Matt+Dickinson

=**This wikispace logs Matt Dickinson's experiences in the classroom during the fall 2009 PE 296 ****Paraprofessional Experience **=

 This is the first field experience of the teacher education program. Its purpose is to provide insight into the real world of teaching in the K-8 and 7-12 setting. It provides a “hands-on” experience in which students may ask questions and share concerns they may have regarding the teaching profession. The experience will provide an opportunity to observe, record, and assess student behavior, effective teaching practices, and characteristics of different learning environments appropriate for children. This course will provide structure and guidance for the students as they observe, gather information, and reflect on teaching as a career. John Dewey, one of the most famous American educators, wrote extensively about reflective teaching. He defined reflective teaching as avoiding the “routine” and “impulsive” behaviors in favor of taking the time to “give serious consideration” to our actions. According to Dewey, the intelligent person thinks before he or she acts, and action becomes deliberate and intentional. In order for students to secure knowledge and insight from the field experience, their observations and participation have to be made with careful, analytical, and deliberate planning. Paraprofessional students develop their leadership skills while contributing to, learning from and influencing the learning of others.



High School ||
 * 's Fall 2009 Paraprofessional Placement**
 * School: || Austin Elementary ||
 * Field-based supervisor: || Jay Drake ||
 * Content area or grade level: || Physical Education, K-1
 * FBS e-mail address: || - ||
 * FBS phone: || - ||
 * USD instructor || Mary Collins, Phone: 605-677-5155, e-mail: mary.collins@usd.edu ||

10/7/09 ||  1 || After attendance and warm up, I helped the students play a spelling relay game just like the previous class session. The students performed much better the second time doing the activity. || 10/9/09 || 1.5 || Today I went to the high school to observe a lifting and conditioning class. The teacher first took attendance and then took to students to do various physical activities. It was quite different from the elementary school but still a fun experience. || 10/14/09 || 1 || Today I was back at the elementary school and I began by observing the teacher take attendance. The students then had a balance obstacle course to complete with a physical test of balance at the end. I helped with the process and it was very interesting to see how the children performed. || 10/16/09 || 1.5 || Today I was at the high school for the lifting and conditioning class. After attendance, I helped the teacher take the students up to the wieghtroom to begin lifting. I helped a few students with some lifting which was fun. || 10/19/09 || 1 || Today, at the elementary school, I played a personal space game with the students which was really fun. We each had to pretend that the hoola-hoop around our waste was our car. The purpose of the activity was to run around the gym without getting in an "accident". The game was fun and I had a good time playing with the kids. ||
 * 30 hours of field-based classroom participation **
 * **Date **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> || **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Hours **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> || **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Description of my activities/participation in the classroom.... **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> ||
 * 9/30/09 || 1.5 || I observed the P.E. teacher take attendance, show the kids how to warm up, and showed the kids how to throw a frisbee. ||
 * 10/5/09 || 1 || After attendance and warm up, I helped the students play a spelling relay game which turned out to be very fun. ||
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 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> 10/21/09 || 1 || At the elementary school, we played the personal space game again and the students seemed to do much better at it the second time through. This class period was even more fun than the last because the students understood the concept of the game much more than before. Once again, a fun day at the school. ||
 * 10/23/09 || 1.5 || Today I was back at the high school for the weight lifting and conditioning class. After the class warm-up, I helped the students make their way up to the weight room to begin lifting. The day went smoothly and I helped a few students with lifting techniques to maximize their potential. ||
 * 10/30/09 || 1.5 || Today was an interesting observation day because of inservice. There was a team sports class that I had a chance to observe today before my lifting and conditioning class. The students played dodgeball which was quite entertaining. I learned that it is very difficult to keep a game of dodgeball organized and running smoothly. After that class, I went to the lifiting and conditioning class and worked with a student on lifting technique for the lifts he was performing. ||
 * 11/3/09 || 1 || Today I started with a new group of kids at Austin Elementary. It was a fun day and we played a soft ball toss game which was a good expereince. In one of my groups, there was an autistic student which added a perspective that I hadn't seen yet. It was a good learning experieince and I look foreward to working with these groups in the future. ||
 * 11/5/09 || 1 || Today at the elementary school, I helped the students do a soft ball toss activity. We first divided all the students into pairs and gave them little shovels to toss and catch the balls. With so many students throwing balls around, it got slightly crowded but with two adults helping it stayed organized. It was a fun day helping out and the students enjoyed the activity. ||
 * 11/6/09 || 1.5 || Today I was back at the high school helping out with the weight lifting and conditioning class. After the kids warmed up, we headed up to the weight room to begin lifting. I helped a few students with some new lifts and explained to them about the concept of muscle confusion. The students seemed to enjoy my insight on lifting and they learned how to become stronger. ||
 * 11/10/09 || 1 || Today at the elementary school, the students were split into small groups for a soccer activity. We focused on teaching the students on how to correctly kick a soccer ball with the inside of their foot. The students did a good job and it was a good thing that I was there as an extra organizer. There were a few kids that kept kicking their soccer balls across the gym but after a few talks, they properly performed the activity. ||
 * 11/12/09 || 1 || Today I was at the elementary school again and the students were doing the same soccer activity as on Tuesday. This time it went very smoothly and each of the students did much better the second time through. The students seemed to enjoy this activity more the second time through because the understood the group rotation and kicking better. Overall, the soccer lesson plan went well and I look foreward to next week. ||
 * 11/13/09 || 1.5 || Today was another day at the high school for weight lifing and conditioning class. The students started out with a quick warm-up and then headed up for lifting. Today a student ask me what some good abdominal work outs were so I proceded to show him a few good work outs that I knew. He seemed to appreciate my help and it was fun helping him with his work outs. ||
 * 11/17/09 || 1 || Today at the Elementary school, the students participated in a scooter activity which gave them a lot of freedom on what they wanted to do on their scooters. A few of the students got a little out of hand but they did very good after asked to be more careful. Overall, the students did good with the scooter activity. ||
 * 11/19/09 || 1 || Today was another day at the Elementary school and the students did the same scooter activity as they did on Tuesday. This time everything went smoothly and we did not have any problems. One of the students even created a new way to ride the scooter which he names the SpiderMan. This was another good day in class and I look foreward to next week. ||
 * 11/20/09 || 1.5 || Today I was at Vermillion High School with the weight lifting and conditioning class. After a brief warm-up, we headed up to the weight room. The students all did really well with their lifing today. One student asked me if I would assist him with a bench-press work out so I showed him how to properly do it. He was happy that somebody was there to help him lift correctly. ||
 * 11/24/09 || 1 || Today I was back at Austin Elementary and the students participated in a fun game called "Grab the Bacon." It took a while to explain to all of the students what the game was about but once they started playing they caught right on. We only have a couple students get upset about not being able to grab the bacon but other than that everything went smoothly. ||
 * 11/1/09 || 1 || Today at Austin Elementary, the students were playing a bowling based game. The students used soft gym balls to try to knock over a bowling pin. They all did fairly well except for a few students throwing the balls when they should have been rolling them. Overall, a good day for the students and me. ||
 * 11/3/09 || 1 || I was at Austin Elementary again today and the students were doing the same bowling activity as last time. This time the students were to keep track of how many times they knocked to pin over with their partner. The students seemed to enjoy this level of competition and everything went smoothly. ||
 * 11/4/09 || 1.5 || Today I was at Vermillion High School for weight lifting and conditioning. The students began with a warm-up of running laps in the gym. Then we headed up to the weight room for class. Each of the students did a pretty good job of staying on task. I helped one of the students with a core workout that I enjoyed doing. ||
 * 11/7/09 || 1 || Today at Austin Elementary, were playing a soccer activity. They have been working on soccer quite a bit this semester so today went very smoothy. The game consisted of the students getting into groups of three and rotating soccer positions. All of the students did very well with the activity and it was an enjoyable day. ||
 * 11/10/09 || 1.5 || Today I did my lesson at Austin Elementary. The lesson I did was an activity called "What time is it Mr. Dog." All of the students were to line up on one end of the gym and slowly make there way to the other side of the gym. As soon as I say a certain word, they all take of running as the role of cats. If I tag any of the students, they are then dogs with me and try to tag the other students. All of the students had fun with the activity. It was very rewarding to teach my own lesson which makes me look forward to my future of teaching. ||
 * 11/3/09 || 1 || I was at Austin Elementary again today and the students were doing the same bowling activity as last time. This time the students were to keep track of how many times they knocked to pin over with their partner. The students seemed to enjoy this level of competition and everything went smoothly. ||
 * 11/4/09 || 1.5 || Today I was at Vermillion High School for weight lifting and conditioning. The students began with a warm-up of running laps in the gym. Then we headed up to the weight room for class. Each of the students did a pretty good job of staying on task. I helped one of the students with a core workout that I enjoyed doing. ||
 * 11/7/09 || 1 || Today at Austin Elementary, were playing a soccer activity. They have been working on soccer quite a bit this semester so today went very smoothy. The game consisted of the students getting into groups of three and rotating soccer positions. All of the students did very well with the activity and it was an enjoyable day. ||
 * 11/10/09 || 1.5 || Today I did my lesson at Austin Elementary. The lesson I did was an activity called "What time is it Mr. Dog." All of the students were to line up on one end of the gym and slowly make there way to the other side of the gym. As soon as I say a certain word, they all take of running as the role of cats. If I tag any of the students, they are then dogs with me and try to tag the other students. All of the students had fun with the activity. It was very rewarding to teach my own lesson which makes me look forward to my future of teaching. ||