btaylor6-blog1

[btaylor6-blog1]

Primary School Event: By myself (26.01.2018)

After 3 days at work placement, the following day, I was running a primary school event based on fundamentals (ABC’s - Agility, Balance and Co-ordination). The event saw, 200 school children take part. We had previously ran this event before Christmas and it was a big success. However, this time it was different. 

The person who was meant to help run the event, never turned up and I was left to produce this event single handed. I was very annoyed at the absent member of staff, however, I did not allow my displeasure affect the event. 

After setting every station up and briefing both the leaders and instructors of the event, we were set to go. After getting the event started, the schools were sent on their way through the various stations, which focused on their ABC’s. After observing the stations, ensuring they were running correctly, I ventured outside to see how the stations outside were going. It was to my amazement that 1 of the 4 groups had finished after 2 minutes, despite the station lasting at least 5 minutes. It was clear that the teacher who was escorting the group was displeased as the group had been moved on and was waiting for another group to finish. 

I took it upon myself to move the group back to the station they should still be on and get them moving again, I had to improvise and the children enjoyed my quick thinking. I instructed the instructor to do what I had done as an extra part of the station. However, once it was time to switch station, it was clear that my instructions did not transmit to the instructor. I stepped in again and did the extra activity again. After I had instructed the group, I took the instructor aside and asked why he did not do the extra activity. His reply, I forgot what to do. At this point my patience was running thin. I decided to give him one more chance, I went back inside. 10 minutes later, I was approached by a member of staff, who wanted to complain about an instructor. I knew straight away who they were complaining about. I took it upon myself to swap a leader for the instructor as it was clear they did not want to be a part of the event and follow instructions. The person who took over, actually showed some creativity and expanded the station and I was very pleased with the change I made.

From here on in, the even ran smoothly. I was very displeased with a member of staff who was meant to be helping run the event. They were far from helpful and stood around talking for the whole event. In total, the member of staff carried 4 matts. That was it. Despite their limited involvement, at the end of the event, after I had put everything away, they decided to praise myself positively. Which, probably due to low energy levels and a high level of annoyance, I disregarded. I was also, very disappointed in the lady who “organised the event” who failed to thank me and point out that I, created, organised and ran this event on my own. I was not recognised for any involvement and this really made me consider whether I would actually do this event again. 

Overall, the event as a whole, was successful, however, when the next event is run, the staffing choices need to be considered carefully. 

[btaylor6-blog1]

Week 8: A 3 Day Work Week With a Poor Cover Teacher (22-25.01.2018)

This week, 3 members of staff were on a school trip, so I offered my help for an extra 2 days, which the head of PE, commended my commitment and also said “a massive thank you for your help this week. You made what could have been a difficult week much easier”. I was pleased that the head of PE, recognised that I gave up my free time to ensure that the PE department did not struggle throughout the week. Now to the events of the week.

As a whole, I thought the week was a success despite a lot of spontaneity. The school, acquired a cover teacher who, decided to deviate away from cover plans. I was placed with this cover teacher on the first day to “make sure he was okay”. At the start of the lesson, I was pleased to see, the cover teacher use a warm that is not a lap of the astro-turf. Students were smiling. Despite this, the warm up lasted for 25 minutes and students then began to complain, even more so when it began to rain.

It was clear that his behaviour management strategies were not working. The use of “fingers on lips” was constant throughout the lesson and I was confused to why he used this strategy. At the first attempt, the students laughed and did not follow his instructions, this resulted in the cover teacher raising his voice. He implemented the “fingers on lips” strategy for the remained of the lesson.   

Students were brought inside, because of the rain. However, the control of the lesson had gone, which led to students doing fitness. However, as students began to get bored, the cover improvised and decided to do games, in a very small space. I stepped in and stated that it was dangerous to do the games they wanted to do in such a small space. However, I was told in a slightly aggressive manner that “he will do the games he wants, where he wants”. I was perplexed by the phrase that left his mouth. Utterly shocked. This really set the tone for the rest of the week. 

The next day:

Wednesday was a short day, as only four lessons were timetabled. I found the practical lesson in the morning, consisting of me observing the cover teacher from the previous day. However, I was asked to step in an help out in another lesson, where I was more proactive. In the last timetabled lesson of the day, I was asked to TA a lesson which was being covered by a behaviour management member. I had seen and interacted with this member of staff previously but never had the opportunity to see him take a lesson before. I was astonished to learn his behaviour management strategy. The teacher reinforced behaviour through sweets. I was sceptical to whether this would work and I soon had my answer. After handing out a handful of sweets, students behaviour was positive and the lesson was full of learning. 

I found that this technique works quiet well, however, it only works in theoretical lessons. After the lesson, I actually thought about if I would ever do this, in the future. My answer was both yes and no. Mainly, no because I had only seen this work with one, mature class. I would need to experience more lessons like this one to have a further understanding of it’s effectiveness. 

The third and final day: 

The third day, the day I am normally in, was quiet a surprise. The lesson I am normally involved in was covered, however, I was asked to cover a lesson in which the teacher had to leave because of illness. I was not given a lesson plan or notice of this change, which led to me being in a pressured situation as I was being counted on to deliver a lesson on the spot with out any notice or planning. However, as any tutor or teacher knows, I thrive in pressure situations. After finding out from the students that they had been doing handball for the last two weeks, my spontaneity kicked in and in a matter of moments I had a lesson plan. 

The group was relatively small and predominately made up of netball players, so I focused on passing and defending, using the netballers experience and knowledge to the advantage of those who struggle with passing and defending. After going through several drills, I was confident enough to put the students in a game. Which they enjoyed! Throughout the game, communication from myself and students was very positive and behaviour problems were minimum. During the game, one of the students said that the group had not actually played a handball game before. After hearing this, I stepped in and asked if this was true, the whole game said that they had not. I took the decision of sitting the students down and explaining the rules of the game before allowing the game to continue. From here, the students continued to get on to the game and continued to enjoy it. I decided to progress the game by adding challenges for the players to complete. For instance, a team had to complete a certain number of passes before being able shoot. 

After the lesson, the students thanked me for stepping in and stated that they wish they had me as their teacher. This statement brought a smile to my face. I have never had a comment like this and it was really pleasing to hear this. It was at that moment that a phrase which one of the teachers said to me on my first week came to mind. “PE teachers have a big influence on students and sometimes you will not realise that”. From this lesson, I had my first realisation that teachers have such a big impact on students. 

I also realised that from this situation that it is the littlest things in life that give you the most satisfaction. After the students positive comments, I knew that no matter what happened for the rest of the day, the comments would be the highlight for me.

[btaylor6-blog1]

Week 7: The nightmare before Christmas (21.12.2017)

This week was the last week of term. As a treat all PE lessons were based around fun and enjoyment. The staff called it a tradition, that they do both dodge ball and football across the practical lessons. 

Both year 9 class were full of enjoyment and both staff and students enjoyed the lessons. In the Year 10 class is were students decided to ruin the day. 

The Year 10 class started off well, students and staff were elated but that all changed after 20 minutes. Students had one game of dodge ball before behaviour escalated. One student, threw a dodge ball in the direction of the teachers, who were stood on the sideline. Whether it was deliberate or not what was to come was an unpleasant site. 

The situation became serious very quickly, the game stopped, students were sat down and the sports hall soon became silent. The action of a single student lead to the entire group being punished. Personally, I had never felt so awkward in my entire life but on the other hand, I have never felt so ashamed of a group students. 

The teacher address the students in a calm manner to begin with, whoever, when students decided to talk, the tone of voice changed and it became a very authoritative speech. Some students were removed from the sports hall due to very disruptive behaviour. All students were then removed from the sports hall and taken into the cafeteria where, as a punishment for their behaviour, they had to copy the GCSE PE revision guide. During the transfer of students, a student shoulder barged a teacher in a aggressive manner, in which he was removed from the lesson for the remainder. I felt appalled by the student and questioned his intentions of why he would doing something so cynical. 

During the time in which students were copying out of a revision guide, the disruption levels continued to rise, which forced the head of behaviour management to get involved. He started addressing the students in an aggressive manner in which lead to another removal of a student who continued to talk and disrespect the head of behaviour management. 

After the stern warning from the head of behaviour management, the students finally settled down and got on with their punishment. After a while, it was decided that students had earned the right to start playing sports again. In was decided that students would head outside and have a game of football. Despite their many telling offs, students behaviour soon became an issue, again!

A student who had been told off before decided that it would okay for him dangerously tackle a fellow student. Their childish behaviour was meet by an immature response from the students, which angered myself and I verbally removed him from the remainder of the lesson. Despite their desire to play football, it is clear that students don’t deserve to partake in football. Do I see their choice of playing football being removed anytime soon. No. 

Will it ever be removed? One more behaviour incident and I believe it will. 

After this incident, a period of self doubt about my future career crossed my mind. I questioned whether I wanted to have to experience behaviour such as this for 30+ years. I questioned whether mentally I could handle behaviour such as this, 5 days a week for 40+ weeks a year. After much deliberation, gathering the thoughts of the teachers present, I realised that this is my future career. From this experience, I realised that I will encounter behaviour problems, daily and with experience I will learn which strategies work well and which do not when dealing with behaviour problems. I also realised that despite having a relatively strong mental resilience, I will need to become even more resilient and tolerant to student behaviour. 

Becoming a teacher has been my dream since Year 8 and this experience has made me realise how much I want to progress and gain my teaching qualifications. This experience has only motivated me more to become a teacher.

[btaylor6-blog1]

Week 6: A sudden change due to staff absence. 14.12.2017

This week involved me thinking on my feet. Due to the GCSE PE teacher being ill, the teacher I was with had to cover that lesson. This meant I had to change my lesson plan. Having prepared for a handball dribbling session, I quickly switched the session to badminton, where I joined my group with the girl group. Having 16 in the group, made joining the groups together easier as the girls group only had 16 as well. Myself and the supporting member of staff decided that we should split the courts in half and play 4 singles games across 2 courts. This meant it was easier to change round when games had finished. Both sets of students enjoyed the lesson and behaved well for most of the lesson. There were one or two incidents were my group were miss-behaving however, after speaking with the students miss-behaving, they re-focused and continued playing badminton. Overall, despite the quick change in lesson plan, I believe the lesson went really.   

In the year 9 GCSE lesson I lead the practical side of the lesson. In the first half of the lesson ,students were learning about heart rate and the ideal zones to be working in when taking part in physical activity. in the practical lesson, students took part in handball, which they would be being marked on for their practical assessment. Students wasted part of the lesson as they took awhile to get ready. More time was wasted as, the heart rate monitors were not working correctly and therefore only one person was wearing a heart rate monitor. This meant there were limited time for games to be played. Despite the limited time, students got on with the task with little disruption. I believe this was a nice little change for the students as being in the classroom for 2 hours straight without a break seems to affect their work ethic. Doing a half and half lesson seems to give them a small break and allow them to refocus on the lesson. I have suggested that this happens more often as it also gives the teacher a break. 

This week the year 10 lesson was a lot better. This was mostly down to half the group not being present. Students got on with the lesson and behaved quiet well. However, one of the ever present miss-behaving students started to miss-behave towards the end of the lesson, he was sent away from the lesson until his mentality and attitude changed. He refused to apologise for his behaviour and next week he’ll be spending his P.E. lesson in student support. 

Throughout my time at work placement, many strategies have been used to try and contain the students behaviour. Strategies such as:

1. Physical punishment (laps of the astro-turf)

2. Sent away from the lesson until they have calmed down

3. Being sent to the student support centre

4. Behaviour management called to talk to the student, which did not work

5. Captain of a team, which lead to the student refusing to partake

6. After school detention - which they failed to attend

These strategies do work, however, with this student only 1 strategy worked. Despite this strategy working, behaviour management refused for him to be in student support for more than two weeks. I believe that the other strategies did not work, due to the students attitude and the influence of their peers. It is clear that the student is causing problems for attention purposes and once he gets the attention of his peers, the students goes out his way to make the lesson about their-self. My hope is that, this student matures and realises that his behaviour is causing the rest of students to miss out on doing sporting activity. 

[btaylor6-blog1]

Week 5: My first marking experience with a hint of cheating. 30.11.2017

This week is the year 9′s last week on hockey and I have never seen a class so happy to not be doing hockey anymore. For the last 3 weeks, (refer to week 6 why students did not do hockey that week) we have covered the basics and essentials of hockey, including, stick positions, how to pass and shoot, and defending. Since the first week I had my suspicions, whether the group adjust to hockey and whether they would enjoy it, however, I have seen a major improvement in their hockey ability and some of them look able to play for the school hockey team. As their teacher, this makes me feel overjoyed, as they have proved that the can work well in cold conditions and still listen and learn in these conditions. Next week they move onto handball, my prediction is that at least 3 students kick the handballs, therefore I must make it clear that the handballs are not meant for kicking.   

This week became a first for me. The year 9 GCSE class, had an end of unit test on Sports Participation (Unit 3). After, the lesson, I was asked if I wanted to mark half of the exams papers, in jubilation, I accepted. I had high hopes for results, expecting 90% of the class to achieve their minimum grade or exceed their target. Over the weekend, I sat down to mark them and suddenly realised that when it came to marking against the mark scheme, some of the answers given were not on the mark scheme. This left me confused as I did not know if the marks should be allocated, to ensure that I don’t mark the questions incorrectly, I have sticky noted the questions that are debatable. When reading one of the students 9 mark questions their answer equated to 1 mark, however, when I began to read the next 9 mark question written by a different student, I found that the opening paragraph was exactly the same as the question I had just marked. From this I will have to delegate with the teacher on what will happen next, as in a actual exam, their paper would be ripped. It is obvious which of the students has copied the work of the person sat next to them and I am extremely disappointed in them as they are a bright student with a lot of potential. 

As far as the papers that I have marked, I am surprised with some of the results and disappointed in some as well. As a teacher, it is frustrating knowing that you have taught a group everything that is on the test paper and they can not transfer that knowledge. I believe some of them will have to resit the test as I fear some of them have not reached their intended grade. 

This weeks year 10 ran smoothly, however, despite the interruption and attitude of 2 individuals, every other student seemed to be enjoying the lesson. We are now at week 8 of constant football and they don’t seem to be bored one bit. As long as the students are partaking in physical activity and every student is engaged and learning, the lesson will be a success. However, the minority of students who believe miss-behaving is the correct way to act in lesson, impacting the students taking part in sport.

[btaylor6-blog1]

Week 4: My first health and safety decision 16.11.2017

The week did not start off well. Despite the rain, students still wanted to go out and do hockey. Having checked the conditions, the weather started to let up and so we began to play hockey, however, after the warm up, the rain came again and did not stop. After an attempt to start the lesson, a lot of standing water began to appear on the pitch, a couple of minutes later a student had slipped and hurt their leg, it was in the best interests of the students and their well-being that we cancelled the lesson and sent everyone inside. The students were not happy about this, however, when a person slips on the astro-turf, the facility must be abandoned and the students have to be sent in. 

As we arrived inside, there were a mass amount of complaining from the students and due to the shortage of space, we were forced to merge all with other groups and conduct a sports quiz, which was students did not enjoy. The groups complained, moaned and disturbed throughout the remainder of the lesson. As far as spontaneous lessons go, we made the most of what was given to us however, i believe student behaviour made the lesson a bad lesson. If this situation arises again, I believe that this experience will benefit me and I would try different if possible. 

As for the year 9 class, the fallout from last weeks substitute nightmare took place. The lesson started with members of the year 9 football team stood outside due to their bad behaviour on the way back from a game. From there, the teacher then addressed the behaviour of the group from last week, the shouting was aimed at the majority of the students however for those who did no wrong, I felt sorry for them as they should not have had to listen to the rant from the teacher. 

After the teacher had finished the classroom was dead silent. From there, students were quiet and hardly interacted with one another. The disruption was minimum and was fairly awkward. By the end of the lesson, I believe they knew what they had done was wrong, I hope that their maturity levels change by next week otherwise, there could be another rant from the teacher. 

Finally this weeks year 10 group were better than last week, however, behaviour problems still occurred throughout the lesson. The students this week fail to understand that if you mess about during lesson time, you will miss out on playing football. Some of the students think that being rude and disrespectful, for that they were sent to do laps of the pitch. This happened throughout the lesson. I believe that this was the final way of punishing those who are miss-behaving. The next step would be to send them to student support where they would be doing additional work. However, sending 8+ students to student support is not an option as that would be inconvenient for the person facilitating the student support centre. I believe taking away football until their behaviour improves would have an impact on them however, it is whether the teacher would listen to my idea and use that idea.  

[btaylor6-blog1]

Week 3: The substitute nightmare 09.11.2017

This is the first week back after half-term. Before half-term the students behaviour in the GCSE class and the Year 10 class had despicable and embarressing. I hoped that some of the behaviour of students would have improved and in some cases they had, in others, they had become worse. 

The Year 9 class in the morning began a new sporting activity this week, hockey, a sport I am all to familiar with. As it was the first week back, the teacher wanted to go over all the “Do’s and Don’t’s” in hockey. I found this to be extremely help as I realised the importance of explaining the health and safety at the start of what could be a dangerous sport. This will be help for future lessons and the future teaching of other sports. I believe this will stay with me throughout my teaching career! 

Throughout the lesson, I observed, set-up and demonstrated with the teacher. Previously, when coaching at a Primary school, I only had limited space to use making lessons cramped and sometimes limited. Whereas, when setting up and teaching at a high school, the space available is sometime limited however, the size of spaces are a lot easier meaning you can set most of your lesson up, in one area. Next week, I will be taking a shooting session, as the teacher got through all the basics, which included passing, in addition to this, the teacher was very impressed with the level of performance the students and it was clear from my perspective that there were certain students who have the ability to represent the school in the near future. 

Now, I never want to criticise a teachers credentials nor their teaching ability, however, from my prospective, the year 9 GCSE class was a catastrophe. At the start of the week, I was informed out the lesson being covered and as a form student I knew that the class would run riot. Throughout the lesson, student’s struggled to maintain their concentration, their behaviour and it was evident that they had learn little. Despite the best efforts of the substitute teacher, he failed to gain control of the class from the outset. At intervals I would step in to help out behaviour wise, to which the behaviour would change for about 10 minutes then they would start again. It felt as though, the students were listening to me rather than the substitute teacher. Towards the end of the lesson, one of the students became rather upset and tearful, it turns out one of the students had been saying some horrible things, which caused the student to break down. This has been noted and passed to the actual teacher of the lesson, the two students will no longer sit together to stop any further conflicts.

In the afternoon, it was the turn of the Year 10 students to cause behavioural problems. The constant swearing, defying the rules and students walking out of the lesson caused the lesson to be interrupted multiple times. Over, half the class were disruptive and rude, leading to students missing out on playing football. The set of students are slowly starting to irritate me as they refuse to follow instructions, understandably they are at that age were their personality is forming and puberty is taking place but that doesn’t give them the right to speak to a member of staff in such a disrespectful manner. After the lesson, parents were phoned and, the students were sanctioned. 

For the students behaviour to change positively, something needs to change. For the Year 9 class, perhaps a change in seating plan, as most of the students seem to chat constantly with the people they are sat with, however, changing the seating plan may only work for a certain amount of time or it might cause more disruption because they do not like who they are sat next to. 

For the Year 10 class, I believe that a break from playing a sport they like every week would impact the groups dynamics. If the sport is changed they will realise that are being punished for their actions. Hopefully that would give them a wake up call, so their behaviour improves.

[btaylor6-blog1]

Week 2: My first full class 12.10.2017

This week involved me teaching the year 9 practical lesson as well as teaching part of the GCSE PE lesson.

When teaching a group of Year 9 students for the first time, the ordinary response would be to be nervous, I on the other hand, was excited, calm and focused. I felt mentally prepared for the session as I had mentally rehearsed the session during the week. (Session plan below)

In my subjective opinion, I believe that my session was a success. The pupils, behaved well and followed instruction. Within the session, I moved around well and predominantly stood in positions which I were able to see everyone at the same time. The session flowed really well as I had set the areas up before the lesson had begun. During the first two drills, I stepped in a 3/4 to implement the coaching points, however from the second drill on wards, I felt in was more appropriate to say it out loud rather than, step in every time. I found this worked very well, as it was evident that they were following the coaching points.

As the session continued, I realised that time was running out and meaning the ‘Alamo’ drill would not have time to be performed. I didn’t feel as though this was a huge issue as the session was heavily based on passing and moving onto a shooting drill could be implemented in the lesson. I felt it was vital to move into a game as they could demonstrate the skills they had learnt in a game situation. 

Overall, I feel as though the lesson went well. However, from an objective view point, my time management skills could be improved. However, I believe that even if you do not get through everything you have planned, the lesson is still successful. Especially within a technical session, its important to understand and perform the techniques correctly before being able to progress.

In the second lesson, my teaching role was limited but vital. The week before I was asked to prepare a starter activity for pupils to complete at the start of the lesson. The starter activity was based around a new topic in the GCSE curriculum.  

As this is newly added content that I have never encountered before, my feelings were nervous but interested. I believe this part was lead well, it was explained well, which I was commended for and most importantly, the students understood and got on with maturely. Upon reflection, I believe the hints at the bottom of the worksheet need altering. This is because, if I was using this worksheet in a different lesson, who’s ability levels are low, the hints would no doubt have to be re-worded. In addition, if I used this same worksheet with another group of students, my teaching style could potentially change. Within the lesson, I adopted an guided discovery style of teaching, whereas, if I was teaching a younger or lower ability group, my style of teaching would change to a more autocratic style to ensure that students understood what they needed to do within the activity.

[btaylor6-blog1]

Week 1: Work Placement 28.09.2017

Thursday marked my first day at my work placement. Despite knowing the school and most of the teachers there, it felt bizarre to be back in a high school environment. I felt that during my first day, I should get a feel for the classes and shadow for the day unless I was asked to take part of the lessons or help students. 

During the first two lessons, nothing notable stood out as the lesson was controlled and productive. However, the first problem occurred during the GCSE PE theory lesson. Three boys, taking it upon themselves to cause disruption throughout the lesson. Despite the boys being so closely grouped together there was no sign of any of the boys being moved. They continued throughout the lesson and were asked to stay behind after the lesson to talk about their behaviour.  

Within this situation I felt irritated because the situation went on for longer than it needed to and the teacher was repeated telling them to stop, this resulted in slowing the lesson down and hindering the other students learning. I believe that is situation is a good experience because it allowed me to see how a teacher would handle the situation. It also allowed me to identify different ways of dealing with the situation, allowing me to perform active experimentation in the future.

I feel that this situation could have been resolved by separating the boys from each other. Further action could of been taking by sending them out after they’d been separated, if they continued to cause disruption. However, sending them out would exclude them from the lesson hindering their own learning. 

If this situation arose again, I would separate the boys to stop disruption. Dependant on if they continued to cause distractions. If they continued to cause disruption whilst they had been separated, the last option would be to send them out for a short period. However, I would try and do this when a task has been set. Therefore, they wouldn’t miss any key knowledge and they could finish the task they missed for homework. If the disruption continued across a number of lessons, I would make a call to the parents or guardians to discuss their behaviour. In hope, that their behaviour would alter (Root, 2018).

The final two lessons of the day, were very productive. The students focus was getting and staying involved in activity. For a set 1 year 10 class, who love football, you’d expect disruption to be minimum. However, that wasn’t the case, as a lot of disruption took place, including enormous amounts of swearing. In this case, I felt disappointed with the group as they had chosen to do football. In future I feel it would be best to give them a chance and if they become disruptive, the session will change and they will do something they do not like. I feel that I need to become more strict with the year 10′s as their attitude is very different from the year 9′s.

Reference:

Root, N. G. (2018). The Effects of Positive and Negative Reinforcement. Retrieved from Chron: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/effects-positive-negative-reinforcement-21099.html

[btaylor6-blog1]

Year 2 Work experience Blog

This blog will now be used to blog my current work experience, within a secondary school. This blog will contain significant events that took place whilst teaching and coaching at Unity College, Burnley.

[btaylor6-blog1]

Reflection Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guKyc6A21ME

Above is the link to a 5 minute video where I reflect upon my first year at University, whilst discussing the action plan I created within Assignment 1 of PDP. 

[btaylor6-blog1]

Recently I completed a learning styles questionnaire which was created by Honey and Mumford. This results are pictured above. 

I believe that this questionnaire describes and identifies my learning style correctly. I prefer to think emotions and actions through before coming to a final decision. I prefer to stick to routine, especially at home and University. I believe I learn better the style of lesson differs throughout. I do not enjoy, having to write down information from slides, I enjoy finding that information and discussing the meaning around the information and debating the subject of that information.

 On the other hand, the questionnaire talks about the suitability of my learning style towards demonstrations. I believe that I learn well through demonstration whether this is within a classroom or within a practical lesson. If I can what I need to then I will be able to understand what I need to do better.

In summary, I believe that this is my learning style, however, I believe there should be more emphasis on the practical style of learning.

[btaylor6-blog1]

Pictured above are my current qualifications.

[btaylor6-blog1]

3 Relevant appropriate resources for all 6 modules.

PDP:

Cottrell, S. (2010). Skills for success: The personal development planning handbook. London Macmillan publishers.

O’Donoghue,     R. and Keane, M. (2006). Access/ Adult and continuing education: Study     Skills: Managing Your Learning. NUI Galway; Access Office.

Coaches Plan, (2009). Coaches Report: Problem solving. Canada: Coaches of Canada

Psychology:

Burton, D. Raedeke, T. (2008). Sports psychology for coaches: Good     communication skills are key to successful coaching. Human Kinetics     Europe. Page 308

Park, S, & Sung, K 2016, 'Effects on stress, problem solving ability and quality of life of as a stress management program for hospitalized schizophrenic patients: Based on the stress, appraisal-coping model of Lazarus & Folkman', Journal Of Korean Academy Of Nursing, 46, 4, p. 583-597

Branscombe, N, Wann, D, Schafer, E, & Fonseca, A 2016, 'Sports psychology', Salem Press Encyclopedia Of Health, Research Starters.

Fundamentals:

Balyi, I., & Hamilton, A. (2010. Long-term athlete development trainability in childhood and adolescence. American Swimming, 2012(2), 14-23.

Gladwell, M. (2008). The Outliers. New York, New York: Hachette Book Group.

Schmidt, R. and Wrisberg, C., Motor Learning, and Performance: A Problem-Based Learning Approach. Human Kinetics. Champaign, IL. 2008

Coaching Process:

Cushion, C. (2001). The coaching process in profession youth football. London: Brunel University.

Durham, J. (2014). Safety checklist for sports coach. Retrieved from Safe Sport: http://www.safesport.co.uk/safetychecklistforsportscoach.html

Maslovat, D & Franks, J. (2008). The need for feedback. London: Routledge.

Strength and conditioning:

Alter, M. J. (2004). Science of flexibility. Leeds : Human Kinetics .

Austin, D., Garbett, T., & Jenkins, D. (2011). The physical demands of Super 14 rugby union. Journal of science and medicine in sport, 259-263.

Baechle, T. R., & Earle, R. W. (2008). Essentials of strength and conditioning. Champaign : Human Kinetics.

Delivery of Sport and Physical Activity:

Forster, P. (2016). Huge falls in number of visitors. Retrieved from Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/tourism/12185204/National-Gallery-Southbank-and-Tate-Modern-post-huge-falls-in-visitor-numbers.html

Guardian, T. (2012). Team GB: the full list for the London 2012 Olympics. Retrieved from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/datablog/2012/jul/09/team-gb-full-list.

Rumsby, R. (2016). 23 athletes competing at Rio fail London 2012 drugs retest. Retrieved from Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/athletics/2016/05/27/23-athletes-competing-at-rio-olympics-fail-london-2012-drugs-ret/.

[btaylor6-blog1]

2nd Assignment feedback

GENERAL COMMENTS

Instructor Session Plan A good session plan Ben.There are good diagrams through out. You have made some good notes around coaching points, although I would have liked to see some progression and regression points in there as well. Be careful with some of your terminology. 

58 Session Delivery Ben you had a good rapport with the students and was in control of the session throughout. You moved around the group well and interacted with the students looking to improve the skill as you moved around. You provided some good demonstrations and your communication was clear. Some more enthusiasm in your manner would improve the session. You rounded off the session well, asking questions of the students. 

Overall: 62% 

Comparing this grade to my previous grade, there is no significant improvement. Both grades stayed at 62%. However, this assignment shows that I can transition from an academic assignment to a practical assignment well. In this assignment, more care needs to be taken when producing an assignment as there are some grammatical errors, therefore, I need to allow time after I have finished the assignment to proof read what I have produced. 

[btaylor6-blog1]

Feedback from Assignment 1

You have met the learning outcomes well: the discussions on PDP show a good understanding of the process and its uses, it could have been explored more and some evaluation is needed. The transitions are OK, could be stronger between paragraphs. You have discussed the data/statistics well and have formed some very good discussion around them making reasoned responses. Ensure you bring each bold passage/statements to a conclusion or continue to evaluate by extending your reading. This will also help with higher grades. A very well written first assignment, the following grades are taken from the grading grid and support the grade awarded: Good development of lines of argument and evaluation of the material/evidence of some factors affecting employability. Clear conclusions. Confident use of a range of data/ techniques in order to undertake critical analysis. Very good application of underlying concepts and principles (beyond the context in which they were first studied). Information precisely presented, structured and communicated (to specified audience); references accurate and reliable and precise with current and contemporary resources explored.

Grade - 62%

In all consideration, this is my first piece of academic work, I believe that this was a good grade for my first attempt. I believe the assignment was well structured and flowed well, however, upon re-reading the assignment, some of the transitions were weak and need to be stronger. Some of the statements made throughout the assignment, could of been more critically analysed. When completing other assignments, I need to ensure that critical points are explained well enough to achieve a higher grade. Despite showing knowledge of reading throughout the assignment, I believe that more reading is required, to ensure a higher grade. Overall, I believe that this is a good start to my academic work, this assignment provides me with a foundation base which I can build upon in future assignments. 

[btaylor6-blog1]

Excel Grading Spreadsheet

These are the current grades that I have achieved so far in my time at University. As you can see, my average is 60% which is the equivalent to a 2:1. Currently, I expect this average to raise as I believe there is always room for improvement especially when completing assignments.