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Student: Number 3

Class: 4th Class

Age: 10 Years Old

Background & Interests:

Through discussion with my student, I discovered that he is involved in a variety of sports such as soccer, hurling and football. On hearing this, I imagined that he would have a good foundation of fundamental movement skills.

My student has shown a keen interest in physical education. He said that he enjoys it because they "do not have to do work", which is a common answer from students of this age. He stated that he likes being active and playing sport. When asked what would be his preferred topic in P.E., he said soccer or athletics (relays and running activities).

From this one meeting, I got the impression that unstructured play seemed to be his idea of a physical education class, whereby the students are given a soccer ball, for example, and allowed to play a game for the entirety of the class. I am in no way criticising the work of the teachers in the school as this is often the belief of many students of this age.

Outside of P.E., Maths is the student's favourite subject in school. The student said he likes working with numbers. This encouraged me to think about how I could include numeracy skills within a P.E. class to incorporate both his love of physical activity and mathematics.

Movement Ability:

Each week, the students were introduced to different fundamental movements. On the first week, this consisted of a ‘frog jump’ (squat jump). On his first attempt, he found it difficult to master. He showed good arm movement from the beginning however he struggled with the simultaneous leg movement. As the class progressed so did the student’s technique and there was a huge improvement after several attempts. Over the four weeks I found that the student struggled to accomplish the technique of these complex skills however, he has developed his basic movement skills immensely.

Social and Emotional Involvement:

Overall, my student seemed to have enjoyed all four lessons. He was continuously smiling and laughing while active, showing enthusiasm towards all activities. He was keen to get involved each week and thrived in competitive situations. When the students competed in teams he showed signs of competitiveness and a want for victory, as expected of many students of this age.

An area in which my student seemed to struggle with was the interaction with the teachers. He seemed to stand back and allow other students to answer questions posed to the group. However, as the weeks progressed he became more comfortable speaking to and interacting with the teachers giving the lesson. He became more relaxed and willing to get involved and this reflected onto his own comfort within the physical education class.

Another area, similar to this, which my student seemed to be less involved with, was working within a group. He became shy when working with a large group, and expressed himself more when working in smaller groups of three or four. On the fourth week, the students were working as a team to decide if statements were true or false and I noticed that he stood back and did not get involved. This reinforced my belief that the student works better on his own or in smaller groups.

Cognitive Ability:

Over the four weeks I noticed that the student tended to follow the group rather than working off his own initiative. Throughout the 'Sea, Ship, Shore' game which was carried out in week one, he waited to see where the rest of the class were moving before going in that direction. This may be related to my observation mentioned above, that my student did not work well in large groups.

However, one skill in which this student thrived in was problem-solving. During the treasure hunt carried out on one of the weeks, he was reading the sheet provided to analyse what his group had to collect. His ability to work out problems easily may stem from his love of maths. I also observed that this student showed good reaction skills. Throughout 'Simon Says' and other weekly reaction games, he responded quickly and efficiently to the call being made.

Approach to Helping Him:

Overall, my student showed a good understanding of basic movement skills. In order to improve his technique in those of a more complex nature, I would provide more demonstrations and instruction before having the student attempt them. Breaking down movements such as the squat or lunge into more simplistic and basic movements would provide huge assistance to my student.

As mentioned above, my student struggled to work confidently within a larger group. In order to improve this, and attempt to increase his confidence levels, I would provide positive reinforcement throughout. By praising this student for his efforts, I would hope that it would motivate him to stay involved. Using direct questioning throughout the lesson would also involve the student more. Although this may put the student on the spot, I strongly believe that this would encourage him to become more involved in group directed questioning. This student seems quite intelligent, however his shy personality does not allow him to express this in a physical education context.

From this overall observation, I would encourage my student to remain involved in a variety of sports and activities. This will ensure the further development of his fundamental movement skills. I would also encourage this student to remain involved in sport or any form of physical activity. Lifelong involvement in physical activity will provide him with a range of health benefits throughout his lifetime, including physical, psychological and social improvements.

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1. Questioning Strategy

Questioning is an essential pedagogical tool in a Physical Education lesson. A teacher has the opportunity to use their questioning to both ensure learning and to gain feedback from the class.

Throughout my teaching, I always asked questions before beginning the lesson. This informed me of any current knowledge students had on the area. I used questions such as “why do we do a warm up?” and “can anyone tell me about the sprinting technique?”

Asking questions throughout the lesson encouraged thinking and problem solving if used effectively. I found that questions such as “how could we improve?” sparked thought among the students. Using questions after the lesson is also something I found useful. This allowed me to gain feedback on the lesson, and to discover what the students had learned. I asked questions such as “what have we learned from today?” and “did you enjoy the lesson?” This provided enough information to aid my planning for the following week.

I found that it was important to use Higher Order Questioning when trying to obtain feedback. This involves questions which take more time to answer and require more thought and explanation. Questioning should be used "to encourage thought" and to "check understanding, knowledge and skills" (Twomey, 2016). This ensures the students are involved in decision-making and problem solving in their own learning experience.

2. Feedback

Feedback is used to help the students to improve their individual performance. Throughout my teaching I used positive reinforcement to shape and change student behaviour. This involved praising students after the desired movement or activity was performed at a hope that they would use it again in the future. Pritchard (2013) suggests using “praise, house points or the freedom to choose an activity… as rewards for desirable behaviour”.

Throughout the lessons I used feedback such as “excellent foot work” or “brilliant arm movement.” I found it important to keep the feedback specific and not to use broad statements such as ‘well done’ as this does not provide students with information on what they are doing well. I found that when I was praising students it created an opportunity to encourage them to improve weaker areas. I used statements such as “very good arm positioning, now try focus on your leg movement” for example. Although this highlighted areas for improvement, it was done in a positive manner.

When individual students in the class were struggling I found that giving quieter, student-directed feedback was more effective. This avoided singling out the student and also provided them with useful information on how to improve. From my teaching, I found one-to-one instruction was effective. When doing this I used statements such as “you’re doing great, now try concentrating on one area first (e.g. arms)”.

3. Learning Wall

When designing our learning wall, we found that using mostly images with small amounts of text was most effective in enhancing student learning. In particular, we designed a colourful, image-filled learning wall based around the five senses in week eight, part of which can be seen in the image attached below. I found it was essential to use student friendly material, where simple terminology was used throughout. This ensured the students fully understood what they were learning.

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2. Management of the Learning Environment

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2. Management of the Learning Environment

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In order to maintain classroom management throughout my teaching, certain strategies had to be put in place. These strategies helped to maintain control and management of both the students and the environment, and contributed to improved classroom discipline.

1. “Management by Walk About” (Twomey, 2016)

Management by walk about (MBWA) involves continual movement around the class. This ensures that you see all students throughout the lesson. This improves classroom discipline as students become aware of the fact that you are moving around watching for any misbehaviour, along with giving advice and feedback on the activity they are carrying out.

I carried out this ‘management by walk about’ strategy throughout my peer-teaching and my teaching experience in Bishopstown Boy’s School. I found it very effective and is something I will bring forward with me into my teaching.

2. Tone of Voice

Tone of voice is essential in maintaining management of the classroom. It is important that you are heard, but that you are not shouting. When a teacher’s tone of voice becomes too high and loud, it “contributes to the raising of the residual noise level of the students’ voices creating a kind of normatively louder classroom” (Rogers, 2015 pp.77). Adding an extra voice to that of the students’ would not help in managing the class. I found from my teaching that using a friendly but assertive tone, slightly louder than that of my typical classroom voice ensured efficient management.

3. The Use of a Whistle

Throughout my teaching I always carried a whistle to use if necessary. Due to the high level of noise, my voice sometimes went unheard by the majority. When this happened, I found it effective to use the whistle to gain students’ attention. Although many teachers do not like the use of a whistle as a stop signal, often even a strong, loud voice may not be effective in gaining the attention of a class (Shimon, 2011). In order for the whistle to be effective I found that the use of it had to be limited. This placed more of an emphasis on the students having to immediately stop what they were doing when it sounded.

I found that when my classroom management was lacking, I had to become more reliant on the sound of the whistle. However, when the students were working in controlled groups I was capable of using my voice to gain their attention.

4. ‘POP Approach’ (Twomey, 2016)

The ‘POP’ Approach involves being prepared, organised, and professional, all of which are essential in the management of a learning environment. Preparation is essential for successful learning. Throughout my teaching experience I prepared lesson plans each week based on the section I was teaching, and planned what I was going to do and how I was going to do it. Organisation plays a major role in deciding how effective your teaching will be. When we divided students into smaller groups for our lessons, they worked better with few disruptions. It allowed for a smoother running class and better management with a reduced student-teacher ratio. Finally, being professional is almost expected as a teacher. This involves areas such as dress code, punctuality and gaining and giving respect.

5. Observation

Throughout my teaching, I was observing both the students and the environment. This meant I could spot any safety hazards or behaviours which may have caused harm to others. This involved removing any possible trip hazards from the hall and ensuring the floor was clear. I also had to ensure the students were safe by preventing and interrupting any ‘horseplay’ or disruptive behaviour. As mentioned above, the use of a whistle helped when doing this. Observation plays a key role in classroom management because without it, you would not recognise areas for improvement within your lesson.

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The Primary School Physical Education Curriculum is divided into six strands:

1. Athletics

2. Dance

3. Gymnastics

4. Games

5. Outdoor and Adventure Activities

6. Aquatics

When planning for my teaching in Bishopstown Boy's School, I worked off these six strands, covering a different area each week. As well as this, I focused on one very important aspect of the curriculum; "Physical education is built on the principles of variety and diversity, not of specialisation" (Department of Education and Science, 1999, pp.2). This meant that I focused on developing students' fundamental movement skills rather than improving their skill level in any one particular strand. It is important to develop competent movers so students can participate comfortably in a variety of sports and activities throughout their lifetime. Along with this, if students become confident movers it will increase their enjoyment of, and positive attitude towards physical activity (D.E.S. 1999), which is one of the main aims of this curriculum.

Literacy and numeracy are two key skills which must be integrated into each Physical Education class. “We have to acknowledge that understanding and using literacy and numeracy are such core skills that time for their development must be safeguarded” (Department of Education and Skills, 2011, pp.44).  I was faced with the challenge of incorporating aspects of both literacy and numeracy into my lesson each week. I found that some of the ways in which I could do this was through the use of a learning wall, interpretation of colour, word walls, making connections between tasks and prior learning, through the use of numbers, and through problem solving and decision making. I incorporated one or two of these aspects into my lesson each week at a hope of tackling students’ literacy and numeracy skills.

Along with those mentioned above, I found that questioning is an important skill to use in order to tackle both the literacy and numeracy of the students. It is important that “the teacher uses language in the physical education lesson to question, to direct, to explain, to suggest, to prompt and to stimulate the child to think. In turn, the child is encouraged to respond by describing, discussing, speculating, explaining and expressing ideas and reactions" (Department of Education and Science, 1999, pp. 9). Along with covering literacy and numeracy skills, questioning provides feedback to the teacher. This feedback is analysed and used to plan and prepare the following week’s lesson, with improvements made where necessary.

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1. Policy Informing Practice
2. Management of the Learning Environment
3. Pedagogical Tools
4. Case Study
5. Reflections

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Blessinger, P. & Carfora, J. (2015). Inquiry-Based Learning for Multidisciplinary Programs: A Conceptual and Practical Resource for Educators. Volume 3. Bradford: Emerald Group.

Capel, S. & Whitehead, M. (2015). Learning to Teach Physical Education in the Secondary School: A Companion to School Experience. 4th Edition. London: Routledge.

Department of Education and Science, (1999). Primary School Curriculum: Physical Education. Dublin: Stationery Office.

Department of Education and Skills, (2011). Literacy and Numeracy for Learning and Life: The National Strategy to Improve Literacy and Numeracy among Children and Young People 2011-2020.  Dublin: Stationery Office.

Furtek, E. & Ruiz-Promo, M., (2005). Questioning cycle: making students’ thinking explicit during scientific inquiry. Retrieved on 18/10/2016 from https://stultzjn.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/questioning-cycle_furtak-and-ruiz-primo-2005.pdf

INTO, (2007). Approaches to Teaching and Learning. Retrieved on 03/10/2016 from https://www.into.ie/ROI/Publications/ApproachesTeachingandLearning.pdf

Ivers, K. (2003). A Teacher’s Guide to Using Technology in the Classroom. Westport: Libraries Unlimited.

NCCA (n.d.) Focus on Learning: Effective Questioning. Powerpoint Presentation found 29th Novemeber 2016 at http://www.juniorcycle.ie/NCCA_JuniorCycle/media/NCCA/Documents/Assessment/Ongoing%20Asssessment/Workshop2_designed-slides.pdf

Pritchard, A. (2013). Ways of Learning: Learning Theories and Learning Styles in the Classroom. 3rd Edition. New York: Routledge.

Rogers, B. (2002) Classroom Behaviour: A Practical Guide to Effective Teaching, Behaviour Management and Colleague Support. First Edition.London: Paul Chapman.

Rogers, B. (2015) Classroom Behaviour: A Practical Guide to Effective Teaching, Behaviour Managment and Colleague Support. Fourth Edition. London: SAGE.

Savage, T. and Savage, M. (2009) Successful Classroom Management and Discipline: Teaching Self-Control and Discipline (3rd Ed.) California: SAGE Publications Ltd.

Schimon, J. (2011). Introduction to Teaching Physical Education: Principles and Strategies. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Twomey, A. (2016). Approaches to Discipline and Classroom Management. Lecture Notes. Cork: UCC.

Weinberg, R. and Gould, D. (2014). Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology. Sixth Edition. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

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Week 1: 27th September 2016

Topic: Athletics

Lesson Focus: Developing the sprinting and baton exchange techniques

Our organisation of the group worked well today. Students were given numbers in the warm up which were used to separate them into groups for the main body of the lesson. This saved time and allowed more time to be spent active.

Personal Focus:

I hope to improve my own confidence levels and enthusiasm. I was slightly nervous so this is something which may have held me back today and weakened my performance. My enthusiasm for the students to learn will have positive effects on their interest and enjoyment of the lesson. This will affect my overall performance as a teacher and improve my voice projection and my control of the group.

“The teacher’s mood and energy levels can be factors that may alter significantly the suitability and efficiency of any particular teaching style” (INTO, 2007, pp.16).

Week 2: 4th October 2016

Topic: Athletics

Lesson Focus: Sprinting

My voice projection improved from last week as I was more confident in my teaching. This created a more engaging lesson. This was something I challenged myself to improve and I feel I was successful in doing so.

This week however, we were challenged with a disruptive student within the class. We had to deal with this on the spot as we did not have a plan in place. We chose the disruptive student to carry out demonstrations for the class which allowed him to receive the attention he was trying to achieve.

Personal Focus:
In the next lesson I hope to focus on preparing for all possible occurrences within the class. I will have activities prepared for disruptive students unwilling to participate correctly, and measures in place for students with little to no English.

I hope to provide my learners with a digital learning wall and other technological resources throughout the lesson in order for them to achieve a clearer understanding of the skill being performed.

“Technology can help all learners (educators and students alike) gather and learn new information; collaborate and learn from others; manipulate, organize, and evaluate information” (Ivers, 2003,pp.17).

Week 3: 11th October 2016
NO CLASS

Week 4:  18th October 2016

Topic: Health Related Activity

Lesson Focus: Muscular Strength and Endurance

One of the areas in which we did not exceed today was questioning. Although we used some questioning in our lesson, we need to use more open-ended questions in order to obtain feedback. We could ask the students how we could incorporate things such as balance and change of direction rather than the teacher giving instructions on how to do so.

"Using students’ responses as an opportunity to advance student learning based upon information attained” (Furtek & Ruiz-Promo, 2005).

Furtek and Ruiz-Primo’s “Questioning Cycle” discuss the benefits of questioning and how to incorporate it within a lesson.

Personal Focus:

My focus for next week is to use a more ‘reciprocal’ approach to my instruction in the lesson. I want to encourage peer-tutoring, along with encouraging feedback from the students. As I learned from today’s lesson, questioning is one strategy for obtaining feedback from students. However, open-ended questions must be used in order to receive the students’ own opinions and recommendations. This method of instruction involves placing more trust in the students and for this reason it may prove challenging for a student teacher.

Week 5: 25th October 2016

School visit

School Principal: Mr. Brian Cuthbert
P.E. Facilities: School hall and yard
School Policies: http://www.bishopstownboysschool.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/School-Policies.pdf

Visiting Bishopstown Boy's School provided me with a foundation for my planning. I discovered what facilities were available to me for my teaching, and what equipment was provided by the school. This visit allowed for efficient planning of my weekly lessons. During this visit, we met with the principal, Mr. Brian Cuthbert, who provided us with information on the classes we would be teaching. We discovered what resources were available, such as the projector and the speakers. We were also able to identify with Mr. Cuthbert if there were any students who had a physical or learning disability in the class we would be teaching.

School Motto:

"Be the best that you can be"

Week 6: 8th November 2016

Topic:  Health Related Activity

Lesson Focus: Muscular Strength and Endurance

Management of space is an area which we really need to improve on from today. Taking the group as a whole meant we had little control over the students and safety started to become an issue. Our ideas were good however our poor management meant we were unable to carry out the activities planned. We learned that dividing the group is essential, especially when working with younger students.  A smaller teacher-student ratio would allow for more control of the group and more involvement of the students.

Personal Focus:
Unfortunately I was unable to put my focus from week four into play today. The lack of control at the start meant I resorted to using a direct teaching style, and moved away from the reciprocal approach I had hoped for.  Capel and Whitehead (2015, pp.6) discuss how an essential skill for teachers is “the ability to use the right teaching skill in the right way at the right time”. For next week I want to focus on accomplishing this skill. I want to be able to judge from the students which teaching style is most appropriate.

Week 7: 15th November 2016

Topic: Games

Lesson Focus: Throwing

Our lesson ran a lot smoother today compared to last week. Our control of the group and our space management improved which allowed for a more successful lesson. However, the main topic being focused on was not made clear from the beginning and our learning intentions were not apparent.

Today we incorporated inquiry-based learning in our lesson. This type of learning focuses on students exploring social situations and developing their own ideas about possible situations (Blessinger & Carfora, 2014). This was seen through the students’ discovery of the correct throwing technique. The use of varying teaching styles touches on my personal focus from last week.

Personal Focus:

For next week I hope to build on today’s lesson and continue to build a rapport with the students. I believe a teacher-student relationship is one of the key factors is achieving effective classroom management. This positive or negative relationship will affect both the students’ and the teacher’s attitude towards the lesson.

Week 8: 22nd November 2016

Topic: The 5 Senses

Today our management and control of the group were of a poor standard. As I mentioned in week 6, dividing the group is essential for successful classroom management. We did not apply this to all areas of our lesson today which encouraged messing among the students.
Another area which we could improve on from today is our organisation of the lesson. With a large number of energy-filled students it would be of best practice to separate them into smaller groups where there is a smaller student-teacher ratio.

Personal Focus:
Building on last week’s lesson, we continued to create a rapport with the students. They are becoming more comfortable and outgoing within the class and therefore providing more feedback for us. Next week, as our last week in Bishopstown Boy’s School, I hope to provide a fun but controlled environment for the students. Creating this balance is essential and I have been working on it over the past few weeks and will continue to do so until I have it mastered. It is important that we create a fun learning environment for students in order to make the classroom somewhere the students want to be (Savage et al. 2009).

Week 9: 29th November 2016

Topic: Dance

Theme: Ice Age

Our lesson went well today. We successfully organised the students to create a more controlled environment. By separating them into three groups for the entire lesson we were able to successfully manage the students’ behaviour. Looking back on the lesson now, and after receiving feedback, there is one area we may have improved on. When showing the video to the students, we could have played it a second time. This would have reinforced the dance moves before learning them. We also could have asked students questions on the video and the moves to ensure understanding and clarity before beginning.

Personal Focus:

I successfully completed my focus from last week of creating a fun and controlled environment. The students were working in smaller groups which allowed more control and management within the lesson. The students seemed to have enjoyed the lesson as they were smiling and responding well throughout. Over the past nine weeks I have learned new skills and improved on others. My personal focus for this week is to carry these skills forward with me into my teaching career.

Overall Experience

From my experience in both peer-teaching and teaching in Bishopstown Boy’s School, I have gained many useful skills and techniques to bring forward with me into my teaching.  One of these is the importance of questioning. Questions do not only ensure the students are learning but they also provide the teacher with feedback. The NCCA (n.d.) state that teachers should use questions that “inform the teacher's planning and selection of teaching strategies to move students from where they are to where they need to go.” With the correct questioning technique, as discussed in the ‘pedagogical tools’ of this assignment, teachers have the ability to obtain feedback from the student on the lesson and acquire any recommendations for future planning. Questioning also reinforces the student’s learning.

Another skill which I learned throughout my experience is the huge effect the teacher’s mood can have on a lesson. If a teacher enters a classroom with a lack of energy and a disinterest in teaching, it will have negative effects on the smooth running of the lesson and the students’ behaviour. It is vital that the teacher enters the classroom with no preconceived ideas about the class or a negative attitude about teaching. “A physical educator who is energetic and outgoing will, on personality alone, give considerable positive reinforcement in class” (Weinberg & Gould, 2014, pp.58). The teacher controls the environment, and their mood will have a great effects on this.

As a teacher, I feel I have progressed immensely since my first teaching experience on 27th September 2016. I have become more confident when standing in front of a class and I feel more comfortable about leading a physical education class. My ability to adapt has been improved and I have learned that no matter how much planning you do there is always the possibility of something unexpected occurring. When observing the student I was given for my case study, I focused on his movement ability, as well as other areas, over a certain number of weeks. While observing, I became aware of certain difficulties this student was having and it made me think about how I would adapt the activity to suit the student’s level of movement. I will discuss this further in my ‘case study’ section, however it places an emphasis on the importance of adapting your lesson from your original plan in order to improve the student’s movement skills. “Part of the challenge of learning to teach is becoming able to adapt what you do to suit the unique needs of any situation” (Capel and Whitehead, 2015 , pp.6).