hannahwyrick1211-blog

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DAY 5: Multimodal

Picture from: https://www.edutopia.org/blog/tough-mudder-goes-gym-michael-choinacky

The picture above would be how I would set up the gymnasium during the in-service day for the teachers and administrators. This obstacle course will include our 3 main “core stations” in which the teachers would maneuver through the course and then read/interact with the information posted on bulletin boards after each challenge. These bulletin boards will include topics such as what type of instruction is “good” for students through the framework of the systems model, meeting state standards, and planning/creating appropriate assessments. While the teachers are reading the material, a teacher will be maneuvering through the course multiple times while being asked questions that align with the new material that they are learning. All of the teachers will read through the bulletin board content together and then they will reflect on the material by asking each other questions and providing scenarios in which they would be able to apply it to. There will be multiple obstacle courses due to a high number of teachers; this will allow for less clutter and will allow for all teachers to be engaged. This obstacle course aligns with our central message and goals of the campaign because we are allowing the teachers to apply the external mandates to instruction through providing examples of scenarios with other teachers. It also aligns with our goals because we are providing an educational atmosphere while also having fun. This obstacle course allows for the teachers to have fun during their in-service hours while also learning how to provide effective instruction that is “good for students” while also maintain their personal philosophy. Lastly, this obstacle course meets our goal of designing effective instruction that promotes positive outcomes for leaners because our group effectively thought through the information that will be provided to the teachers during the in-service day. The obstacle course also promotes positive outcomes for the teachers, who are the learners, because we expect them to think through the new content in depth and then apply it to their own personal planning. This obstacle course meets my personal philosophy because I believe that people learn best through hands-on activities such as playing different games rather than learning the game. Basically, I believe that people learn through engaging in an activity rather than reading or listening to the content. This obstacle course adequately meets our slogan of “Overcoming Instructional Obstacles” because the teachers will be overcoming each individual challenge and then learning/engaging in the instructional content that are posted on the bulletin boards. All in all, this campaign allows for the teachers within my school to grow in their teaching by providing them with tips on how to create instruction that is “good for students”. It also allows the teachers to personally think through how they are able to apply the tips to their own personal philosophy.  #PErocks #incorporatinggoodinstruction

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DAY 4: Hopeful Solutions

Although there can be many obstacles that occur when a teacher is planning instruction that is “good for students”, there are hopeful solutions that teachers can use. One hopeful solution would be to use enthusiasm and passion while teaching to grab the students’ attention. These two aspects of the teacher’s instruction are hopeful solutions because they include the internal learning processes that help the students to learn. By incorporating these processes directly into your instructional plans, you are able to pinpoint directly how the students will be engaged and learning throughout your lesson. A teacher can use enthusiasm to overcomes possible obstacles because it can grab the student’s attention and can also allow them to encode the information more. These two processes can occur through the teacher’s enthusiasm because the students may think that the teacher is being goofy, thus making them pay more attention to the lesson. Passion goes hand in hand with enthusiasm as a hopeful solution because if a teacher is constantly showing how much they love the content, then the students may start to show appreciation towards the material. These two aspects are important when designing instruction that is “good for students” because when outlining how the class will look, the teacher will include how their own personal thoughts will affect the students. For example, if a teacher is very passionate about nutrition, they need to think about how the students may respond to their strong enthusiasm. Some students may pay more attention or some may shut the teacher out. With this being said, a teacher should understand each class and how their personal views impact each class; this will not happen instantly. These aspects will also directly align with the teacher’s philosophy because the passion would show their personal viewpoint on the content while also maintaining a fun learning environment. All in all, enthusiasm and passion are both important and pose as hopeful solutions for teachers because they target specific internal learning processes that essentially help the students to learn the material. These aspects also allow students to think more deeply about the content and they may be able to gain a deeper appreciation for the material. #PErocks #hopefulsolutions

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DAY 3: Possible Obstacles

One obstacle that a teacher may experience would be a slower rate of progression from the students than expected. When planning instruction, a teacher expects the students to go through the cognitive stage in a certain amount of time, through the associative stage in a certain amount of time, and then progress into the autonomous stage. If the teacher has a timeline for the students to be progressing through these stages and the students do not meet the timeline as planned, then the teacher may run into an issue. This may be an obstacle for teachers because they have limited time with each class and they want to keep their classes on track with their schedule due to time. With this occurring, the teacher must be flexible with their classes and must go back to remediate with the students; this is a part of the systems model. This part of the systems model is important because you should make sure that the students are grasping the material before moving on. For example, a student may still be in the cognitive stage while you are teaching material and giving guided practice through the associative stage. This is an obstacle because the students will not understand what is going on and they will be trying to learn cognitive stage material while also trying to learn associative stage material. With this being said, teachers should be using formative assessments with the students throughout the lessons to make sure that they are properly progressing through the stages of learning. This can be seen through ticket out the door slips. This could also be an obstacle for teachers because when it comes time for the unit test, the students may not be able to succeed due to the fact that they were not able to grasp the material and progress into the next stage of learning. Even though time can be a barrier, it is important for teachers to put effort into remediating and replanning instruction so that the students are retaining/understanding the content. With this occurring, the instruction will be “good for students” because they will be able to progress adequately through the stages of learning and retain the material due to the effort that the teacher made in reteaching and replanning. #PErocks #stagesoflearningobstacle

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DAY 2: “Good” for Students

Creating instruction that is “good” for students can be challenging due to the fact that it involves a long process of planning and preparing effective instruction. Effective instruction follows the outline of the systems model. Although this model is important for teachers to follow when they are planning their instruction and assessment for their class, one aspect that is key in the planning of “good” instruction for students is state standards. State standards are external mandates that teachers must follow when creating their units and lessons. These standards are an important step that occurs before the systems model because it helps the teacher to write an instructional goal based on what the state needs the students to comprehend by the end of the year. Basically, teachers narrow their content to specific information so that it aligns with the state standard and then the instructional goal, when it is written. An example would be “Standard - 10.1.9.A: Analyze factors that impact growth and development between adolescence and adulthood”. This standard is broad enough so the teacher could still have flexibility in their content and instruction, but it also guides the teacher towards a goal that needs to be met. From this example, the specific mindset the teacher would be thinking about would be different factors that occur between adolescence and adulthood. As you can see, state standards are important in the creation of good instruction for students because they allow the teacher to meet the goals that the state needs the students know. Even though they require teachers to gear their teaching towards specific information, they still allow teachers to teach to their philosophy while giving instruction. Without state standards, the systems model would be ineffective because there would be no baseline for the instructional goal. Thus, state standards are the framework for good instruction and without them, instruction would not be good for the students. #PErocks #effectiveinstruction

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DAY 1: “Overcoming Instructional Obstacles”

Teachers will be participating in our obstacle course during an in-service day, and they will be trying to meet our goal and campaign slogan of “Overcoming Instructional Obstacles”. To put this into perspective, we have created an obstacle course that will represent and support our central message. We decided to use an obstacle course as our “visual image” because we believe it represents the many obstacles teachers may face in creating the best possible instruction and learning outcomes for their students. Along the course will be “Core Stations” that come after the obstacles that the in-service teachers will be learning about and conquering. These “Core Stations” will be what type of instruction is “good” for students through the framework of the systems model, meeting state standards, and planning/creating appropriate assessments. This provides the in-service teachers with the information that meet the goals of our campaign. The goals of our campaign are “Design effective instruction that promotes positive outcomes for students”, “Create an educational atmosphere that promotes fun” and “Apply external mandates to instruction”. These goals will help to narrow our campaign towards instruction that is “good for students” and will carry out our tone of lightheartedness. By developing the skills needed to strategically comply with external mandates, it is important for teachers to produce effective instruction that creates a fun atmosphere for students while facilitating positive outcomes in overcoming the obstacles teachers may face. With this being said, effective instruction that is good for students arises from intentional, thoughtful planning and the use of remediation. #PErocks #campaignlaunch

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English Language Learners

It can often be tough to create an environment that satisfies ALL learners in a classroom, but it is possible to push towards. Language is a huge barrier for ELL students and barrier can essentially hinder their learning; which is not something a teacher wants to hear. In PE class, it is amazing to see the power of sport because you do not need to be able to communicate in order to play a game with others. I often see ELL students excelling in my classes, due to this reason. Although this is great, I do run into problems with the rules of the game or other verbal material that needs to said. Support for these students is often tough because they are normally immersed into the classroom and only work with a specialist part of the day. With this being said, I must incorporate strategies into my instruction that will benefit ALL students, especially ELL students. One way I would do this is by allowing a student in the same class to be a mentor to the ELL student. This will be helpful because when my attention is not on the ELL student, they can still feel comfortable by having someone around. Some ELL students often feel alone when they first come to the school because is it hard for them to make friends due to language barriers, so this will give the student a sense of belonging, which will lead into the classroom climate. Creating good instruction that helps all students may be difficult. I do have one strategy that will help not only the ELL student, but every other student in the class. This strategy would be demonstrating the rules through gestures and motions. Not only will this be helpful to ELL students, it would also benefit the students who are not tracking my words or paying attention. Although this strategy may not work 100%, it will definitely make a difference. As a teacher, I must keep in mind that it will take a while for the student to become more immersed in the classroom since everything is so new to them. One thing that I would try to do would be checking in on the student once or twice a week to see how they are doing. By talking to the student, I can try to accommodate my instruction towards their needs, which will be different for every student so I cannot give one exact example. Also, as a teacher, I will try not to assume things about the student because I have no idea what they might be going through at home or in their other classes. My plan would is to be as supportive as possible and asking the student how I can help them become more successful. If the ELL student is able to communicate a way that will help them learn better, I would definitely try to incorporate a strategy into the instruction for all students because it may help the other students and will help strengthen the classroom environment. My last tool that I would use would be trying to ask the guidance office and the ELL department for help. #instructionforALLstudents #PErocks  

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Technology Grant

Receiving $100 from the DMT grant is amazing. With this $100, I plan to get an iPhone/iPad projector that is $53. This projector would allow me to plug my iPhone into it and then projector what I have on my phone up on the wall. I would plan to use this projector in my Physical Education classes because I do not have a projector currently in my room. This piece of technology would meet my needs because I would be able to put it on a cart and wheel it back and forth from the office. By having a projector, I would be able to engage my students in many different activities such as dancing, Pilates and interactive games that require a visual aid. The projector will be perfect for these activities because they standards that must be meet within the state of PA, so by having visual cues projected on the wall, the students will be able to learn more effectively. I would also be able to create a PowerPoint to share with the students rather than writing information on the wipe-off board with the projector. This specific piece of technology would allow me to deliver high quality instruction to our students because it will allow the students to practice the movements while watching the videos. For example, when I am teaching ballroom dancing, I do not have to have the students in a small space in order to watch two students demonstrate the moves, but rather, I would have the students with their partners spread out around the gymnasium practicing while watching. Going off of this, the projector would cut down the amount of questions being asked because they are practicing while watching. One thing I often run into is frequent questions and it can be difficult to help every student in a short amount of time because I want them to be as active as possible. This piece of technology would be excellent for the students because it will allow for the visual learners to watch the correct movements on a screen rather than watching their peers and then practicing after. Although I would still have them watch their peers, the projector would allow me to spice it up with something different than the students are used to. Overall, this technology grant will do wonders from my classroom and definitely stays true to my educational philosophy because it enables my students to be more active. The projector would also safely expose my students to appropriate tools because I would check the sites that I am getting the videos from and then share the site with the students on our online classroom page. I am very excited to incorporate this into my gymnasium and the extra money will be saved and used when another need arises. #technologygrant #PErocks #integratingtechnologyintoPE

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State Standards Mandate

Outside mandates are seen all through schools and it can impact many teachers’ philosophies. For me, these mandates impact my teaching because it requires me to alter my instruction around these specific standards. This can sometimes be difficult because, as a teacher, you must meet these mandated standards in a given year; the students must know the information revolving the standards. These standards also shape my philosophy on education because it allows me to have a basic guideline of what my students need to know by the end of the year. This can be helpful because teachers tend to be focused so much on their content and the standards help a teacher stay focused on what the students actually need to know. Essentially, the information above alters the way instruction is in my classroom. This can be good because it helps me stay on track, but it can also be bad because it can be difficult to have every student on board with understanding the content; all of the students’ knowledge lies on you as the teacher. On a slightly different note, “good” instruction must also be seen within a classroom. Good instruction is a well prepared, planned lesson that has flexibility in order to change the instruction at any given moment, if the students seem to need the change. A teacher can have good instruction through the systems model, which has steps in order of how to prepare a lesson successfully. This model includes a lot of preparation, but it allows for the good instruction because you, as the teacher, have thought through everything that will or could happen during the class period. You are able to design good instruction that stays true to your educational philosophy while also meeting mandated state requirements by carefully planning and preparing for every lesson that you will teach. This will be difficult because it will take up a lot of your time, but it will be worth it because you are giving your students the best education.