Preventing behavior problems Rules – did you cover everything? Consequences – did you ever talk to the student? Include the parents? Communicating rules – have principal agree to your rules and consequences Letters home – start with positive and state your overview of the program

Block Scheduling How will you divide your time? What are different methods of teaching?

Direct teaching: –Most teachers use this –You explain and demonstrate a skill and everyone practices the same skill at the same time and they same way and the teacher gives feedback –Saves instructional time and is good when the material can be learned in a strictly sequential, progressive manner. –Does NOT help with skills requiring higher-order thinking & unstructured organization.

Teaching styles The following styles are on a continuum from the command style, for which the teacher makes all of the decisions to the self-teaching style where the students make nearly all of the decisions EVERY style has a place depending on the situation (time and environment), students, teachers, and content

1. Command Style Teacher makes all the decisions. Teacher gives step by step instructions All students perform the same task at the same time Often appropriate for the initial learning stages, especially where safety is a concern Also appropriate when instructional time is limited or student behavior dictates a highly structured class routine

2. Practice Style Most commonly used style in PE Teacher determines what is taught, introduces the skills and tasks through demonstration or the use of task cards. Student determine the number of practice trials and often the order in which they will practice the skills Teacher circulates throughout the class giving feedback and answering questions Good for initial state of learning and when you don’t have a lot of instructional time. Better than command, because students have more time to practice skills and have more responsibility for their learning

3. Reciprocal Students give each other feedback Teacher determines the task they practice and identify crucial features for them Before this, you check for understanding by providing a number of demonstrations that include common errors, asking students to identify the errors and you give appropriate feedback Students work in pairs and the observer gives the doer feedback – a check list or criteria sheet helps Teacher communicates only with the observer Helps with social skills Limit to review of previously learned information

4. Self- Check Teacher determines the task the student will practice and identify the critical features. The feedback comes from the student Should be skills where they can clearly see results. Helps them become more self-reliant, but does limit interactions with others – not really appropriate for middle schoolers

5. Inclusion Teacher determines the task and its critical features, but you also give the students a choice of performance levels for the task from which they may select the level of practice that they think is right for them. May change size and weight of an object; size; distance, and height of a target; body position, etc. It is the students’ responsibility to determine when they are ready to move to a more difficult performance level

6. Guided Discovery Teacher determines the task and then arranges a sequence of problems or questions that, when solved by the students, leads to the one correct response. Students must give a verbal or motor response to each prompt Must give the students enough time to think through each question or problem May need to adjust prompts if all or most of students respond incorrectly Your goal is to logically guide students Takes time, BUT students will learn material

7. Convergent Discovery Student goes though the discovery process without any clues from you Should master guided discovery first Must select activities through which the students are able to discover the correct answer.

8. Divergent Production A problem-solving style You select a task and design a problem that can be solved in a variety of ways. Then ask students to find solutions and evaluate the effectiveness of each. Improve motor skills by showing students many different ways to accomplish tasks Best for learning tasks similar to tasks students have already mastered. Great at developing social skills

9. Individual Program-Learner’s Design Teacher chooses the general subject material, but you allow the learner to choose the specific question and determine possible solutions. We don’t use this much yet – but with more emphasis on individualized learning, we will

10. Learner Initiated Learner initiates the style for themselves. The student approaches you and states their desire to initiate and conduct learning activities. We don’t use this much, yet

11. Self-teaching Exact opposite of command style Doesn’t exist in the classroom, but it does in real life. Encourages students to pursue their own educational interests, based on their own capabilities and needs both outside the school setting and when possible within the school setting.