Matt Arentz K395A Practicum Experience

12/8/13

I was assigned to Kindergarten and second grade classes at Easterly Parkway Elementary School for my Kines395A practicum experience. To date, this has been one of the most beneficial experiences of my teacher candidacy. The gymnasium at Easterly is more than sufficient to deliver quality physical education lessons to students, with each having enough space and equipment to have multiple practice opportunities for a wide range of lessons and skill sets. All faculty that I had the opportunity to interact with were very welcoming and helpful, inviting me to observe in-service meetings, partake in a faculty pot-luck, and discuss various teaching methods and philosophies. My cooperating teacher was also very helpful throughout my practicum experience. He created a friendly and opportunistic learning environment, giving me many chances to create, deliver, and reflect on teaching opportunities including two lessons where I was the only active teacher in the gymnasium. The Kindergarten and second grade students I worked with also provided me with many good memories, experiences, and opportunities to reflect on my teaching. I was able to get to know each student over the course of three months by going into the school weekly for two hours at a time. By observing and helping to teach lessons ranging from balance and locomotor activities, to throwing and catching, to an obstacle course known as the Whittle Set, students helped provide many chances to observe different attitudes, engagement levels, and general levels of skill proficiency. The students in each of my classes were incredibly well behaved and motivated, and were a true joy to work with during the semester.

The two lessons I individually taught were gymnastics to second grade and parachute activities to Kindergarten. I have had recent experience coaching gymnastics, so I was very excited and pleased with the delivery of my gymnastics lesson titled, Ninja Gymnastics, where I related skills and activities to modified martial arts and ninja skills. Students really enjoyed this lesson as well as the various ways I was able to challenge them and help them to succeed individually. The Kindergarten parachute lesson also went well. I used creativity to present them with stories in which they used basic locomotor movements and worked on muscular strength and endurance. The variance of my activities and adventure stories helped peak student interest and keep all students engaged for the entire lesson. As with any and all teaching experiences, it is very important to reflect and adapt lessons and ideas to improve the content and overall experience of the students. As stated, this course provided numerous opportunities to reflect on my own teaching. I am happy to have had the chance to do this and revise the lessons and ideas I had coming into Easterly Parkway. I am excited and looking forward to drawing from these experiences in the future.