Characteristics of Middle School Students

Five characteristics of middle school students that I have seen throughout my module experience are that students are very sensitive to criticism, desire adult identity and acceptance while needing acceptance from peer group intensity, like active learning with peers, desire to learn things they consider useful, and become anxious and disoriented if separated from peer group. As a teacher I gave lots of positive feedback and if I gave specific feedback I made sure to give positive both before and after the specific feedback. That way the student wouldn't get to sensitive to the criticism. I also treated them with respect like adults would and allow them to be with their friends during activities as long as they weren't being disruptive. I also relate every activity to other every day activities they use in life so they find the things they are learning useful. By letting them stay with their friends and peers they won't feel disoriented. Once you have targeted the characteristics of your students it is important to use these to your advantage. You can use them to your advantage by planning ahead in activities and making sure you take their characteristics into consideration. These characteristics differ between the three grade levels. There is a huge difference between a sixth grade class and an eighth grade class. Sixth grades I find to be more attentive and the boys and girls aren't as separated yet. Students will develop at different rates so these three years are usually when they will develop. Some will mature much faster. I noticed a difference between my sixth grade class and seventh grade class. Seventh graders were much more efficient with sports while sixth graders were a little more akward.

Liability Case

In order for a teacher to be deemed negligent there must be a duty owed, duty violated, injury must be foreseeable, and the negligent behavior of the teacher must be a proximate cause of the injury. In regard to this case the teacher was deemed negligent because the teacher had students playing in a 90 degree gym nonstop without having mandatory water breaks. The teacher was also playing instead of supervising.
In order to protect yourself in a court of law make sure to always have a lesson play for each day along with the state standards which the activity meets. Also if a student is injured make sure to write up an injury report that tells in detail how the injury occurred and the emergency procedures that followed. Keep a list of witnesses, it is best if they are adults, but students will work too. Another thing to do is have a building accident procedures in writing before the accident. If you follow all these procedures then you increase your chances of winning your case if you are ever put into court.

Teaching Behaviors

I find all the pre-assessment definitions to be important in teaching physical education. The four that i find are most important are extending, intratask variation, tansition, and informing. Extending is making a task harder for students who can perform a task correctly or making a task easier for students who are having a hard time with a task. This is extremely important because when teaching a big class of students not all students will be at the same physical level or be able to perform the activity you have planned in your lesson. By extending your activities up and down you will be able to have all students participate in the activity. Intratask variation is usually used with individuals or small groups. It is having the more skilled students move from the skills to a task while the other students still practice the original skill until they get it right. The reason it is so important to me is because I want every student to be able to learn the activity but at the same time I don't want to students who already can perform the activity with accuracy to be bored with it. I want them to be able to progress with the skill and not have to wait. By using intratask variation everyone wins. Transition is the time it takes students to move from one task to another. It is important to know how long your transitions take during a lesson. You want to have the fastest transitions as possible to make more time for students to practice the skill being learned. Lastly informing is giving students proper instructions and demonstrations of a task or skill. This is very important to me because if a teacher can not properly demonstrate or explain a skill there is no way a student will be able to learn it properly. If a teacher does not know a lot about a lesson they must do research and have a student in the class who is good at the skill demonstrate. That is why i think these are important in physical education. I use all four of these concepts in every lesson I teach. For example I always try and make the fastest transition possible. In previous modules we have had peers filling out forms for us letting us know what percent of our lesson was spent on transitions. This information allowed me to make adjustments if transitions were taking to long. For every activity in my lesson i have a greater extension as well as a lower extension to allow all students to participate in the activity. I always try to give descriptive instructions and a good demonstration for each activity so the students understand how to perform the activity. Intratask variation is something I would like to include into my lessons more often.

Teaching Styles

Reciprocal style emphasizes social relationships, students can learn social as well as motor skills which makes this style effective with middle school students. In this style students give each other feedback. The teacher still determines the task for the students to practice and identifies the critical features for them. I would incorporate this style into a track and field lesson by making a peer assessment form for sprinting, which explains all the critical elements they are looking for. Students will get a partner and practice watching each other and giving corrective feedback to fix their partners form.
Self-check style allows students to become more self-reliant. A student will evaluate their own performance and will be able to see their own strengths and weaknesses in the skill. I would use this style of teaching when the students are familiar with a task. For example I may have students evaluate their tennis serve in a tennis unit after we have already had a lesson on tennis serving.
Practice style is the most common style used in physical education. It gives students more time to master motor skills and concepts as well as more responsibility for their own learning. The student determines the number of practice trials and often the order in which they will practice the tasks within the time the teacher allocates. I would use this style of teaching in the beginning of any unit as well as in sport skills units. This will allow me to give students more time to master motor skills. For example I would use this style in a soccer unit.
I used practice style as well as reciprocal style in my lessons at Birchland Park Middle School. I used practice style in my football lesson when the students were practicing their pass patterns . I used reciprocal style in my track and field lesson. I had the students check their partners form for sprinting in the 50 yard dash. It is very important to be able to teach in all styles. Certain styles are more effective with different units in physical education. For example in a golf unit you would want to use a command style of teaching. This will ensure the safety of students since there are long handed implements. A great physical educator will know how to teach every style and know what units each are best in. This will allow for students to have the best opportunity to learn in.

Tim McCord, Titusville Middle School physical education teacher, now grades students on how long students are staying active in their target heart rate zones. "We’d always based grades on whether kids dressed for class, how they did on skills tests, and a totally subjective idea of whether they were working hard," McCord says. "But I couldn’t really tell. How did I know whether a kid was working hard? Now, here was a way to know for sure." I think his "new P.E." curriculum is a breath of fresh air. All P.E. programs that are still taught with a drill Sargent and are graded purely on skill tests of team sports need to adapt this new P.E. way of teaching. We're in the 20th century and have lots of technology and education to teach physical education with a purpose so that every child can enjoy P.E. as well as learn skills that will allow them to live a long and healthy life.
There are many advantages of having a "new P.E." curriculum like Tim McCords. Students no longer have to worry about so much competition in P.E. class. They can still maintain a great grade as long as they are trying their best. This new curriculum focuses more on movement than team sports. Dance, aerobics, and fitness have all been integrated into the curriculum. Students have also begin so socialize more with the whole class. "You’ll notice they don’t hang out in groups of athletes and non-athletes anymore," McCord says. "The kids talk to each other now. They don’t worry so much about being different." Technology such as heart rate monitors, DDR, and exercise machines have all made exercising fun for students. The only disadvantages about technology in a P.E. setting is that it is expensive and costs money to fix when the equipment breaks down. Also certain technologies take away from social interaction, both among the students and teacher. I also think it is important to not go away all together with team sports. The best P.E. program will teach students the skills of team sports, fitness, aerobics, dance, include technology, and teach in different styles when it is appropriate in the units. There would also be authentic and alternative assessments.

I love music, I always have to take my ipod everywhere I go. Music can relax me when I'm stressed as well as motivate me to workout. My favorite thing to do is ski while listening to music in the winter time. I prefer to listen to classic rock but like most kinds of music. My two favorite bands are The Eagles and The Steve Miller Band.
Music also reminds me of many memories. Certain songs remind me of different events in my life. I think one of the reasons my two favorite bands are The Eagles and Steve Miller Band are because I heard them growing up, it was my dads favorite music. Music is such a great thing. Music can also be using in lessons for physical education.

As a physical educator I think it is more important to get children active than to focus on sports concepts and making them more efficient movers. My philosophy is to teach children the skills and movement concepts they need to live a long healthy active lifestyle. I do agree with standardized fitness testing at the middle school level. It gives you an idea of your students fitness levels. It also gives you an idea of what areas you need to work on with certain students.