Teaching occurred on Wednesday, 13th March 2013. We taught 5th class and there were a total of 24 children. I helped to set up the apparatus equipment while everyone else started teaching. After that was done I went and joined the group that was focusing on balancing. As the children were doing their best to balance in different ways, some feedback that was given was “very good, excellent, well done, now can you try doing this (making it a bit harder)”. Some children were able to balance very well and some others not the best but it all depends on the child’s core stability.
Today, we split the children into four groups after they did one big warm up together. After the allotted time at each station the children were asked to move on to the next one. Once they had been to each station the apparatuses were set up and the children then rotated around the 4 stations again, this time doing different tasks. At the end of the session, the children were asked to sit on the red circle and they were asked questions. (e.g. What was your favourite part of today? Did you enjoy the session? What did you learn today? etc. ) The children overall seemed to have a great time, and some of them even asked if they were coming back on other days.
I feel that my individual performance was good. As I was sick the week before when I was supposed to teach, I did everything I could to help make this day run smoothly. As a group (balancing) I think it went great. The children enjoyed trying to balance in different ways, or ways that they had not done before. I think they enjoyed it even better when they had to come up with ways only using their hands to get over the apparatus. And I think as a group of teachers over all it was excellent, as everything went nice and smooth, especially with the warm up, we were even able to join and dance around and have fun as well as the children. But the most important thing is that everyone was there to do their part and they did it well. And when the day goes well, it reassures us that we are learning things as the time goes on and that we can do this if we all just work hard and do what we are supposed to do.
Title of the session: Teaching gymnastics to St. Edward's National School pupils - Exploring balancing
Lesson Plan Layout:
Lesson Aim: To explore and practice the skill of balancing.
Teaching Cues: -Arms out by sides.
- Feet apart to provide a wide base of support. - Body facing forward and aligned. - Head up. - Shoulders back. - Knees bent slightly.
Equipment: Landing mats, steps, cones, vinyl spots and a ladder.
Self-Discovery: Allowing the participants to show examples of how they can balance and prompting them to explore some other ways.
Body Awareness:
Participants enjoy becoming more aware of how their body can balance.
Questions Asked:
-What did they do to balance?
- What was their favourite balancing position?
- What was the hardest balancing position?
- What did they do with their arms?
- What happened when they changed position?
Space Awareness:
Participants enjoy becoming more aware of the use of space available as they balance.
Questions Asked:
-How would you balance on one foot?
- Can you balance on one foot?
- Can you balance on a line?
- Can you balance on your tippy toes?
Qualities:
Participants begin to think about the qualities involved in balancing.
Questions Asked:
-Can you balance low down balancing?
- Can you balance up tall balancing?
- Can you balance on one foot/two feet?
- Can you balance with your arms out/by your sides?
- Can you balance on your tippy toes on one foot/two feet?
- Which was the most difficult/easiest?
- What did you change to make it easier to balance?
- Was it easier to balance on one foot/two feet?
Relationships:
Participants discover ways they could balance in groups and pairs.
Questions Asked:
-Can you balance on one foot holding hands in pairs?
- Can you balance on the other foot holding hands in pairs?
- Can you balance in a straight line holding hands in a group on one foot?
- Can you balance in a straight line holding hands in a group on the other foot?
- Can you balance on your bottom without any other part of your body touching the ground?