MD-Lab 4

On Tuesday the March 20 I went to Dryden Elementary School for another hands-on experience working with the children there. It was a good learning experience. There were a few things in particular that were significant. During this lab we had to create our own assessment model.  My group assessed the underhand ball roll. So, we ran a bowling activity. It seemed like a great idea but there were some execution flaws.  At first, everything was ok. We only had two children and we could easily accommodate. However, as more children joined in it became difficult to keep everyone on task since many on them were just waiting around for their turn. It became apparently that although the activity enabled us to do the assigned assessment it did not allow us to engage all the children at the same time. We then moved on to a cup catching activity. There were also some difficulties running this task. Some children really enjoyed this activity; however, the task was too demanding for the younger aged children.  It was during this activity that these two boys decided to try me. I had yet to experience this.  I didn’t even know how to react. Even looking back, I am still not sure what the best approach would have been.  The only reaction that I could muster up was to say to them, “That’s not nice.”  Besides that incident was great to be able to apply some of things that I am learning from 255 Basic Instructional class.  I found that give very clear, specific instruction help students stay on target. Also giving congruent feedback, even if that meant telling thank you for following instructions “stabilized” the environment. Giving the children guidelines and reinforcing them help my group and I earned the respect from the children. In addition, giving feed that was congruent with the cues focused the children and motivated them to accomplish more. It was a rewarding experience.