Element 4.1
Demonstrate effective verbal and non-verbal communication skills across a variety of
instructional formats.
During my observation experience in EDU 256 I worked with a wide variety of students with different needs and abilities. One of the groups I had the opportunity to work with was a group of middle school students that chose to participate in a workout program rather than play the games associated with their volleyball unit. These students were given a generic list of workouts to do that had little correlation to one another and no goal to work towards. Myself along with other student observers decided to create a core workout routine that gave the students direction with goals and challenges to work towards. We presented the program with a bulletin board that they could use to guide them through a workout with optional challenges and different levels of difficulty. This non-verbal method provided the necessary instructions for the students to work independently without the need for direct instruction. Through this board as well as direct instruction of these students I feel that I meet the standard for providing students with instruction both verbally as well as non-verbally.
Element 4.5
Utilize managerial rules, routines, and transitions to create and maintain a safe and effective
learning environment.
Planning, creating and delivering a great lesson is something that all teachers strive to do, and this is exactly what I was able to do during my field experience at Durgee Middle School. With the group being large, management was already one thing to take into consideration, but I was also going to be refining skills, because the unit was at its end when I arrived. Overall the lesson went just as I had planned, and with all transitions being almost flawless I was able to get through everything I had hoped for. The lesson was also incident free, and most importantly the students learned more about their skills, and they enjoyed it very much. For these reasons, I feel that I have effectively met the standard.
