Nathan Rhea

11/13/16
Tiger Pride
James Wyant
Reflection Journal Week 6
1. Overview
Our lesson today consisted of 16 3rd grade students out at Cleveland Elementary.
Our focus was on Soccer skills including dribbling and striking a soccer ball. We
used up to 50 cones, 8 soccer gates, 16 soccer balls, and 16 poly spots.
2. Student Learning Outcomes
A. The student learning outcomes for this lesson were to be able to recite the
cots for soccer dribbling with 100% accuracy as well as for striking a soccer
ball. Students also were to be able to perform the proper cots for striking a
soccer ball during soccer golf for each hole. Also, the health-related fitness
goal for the class was 50% MVPA.
B. It seemed that the cognitive goals of the lesson were met for the skills at
hand. Soccer dribbling especially, students had a great grasp on the COTS
and could explain them easily to me when I asked them to define them.
Soccer striking wasnt quite as good, but they had a general idea. Students
performed much better on soccer dribbling than striking, but the activities
when we practiced dribbling isolated the skill more and had less external
factors involved. I believe 50% MVPA was met for both lessons, or was very
close to being met which was a big positive.
C. I felt that both lessons this week provided ample opportunities for students to
progress their skills. Mondays lesson had a linear progression from skill

introduction to a competitive environment where they raced while dribbling. I

thought that Wednesdays lesson provided a chance for students to not only
show their accuracy but also their ability to handle a more lenient learning
environment. I felt despite some management flaws on my part students did a
decent job on Wednesday of staying focused and engaged in the learning
environment while having more freedom.
3. Creating a Quality Learning Environment
A. This week I used a direct instruction approach and I thought the results were
more positive than previous lessons. Monday had a skill progression with
dribbling where they were introduced to the concept during the instant activity,
had time to practice the skill during task one, and then engaged in a semicompetitive environment by completing a relay race while dribbling.
Wednesday had more difficult directions and more freedom for the students
with soccer golf which I thought was a bit of a stretch but also had some
positives come out of it. It was difficult for me to give quality feedback without
turning my back on somebody and the activity getting chaotic.
B. The MVPA for both lessons was close to 50%, and I believe Wednesdays
lesson was over 50% which is great news. I thought Monday was a stronger
lesson though because the activity was more structured and the progressions
between the activities was better. Soccer golf, while fun, was a bit ambitious
and required more management than I committed to. I was active in the
learning environment, but I dont think it was quite age appropriate.
C. I thought Monday was a great opportunity for skill development. I think
Wednesday had potential but I needed to improve the management in order
to ensure that students understood the activity. I need to find a way to clean

up the transitions and the management so I can give more effective

instruction to further develop skills.
D. I thought that Monday students were very active and engaged for a lot of the
class. Students rarely were off task and when they were I was able to reel
them back in. Wednesday was more challenging. While MVPA was high I
dont think students understood exactly what was going on at all times. I need
to find a way to lock in the management issues so that I dont run into those
problems again.
4. Strengths and Weaknesses
A. The biggest strength of Mondays lesson was the structure of the activity and
the progression of the skill. I thought students did an excellent job with the
activities and were very engaged. Wednesdays lesson had a lot of creativity
and it challenged me to be more active, which I was based on the movement
chart I was given. The biggest challenge with this class is cleaning up the
management.
B. The COTS were provided for Mondays lesson and reinforced continuously
throughout activity. Wednesdays lesson I would have liked to reinforced the
COTS for striking more but I couldnt have my back turned too long or things
would get out of hand.
C. Instructions were very efficient on Monday as the activities were not that hard
to grasp in my opinion. They were basic but complex and challenging enough
where students felt pushed. Wednesday was not as efficient as I did a poor
job of controlling the students prior to the days activity. I need to demand
more from my students and be tougher when it comes to management.
D. I gave a lot of corrective feedback for skills on Mondays lesson as the
activities lent themselves more towards that kind of feedback. A lot of times it

had to do with students dribbling the ball with softer feet. Wednesdays lesson
was more managerial feedback such as trying to keep students on task,
explaining the activity, or prompting students in the right direction. I thought
my movement during Wednesdays lesson and my communication with them
during activity was solid, I just need to work on the before and after.
E. I gave demonstrations for all of the activities for Mondays lesson and
students responded well to all of them. I should have provided more thorough
demonstrations for Wednesdays lesson, but a lack of time management on
my part as well as a lack of control made this difficult.
F. There was a lot of equipment this week, especially Wednesday, which had
over 50 cones in the environment. I thought it provided a lot of structure to the
environment which was definitely a positive and students did a better job of
leaving the equipment alone.
G. There was much less disruptive behavior as a whole this week than last
week. I felt I did a better job of maintaining the environment and keeping
students on task. Specifically David made huge strides this week and
performed very well. He really enjoys soccer and was focused the entire time.
I need to improve the behavior during the set induction and closure though.
H. I thought I was much more enthusiastic this week than previously. I felt this
created a much better energy in the class and students responded well to it. I
need to use this energy to improve my set induction and closure.
I. I think the biggest thing to fix with instruction is to keep things organized while
it is being given. The energy was better but I need to be more firm with the
organization of the class.
5. Recommendations

A. For next week Im going to try and be more firm during the set induction and
closure about class organization and try and clean up the management. I
think its vital that I change these bad habits as soon as possible.
B. Next week I am going to work on creative expression and dance with the kids.