Padawan Training TC to Jedi's: Lab B Overview

Cross-posted (and slightly edited from EricE's blog EDU 255 Lab B Overview)

Today I observed five teacher-candidates (TC) teaching their lab B to the class, I was very impressed with a lot of things and I also have some suggestions.


First were the hooks, every body I observed today had a hook and they were very clever. Hooks are used to get students interested (and motivated) and to think about why the teacher is saying this and excited to learn. One hook was about all of the students being warriors, and that would be very motivating to younger students in a normal classroom setting. Also the energy that everyone brought was awesome, everyone was clearly excited to be there and happy to be able to teach the lesson they were waiting to teach.

I thought everyone was excellent but here is some feedback to get your teaching to the next level. First thing I recognized was where’s the music? During all of the practice days I expressed my love for music and the energy that it brings in a lesson. Nobody used music except for one person for a very minimal time. Music fills that dead silence while you are teaching and has a energy that can’t be replaced regardless of what you say. Also,  every time TC's heard they have one minute left they began to panic. Relax you have a whole minute to finish up your lesson and break it down. I taped the videos and I found that on average it took students twenty-five to thirty-five seconds to close out a lesson which means you still have some time for activity. And lastly just go with it! You are the only person who knows how your lesson is supposed to go, so if ya mess up… who cares. Figure out where you should be and get back on target never stop and draw attention. Overall everyone was great but everybody should aim to build on what they did. Good luck to everybody and keep working hard!

Success of Failure - Lab A

Now that we've had the opportunity to teach twice in less than two weeks, we hope that these practice sessions will encourage reflective growth and exploration of the art and science of teaching and learning. We've seen some great initial use of pedagogical tools and with more practice, failures, and "teachable moments" we will get better.

Here are the photos from our micro-lessons so please use them to support your blog posts.  Please download the software program (Picasa) so that you will be able to do other assignments later in the semester. Also once you find a photo in the album you want to download - press the "Action" button then scroll down to "Download Photo. If you try to right click and save or drag the photo to your computer the resolution is much lower than you will need for later on.



Speaking of failure, I saw this great post on CNN about failure for a Pulitzer Prize winning author and I love this statement:

"The key is struggling a lot," she says.

As we mentioned in class you don't learn anything by being successful at it the first time. It is through our struggles and failures that we learn to focus and correct for the next time and the reason why practice is so important to our profession. Just because you do something once does not make you a reflective and ever-improving teacher.

Here is another post from last semester about Manny Pacquio's intense training and sparring regiments prior to a fight. Check it out and see how you might apply similar techniques to your teaching lessons.

Perfecting Practice

Manny Pacquaiao has three separate sparring partners to prepare him for his fight versus Juan Marquez, each tasked with imitating a certain boxing style, technique, or pace Marquez might display. In essence he beats the heck out of three guys during PRACTICE, and each of them is a great boxer in their own right, yet:

"When you get hit hard, you go, 'f---, how long are these three minutes going to be?'" Rodela says afterward, "because it feels like an eternity when you're in there."

How hard have you practiced for your teaching labs/lessons? How many times have you set up the equipment in the gym or other area to practice exactly what you're going to do when it's your turn? Have you prepared for the unexpected and the possible scenarios that might arise?  Have you gone through your discipline/management plan when problems come up? Will you give someone a time-out on the first offense? Will you be able to see the offense from your positioning in the class?

Here a couple pre- teaching samples from your peers.  Please post your videos to your blog and to our Facebook group to show people your progress.





What it's like to spar with Manny Pacquiao - Bryan Armen Graham - SI.com:

In regards to practice, Dan who was a commercial photographer but gave it up to learn to be an expert golfer by taking 5 full years to accumulate 10,000 hours of practice (a theorized level of expertise/mastery).

Remember, this course is just the start of your teaching career and if you're serious about helping kids learn, then you better get used to practice, trial, error, reflection and then back to practice again. This cycle is essential to continuous growth for both you and your students. I never assume I know everything because I wouldn't be open to see your points of view, appreciate how each of you learn best, and what you can teach me.

Dan's approach is intriguing and very gutsy even has his swing coach doing a video analysis (a necessity in golf education programs and coaching). Hmmm, video analysis - sound familiar?  Happy Practicing and Learning!

CS swing analysis September 2011 from Dan McLaughlin on Vimeo.

Time is of the Essence

Hey 255 Rockstars!  Your Lab C lessons have been up and running for some time now, and they are probably going a lot faster than you expected them to.  With that being said, it is crucial to manage the short time you have, wisely.  For those of you that have already gone, you all have great ideas and you all seem to be comfortable teaching, but some of you may not be satisfied with how it has gone.  So, for those of you that have not gone yet, you might need to think about how you can get your students to participate in activity time sooner.  Do not be afraid to take a look at your watch during your lesson.  Maybe at the 3-minute mark, get the class moving with some activities.  For those who have taught your Lab C already, remember that Lab D is just around the corner.  It is time to prepare.  You get more time, so start coming up with ideas of how you are going to increase the activity time.  This is why we record the lesson.  It allows you to reflect on what needs work.  You are here to become a better teacher with every lesson, so take advantage of it.



Also, you may have all been surprised with the students "misbehaving" in class, and the students with "disabilities."  Be prepared to expect anything.

8 Key Points for Perfect Presentation Practice

Here are some great guideline for your upcoming presentations, 256, 434, and Portfolio Interviews.

[ Via Six Minutes: 8 Key Points for Perfect Presentation Practice]

8 Guidelines for Presentation Practice

Practice out loud.

1. Practice with variety.
2. Be aware of timing.
3. Practice in front of a real audience, similar to your target audience.
4. Incorporate spontaneous Q &A into your practice.
5. Spend more time on the speech opening and closing.
6. Practice your timing.
7. Practice by recording yourself.

Passion, Commitment, Pursuing Your Dreams & Goals

George Lopez is willing to try a lot of new skits, material and interactions for his studio audience in hopes that it ranslates well to the TV viewers.  Bringing internet sensation Lin Yu Chun to perform his Whitney Houston's "Saving all my love" and a duet with Academy Award William "Capitan Kirk" Shatner “Total Eclipse of the Heart” was awesome. Watch and listen to the audience as Lin delivers on the high and low notes of these technically difficult songs.  Not only is he singing the correct words and notes, but he is in tune and has very few pitch issues.  More remarkable is his ability to interpret the songs in the way similar to the original version with his own interpretations and within the limits of his vocal range and ability.  

• Can you tell he speaks very little English? 
• Can you tell he has never been on TV in the US prior to this performance? 
• How many hours do you think Lin practiced at his craft of singing? 
• How many times did he hit a wrong note or wrong lyrics? 
• How many times do you think people told him that he is a terrible or can't sing?
• How many times do you think people told him he would never be successful?

• How much time do you spend planning and researching your lessons/activities?
• How much time do you spend practicing and rehearsing your lessons/activities?
• Do you seek others feedback and input?
• Do you record yourself (audio/video) while rehearsing your teaching segments?
• Do you ask your teachers, TA's and peers questions about your assignments?
• What are you willing to do in order for you to perform at an equally high level that is eventually recognized as being inspiring? 

Applications for Learning

As teachers, we all have our comfort areas and expertise in certain sports, activities, games, etc...  The challenge for teachers everywhere is to continue to learn and adopt the mission of lifelong learning. Do whatever it takes for you to help your students engage in more meaningful and impacting learning experiences.  Take classes in other areas to broaden your base of knowledge, learn from others how to improve your blogs (or visit this PE Tech page on Rockstar PE Wiki), take clinics in First Aid Certification so that you can certify your own students in Emergency First Aid, and in general never stop learning. Don't wait for others to "give" you what you think you deserve, go out and become the inspirational, transformative leader.

Interpretation as Inspiration

arning to teach is a lot like being a musician/singer and I've given you this analogy many times before. Think of the thousands of times a young artist sings a song or practices parts of songs, both by themselves then in front of a few close friends or family and then gradually if they're well received the audiences get bigger.  All the while you are interpreting the songs and notes in your own way, just the same way a young teacher interprets and executes lessons with their own style.  We are not asking you to invent anything revolutionary, but to interpret what is being made available to you. As we've told you before, to become a confident teacher you first have to realize that there are standards to be met and you have to be professionally accountable to these national and state standards of teaching and learning. Secondly, you MUST know your content.  If you don't know where you're going, how are you expected to guide your students and how much can they truly learn?

Lab A you got some practice starting a lesson, giving demos and getting people moving.  

Lab B1 is another chance for you to show you can master demonstrations (DEAD or Whole-Part-Whole), manage and organize your students, and provide meaningful feedback/intratask variation. (4 minutes). You are only teaching the one task that you are assigned at the bottom (simple) of the task progression.

Requirements:

- Demo

- Task - Cue - Challenge

- Feedback

- Intratask Variation

Optional

- Pinpoint

- Scaffolding

Lab B2 is a big step up because you are given 5 more complex tasks to know how to teach and we may ask you to teach any of the 5 tasks, which will force you to be ready and flexible. (6-7 minutes) 

 

Watch this clip from last season's American Idol and see what the great Smokey Robinson said about Adam Lambert's interpretation of one of his most famous songs.:

 "I love to hear other people's interpretations of my songs.  I've never heard The Tracks of My Tears sung like that, I've heard by a lot of people."  

Infant Skits Motor Development Spring 2009

Today's infant skits were fantastic and our guests were thoroughly impressed at how committed everyone was in performing.

Here is the album of still photos from the performances.

Click here to get the YouTube Playlist or enjoy the videos from this blog

Infant skits

And here is the rest of it.

What 's your Sport?

Everyone is good at something in terms of a sport or physical activity, but are there commonalities between each person's strength?

We will be examining and studying three fundamental skill themes: stability, locomotion, and manipulative.

Do sports skills have common themes running through them?

Leave a comment on how important it is to be proficient at the more basic skills in order to gain proficiency in the more complex and specialized skills and actions.

Leader of the Pack

Learning to teach with the "Firm but Warm" ideals is an art all unto itself. In a way it is also the same mantra for Cesar Milan (AKA - The Dog Whisperer). Casar takes the toughest cases of dog misbehavior and works tirelessly to "re-rehabilitate the dog" but "train the owners" - and NOT the other way around. What does he say about the importance of a) walking together (exercise), b) belief in yourself as the leader of the pack, and c) creating a pack to create harmony. Watch this video and leave a comment that best explains your reactions to Cesar's techniques and the parallel to teaching youngsters. If you want to see more of Cesar and his techniques and awesome effectiveness click on this YouTube playlist and National Geographic Channel.