"That speaks to a personal vision of what one can achieve as an educator"
I want to be able to create a positive experience for students through creating an environment that is student-centered and considers the individuality of each student. Part of creating this environment was finding an alternative to standardized testing. The strategy I had was to implement a full fitness assessment that students will go through in the beginning, the middle, and at the end of the school year. Therefore, having the ongoing assessment will allow students to track their development, and marks can be produced based on student’s individual development. In addition, it will provide autonomy and the opportunity for students to take ownership of their own learning.
During my short-term practicum, I was given the opportunity to teach a grade 10 leadership class who were currently in their active health unit. It was then that I took the opportunity to implement my vision. Through my post conference summary and reflection, I was able to extend and re-shape this vision. For example, a fitness assessment not only allow one to track development and grade students in fairly, but it can also lead into a unit plan that encourages inquiry within the classroom. Instead of just putting away the assessment and reflect on it at the end of the unit as a comparison. I would get students to reflect on their weaknesses right from the start. This provides an opportunity to create an inquiry of how one can improve their own weakness, and can lead in a project where students create their own exercise program to work on their weakness. Midway through the unit I would present my own weakness to the students and have them go through an exercise program followed by lessons that students lead. This not only allow them to work on their individual goals, but share to others the exercises they have learned.
This has so much potential, it can implement the new curriculum and create an inquiry based in classrooms where students can inquire alternative exercise program, rehabilitation due to possible injury, or dealing with injuries. It really depends on how they interpret their own data on what their weakness is and the reason behind their weakness. In addition, it encourages students to take ownership of their own learning, and provide opportunities for students to become leaders.
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"That celebrates students’ diversity"
During the volleyball unit and lesson plan, I anticipated that there were going to be various levels of skills in the class. Therefore, at the start of class asked the students who had previous volleyball experience, and during the game play I had asked who wants to play competitively vs. recreationally. Part of student diversity is acknowledging that there are going to be students who are more skilled, and less skilled than others. I offered those who wanted to play competitively to play against each other on one court, and those who wanted to play recreationally on another. This provided a chance for all students to be challenged during game play.
This can also tie in with goal 6 sub goal 1 that demonstrates respect and dignity for students as a person with varied interest, needs, backgrounds, points of views, plans, goals, and aspiration. Not all students are going to like sports, not all students are going to have interest in volleyball, and not all students will have a competitive mind set. Therefore, it is important to acknowledge these difference in interest and points of view to make the right strategy on how to incorporate all students into the lesson.
"That demonstrates care for students and their individual development"
During the school experience my goal was to get to know the students and learn their names by taking attendance, taking the time to acknowledge how their day was when bumping into students through the hallways and during class. In addition, I also made sure to say “goodbye, have a good day”, and thanking the students for the participation. During DREAM camps part of showing care for students was really listening to their stories. Many of the primary campers love to tell stories about their day and share what they like doing. Simply engaging in small talk, listening, and having conversation about their interest can help build relationships and show care to others.
One of the themes during the workshop I attended at Churchill was “never assume”. If students seem unmotivated, fooling around, not participating, and not responsive in class never assume that it is because they are a bad student. Look beyond the frustration and struggle and take the time to get to know the real reason of their misbehavior. During my school experience, I taught the same group of student multiple times, and have gotten to know one student who challenged my classroom management skills. When it comes to this student, I always had to repeat instruction, continually pause to get their attention, and constant reinforcement. However, I have learned to embrace his level of energy. Instead of constantly reminding him his bad behavior I focused on the positive behaviors by acknowledging positive behavior. For example, accepting the fact that students will be off task at times and allowing them to have a few minutes to get it out of there system. The times they are on task, I make sure I give them positive feedback to motivate them to stay on track.
"That motivates students to take ownership of their own learning"
For a volleyball lesson plan, I implemented I had already anticipated that many of the students may have previous knowledge regarding the sport and as well as the skills to play volleyball. Therefore, to make the lesson more student centered, instead of giving a mini lecture and stating the rules while the students listen, I provided questions for students to answer. Examples of questions that were asked included, which colored line represented the volleyball court? How many points is required to win a game? If students did not provide me with the desired answer, I would then guide them so that they can come up with a more precise answer. This way the process of learning the game and its rules was more interactive, incorporated previous student knowledge, and increased participation. Within the same lesson, I would repeat this process when teaching new skills. For example, when teaching students how to bump I would provide the key work “athletic stance” followed by a question of who knew what this was. If no one knew, I would visually demonstrate what an athletic stance looked like followed by more questioning such as, where are my feet placed in relation to one another? Where are my hands? Why is it important to get into an athletic stance? How does the athletic stance help us in the game?
