When I think about building confidence in my students it always comes back to building strong relationships and trust. I believe that these are the foundation that every teacher must develop to ensure that students feel safe and confident to learn. I often cruise through my lesson and individually check-in with each student or small group. My goal in doing this is to give every student a voice. Sometimes there are a few students who take over a class and demand the teacher’s attention taking away from students who are more reserved. I love joking around with my students, I love small talk. I encourage students to talk about what they have been up to outside of class, we talk about other classes, we talk about sports that they are participating in, etc. I make an effort to get to know them, show an interest in them and what they are doing. I’ve also had the opportunity to teach the same students for the last three years which has really helped build a strong relationship. Another area that I have helped students build confidence in what we are doing is making sure that they get enough time to practice the skills for each sport that we are focusing on. We never jump right into games. I always break down the skills from basic to more advanced as we progress and give them ample opportunities to show what they know and need to work on. I’m not afraid to go back and practice a skill that wasn’t achieved. Students’ are aware that they are going to get a lot of time to practice before game scenarios. Practicing in a low-stakes, non-competitive environment is important when learning something new in PE for students’ who are new to the sport. Teaching scenario: I had a student last week that did not want to participate in basketball. He is on the spectrum (very high functioning) and sometimes sits out because he doesn’t feel comfortable trying things that he hasn’t done before. We have a lot of quality one-on-one discussions about having a growth mindset and giving things a try. He always responds really well when I give him a chance to explain what he is feeling. I’ve made it a point when I see him leave an activity to give him a minute to himself. I never call him out publicly to come back to the group or ask in front of the class why he is sitting out. In that time alone, I think he is also thinking about ways that he can join. He does a great job of self-regulation in that regard when he gets frustrated. Our relationship over the last three years has gotten a lot stronger and I know that he needs that time. We often joke that if he knew how to do everything already, I wouldn’t have a job! We also discuss things that he is good at and how we can transfer those skills to what we are focusing on. He has a great motor and is one of the best runners in the class. Luckily those skills translate really well to a lot of different sports.
2 Comments
BLOG: From your research paper, reflect on what you have learned from your research:
Well, as you all know, research has not started yet. I have been waiting on the IRB approval but I did get the green light to start from Dr. Redmond. The plan right now is to start the week after Thanksgiving break. It will be interesting to start to finally put together everything we have been working on and apply it officially to our students’. My first order of business will be to test for a baseline for each of my students using their IEP goals and their appropriate gross motor test. From there I will be able to jump into heavy work training and hopefully be able to quantify some positive results. I am still worried about time and this going deep into January. I just want to be sure that I can collect enough data that I can reflect on it. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like I will have fitness trackers in time as I previously hoped. It did get approved but has to jump through every hoop known to man to get ordered. I didn’t think it would be such a process, but I should’ve known better. I think I will try and include that data in the capstone poster if I get the trackers in time. I am sure as I get rolling with my action research that things will come up that need to be addressed and changed before the second cycle. The reflection component of all this will be the most powerful tool. Just thinking about what’s working, what’s not, and what I can do to change it. I am excited to chart these results and create a clear picture of what took place in my classroom. 1. What were the key ideas you noted from the C-Content speakers. Any synthesis thoughts on them as a whole? 2. Then consider the list you created from the context of your classroom and your teaching practice. - What are your insights from this analysis? - Are there common threads in your perceptions? - How do your findings fit in with the other topics in this class: 21st century teaching & learning, equity of opportunity for students, the brain, problem-based learning, etc. 3. As an instructional leader, how might you apply Mobley's 6 insights to help your students (or your colleagues) to think creatively? Creativity is key. Pink, Robinson and Brown all discuss that we are in a fast changing world where the importance of creativity is present more so now than anytime in history. Jobs are rapidly being outsourced and we are left with jobs that take a creative mind or more right brained focused thinker. Can creativity be learned? It seems as though we are all born with creativity. We have lost this important skill over time as we have been a part of a system that does not value it. I have the pleasure of watching my 3 year old be creative everyday. It amazes me what he comes up with. If he doesn’t have something or isn’t sure of how something is used, he makes something up. He has zero issue with being wrong. There are no constructs or systems inplace to tell him he is wrong, other than my wife and I. It is strange that we don’t nurture this and promote this as children get older. I agree a lot with what the presenters were saying in their talks. I’ve seen some of these before, and it really makes me think about the systems that we have in place. We need to help students explore their passions and ignite their creativity around these areas. We need to create meaningful lessons that engage students and offer high levels of fulfilment. This begs the question: how do we get students involved with what they are interested in? All the talks had a similar message about our current educational system and its catastrophic flaws. It is not working and it is very outdated. I like the idea that John Seely Brown presented about shifting from knowing to making and playing. I think that this is one of my favorite things about PE, the fact that you are creating and playing. There is very little lecture time. I know from experience that I perform much better in these environments. When tasked with sitting and absorbing information, I can’t sit still. I’m anxious, I tap my foot excessively, I doodle all my margins. I need to be up and moving, and so do our students. Allow our students to create and be an active participant in their educational journey. Blog about your thinking on your qualitative vs. quantitative data analysis:
Why did you choose this/these analysis methods? How will this/these methods help to answer the research question? Most of the data collection that I will be using in my action research will be quantitative with some smidges of qualitative data. Here is an excerpt from my IRB pertaining to data collection: What is the level of performance on IEP Goals? Quantitative Each participating student in APE has current goals and objectives outlined in their IEP (Individual Education Plan). For each IEP goal, a baseline performance measure will be collected at the beginning of the research and possible changes over the course of the research will be tracked. A rubric will be used to score the skills outlined in their IEP to determine level of performance at the beginning of the research. After implementation of Heavy work training during the students’ APE sessions, the researcher will then conduct a post examination of the students’ performance on their IEP goals to see if change occurred.
2.Is there an increase in Fitness tracker statistics? Quantitative
3. What is the level of self-confidence? Both
Overall, I am glad that I will be using both qualitative and quantitative data analysis. They both bring a level of validity to the study that is important. I did not seek out one or the other, rather just using what fit for each of my sub sections of research. |
AuthorMy name is Bailey Tucker. I teach Physical Education and Adapted Physical Education (APE) at Calistoga Elementary School. I have a strong passion for sports, athletics and fitness. I've been involved with sports my entire life and that is what ultimately led me to the path of teaching. I have recently obtained my APE Authorization to teach PE to students with special needs. This has been a growing passion of mine and I have immensely enjoyed working in this new field with my students. I'm looking forward to this next chapter and working towards obtaining my masters degree. Archives
February 2022
Categories |