Lacrosse Lesson 3
Student and Teacher outcomes evaluation
Outcome
Be authoritative with managing
behaviour and umpiring the
game to set the tone for the
whole lesson
Use a growth mindset when
acknowledging students by
using constructive criticism and
encouragement
Provide students with more
specific and individualised
feedback
Participate in every activity with
a positive and energetic attitude
Demonstrate co-operation by
providing one another with
feedback and encouragement
Demonstrate game sense
tactics and game sense rules by
applying them to a full game of
lacrosse
Evaluation
By the final lesson, I understood which behavioural management
strategies worked with my specific group and which students in the
group required the most attention. I realised that I had to be quite
authoritative early in the lesson to gain the students respect for the
rest of the lesson. If I was to let poor behaviour or rules in a game
‘slide’ at the beginning of the lesson, it would only get worse as the
lesson progressed. For example, I wouldn’t introduce the next
activity until everyone had put all equipment on the ground and
weren’t talking. This then meant that next time I brought the
students in, the same would happen without my instruction.
I was able to use a growth mindset throughout my finals lessons by
encouraging students to improve their technical ability and by
ensuring that students never gave up if they found themselves
regularly unsuccessful. I heard students say things such as ‘I’ll never
be able to catch.’ This is an example of a fixed mindset. I was able to
change their mindset by working 1on1 with them to refine their
technical ability and ultimately achieve a level of success.
In my earlier lessons, the feedback I provided to my students was
very non-specific and was quite basic. I would say things like ‘great
catch’ or ‘good throw’. This was encouraging for students and I still
acknowledged their success; however I didn’t give them reasoning
as to why. I changed my feedback to the students by providing them
with more reasoning for their success. I said things like ‘I could see
you tracking that ball the whole way until you caught it.’ This meant
that students were able to be acknowledged but then also knew
exactly what they did well.
In my final lesson, every student participated in every activity. This
was very pleasing to see. The energy level and amount of
engagement was the highest it had been over all 7 lessons. At time’s
I had to encourage students to put in a bit more effort or challenge
them to try something else, however as a whole, this outcome was
met.
This outcome was not achieved in a structured format like last week,
however I did notice several students throughout the lesson
providing feedback to fellow students. This feedback ranged from,
‘watch the ball when you try to catch it’ to ‘remember you can run
behind the goal’.
This student outcome was met to a high standard in the final lesson.
Prior to our final game, I organised the students into their two
teams. I then gave them 30 seconds to organise a game plan using
some tactics taught throughout the lesson. I then got them to share
their plans. They both said things like “run with the ball, move to
space, defend the ball carrier.” This was direct evidence of learning
as the students were able to reflect on and describe important
tactical concepts to be successful in lacrosse gameplay.
Focus Sheet 4 – reflection on the P’s of Pedagogy
1. Planning and preparation
 How well planned and prepared were you and what have you found to be the main
benefits of this aspect of your teaching?
Throughout the lab school experience, my planning and preparation improved immensely. I always
had the correct equipment and was aware of what activities, outcomes and challenges were
associated with my lessons. Upon reflection, the most important part of planning and preparation, is
really familiarising myself with the lesson plan. Things like key cue’s, key outcomes, activity
progression and timing and things that should be revisited prior to a lesson to ensure that I am as
confident and prepared as possible to make teaching in the lesson as easy as possible.
2. Presentation of the task
 What do you consider to be the key aspects presenting the task?
I think that there are many key aspects when it comes to presenting a task. Firstly, having some
understanding of your group is important. Understanding what time of learners and listeners they
are, will help tailor instruction and presentation time to best suit the group. Secondly, good
demonstrations are vital for appropriately presenting the task. In my first few lessons, I rushed my
instruction time a bit as I wanted to ensure that the students spent as much time in activities as
possible. However, I realised that this was wasting even more time as I needed to deal with
confusion. From then on, I familiarised myself with what needed to be said when presenting a
certain task. This way I was able to make the instruction time short but effective.
 How successful are you at this aspect of teaching?
I have certainly improved this aspect of my teaching, however, can still be improved and
should continue to familiarise myself with the bare bone cues before presenting a task. I
have also gotten better at checking for understanding before sending students out to do an
activity.
3. Protected - Safe and inclusive learning environment
 Why is this element such an important aspect of teaching?
It is important to promote a safe and inclusive learning environment to ensure that students feel
comfortable within the class. When students feel comfortable and safe within the classroom, they
are more likely to contribute, be engaged, share thoughts and feelings.
 What have you found to be the most significant aspect of this element & why?
I found that improving my relationship with the students helped me promote this safe and inclusive
environment. When they felt safe around me, it improved the learning environment of the whole
group.

4. Personal ‘presence’ & communication

 What are 3 key concepts that you have learnt about communication in teaching?
1- Non-verbal communication can be just as important and influential as verbal
communication. It is important to always use hand gestures and show good body language
to promote student learning.
 2- Less is more. It is important to be succinct when presenting any activity, while still covering
the bare bones. This prevents students being disengaged as it reduces the amount of time
spent waiting around listening to teacher instruction.
3- A variation of voice tone can be an effective engagement tool. It is important to vary voice
tone and projection depending on the situation. It is important to project your voice when
students are spread out, however a calm quiet voice tone can be engaging when revising a
lesson.
 What aspects of your communication do you wish to improve on?
I wish to continue to improve on varying my voice tone. I also hope to improve my clarity of
speech and slow down at times. Sometimes I feel like I speak too much or too fast when I
really don’t need to.

5. Pertinent, Purposeful and persistent

 What have you found to be important for generating and maintaining a positive state of
learning for the students?
I found that maintaining a positive relationship with the students helped to generate
and maintain a positive state of learning for students. I achieved this by showing an
interest in the students lives away from school and using humour to facilitate an
enjoyable experience.

6. Progression in learning
 What have you found to be the most effective ways to use progression in learning to
facilitate success for the students?
I found it useful when I would start at the conclusion of the lesson or activity and work
my way back through the lesson developing activities which would help students
progress to that final activity. I found that working backwards helped me choose
appropriate activities to progress the student’s abilities of technical skill.

7. Personalised
 Were you able to cater for individual differences within the class? Provide examples.
I tried to use a variety of activities and challenges throughout my lessons to cater for individual
differences and learning needs. Some students were more engaged in competitive activities such
as weighted number games, and others were more engaged with less competitive activities such
as the individual scoop and carry challenge.

8. Playful
 How important is this element in your teaching and why is it important?
Students construct their own learning and meaning through play, rather than being spoon fed by the
teacher. Play is a student-centred approach, where they can put techniques and tactics learnt
throughout a variety of activities into a game like situation.

9. Positioning & provision of feedback

 What are the most important aspects of this element that you have learnt through your
Lab school teaching experiences
As a physical education teacher, there is a lot of teaching that occurs outside. This means that we
are faced with many distractions that may draw student attention away from you. Some of these
distractions include the sun, weather, traffic, other groups and equipment. During instruction time
and throughout the lesson, it is important to understand where these distractions are and position
yourself in a direction to minimise these distractions. It is important to note that being in a dynamic
environment, it is near impossible to eliminate all distractions, you should work out which
distractions pose the most influence and work to minimise these.
10. Pacing & Flexibility
 In what way has your capacity to ‘pace’ the lesson & respond to changing circumstances
developed during your lab school experiences.

I really developed my ability to be reflexive with timing of specific activities. In my first couples of
lessons, I would stop an activity because it was due to stop at a specific time on my lesson plan. Later
on, through lab school, I understood the importance of reading the enjoyment and engagement
levels of students during an activity. If students were enjoying an activity and were still learning, I
would happily let it run a bit longer and vice versa. I would, however, still be mindful of getting
through all of my activities.