. The curriculum also stated that the learning should be based on experimental activities and so we had to be aware of what the student’s prior knowledge of athletics was so we could plan our lessons to suit their ability.

One of the key areas of the curriculum was the relationship between P.E. and other subjects. For example, students can enhance their learning of literacy through various activities. New words may be introduced through the rules of athletics. We were aware that many of the students may not have much experience with athletics and so some of the terminology we use may be new to them. We planned to make sure that when we used new words that we would reiterate them throughout the session and ensure the students understood their meaning. In this way, student’s vocabulary may be improved. Another subject which may be improved through P.E. is maths. Our group attempted to integrate numeracy into our lesson in various ways. We often placed the students in groups, where they would each have a number and would perform an activity according to their number. When doing our lesson on the triple jump, numeracy was obvious in many aspects. It was necessary for the students to learn how many steps they would have to take before they could complete the jump. Overall, the primary school curriculum was crucial in our teaching as it offered us guidelines on how to teach our lesson and what we would have in our lesson. I became aware that in primary school P.E., learning the foundational skills of an activity should be central to every lesson and they can then develop this throughout their years in primary schools. Our planning was greatly influence by the curriculum as we learned what was necessary for the students to learn.
During my placement in Bishopstown, we used a key learning theory of Constructionism. This is when the learning is mostly active and developmental. As P.E. is an active subject we felt that the students would learn best through this. We taught them areas such as literacy and numeracy through this theory. For example, during our final week where we did team challenges, we had them competing in doing different maths equations.

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Throughout my placement, questioning the students was very important as it gave me an idea on what they knew and whether or not they learned anything from the lesson. Questioning should be done before and after the lesson to see what the student’s prior knowledge is and then to see what they learned after teaching them the lesson. In one session, I was in charge of the warm up, before I started I asked an open-ended question “Does anybody know why we do a warm up?”, I asked them this to see if they knew the purpose of the warm up as it is a vital part of every lesson. Not many of the students knew the reason for it so I decided to talk them through the warm up by mentioning benefits to warming up and the importance of it. After we finished the warm-up, I again asked them why we warm up and this time I got many more answers which indicated that they had learned something. Another example of when I questioned the students was when I was teaching them a new drill for athletics. I was teaching them the various techniques involved in running and questioned their knowledge on this. As there are a few specific techniques to running they only had a brief idea of them, one student was aware that your arms had to move in opposition to the legs. After the drill was complete, many of them were completing the run effectively and I asked them what differences they noticed in how they ran now to how they previously did. I also asked questions such as “how do you think we pass on a baton in a relay?” and got them to show me how they thought it was done.

Feedback can be very helpful for students as it allows them to see where they are going wrong and to work on it. Throughout my placement I was constantly giving the students feedback as they were learning new skills. When we did the run, there was many teaching points involved and so each time I focused on one of these and told the student how they could improve. It is important to be positive when giving feedback as otherwise it may knock the student’s confidence. For example, one student was not raising his knees enough but he was doing everything else quite well so I said “good work with your arms but make sure your knees are going up high enough, you’re doing your feet perfectly as well”. By giving him this type of feedback he knew he was doing well but just has to improve his knees. Another example of when I gave feedback was when one student was not participating properly as he I was not as good as the other students, I told him that he was doing well and explained the techniques again to him. During our peer teaching, there was one instance when one person was not passing the baton correctly but was getting the running techniques right. I pointed this out by telling them which hand they should have the baton in and then told them they were doing the run well.

A very important pedagogical tool we used in every lesson was our learning wall. Each lesson we made a learning wall and put it up to refer to during the lesson. We made sure that the wall was clear and that there was a flow to it so the students could understand it. An example of one of our learning walls was when we were doing the start of a race we had three sheets of the different positions of the start so the students could always look at it if they forgot the position.

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Classroom management, without doubt is crucial to any teacher. Before going on my placement in the primary school, I began to research various methods of classroom management that I may use in my own teaching practice.

Strategy One:

One strategy that I found was very relevant was the idea of “making a good start” (Evertson, Carolyn M.,1994). I felt that this was important as it was my first time teaching this class, and as a student-teacher it is crucial to have a firm grip on the class. In order to make a good start it was necessary to set out rules for every class on how the students should behave. I also felt a “firm but friendly” approach was best as I wanted them to know I was in control of the class but also wanted them to have fun and enjoy the lesson.

Strategy Two:

Another strategy that I aimed to adapt while teaching was anticipating problems. By doing this I feel that I would be able to manage any situation as long as I was prepared to deal with the problem. It is necessary to be able to anticipate any possible problems that may arise in a class and to have a solution to this. Being able to immediately implement a solution and solve a problem will ensure minimal disruption in the class. It also shows to the students that if they decide to misbehave that I will be able to handle it and avoid it in many cases.

Strategy Three:

A strategy that I found to be crucial was the necessity of having a well-planned, engaging lesson. This is one of the most important as without a plan it can be quite difficult to manage the students. When planning a lesson, I aim to make it as engaging as possible by always having the students doing something. By doing this, students acting out as a result of boredom may be avoided. It is important to engage the students and enable them to enjoy the lesson.

Strategy Four:

In every class, it is imperative to have a set of rules in order to control the class. Rules are a key strategy for teachers as they enable them to manage the students. It is also important that the students are aware of the rules and the consequences if they do not obey them. For the start of placement, I would explain to the student’s certain rules that are in place such as no talking while I am talking and listening to instructions. I feel that by doing this the students will know I am in control and would take me more seriously.

Strategy 5:

Something which I learned from my own experience in school is the importance of respect. Respect works both ways as students should respect the teacher the teacher should also respect their students. Although it would be difficult to earn the respect of the students during placement as it is a short period, it is still necessary to try and bring respect into the lesson. It may also be helpful to encourage respect among the students themselves. I feel that if the students respect the teacher, it will make it easier to manage them as they are more likely to listen to you and obey your rules.

Safety is also crucial in order to ensure an effective learning environment. When doing my teaching, it was necessary to give the students ample space to carry out an activity to avoid them clashing. We found this difficult in one particular lesson where we were doing sprinting as there was not enough space for the students to sprint all at once. We tried to fix this by breaking them into smaller groups and only getting one person in each group sprinting at once.