Pre- Student Teaching Leadership Practicum
During my time spent in 395A (Teaching Leadership Practicum), I’ve learned so much about becoming a high school physical education teacher. Although, there is still so much to learn in this field, I felt like I had gain great experience and knowledge from our Co-teacher, who gladly took my partner and I as her 395 practicum students. Her experience working with kids and her personality alone set her apart from other physical education teachers I’ve met in the past. I benefited greatly from this experience with her.
The school where I did my practicum work is located in the State College School District at State College High School. It is a big school with a very nice layout of the building. The gymnasium is located towards the side of the building where it seemed to have been remodeled in the past 7 to 10 years. The students at State High are very lucky to have a facility such as this. A 50 meter lap pool where students enjoy aquatic activities, two individual gymnasiums; main gym and a large auxiliary gym where the climbing and outdoor recreation wall is located are some of the tremendous features this building has to offer. I was very fortunate to have been able to spend my time here at State High for the practicum experience.
The content and work we had to cover in this class included a minimum five observations, two lessons taught by you including reflections after each lesson, and one of those lesson are to be observed by our 395 professor. My teaching partner and I attended mostly every class on Thursday’s from 12:30 pm until 2:30 pm approximately. The units/lessons we had the pleasure of observing were dance, outdoor recreation, badminton, volleyball, weights & cardio, and floor hockey. All were enjoyable to observe. The school has quarters instead of semesters for phys-ed. In the fall, students get to choose two physical activities (P.E. classes) they want to participate in. It could be dance half the semester or it could be badminton. In the spring, students have the option again to choose two more P.E. classes for the remainder of the year. Of course, certain activities are offered at different seasonal times of the school year. I thought this type of scheduling is a good means of variety for the students; it gives them more options to choose from.
When time came to teach my lesson, I offered to first teach a weightlifting circuit. I was fortunate enough to only have 14 students in class that particular day which helped my lesson go smoothly; due to the smaller numbers. I developed a simple, yet challenging circuit I wanted the students to complete for class. I took them through the stations and demonstrated the proper technique and form. The students responded well with the lesson. All were enjoying their time and actively participating. For my second lesson of the semester, I taught tennis. I was thrilled to be outside for this lesson. It’s always a plus when you are able to be outdoors for P.E. This was the last quarter of the second semester for the students. This class had a lot of new faces because it had been two weeks prior since I had seen the students and they had already transferred to their last P.E. class. I adapted well to the change though, and the students seemed to be enjoying themselves.
Overall my experience with the Co-teacher and the freedom she let us have when developing out lessons really gave me a positive outlook on what to expect when it comes time to teach on my own. The skills I’ve learned here cannot be gained elsewhere but in classroom. Students, like me, are so fortunate to have this experience in college. It shows us the reality of what a real world setting is. I will forever keep and apply the knowledge I have gained from this wonderful leadership practicum experience.
The school where I did my practicum work is located in the State College School District at State College High School. It is a big school with a very nice layout of the building. The gymnasium is located towards the side of the building where it seemed to have been remodeled in the past 7 to 10 years. The students at State High are very lucky to have a facility such as this. A 50 meter lap pool where students enjoy aquatic activities, two individual gymnasiums; main gym and a large auxiliary gym where the climbing and outdoor recreation wall is located are some of the tremendous features this building has to offer. I was very fortunate to have been able to spend my time here at State High for the practicum experience.
The content and work we had to cover in this class included a minimum five observations, two lessons taught by you including reflections after each lesson, and one of those lesson are to be observed by our 395 professor. My teaching partner and I attended mostly every class on Thursday’s from 12:30 pm until 2:30 pm approximately. The units/lessons we had the pleasure of observing were dance, outdoor recreation, badminton, volleyball, weights & cardio, and floor hockey. All were enjoyable to observe. The school has quarters instead of semesters for phys-ed. In the fall, students get to choose two physical activities (P.E. classes) they want to participate in. It could be dance half the semester or it could be badminton. In the spring, students have the option again to choose two more P.E. classes for the remainder of the year. Of course, certain activities are offered at different seasonal times of the school year. I thought this type of scheduling is a good means of variety for the students; it gives them more options to choose from.
When time came to teach my lesson, I offered to first teach a weightlifting circuit. I was fortunate enough to only have 14 students in class that particular day which helped my lesson go smoothly; due to the smaller numbers. I developed a simple, yet challenging circuit I wanted the students to complete for class. I took them through the stations and demonstrated the proper technique and form. The students responded well with the lesson. All were enjoying their time and actively participating. For my second lesson of the semester, I taught tennis. I was thrilled to be outside for this lesson. It’s always a plus when you are able to be outdoors for P.E. This was the last quarter of the second semester for the students. This class had a lot of new faces because it had been two weeks prior since I had seen the students and they had already transferred to their last P.E. class. I adapted well to the change though, and the students seemed to be enjoying themselves.
Overall my experience with the Co-teacher and the freedom she let us have when developing out lessons really gave me a positive outlook on what to expect when it comes time to teach on my own. The skills I’ve learned here cannot be gained elsewhere but in classroom. Students, like me, are so fortunate to have this experience in college. It shows us the reality of what a real world setting is. I will forever keep and apply the knowledge I have gained from this wonderful leadership practicum experience.