Monday, November 2, 2009
Cookin' Some Sqaush
On Friday we were down in the squash courts cooking it up. We were all chefs for a day and our meal to cook was a hot plate of squash. We had to cook this squash smoothly and with finesse just like we would have to play the sport of squash, with finesse. I think that by me bringing in the real squash in the beginning of the lesson and Mike bringing in the cooked squash at the end really gave the lesson an edge. Something as little as bringing a vegetable into a lesson can put a smile on some faces and make the lesson much more enjoyable.
Since this was our international lab we had to give a little background and history behind the sport of squash which seemed to really grab the attention of the class. I talked about squash starting in England in the 1890’s and also talked about the godfather of the sport, Hashim Kahn. Giving a little history and knowledge of the sport you are playing seems to have an impact on how much students listen and what they get out of the lesson. This is another little aspect of a lesson, like bringing in the squash, which can have a big impact on the overall success.
It seems as though now when I am teaching it is becoming more natural to include things such as a hook or a safety statement without having to go down the list in my head. Compared to earlier in the year, it was always a memorization game to get everything said. Now I feel more confident in my teaching and I am able to include most aspects of the lesson a little easier. I am very pleased with how the lesson went and how I feel when I am teaching. I still compare it back to day one of class when we taught for the first time. You can see there is a night and day difference in my quality of teaching from then until now in which I am very happy with. I have completed a time coding form to give you an idea of how much time is spent on each part of the lesson that I taught. I was unable to complete a feedback analysis form because when I gave feedback I was up on the observation deck of the squash courts. There are also many progressions that we covered in order to allow students complete more challenging tasks. Glance at them and also check out my lesson plan and don’t forget to watch the video above of the lesson.
Since this was our international lab we had to give a little background and history behind the sport of squash which seemed to really grab the attention of the class. I talked about squash starting in England in the 1890’s and also talked about the godfather of the sport, Hashim Kahn. Giving a little history and knowledge of the sport you are playing seems to have an impact on how much students listen and what they get out of the lesson. This is another little aspect of a lesson, like bringing in the squash, which can have a big impact on the overall success.
It seems as though now when I am teaching it is becoming more natural to include things such as a hook or a safety statement without having to go down the list in my head. Compared to earlier in the year, it was always a memorization game to get everything said. Now I feel more confident in my teaching and I am able to include most aspects of the lesson a little easier. I am very pleased with how the lesson went and how I feel when I am teaching. I still compare it back to day one of class when we taught for the first time. You can see there is a night and day difference in my quality of teaching from then until now in which I am very happy with. I have completed a time coding form to give you an idea of how much time is spent on each part of the lesson that I taught. I was unable to complete a feedback analysis form because when I gave feedback I was up on the observation deck of the squash courts. There are also many progressions that we covered in order to allow students complete more challenging tasks. Glance at them and also check out my lesson plan and don’t forget to watch the video above of the lesson.
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