Freshmen P.E. Reflection

By Anthony Furman

Anthony wrote a lesson reflection a few months ago.  He again is reflecting as he tries to build a student-centered physical education course that is responsive to the diverse needs of each student.

What do you hope to do for the next time? 

I will be looking to see that we are practicing our “Building a Culture to be Proud Of” statements. That will come from teacher to student as well as student to student.  Exercises learned will be practiced and then given was to be made more challenging.  Ideally, we begin to build an atmosphere where class expectations are maintained by all students and we continue to build on the program focuses set each week.

What aspects of your hopes came true? 

I do believe we are making progress in our practice and work each day.  Whether it be in the weight room or in other areas we continue to talk about the importance of taking pride in how one accomplishes a task and then attempt to practice that skill during class.  The form is getting better and kids are starting to understand the process of making things challenging in order to see results.  We continue to stress the importance of being prepared and then having high expectations for our effort.  I have noticed several students beginning to challenge their own classmates to improve, try or something simple like listen. 

What did learning look like in this lesson?

As we move further into the second quarter we continue to challenge our students to learn the value of completing work in a way that they will genuinely see the benefits of their efforts.  Within our lifting segment we are looking for students to continually work on the form and understanding of how to complete lifts, and as they continue to get better at that process begin to add more resistance that will create an environment of forced or quality sets of work. 

We continually drive the conversation for the need to do things a certain way to see the benefits.  As different students progress and improve at different rates, we challenge some to take on roles of leadership and example in class, their groups and within different activities.

The focus of today was to complete 4 sets of squats, 4 sets of jumps on the plyo box, 4 sets of quality spotting of their partners and then introduce a self/peer assessment activity they will complete in the near future.  This assessment involves two components.  A “BUY-IN” component in assessing your level of work and then a “preparation” component that assesses how you come to class each day.  The combination of these two represents what the student brings to class each day.  The goal of this assessment is to truly look at how you utilize your time in class and recognize the need for improvement, maintenance or the ability to help others succeed.   It is important to remember that where you fall on the two-part assessment represents what we need to work on for success in the future.