Thoughts on Teaching

Badminton Lesson

2008-12-07T12:03:00.000-08:00

I taught badminton to my college students in my Team and Individual Sports class. The skills that they learned were the clear and the drive. I accomplished teaching the lesson through reading a book on badminton. I also met with the professor to ask him of some activities that I should include.
I wrote this entry in the "teaching for learning" category because I am the one doing the teaching. My college student friends were the ones learning. On this lesson plan I told the students that badminton was the national sport of Indonesia. I believe that this piece of information would keep them interested in the sport by letting them know that the sport is important. After that I continued with my lesson plan which included warm up, drills,and game.
This has helped me to develop as a teacher because it gave me the opportunity to research material for a lesson plan. I also consulted the professor, who is a person more knowleadgeable than me on the subject. As a teacher I should probably research to make lesson plans. Asking people who have more knowledge than me on the subject would probably make lessons more efficient.

Completion of the Learning Center

2008-12-07T11:42:00.000-08:00

I completed the learning center project on December 4th. I spent hours working on this project. I followed the instructions the teacher had given to us. I enjoyed dedicating my time preparing for it.

I wrote this entry in the "inquiry" category because it took part of my own creativity to complete the assignment. At first I had to decide on a color to identify my learing center. Then I had to find carton to make the material boxes. After that I thought of ways of cutting and taping or stapling together the carton to make the boxes. I found a big enough carton to place it as backboard.

Completing the learning center has helped me to develop as a teacher because it gave me the opportunity to think of a variety of activities that I could include in my lesson plans. The title of my learning center was "Move in your room". I included tai chi, yoga, and gymnastics. Part of the activities were reading the books I provided at the center and making the moves that students looked at in the books.

Gymnastics

2008-11-25T18:11:00.000-08:00

Gymnastics for 5th Graders

In this picture I am standing waiting for the students to stand up because they had just attempted to perform the back rocker, which is a gymnastics skill.The woman standing is a college student who helped me teach.

I published this post in the teaching for learning category because I am the one doing the teaching. The kids listen to the instructions and they learn by attempting to perform the task. If they perform the task incorrectly, then I give them positive feedback by telling them what they did right first and what they did wrong after that.

This helped me to develop as a teacher because it gave me the opportunity to speak up in front of a class of 5th graders. I placed mats so that students would land on a soft area. The skills they were attempting to perform at that time required proper neck position. As a teacher, I want safety for the students. This activity helped me to develop as a teacher because I learned that on the next lesson plan I should move the mats farther away from the black wall that separated that class with another class which was noisy. The noisy class interfered with my teaching because some students did not hear clearly.

Learning Centers at Berea Community

2008-11-14T18:50:00.000-08:00

Tossing the Bean Bag

In this picture, I am kneeling looking at the words that were on the floor. The girl on the right holds a card that she obtained after throwing the bean bag to the floor. The task of the activity is that each student takes turns tossing bean bags to the floor, picking up the flashcard where the bean bag landed and saying the word aloud. The woman on the right is a college student observing.

I noticed the creativity of the teacher in making the stations. On one of the stations the kids had to write a sentence with each word that was written at the top of the paper. On another station the teacher read a page of a book that had a picture in each page and the kids had to figure out who was the character. On another station the kids rewrote similar words with similar pronounciations.

I decided that I would write post this blog in the nature of learning because learning centers provide a variety of activities for kids to learn. Some kids are naturally visual learners, which means that they learn better if they read or see the activity. Other kids are auditory learners, which means that they learn better if they listen to what is being taught. Other kids are born kinesthetic learners, which means that they learn better by doing activities with their bodies.

Observing the learning centers at the school helped me to develop as a teacher because it gave me a variety of ideas to create for students to learn.

Class of November 13th

2008-11-14T18:33:00.000-08:00

During my EDS 150 class on Thursday November 13th the teacher taught us of the ways that diferent people learn. Some people learn better by listening to what the teacher explains. These are the auditory learners. Some people learn better by observation. These are the visual learners. Other people learn learn better by performing movement. These are the kinesthetics learners.

I decided to write this entry in the category "teaching for learning" because I am the one teaching and the students are the ones learning Me and two other students thought of activities that people with the three styles of learning could perform. We chose verbs as our topics. One of the activities was to read a story and underline the verbs. Another was to listen to the radio and write down the verbs they heard. Another was to perform the verbs as they read. Another was to watch a movie and write down the verbs they saw that were being performed. These activities helped us to have an idea of what to include at the learning center.

This class helped me to develop as a teacher because I grew up in a school that did not provide learning centers. I believe that if as a teacher I would like to include them. Learning centers provide a variety of activities for different kind of learners. Learning centers provide a wide variety of opportunities for learning.

Goal 2

2008-11-14T18:31:00.000-08:00

I understand what physical education is about and how to apply it to everyday life.

Goal 1

2008-11-14T18:26:00.000-08:00

I can provide inquiry when being a teacher.

Camping

2008-11-09T07:39:00.001-08:00

The Adventure

In this picture I was holding a sleeping bag on my left hand. On my right hand I was holding a bag with supplies in it. Appropiate clothes and food are essential while going on an overnight adventure. I was in my house ready to ride to a friend's house and depart promptly to the trip to Red River Gorge. After that we would hike and camp.

Hiking is a sport. I am a physical education major and I enjoy sports. Sports are recreational activities. It is my goal to encourage people to spend recreational time practicing sports and or doing physical activities and that is the reason for which I decided to put thus blog in the personal goal category. Sports help the brain. Sports make people feel happy.

As a teacher, I want to teach physical education. Physical education relates to movement. There are many different kinds of movements. Hiking and camping are sports which require movement. During this adventure I learned to carry the proper material for spending a few hours away from home, which I could also teach the students. That is the way that it camping has helped me to develop as a teacher.

Goal 7

2008-11-08T19:48:00.000-08:00

I should continue to learn about physical education as life goes on.

Goal 6

2008-11-08T19:46:00.000-08:00

I can apply to technology so that students may learn .

Goal 5

2008-11-08T19:44:00.002-08:00

I understand that diversity is very important as a part for teaching and learning.

Goal 4

2008-11-08T19:43:00.002-08:00

I should plan and create activities suitable for all students.

Goal 3

2008-11-08T19:40:00.001-08:00

To be able to learn I need to take interest, time, and accept criticism.

Reading feedbacks

2008-11-04T18:42:00.000-08:00

I had to teach several times during this semester. On one of my classes the students wrote what needed improvement with my lesson and what went well. The professor explained to me the positive of my lesson and on what I needed improvement. This will help me in future lesson plans.

I decided to write this entry in the personal development category because reading feedbacks helps to develop me as a person by learning about my strengths and weaknesses.I found out from the professor's feedback that my tone of voice was clear. I found out from a student's feedback that the warm up drills for the skill I was teaching were very appropiate. One of the students suggested that I shorten the time of my lesson to give enough time for other students to explain their lessons. Some students suggested that I focus more on observing who is paying attention because there were some that were not.

This has helped me to develop as a teacher because now I know on what I should focus to become stronger. I know my weaknesses. I know my strengths. I should try not to make the same mistakes so that I become the best teacher possible.

Pumpkin Activities

2008-11-04T18:36:00.000-08:00

I had to do a homework that involved the pumpkin patch trip. The instruction were to make a lesson plan for our intended major. My major is physical education. I thought about different physical activities kids could perform at the pumpkin patch. I thought about the environment and the equipment that surrounded the place.

I decided to include this blog entry in the field work category because it is a plan of work. On my lesson plan I included activitities that related to the five skill related components. One of the skill related compenents is power. I chose running up the hill very fast. Another skill is speed. I chose a relay race using pumkins. Another skill related component is agility. I chose the maize hay game.

This has helped me to develop as a teacher because lesson plans are something that teachers do. With lesson plans teachers become organized. There should be objectives in lesson plans. I listed the objectives in the paragraph above.

Journals

2008-11-04T18:28:00.000-08:00

I have written a lot of journals that were required for my EDS 150 class. The teacher often requires us to write one a week. The topic of the journal often relates to whatever we wanted to write about either teachin or learning. The teacher has read all of them and made comments. I have learned to expand on whatever topic I needed to write more thanks to her comments.

One of my journals involved the learning center. It narrates about some ideas toward what I learned with research. I am making some progress on the learning center. I already completed the supply box. I will have to think and work on some research to make the final product.

Digital Camera

2008-10-26T19:44:00.000-07:00

Today I used a digital camera to film someone performing the long jump. Digital video cameras are an extremely modern technology. I don't remember seeing them around a few years ago. I decided to include this entry in the technology category because a digital camera is a new invention.

I learned to use it by just one simple two simple buttoms. I knew that one of the bottoms turned it on because I have seen that on many other technological devices such as televisions and radios. The bottom that my friend showed me served for recording. Next step is to tranfer what I filmed to the computer and keep on going with the skill analysis of the long jump.

Knowing about digital cameras has helped me to develop as a teacher because I could probably instruct students to use digital cameras at work. This is a great techological tool. The students will also learn about technology. I believe that new tools such as digital cameras keep kids interested.

Stretching

2008-10-26T19:12:00.000-07:00

In this picture, I am doing the butterfly stretch and kids up front are fourth graders from Silver Creek Elementary School.

We held the stretch for ten seconds. We counted together out loud. We used half of the basketball court. The stretching happened after the kids warmed up walking and performing other locomotor movements around half of the basketball court.

I decided to include this entry in the "teaching for learning" category because I am the one teaching and the kids are the ones learning. The kids payed close attention and performed every activity. We warmed up because strenous activities came after that and if the body is not properly warmed up, it can pull a muscle.

This opportunity to go Silver Creek elementary School has helped me to develop as a teacher because it gave me the opportunity to be the one talking in front of a large group. The students were the ones listening. I am happy that they payed close attention. The kids were very obedient. They behaved well throughout the lesson probably because my voice was loud enough and I had something for them to do the entire time.

Balloon Activity

2008-10-23T08:16:00.000-07:00

In this picture, I am in my EDS 150 class. I am doing an experiment with a ballon. To my left is my partner. This was a group activity.

Our teacher instructed us to make an experiment with a balloon. I decided to write this entry in the "inquiry" category because experiments are part of inquiry.The main purpose was to tie the ballon to a bowl plate and for it not to touch the floor and for it to be leveled with the pink ballon when it had objects in it. We experimented with a variety of objects such as toothpicks, seashells, styrofoam balls, and a few others. With this activity we figured out the differences in weights of different small objects. For example, we might think that a styrofoam ball weighted the same as a toothpick but if we put a toothpick, then the balloon made the plate go down all the way to the floor, therefore we had to use another object.

This helped me to develop as a teacher because I would like to include activities that requiere trail and error. I noticed that me and my partner were interested in the work we were doing. I observed that the other students were very focused and perseverant in the activity. They kept on trying until the teacher instructed to stop. I want students to keep on trying and to show interest in their work.

Learning Center

2008-10-13T18:32:00.003-07:00

I have found what learning centers are about through research on the internet and because our teacher demonstrated a few pictures of students at a learning center. I have heard the word learning center before because there is one in the college I go to .

I decided to include this entry in "the nature of learning" category because learning centers had been a way that I learned while in college. I went to the learning several times for help on research papers. I wanted someone to give me feedback on what I need to correct and give me ideas on what I should do next.

Learning about learning centers has helped me to develop as a teacher because they have given me an idea of what questions I should ask to the students. The workers at the learning center corrected me by asking questions like what do you mean by this sentence ? or what other word could you use ? I also had to put some of my thinking and it helped my learning. I believe questions like these could help many students.

School as Inquiry

2008-10-13T18:18:00.000-07:00

I decided to write this entry in the "inquiry" category because the title of the article that I read included the word "inquiry". The article that I read was "School as Inquiry" and I found interesting information. A cool quote I read was 'If my great grandma walked into a classroom today, she would know exactly what to do: sit down, be quiet, listen to the teacher.' That quote reminds me of what goes on in many classrooms because the teacher often tells the students to sit quietly. The teachers sometimes talk a lot and children sometimes feel sleepy because they are just listening.

This has helped to develop as a teacher because by reading this article I became more convinced to include inquiry in my lessons. I want to create quality lessons. I want kids to learn. I want them to show interest.

Teaching at Berea Community Elementary School

2008-10-13T18:12:00.000-07:00

I am jumping. At this time my feet are on the ground. Everybody is jumping.The other two college students are also jumping. These groups of second graders performed the activities we instructed eagerly.

I decided to write this blog entry in the "teaching for learning" category because I am the one assisting the teacher. The students are the ones learning. I saw that some kids were not sure of what to do next. I repeated what the teacher, who were the other college students, said and the kids performed the activities.

This has helped me to develop as a teacher because this experience gave me an idea of teaching assistants. I believe that it would be helpful to find teaching assistants if I become a teacher. My lessons would probably be more beneficials with teaching assistants. I appreciate the help of people.

starch and glue

2008-10-08T19:51:00.000-07:00

I am trying to figure out what will happen next with this experiment that is a mixture of starch and glue. I am writing down possible experiments such us what will happen if I add more glue and no more starch ? How about more starch and no more glue ?

I decided to write this entry in the "inquiry" category because experiments are part of inquiry. Observation is part experiments. Recording data is also part of inquiry. Trail and error is another part of inquiry.

This experience has helped me to develop as a teacher because I believe experiments will keep kids interested in the subject. I saw that my peers in class were very focused with the experiment. I believe that interest enhances learning. Learning make people happy.

Teaching Tai Chi

2008-10-08T19:38:00.000-07:00

This is me and a ten year old friend of mine. I am showing him the Wu technique of Tai Chi. The entire technique has 108 movements. I only taught him about four because it takes coordination and memorazitation to remember all those moves. They should be in correct order. Four proper movements per lesson should be plenty.

I wrote this entry in the "teaching for learning" because I was the one teaching. My ten year old friend was the one doing the learning. I observed that the kid payed attention to what I was explaining to him. He learned some movements and he later showed them to his mom. I could tell that the kid was happy.

This experience has helped me to develop as a teacher because it gave me the opportunity to teach. I explained and showed the moves to the kid. He performed the movements with me. He also performed the movemeentst by himself. I gave him feedback of his movements. I let him repeat the sequence several times.

Name Card

2008-10-08T19:26:00.000-07:00

I am explaining my name card to the class. On this big piece of cardboard I included my name and three three dimentional objects that reflect my culture. At the very bottom is a small top of a bottle because where I went to school in Argentina during recess many kids played soccer using objects like those. There are also branches, leaves and a skin of fruit because a lot of people in my family grow fruit trees.

I wrote this entry in the " inquiry" category because it took part of my creativity to make the name card. First I had to think on the requirements of the activity. After that I had to think on what I wanted to include in the poster. I taped the skin of the orange that I ate at food service. I looked for the sticks and leaves to tape in the poster around campus. I found a bottle and took out its cap, which I taped to the poster, to represent that I like to take care of the environment.

This has helped to develop as a teacher because it gave me the opportunity to think about what I want to include in the homeworks that I gave the kids. I believe that assigning them to homeworks like this will keep them interested. They will have the opportinity to use creativity. It will help the kinesthetic learner because activities like this one require the use of the body.

2008-09-25T08:37:00.000-07:00

Antonio Marchi

EDS 150 A

Journal

09/16/08

Learning maybe fun but it may also be boring. The activities I do in the “Introduction to Education” class are fun. The students in that class are involved in active learning because they perform tasks that require observation, critical thinking, and imagination. In the past there have been classes in which we just listen to the teacher talk or the teacher instruct us to read some chapters and answer some questions. Sometimes these activities are boring and students tend not to do them or miss class if they have the opportunity of not being hurt much by attendance grade. Sometimes students are so bored that they fall sleep.

The activity in which the students tried to balance the balloon that was on the floor with a balloon that was off the floor requires some observation and critical thinking. First, we observed the options of objects that we could place in the Styrofoam bowl that was attached with strings to the balloon. Among the objects were beans, sea shells, fruit loops, small Styrofoam balls, toothpicks, and a few others. We could experiment with a combination of objects, or we could use one kind of object. I decided I would start with the seashell because I believed it was the heaviest object, which it turned out to be that way because I placed two or three of them on the ball and the bowl touched the ground. I decided that the sea shells were not very useful in making the balloon even out to the same level as the other one. Me and my partner used beans instead, which were lighter than sea shells. After a while we experimented with several mixtures. We could tell which object was lighter than the other. As soon as we took one of the objects out and replaced it with another, we could tell which one was heavier. For example, one would expect that a fruit loop weights the same as a small Styrofoam ball; however, while we were doing this experiment, we realized that one of the objects was heavier than the other because when we used a fruit loop the bowl would drop all the way to the floor , on the contrary, when we used the toothpick the bowl would still be in the air. Other students used different objects and combinations. We all arrived to a very close result. There are many different ways to arrive to the same solution.

Likewise, the activities the instructed us to do on the next day of class involved a lot of observation. We had to look at the object that we each took out of a brown paper bag. I had a piece of cloth. Each student had to describe the texture, shape, uses, and other characteristics related to the object. We also had to compare the object with ourselves. Then, we formed groups and our partner gave us feedback. Then, we had to relate the object starting with the question “As a leaner I am because…” I believe I did this part of the work wrong because what the students that volunteered read was completely different than what I had written. I wrote all the characteristics of the piece of cloth but it did not make any sense on how that was a learner.

For homework I need to write about a popper. The paper is supposed to be 750 words to make an A, which would take about two pages of a typed double spaced paper. I believe it would take me a lot of time because it usually takes me about two hours to write a paper about a subject with which I am already familiar with. It would take me longer to write about a topic for which I do not know much about.

There is something new happening each day. There are days that are more challenging than others. There are days when people have to work and days when people have the opportunity to rest. The moment has arrived for me to do homework. This is the journal part of my homework. I am relieved that part of my homework is already finished.

2008-09-25T08:35:00.000-07:00

Philosophy of Teaching
The purpose of education is to know what is right to do. Because if not there will be disorder in the world. We need to learn to live together and respect each other because if not then people might fight each other and life will not be very pleasant. Each person has a talent. For example: one person might be better at writing, another at chopping wood. The writer might need the wood for fire to keep warm. The wood chopper might want to read books for entertainment or to learn.
In schools teachers introduce a variety of subjects such as math, science, foreign language. They share knowledge of topics that help kids develop skills such as reading, proper behavior, responsibility, problem solving. The progress of these help them little by little to become smarter adults who know how to communicate with a foreign person; who know how much change someone should receive when buying groceries; who know how often to water plants.
The job of the teacher is to guide the learner to reach close to perfect understanding. A teacher is a person who has plenty of knowledge about a subject and transmits that information to the learner. For successful learning teachers should emphasize a variety of activities that require observation, experimentation, active involvement, and more. Teachers should encourage students to search for the right answer and correct them and give them idea of what they had done wrong.

2008-09-25T08:33:00.000-07:00

Teachers are responsible in performing their profession and understand that this he or she should continue to learn.

2008-09-25T08:29:00.000-07:00

Teacher use modern materials.

2008-09-25T08:26:00.002-07:00

Teachers use a variety of activities.

2008-09-25T08:24:00.000-07:00

Teachers plan and provide activities that would help students learn.

2008-09-25T08:23:00.000-07:00

I can show that the ways of learning ( inquiry, experience, interest, self correction, external criticism) make sense to me.

2008-09-25T08:18:00.000-07:00

I can demonstrate that I am resposibel to learn the knowledge material for EDS 150.

2008-09-25T08:10:00.000-07:00

Teachers emphasize activities in groups that require observation, brainstorming, experimentation,
and others related to active involvement.

2008-09-25T08:09:00.002-07:00

personal goal

2008-09-25T08:09:00.001-07:00

field work

2008-09-25T07:50:00.002-07:00

understanding of content