Running head: PHYSICAL EDUCATION OBSERVATION

Physical Education Observation Felicia Walker, Morgan Hunt 2/23/13 Ivy Tech Community College

INTASC Standard, Description and Rationale Standard #8: Instructional Strategies The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage learners to develop deep understandings of content areas and their connections, and to build skills to apply knowledge in meaningful ways.

Name of Artifact: Physical Education Teacher Observation Date: February 26, 2013 Course: EDUC 240 Brief Description: For this assignment, I developed an understanding of how an elementary physical education teacher arranges a method of instruction and implements physical learning activities for the students. During this observation of two separate teachers at two different locations I grasped the concept of how a lesson plan will be introduced, demonstrated and assessed. Rationale: To document my understanding of Standard #7, Instructional Strategies, I selected to include my Physical Education Teacher Observation because this assignment demonstrates my ability to plan a lesson plan involving physical activity into their learning. I have learned that diverse learning environments are beneficial to students, and teaching students at a young age to stay fit and active will keep them healthy and ready for their future in life.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION TEACHER OBSERVATION

After selecting our first school, IPS #54 for our teacher and class observation Morgan and I arrived at our location at our designated time. We were greeted at the main office where we signed in and got information about where the teacher we were observing is located. Our selected teacher Mrs. Noland was teaching a classroom of 2nd grade special education students. There were 25 students in the classroom and there were a few more girls than boys. First we selected our first elementary school as Brookside, IPS #54, to spend time with for our physical education class observation. We then arrived at the location at our designated time and were greeted at the main office where we signed in and got information about the location of the gym, as well as some facts about the gym teacher, Ms. Noland. We were informed that one of her primary morning duties was to deliver fruit to all of the classrooms for the studentsmorning snack. We saw this as a very positive reflection on the schools approach to promoting healthy eating and also the gym teacher as a health and movement educator. After arriving to the classroom assigned to that gym class for the day, we had a warm welcoming from Ms. Noland and her second grade students. There were 25 students in the classroom altogether, with a few more girls than boys. Ms. Noland then introduced us to the first activity, the high five hand games greeting routine. Then came the feelings cube; this was a large, soft cube with instructions on each face telling the student what to talk about. The options on the cube were: tell a funny story, tell a time when you were sad, chose whatever topic they want to discuss, and how they spent their weekend. This allowed each student to open up and tell the class something about themselves or give them the option to pass making each student feel comfortable participating. Ms. Noland had her own style of classroom management, such as

PHYSICAL EDUCATION OBSERVATION

being very friendly with her students and used the technique of calling talkers to the front of the class because that greatly eliminated the background talking in her classroom, in return causing all the students to have better behavior skills as well as pay more attention and have more respect for their classroom environment. After having a refresher on patterns and vocabulary words from the previous week, she took the students out to the back of the school where it is fenced in and there is a small outside jungle gym and practiced walking, jogging, and running back and forth across the parking lot. The students loved this because they were able to release their excess energy and let loose for 30 minutes, which according to (McGraw-Hill, p 171) is the NASPE recommendation of daily indoor/outdoor physical activity. They ended the session throwing and catching balls outside before collecting them and going inside to resume the rest of their daily schedule. With our second IPS school, we observed at a different location. We went into the main office just as we did at the first school and we signed in on the sign in sheet. Once we left the main office we headed directly to the gymnasium to find Ms. James teaching a group of second graders. We walked in and greeted the teacher and the students and introduced ourselves. We explained that we are Ivy Tech college students and we were there to watch them learn and play during their assigned gym time. Ms. James was very calm with the students and never really seemed to have to yell or even raise her voice. At our first IPS school it was the opposite, the physical education teacher Mrs. Noland was very demanding and had a high authority voice that echoed throughout the classroom. From the beginning of class until the time we left Mrs. Noland did quite a bit of raising her voice trying to get them to be quiet and to follow instructions. Another difference is at

PHYSICAL EDUCATION OBSERVATION

the first IPS school when we arrived, the students were doing a light physical activity with a big cube that they were slowly tossing and taking turns with and at the second IPS school the students were automatically learning and running in the gym. Ms. James had the students warmup with stretches and exercises. They touched their toes as best as they could, did some jumping jacks, and a few other exercises. She then demonstrated to the class the rules of the game and how ground hockey will be played. The students were divided into two teams and half of the class had to sit and watch and they had to all rotate and take turns. For the most part the students were well-behaved and listened to their instructor tell them to stay behind the blue line and to wait their turn and were allowed to cheer on their classmates. The students out on the floor were really intense and into their game and really seemed to enjoy themselves. After all of the students got two turns to play, Ms. James had them clean up the equipment and to line up to run around the gym. The students were permitted to run around the gym as fast and as much as they wanted. A few of the children were playing tag and a few of the girls were doing some cartwheels and gymnastic-like moves in the corner. After they were allowed to have free time Ms. James instructed the students to stand in a line near the door to the gymnasium where their regular class teacher was greeting them to head back to their classroom. After that Morgan and I got our papers signed and we left. We really enjoyed our phys. ed teacher observation at the IPS schools and we wouldnt mind doing another project just like it!

References

Kovar, Susan K. Elementary Classroom Teachers as Movement Educators . Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2004. Print.