Jordan Hersom PHED 239 Module 4: High School Site Observation/Teaching Assisting Assignment

Due one day after the observation

Directions: Read and become familiar with the questions below BEFORE the observation. Submit answers to the questions on a separate sheet (wordprocessed/double-spaced). Points will be deducted for grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes. Total = 30 pts. Include the following general background information: Name of high school: Agawam High School Name of cooperating teacher(s): Jamie Podworski, and Mary Murray Grade level of students: 9th-12th Number of students in class observed: About forty between the two classes (twenty students per class). Description of facilities & equipment available at school:They have a big gymnasium, a small gymnasium, and a very nice weight room facility. The big gymnasium is used for bigger activities (example: volleyball), the smaller gymnasium is used for smaller activities (example: table tennis), and the weight room is used for lifting weights and other various fitness exercises. Questions: 1. Describe how students interacted with each other, teachers, and/or administrators. Today was the first day of class for the students with these new units. All of the students must have their height and weight recorded and the freshmen need to get checked for scoliosis. These tests need to be done by the end of the week so that the students can participate in physical education class. The teachers did not do a lot of interacting with the students. As our module class was looking at the facilities I believe the teachers went over expectations and how the rest of the week is going to be with their students. The students sat in the bleachers the entire class and talked amongst themselves for the majority of the class period. We were only at the school for C period today. A different setup or instructions could have taken place in the D period.

2. What characteristics of a high school student did you witness? Give examples. High school students are young adults. In the previous two modules I have taken, the students were younger and were not as developed. These high school students have a longer attention span and many of them may be advanced in some skills. These students can also take on more responsibility because they should be more mature than middle school and elementary students. With all of this being said, every lesson plan needs to be developmentally appropriate for this age level. Challenging all students in the class is a goal of mine. Although some students will be at different ability levels, each lesson should provide each student to improve their overall fitness. 3. What rules, routines, and management techniques are used by your cooperating teacher(s)? When talking to my cooperating teacher, he said the students know what is expected of them from the beginning of the class up until the bell. All of the students are expected to enter the gymnasium and head to the locker rooms to get changed for class. There is a specific attendance routine the students need to follow every single class. Each student has a card that keeps track of their attendance and if they are properly dressed. This way the teachers are organized and can keep track of all of the students. At the high school level another big task is equipment pickup at the end of every lesson. Students need to help put away all of the equipment because the teachers are expected to be on locker room duty. These are some routines and management techniques used by Mr. Podworski every single class. 4. What units are the students participating in during this time of year? How do the

teachers determine what units the students will be involved in? How long are the units? The students at Agawam just signed up for the activities they are going to be participating in for the next few weeks. These units only last four to five weeks. The students in Mr. Podworskis class will be participating in table tennis, fitness, and eventually volleyball. This classes are set-up to give the students the opportunity to be successful. All of these activities take place inside. This is a good example of organization by the teacher because he is taking the environment into consideration when deciding on the activities the class is going to do. 5. Any discipline issues? If so, how were they handled? What is the teachers discipline policy? My cooperating teacher did not cover disciplinary issues. Students are expected to be on their best behavior. The teachers did say that most of the students are always attentive and do not get off-task because they want to be there. This is one of the advantages of having the students pick the activities they want to be apart of in physical education. If this means that the students are going to want to be physically active for the entire class then this strategy has a lot of benefits for the overall health of the students. I would imagine that if a student or multiple students are acting up then they could be asked to sit out if necessary. The biggest thing for me is to be confident in my teaching abilities. If I am able to do this, the chances of students acting up and trying to take advantage of me may go down. 6. What are the average class sizes? How are classes divided (i.e. by grade level, skill level, etc)? The average class size depends on the actual activity. For example, I am

teaching table tennis. Since there are only four or five tables, the class size can be no more than twenty students (for five tables). If there is only four tables, I will be teaching sixteen students. Table tennis can consist of students from different grade levels. This class could have anywheres from freshmen to seniors in it. Choice is a big part of Agawams program. The students decide the activities they want to participate in and sign up for that activity. 7. What is/are your biggest concern(s) about teaching at the high school level? I do not have any experience teaching high school students. Every since I have gone out to schools in the physical education and health education program I have always been with younger students. Teaching students that are around my age is definitely going to be a big change. However, if I treat them like young adults they should respect me as a teacher. My biggest fear is to be too elementary in my teaching habits. These students can be up to seventeen and eighteen years old. Giving some responsibility to them will create engagement and a positive learning environment. 8. What are you most looking forward to in regards to teaching at the high school level? I really enjoyed high school physical education. My dream is to coach high school sports and be a physical education or health teacher. Being able to bring of all of the positives of physical education into a high school class should be beneficial for all of the students at Agawam. I love working with people. Having this close of an age difference between a pre-service teacher and the students will make it easier to interact and be on the same page for an entire lesson. I am very excited to teach high school students and help make their physical education experience a lifelong one.