355 Field Experience 4/17/12

Today at CCA I taught my first class of soccer. At the end of class I had the students perform my post assessment to track their progress. My skill theme was kicking/shooting in soccer so naturally my focus for the lesson was kicking/shooting. I had the students kick around the soccer ball together to get a feel for how it is to play soccer in a controlled manner. After two or three minutes I gathered the students into the middle of the gym for a class talk. I told the students it would be my last day teaching them. The students were disappointed I was leaving and I was sad to have to go. I had the students practice shooting in the context of game like activities such as having them dribble and then shoot on a goal. One game I had them play was great and the students really loved it. The game is called socketball and is a combination of soccer and basketball. If the ball touches the ground the students have to play soccer style but if they catch it they have to play basketball style. They can score by shooting the ball in the basketball, kicking it in the soccer goal or throwing the ball into the soccer goal. I thought this was a great game because it added in a new skill and also reviewed skills from the last message. The students loved the game and were sad when we had to stop for the assessment. I had the students do the assessment in the same fashion as I did in the previous lesson. The students really love playing knockout so why not let them play one last time. Over the few weeks I was at CCA I really got to know some of the students and I was surprised. I noticed that there was one student in the class that was a catalyst for a lot of the trouble or behavior problems that would pop up while I was teaching. I had to be very firm with this student and had to have him sit out a couple times before he really got the point and began to behave. Another student was my host teachers child and they tended to complain at times and give less than optimal effort so I had to work on that over time. Overall, the students were all really awesome kids and I was glad to have had the chance to teach them. I learned a lot from this experience at CCA. Teaching is not just about writing a lesson plan and following it exactly. You have to be prepared to adapt you lesson and extend, shorter or change the tasks or activities you originally planned. Teaching at CCA was an amazing opportunity and I look forward to the chances I get to teach in the future.