Makaylin Martinez

03/28/18
SES 440

Reflection #1

On March 28th, 2018 I taught the first lesson of the striking unit at Jackson Elementary.

Mrs. Miller’s 3rd grade class consisted of 22 students although, 2 were absent. In the first lesson

we did a fitness activity called ​Dice Exercise.​ This consisted of students rolling two dice and

spinning a wheel with exercises on it. The total of the die were how many reps of the exercise on

the wheel they did. The next activity was ​Balloon Math Practice.​ In this activity students

performed different locomotor movements to get to a balloon. They would pick up the balloon

and solve the math problem written on it. The answer to the problem were how many times they

would strike the balloon to themselves. Next we moved into tossing and catching to themselves

with a pickleball paddle and a beanbag. That transitioned to striking to themselves with a foam

ball. We then progressed into learning how to strike to a target. We then moved into some

practice with striking at a wall. During this time Morgan and I walked around and did our pre-

psychomotor assessment. A few things that impacted the lesson was not being able to use a lot of

the outside boundaries due to peers setting up or cleaning up their equipment from their lesson.

Kids also had a hard time not messing with the pedometers which will need to be addressed

more. Also, there were a few things that were miscommunicated on how I wanted equipment set

up which caused a little slower transitions.

When looking at all three student learning objectives I don’t think I achieved them very

well whether it was due to my instruction or because it is a new skill the students are learning.

My first objective was ESWBAT have self control by maintaining their self space during all

activities. When watching my students in real life and also rewatching everything on video I

think they did a good job of finding self space and trying to maintain it. Where they struggled
 Makaylin Martinez
03/28/18
SES 440

was by staying in self control. When learning a new skill, especially like striking, it is hard to

control until they get more practice. With that being said I believe they would have done better if

I gave more parameters. For example, when they were striking to themselves with a foam ball a

lot of them would be able to do it as long as they were able to move/chase the ball while

bouncing it. This caused a safety issue because they were too focused on trying to bounce the

ball to notice their surroundings. I think I could help change this by saying they have to keep one

foot planted to strike the ball and if they have to move that foot they should stop striking, grab

the ball, go back, and start again. Although, when they started striking at the wall I think they did

a great job of being aware where their classmates were, realizing they can’t dart in front of

someone to grab their ball, and making smart decisions when having to retrieve their ball. With

this objective overall, I think i need to reinforce some safety as well as teach the kids what self

control looks like when practicing a new skill.

The next objective was ESWBAT know the cues of how to strike an object with a short

handled implement when prompted during closure. When I asked my students to review the cues

with me they did an alright job of remembering the last 3 cues of the 5. I think I would have had

more success with this objective if I would have reviewed or did CFU questions a few more

times during the lesson. Although, after a quicked guided review they were all on the same page

as to what the cues were and what it should look like. Like I said, I think review the cues more

and asking them more CFU on the cues will help them remember them and hopefully help

transmit to doing it as a motor skill.

My last learning objective was ESWBAT demonstrate striking with a short handled

implement using 3 of the 5 critical elements of a mature pattern when hitting against a wall. Due
 Makaylin Martinez
03/28/18
SES 440

to the fact that this was our first lesson in striking there were very few who actually

demonstrated 3 of the cues correctly. This was expected and why we will be working on this

object 2 more times before the post- psychomotor assessment. Although, about 30% of the

students demonstrated at least 2 of the cues correctly. I think that this a great start for us and that

as we work on actually demonstrating these cues they will be able to actually achieve this

objective.

My first teaching objective was have my students reach 50% MVPA for the class period.

With it being the first day and there being a lot of teaching new things/cues it is hard to get

MVPA up. When looking at the data only none of the students reached 50% MVPA. The highest

percentage was 32.8% MVPA. Now that we have gone over the basics of how to strike there will

only need to be quick reviews unless needed otherwise. This will allow us to get our class

moving more and reducing instruction time. With striking at this level it is hard to get the

students moving when they have a hard time even hitting at the wall to themselves consecutive

times not alone being able to get some play time. With this in mind we will probably try to get

the students moving as much as we can during the fitness activity and the instant activity.

My next teaching objective is to give short but sweet instructions. I think this objective

went really well. Although, was caused long transitions was my equipment distribution. I think

once I work on setting up the next equipment for the next activity while they are doing the first

activity transitions and instruction time we be cut down a good amount. By being able to cut

down instructional time this will also allow us to give students more practice time which will

also improve MVPA.

The last teaching objective was to use proximity to avoid off task behavior. These

students are actually really well behaved and very engaged in what we are doing in class which

helps a lot. There were about two or three times where I had to pass a student to get them on the

right direction. Again these students were great because all I had to do was to pass them without

using any other thing needing to be done or said. There was about two times that I had to rein a

pair of boys in but I believe that was due to me not being as specific with my instructions that I

needed to be. Again, I don’t believe off task behavior will happen that often with this class.

What the students learned and what I did as a teacher is directly connected to each other.

If there was something the kids could have done better it reflected on something that I needed to

do better as a teacher. For example, the students struggled the first time I asked them when trying

to remember all of the cues correctly. When looking back on my teaching I believe I could have

done more review and CFU questions to help them remember them better. Another example is

how their MVPA was low. This could be improved by my teaching by providing more active

activities as well as decreasing my instructional time in the few ways I mentioned above. There

are a few things I would do differently when it comes to the instructional and managerial aspect

of the lesson such as CFU questions and equipment distribution as well as what kind of activities

I would choose that can help benefit my students more.