Erica Pryor

KIN 355

September 13, 2020

Teaching Review Assignment #1

Lesson Opening

In this recorded lesson, the teacher uses several questions to get the students to talk and

think about the learning objectives for the lesson. The teacher first asks the students to turn to

their neighbor (the person sitting beside them) and discuss what a good dribbler can do. This

question allows time for students to respond to his question in a low risk environment. Following

this moment for discussion, the teacher asked students to share with the whole group some of the

characteristics of what makes a good dribbler. After each person the teacher summarized what

the student said. He might have had students do this because it allowed them to share with

partners first, then share out as a whole group. They could hear what everyone else was

remembering about what makes a good dribbler and then use that to remind themselves about the

qualities of a good dribbler.

Explanations and Practice

Overall, I thought that the students seemed to understand exactly what the teacher was

saying. This indicates that the directions were clear. There was very minimal physical

demonstration of the skills by the teacher. It appeared as though this was not the first lesson in

the unit on basketball and the students already knew how to perform some of the skills.

However, when the teacher reached the point in his lesson where he wanted the students to

execute layups—he had a student demonstrate the skill. This was helpful because the teacher

allowed the students to watch one of their own classmates perform the skill desired by the
teacher. Clear instructions and demonstrations that involve the students are important because

they allow the students to have more of a chance to be successful. Additionally, unclear

directions can cause confusion which leads to less effective class time as students are spending

time attempting to figure out the directions when they could be spending that time practicing the

skills. In this lesson, clear directions and demonstrations allowed the students to spend almost all

of the lesson practicing.

Transitions

The teacher used the colors of the basketball in his hands to send students to retrieve the

balls from the ball cart. He pointed to a color on the ball and told the students that if they were

wearing that color they could go get a ball. He waited for a moment between each group to allow

for enough time for students to leave the ball cart for the next group. He might have done it this

way to eliminate a crowd at the ball cart.

Feedback

The teacher gave many students individual feedback over the course of this lesson. In

each situation the teacher got down on the student’s level and spoke in an encouraging, kind

tone. He gave feedback to one student about making sure that her last step in her layup was on

her left foot. She seemed to have some difficulty making sure that she was doing this, so he

pulled her aside and watched her attempt the layup several times. Each time she attempted, he

gave her feedback. Additionally, there was a moment in the lesson when the teacher was wanting

students to release the basketball into the air really high and then make it bounce through their

arms. He noticed that two students had not been there the lesson before this and were slightly

confused. He made sure to give them each instructions on how to perform the activity.
Mannerisms

I did not catch the teacher using the phrase “you guys” to address the whole class,

although he did use “you” a lot. Addressing an entire group of children as “you guys” is

problematic because the word “guys” typically refers to males. So, referring to a diverse group of

children that do not or may not identify as male can be exclusive. Another alternative would be

to refer to the group as “you all” or “students”.

Protocols/Procedures

The students begin the lesson all sitting around the center circle on the floor of the gym.

The teacher may have chosen to have the students start the lesson this way because it allows all

of the children to face each other and to be in a central location. There is no front of back to a

circle, so children are not blocking each others’ views of the teacher. The teacher’s protocol to

get students to respond in the large ground setting is to have students quietly raise their hands. To

get the students to stop dribbling, the teacher said “freeze!” Other ways to get students to stop

dribbling could include blowing a whistle, playing a bell, or turning the lights off and on quickly.

While the teacher is talking, the students put the basketballs in between their legs. The teacher

may have students do this so that they are not tempted to dribble or drop the ball while he is

speaking. This would create a distraction for the students and the teacher. This lesson is safe for

students to participate in because they are in the environment (an open gym) that was designed

for the activity that they are doing (playing with basketballs). Even while overall, this lesson is a

safe, appropriate lesson, there is the possibility that children could have an accident that could

pose a safety hazard. For example, during the layup drill the teacher gave some directions to

prevent safety hazards. The teacher told students to not cut in front of each other while doing this
drill. If a child did engage in this activity, then it could potentially cause a student to trip on

another student or ball.

Master Teaching Techniques

The teacher in this example pinpoints positive behavior displayed by the students who are

actively engaged and standing ready to move on. He points and makes eye contact with students

and calls out “ready!” To show that those students are ready to move on. One way the teacher

provides challenge to the students is by having them read the spelling lists while dribbling.

Another way that the teacher provides challenge in this lesson is by having students go from

skipping into the layup to dribbling into the layup. A final way that the teacher provides

challenge in this lesson is by having the students continuously dribble from basket to basket and

right into the next layup. I noticed that the teacher had placed two signs that read “I can’t” and “I

can’t yet.” I noticed that the “I can’t yet” sign was located at eye level for the students, which

made it slightly easier to read than the “I can’t” sign. They are also prominently displayed as not

to be missed by the students. The teacher may have placed these signs up because they foster a

growth-set mentality. The phrase “I can’t yet” implies that eventually, you will be able to. In this

setting it tells the students that if they have difficulty doing something, they will be able to if

they keep trying and practicing.

Future Career as a Teacher

One thing that I learned from watching this teacher is how to give positive, yet

constructive feedback. This teacher was particularly skilled at doing this. This is something that I

feel I can take into my future classroom no matter what grade level or subject I end up teaching

because all students deserve positive and constructive feedback from their teacher. For example,

this teacher sticks with the children as he works with them to improve a skill. This is something I
can implement in my future classroom by staying with a student while they practice, rather than

giving feedback and leaving them on their own. One thing that I may have done differently is to

use a variety of cues to let students know when to stop or transition. In the video, the teacher

only gives auditory cues (i.e. “Freeze”) to get students to stop what they are doing and pay

attention to his next direction. I might want to incorporate a visual cue as well as an auditory cue,

in case students are not able to hear my cue.