Fitzpatrick Student Teacher Blog Week #6

In class this week we ended out long jump rope portion of the jump rope unit. I was very impressed with the growth of coordination of my two 2^nd-grade classes over the past week and a half. Coming into the unit my cooperating teacher warned me that the 2^nd-graders would be my most challenging grade level because of their struggles from last year.

            At the beginning of the unit, I was worried because the students were exactly as my teacher said. There was no coordination among the students. One thing I did recognize though, was that there was no role of communication between the students at this level. Students knew to begin when I said “go,” but would not stop and wait for my cadence after failing. Because of this recognition, along with teaching the correct sequence of movements to develop the progress in the jump rope, I also implemented specific duties to each group member, with the outside rope hole (Rope Holder 1) being the “Boss” of the group. The “Boss” is in charge of letting the other rope holder know when to begin turning and yelling “jump” when the jumper should jump. This addition to my teaching was very effective, as the students demonstrated understanding in their roles, limiting arguments within the groups, thus creating a higher sense of group cohesion. Students were excited because everyone received to the opportunity to be the “Boss,” and with only one student being able to talk, the other students were able to learn what worked best as a team.

            In all classes, I stressed that teamwork makes the dream work when turning and jumping. Instead of teammates playing against each other in our jump rope game of ABC (1^st/2^nd) or School (3^rd/4^th), I had the groups work as a team, with their scores being added together to create an overall score. Using this method of scoring not only developed a better sense of teamwork within the classroom, which is a main learning objective of the lesson, but it also incorporated useful math skills and allowed me a better opportunity to assess the students’ abilities as they would try harder to produce quality movements throughout the game. My corresponding teacher appreciated this method as she mentioned to me that the classes have been more accepting of the jump rope unit than she had originally anticipated.

            In whole, my weekly goal of having 75% of students perform 1-3 consecutive jumps in 1^st and 2^nd-grade, 3-5 jumps in 3^rd, and 5 or more in 4^th grade, every class succeeded at said goal. The 1^st-graders demonstrated better than expected abilities with all but 2 out of 47 students being able to perform 2-3 consecutive jumps.

            With 1^st grade, I had to make an emphasis on grouping more than any other grade. Being the first time learning the unit, I noticed that while most groups were able to work together with proper instruction, I had three groups that were struggling due to a differentiated type of inabilities to perform certain tasks. In one group, even with an abundance of guided instruction, the students could not perform any of the basic necessary movements as a team to succeed at the lesson. Because of this observation, I had to split the team, moving two of the members to different teams, and one of the students being put into a group of 4, with the other three members demonstrating greater mastery in jump roping. Once the original two students were separated they almost immediately began demonstrating growth in their ability to sequence the four movements of the long rope turn and the ability to time their jumps to the rhythm of the rope. The students originally did not receive the ability to develop their natural abilities due to the lacking abilities of their other partners, including a student.

            One of my students cannot demonstrate the ability to jump with two feet at the same time. To aid in this students’ productivity, I paired him with a group demonstrating understanding in the jump rope and created a group of four. I did this so that the student not only receives a longer break (he is overweight and wears out quickly) But I also have him stand behind a rope holder and practice his jumping and timing ability without the distraction of the rope stopping after an incompletion. Although the student is still not demonstrating an ability to jump on two feet, his timing as to when to begin the jumping sequence has been noticeably more accurate.

            Outside of academia, this was a very enlightening week regarding classroom management. Last week I had mentioned a student that I had been having issues with due to his increasing distractive behavior. I was hoping my talk with him last Friday would help with his self-control, however, on both Monday and Tuesday, I had to sit him out of class, with Tuesday sitting for almost half of the class period. During this time, I sat on the floor along with the student at the expectations corner and engaged in a conversation with him in an attempt to get to know why he has been acting out, and to engage in a more personal encounter, erasing the student/teacher divide for the moment to show the student that I was invested in him and his academic and personal success. We talked about why he had been acting out (which he admitted was to test me,) what type of actions were appropriate and when, and me expressing the positives I see in him, but when it is appropriate to let those positives out in class. Since this conversation on Tuesday, said student has not acted out during instruction and has demonstrated fun yet appropriate behavior. To hopes to reinforce the good behavior, I have been giving him verbal praise and picked him as a player in the instant activity for demonstrating responsible behavior (hand raised without overexcitement.)

            On the converse end, this week I had to send my first student to the office after witnessing him body slam another student to the tile floor with a wrestling takedown, knocking the fellow students head against the floor, and breaking the pedometer the student was wear as he crashed onto his back. This was the scariest moment of my student teaching experience to date. The room echoed as the head hit the floor and I was worried the student was either knocked out or had a laceration. Luckily, neither happened, however, the student did have to go to the nurse. The student admitted it was an accident and he did not mean to take him down, which was true as the student was remorseful, and it was obvious the move was not committed in malice, however, due to the severity of the move and its result, I had no choice to send him down. Thankfully, the cooperating teacher called the student’s parent. The student ended up with a 1-day in-school suspension.

            This week, after last week’s guest speaker in seminar, I spent more time connecting with the students, talking about interests outside of school including video games and technology during closure and while walking around during the activities. By doing something so simple as relating to the students, the students have been showing more interest in the lessons. Specifically, my first-period class students have seemed to be having more fun in class and are more engaged in out closures and reflections. The students are beginning to express their emotions more, which has given me the opportunity to learn more about them, which I have been able to base my teaching style to that class on.

            In the week ahead, I hope to continue breaking my stern shell and expressing myself with my students. I am enjoying the connection I am feeling with them and am feeling appreciative of the respect as a teacher they are beginning to express. Less whistle blows, and redirections have been drastic this week, and I hope to continue this process. This is something I have not done before but will continue to keep in mind in the week ahead.

            Regarding Standard 5 – Learning Environment, I set color coordinated jump rope areas around the gymnasium, with poly-spots designating where students should stand to promote safety and allow the greater success of learning objectives in less time by ensuring students are properly separated.

            Regarding Standard 6 – Instructional Delivery, getting to know the students has allowed me to cater to their needs in the classroom better, which has led to a greater sense of respect by the students. As a result, they are listening better, which is resulting in a great assessment of knowledge retainment per class, because the classroom has a great inclusive feeling.

            My goals for this next week are to include short jump rope into the unit, instruct my pre-test for my edTPA, continue recording, and settle upon a recorded lesson for the edTPA, and begin outlining my tasks 1 and 2 of my edTPA.