Nathan Rhea

11/19/16
Tiger Pride
James Wyant
Reflection Journal Week 7
1. Overview
Our lesson today consisted of 16 3rd grade students out at Cleveland Elementary.
Our focus was on Creative Movement/Dance and our equipment was 8 cones,
16 poly spots, a music player, and an ipod.
2. Student Learning Outcomes
A. The student learning outcomes for this lesson were to be able to recite the
various dance steps for the Cha Cha Slide with 100% accuracy and to
perform the dance moves on beat with 80% accuracy. Also, the health-related
fitness goal for the class was 50% MVPA.
B. For the first time I believe all three goals for this lesson were met. While the
Cha Cha Slide was not a challenging dance to learn, it was surprising to see
every student pick up the movements so quickly and have close to no
problems with their bodily awareness as they went through the dance.
Students could also easily recall the moves during and after the lesson.
Students were also on beat for the majority of the time music played as well,
which was a big success. MVPA was also above 50% which is great because
the quality of movement was better than previous times that that mark has
been reached.
C. This weeks lessons provided students with the opportunity to express
themselves and be creative with how they move in the learning environment.

While there were certain skills that were being showcased and movement
patterns being addressed, the focus of these lessons was on students
showing their creative expression through music, dance, and creative
movement patterns. I thought it was a great success.
3. Creating a Quality Learning Environment
A. I used direct instruction for the majority of the lesson this week so I could
ensure that the students had someone to watch and follow as the dance
progressed. Something I did incorporate the last third of the dance though
were student leaders who would come up and lead the dance with me so that
students had the opportunity to follow each other rather than just watch me
dance. I thought it gave certain students a great opportunity to showcase their
abilities and help others as well.
B. The MVPA for Mondays lesson was over 50% and for the first time thats
happened it seemed that the majority of the class was moving together for the
lesson and doing so in a productive way. Students did a great job with the
dance and stay involved despite the repetitiveness of the dance. I thought
students did a great job of staying focused and having fun within the confines
of the lesson, which was awesome to see.
C. I felt Monday was a great opportunity for students to develop skills such as
body awareness, rhythm, and various movement patterns such as sliding,
stepping, spinning, etc. All of this was done while expressing themselves
creatively and enjoying the company of their classmates and dancing. I
definitely could have chosen a more challenging dance, but Im still happy
with the success of the lesson.
D. I thought students did a great job of staying engaged and active in the lesson.
I didnt plan on giving students a water break but they earned it with their

effort in the first half of the lesson. The heat was also a factor that contributed
to that. The water break was quicker than usual too because students were
excited to get back to dancing. David and Jose werent as engaged as
everyone else the first half and I should have stayed on them more, but I got
them involved as student leaders in the second half.
4. Strengths and Weaknesses
A. The biggest strength of Mondays lesson was the MVPA and the engagement
of the students. Almost everyone was genuinely excited to dance and it was
great to have so much enthusiasm from the students because it made what
can be a nerve wracking subject to teach a lot easier.
B. The COTS for this lesson were the moves being used during the Cha Cha
Slide, and they were used repeatedly because the song says the moves each
time. I went over the moves prior to the music as well to ensure that students
knew what they were.
C. Instructions were efficient I felt. I could have been more prepared as to how I
would address why dancing is important and how those skills translate to
everyday life. The dance was very simple though so it didnt require a manual
on how to do it. Participation was key for this lesson and we got that.
D. Most of the feedback given during the lesson was positive encouragement
when some students would lose engagement (David and Jose). The dance
was self-explanatory so not much corrective feedback needed to be given.
E. We went through a fairly extensive demonstration of each move prior to
dancing to the music. I had students follow along and repeat them without the
music. Then when the music started I danced with them so they had
someone to model while they danced.

F. There wasnt much equipment this week due to the nature of the activities.
Most of the time was spent on their poly spot and dancing, so spacing was
important.
G. Behavior was only really a problem during the instant activity. David and Jose
were having trouble staying focused and not messing around, but I stayed on
them and kept them in line which I thought was a positive. During the actual
dance there was very little disruptive behavior. Jose and David would stop
dancing but I wouldnt call it disruptive.
H. I felt like I had a good level of enthusiasm for this lesson. I think I could have
been even more enthusiastic, but I was honestly surprised at how well it was
going and how engaged they were.
I. The one thing I would definitely have changed was once I chose student
leaders I would have stopped dancing with them and let the students lead by
themselves. I could have walked around the group more and provided more
motivation and encouragement and let the students have more ownership as
well.
5. Recommendations
A. For next week Im going to continue to hammer down on management and try
and really clean that part of my lesson up as much as possible. Im also going
to keep trying to increase my enthusiasm.
B. Next week I am considering doing another dance again, but Im not sure yet.