Clayton's Lab D

What?- When I chose the game Cuju for my group I was not excited at all. I felt like it was going to be the hardest of the four games to teach. Although it would be hard to teach I still had to work with my fellow group members to do as well as we possibly could. From observations in other classes I knew that most of the class was going to be low skilled in Cuju, due to the fact that the game is mostly soccer juggling. For my part of the lesson, I really wanted the students to work on team work and good sportsmanship. These two components are key in the game of Cuju. As a team you have to work very well together, and it needs great communication skills with each other. There should definitely be good sportsmanship for Cuju, due to the difficulty level of the game. As a teacher you would want students to make fun of other students for not being good at a certain skill. I wanted to enforce these two components within a mini game of 3v3. Each team would take turns trying to score in the hoop. Therefore only half of the students are very active, due to the rules of the game. One team would strategize by creating a formation for their next turn while the other team was trying to score themselves. This would have the students at least working together increasing their affective domain but also moving a little. There is no defense in the game of Cuju. I eventually had to modify the 3v3 game even more than I had already done. During the middle of the game I told the students that if they make it through the hoop it would count as two points and if they were to just hit the hoop it would count as one point. This increased the scores which increased the student success.

Gut- I feel like my mini 3v3 game prepared the students for the final 6v6 game at the end of the lesson. The students looked excited when I told them they were going to play a mini game. They probably wanted to try to score as team against opponents. The students were having some difficulties trying to juggle together as a group, but they always kept trying. One of the rules I had was that there had to be at least two passes as a team before trying to score. Most of the time all of the teams made more than two passes before trying to score. This definitely showed good teamwork and that they were actually trying to team juggle and try and find the best way to score. By the end of the lesson student success had increase due to some modifications before and during the lesson.

So What?- As a teacher and not really knowing much about the game that you would be teaching is a little nerve racking but you must do the best to your abilities to teach the students what they need to know. Knowing that Cuju is a very difficult game for most, I knew I would have to make some modifications before the lesson. I had to change some of the original rules so it would be easier for the students to learn the game. I even had to make modifications during my lesson to make it even easier for student success. I feel like playing a mini game before going straight into a large game is important. Students get a feel of the game and are able to ask questions before they are rushed into a large game right after learning a skill. There were some times where I noticed students were having some difficulties and I needed to give them corrective feedback. In earlier labs I didn't give as much corrective feedback as I should have, but I feel like in this lab I gave more corrective feedback than usual. Corrective feedback is were important for student learning. Students can't learn off of just "good job."

Now What?- I still need to give more corrective feedback. Positive feedback is always good, but it isn't enough for student learning. I need to really emphasize safety at all times. There were sometimes where some students just shot the ball as hard as they could even though they could have just easily shot the ball through the hoop. Students sometimes just get in the moment and try to kill the ball, but someone else could seriously get injured.  I need to be a more energetic teacher. Students don't want to learn from a teacher who doesn't seem enthused with their own lesson. The more enthusiastic I am, the more the students will probably get involved and learn more.

From the beginning with Lab A, I had very little confidence. I was very soft spoken and didn't speak clearly at points. I wasn't well prepared, even though I thought I was. Although you may know what you want to do for you lesson, you need to know how you will execute it and might need to do a run through of it. This then followed through into my Lab B. I knew exactly what I was going to do for my lesson, but had no idea how to execute it. I wasn't as nervous but still was not too confident. For Lab C I had some time to actually prepare a lot for my lesson. I actually felt like I executed it a lot better than my first two labs. I should have stated safety first, before the students got into the pool. As a teacher you must always think of the environment as a safety concern. I had more confidence for Lab C because I felt well prepared. I still need to get more energetic with my lesson I am teaching. I increased student learning by informing them that it is possible to get a good work out in the pool and only last about five minutes. In Lab D, I felt confident and prepared. I probably could have spoken louder, and need to be more enthusiastic. Outside of the classroom I am really outgoing and enthusiastic.  I need to apply that side of me into my teaching. I gave more corrective feedback in Lab D than I usually do. I even modified the game during the middle of the lesson so students had a higher success rate and would learn/benefit from it. Personally I feel like Lab D was by far my best lab. I have learned that I still need to work on my teaching style to become a great teacher. Good teachers are not good enough now a days.

This is me explaining the rules to a 3v3 game of Cuju.