On Tuesday, February 4th, I again had the opportunity to enter Mrs. Anderson's 8th grade physical education class. This trip was especially exciting because I was able to be more hands on and interact with the students more than I did during my first visit. The students were all so friendly and welcoming.
While I was there, the 8th graders learned a new game: Tchoukball. I was excited that I would get to see how Mrs. Anderson introduces a new activity and deals with any confusion/questions regarding the activity. I felt that many methods she employed in a PE setting could potentially be used in an elementary classroom setting. Mrs. Anderson began by introducing the activity and then going over the rules. She gave the students examples of what they could do during the game and also provided non examples so they would understand what things would not be tolerated. She asked the students if they had questions and then let them get started. Throughout the game, she would occasionally have the students congregate in the middle of the gym to go over a component of the activity that was being done incorrectly. She would check for understanding and then let the students get back to the competition. Also, during the activity she was flexible about some aspects of Tchoukball, as the students were just learning. At the end of the class, she discussed with the students some of the changes she would be making to the game during the next class period to make it more challenging and to limit the issues the class encountered during their first attempt.
I found multiple strategies from Mrs. Anderson's method of introducing a new activity that I can apply in my future classroom. I think it is important to fill the students in on exactly what will be occurring and then allow time for questions. I also liked that Mrs. Anderson would take a minute or two away from the activity time to address issues; although it seemed that time for the activity was lost, what the students were actually left with was more quality time to do the activity correctly. Another strategy she employed that I found beneficial was providing examples and non examples. I think it helps students have a better understanding of expectations if they know both what is acceptable and what is not. Lastly, I appreciated that she was flexible; she made it clear to the students that this was their first attempt at this skill so things may need to be changed. I think these are all things that could benefit me in my future classroom when I need to introduce a new activity or skill to my students.
