Lab D Abbie Adams--Tchoukball

Lab D-Abbie Adams- Tchoukball

What-    In Lab D I knew I had to use my prior knowledge from Labs A-C of strategies to teaching that worked and things I should stay away from.  Tchoukball was an international sport that I have only seen before never actually played. Since we were team teaching we had to look at everyone's strengths and weaknesses to see what part of the lesson we each should teach.  I knew that I could get the class interested in the unit so I handled the introduction.  Mike was very skilled at shooting and had experience teaching throwing so he taught a shooting activity.  Dylan researched and watched videos of the game so he knew the rules very well so he explained and applied this into a small game.  Finally, Joe was good at gathering a large groups attention so he handled the actual game at the end of the lesson.  Working together was key for Lab D.  All four of us are varsity athletes at the college so we not only had to work together on completing our resource packet we also had to work together to find times to meet.  We did both and were very prepared to teach our lesson.  During my portion I did the introduction.  I introduced myself and had the other teachers introduce themselves.  I made a safety statement and included a signal for attention which was the whistle.  I explained that communication was going to be stressed throughout the lesson so the students were expected to call the person's name if they wanted a pass.  I started the instant activity which was the three man weave.  I knew that the majority of the class had probably performed this before since we had an athletic class so I only did a quick demo with two students for a quick reminder.  After a minute or so I introduced three types of passes that can be used in the game of Tchoukball the line drive, arc pass and no look pass.  I demonstrated each at different angles with a student and explained that they were to try to use each in the three man weave.  After a minute or so I wanted to make sure the students were learning so instead of calling the person's name I asked them to call the type of pass they were using.  This forced the students to cognitively engage the cues into the game play.  After they practiced this for a few minutes I brought the class over to the projector where I had a video of the game of Tchoukball prepared.  I used this as the hook because I thought it was pretty cool so I knew the class would feel the same.  I also said, "By the end of class you should look something like this."  This was my expectation for the day.  During the video I did not just let the class watch and zone out.  I explained some of the rules and pointed out boundaries such as the arc way and the rebound frame.  Our transition ran smoothly because after the video was done Mike took over and started teaching his portion.                                             

 

Gut:  Lab D put all of us through a test.  Most of us have never taught an international game that we never have played or even heard of before.  Most of us have never even team taught before.  And, none of us have ever had to complete a 70 page resource packet before.  Overwhelmed was definitely the first thing I felt.  I felt a little pushed for time to complete all of this before Thanksgiving break.  After I took a deep breath I realized everything was going to be okay.  I knew that this all was going to be a lot of work but I knew if we worked together as a group we could do it.  Putting together the unit plan definitely helped us create one lesson plan which we taught in Lab D.  After completing the resource packet I felt confident about teaching Tchoukball.  I now knew a lot about the game.  The rules, equipment, history, progressions to teaching and so much more.  This made me have a confidence to teach about something new and interesting to me.  My hope was the share that same feeling with my students.  I knew if I could use what I did well in Lab A-C and what I should stay away from I would be able to teach this lesson successfully.  I felt relieved that three other people were working with me.  I felt this way because I enjoy working in teams.  All my life I have played team sports and this would not be any different.  If everyone did their job our team would be successful and we were.  We took what we were each good at and applied it to our teaching.  I knew that I could get the class interested in the unit so I handled the introduction.  It is amazing how my feelings about teaching have changed throughout 255.  In Lab A I felt extremely nervous.  Our TA's made it seem so easy yet there was so many things to remember.  I thought to myself bowling?  How am I supposed to get my students heart rate up with a bowling activity?  In Lab B I felt antsy.  I knew a little bit more about teaching after paying attention to what my peers did but still was nervous.  In Lab C I felt less nervous and more self-assured I knew I did okay on the first two labs but now I had to show improvement in this lab.  Finally in Lab D after my panic attack of what seemed an overwhelming work load I felt a true sense of confidence.  I was more prepared than I have ever been from working on the resource packet.  I thought to myself, I spend that much time and hard work on something so I am going to knock this Lab out of the parl.  I was still nervous but I think I will always be because if you're not nervous you don't care about your teaching enough. 

 

So What?  I knew going into Lab D that the majority of my students had never played or even heard of Tchoukball before.  Since it is an international game I knew I had to teach this starting from scratch.  However, after watching the game and doing some research I could see that this game had many skills in it the students have already learned.  I used positive linking to link the skills students learned in previous units to the Tchoukball unit.  For example, I knew the students had prior knowledge from handball and ultimate Frisbee that they were only allowed three steps and the object could not hit the floor.  Students had a good base on throwing and catching from units such as softball.  In the instant activity I used positive linking when I asked the students to perform the three man weave.  I already knew that most of my students had played sports such as lacrosse, basketball, hockey, etc. So they properly had already performed the three man weave.  I still demonstrated quickly just for a refresher or in case this was new for a few students.  After I let the students practice a basic three man weave I introduced something new that related more specifically to Tchoukball.  I introduced three types of passes used in the game.  Then I let the students practice in-cooperating them into the three man weave.  I wanted to maximize positive transfer of learning in skills such as passing, communication, teamwork, shooting.  I wanted to utilize positive transfer for each domain as well.  I also wanted to minimize negative transfer.  No defense is something new to the students so we made sure that we stressed.  We needed to be careful wording this to the students because saying something such as no defense whatsoever pay turn the students interest levels off.  Instead we said the only defense is positioning yourself to catch the other teams shot.  This got the students thinking tactically and peaked their interests.  I knew going into Lab D what things I needed to keep doing well and what things I needed to improve on.  I knew in the other labs I did not check for understanding as much as I wanted to so during Lab D I made sure I was having the students teach each other by asking questions.  I also really wanted to make sure the class was more physically educated/ literate after the lesson.  One thing I did during the instant activity was had the students use the academic language of the cues they just learned in the three man weave by calling out what type of pass they were using.  By doing this students were using cognitive knowledge in the physical.  I was happy that I taught my students of the physical through the physical.               

Now What?  Now that my last lab of 255, Lab D, is complete I feel great about the profession I have chose.  I could feel my growth throughout the semester.  I am happy with how I did in Lab D.  I am excited and ready to move onto 355.  I gained a sense of confidence in my teaching.  I still know there is things I can improve on such as being less nervous, instruction and commanding attention.  Throughout my college career I will continue to improve and work on things I need to improve on to be a better teacher.  This will not stop after college though.  When I become a Physical Education teacher I will still work on improving myself to help my students.  Now that Lab D is over I can take a deep breath.  It all was a lot of work but in the end it was definitely worth it!     


Reflection of Growth:  Now that 255 is coming to an end I look back and am amazed on how much I grew throughout the course.  The main thing I gained was a sense of confidence in my teaching.  Going into Lab A I had never really taught in front of my peers before so I was extremely nervous.  I thought to myself what are they going to think about me?  What if I mess up?  Then I was given an instant activity of bowling.  It had to get my students heart rate up, I had to state my name, signal for attention, hook, expectations, and a safety statement all within 30 seconds.  This was what I thought then was overwhelming.  I prepared to my best ability and survived Lab A.  In Lab B we were given a new topic.  I was given High Intensity Interval Training.  I felt better about teaching in front of my peers because I knew they all had to go through the same thing and I knew everyone in my class a lot more at this point.  I decided to do station training and I felt good about the outcome of the lesson.  I however still needed to focus on what my students were learning.  Were they more physically literate as a result of my lesson?  In Lab C, I kept this in mind.  I did more checking for understanding to ensure learning.  Now I was in a new environment.  I did not plan as well as I should have of the space I had available so the students didn't get the full benefit of the lesson.  After I handed in the Lab C resource packet I thought I felt relieved until we were told we had a longer one due for Lab D.  Now I was overwhelmed.  I took a step back and stopped being dramatic and realized I could do it.  We were team teaching for Lab D.  I knew all of the things I had done well in the previous labs and something's I needed to work on.  After the resource packet was complete for the first time I had a true confidence in my teaching.  I was more prepared then I had ever been so I knew Lab D was going to be great.  I wanted to make sure my students were more physically literate as a result of my lesson so I did everything in my power to do so.  Of course I was still nervous but like I always say if you are not nervous you don't care enough!        

 

 

 

 

Here's me demonstrating the three man weave with two students

 

 

 

 

Here's me explaining the three types of passes