Dimitri Archipov

April 20, 2019

Dr. Burris
Reflection

What? So What? Now What?

Reflective Journaling
This well-used and successful model for reflection will help you make connections and deeper meanings
from your observations. When it comes to making journal entries following your field observations,
please be sure to include a section answering each reflective question, using the descriptions below to
guide your writing.

FIELD OBSERVATION – NOTES

Grade/Subject: Physical Education: K-6 Grades.

Lesson Topic: Scoops and balls, jump rope, Kids Heart Challenge, Hockey,
Fitness test, Pac man game, what time is it Mr. Fox game, wild tag of the west
game.

What?
(Reporting what happened, objectively). Like a scientist in the field, describe in detail the facts about the events in
the classroom that you are observing. Be sure that judgmental or interpretive writing is not done for this portion.

Each of the following questions must be answered:

What happened? What events are taking place throughout the lesson? How did class begin? What are students
doing? What did the teacher do? What behaviors do you see from the students? Describe the room (if it is your first
time).

Response
When I come into service learning around 12:00pm the students are at lunch in the gym while
my mentor teacher is eating lunch in his office which is also in the gym. I go into his office and
talk to him for a bit on what we are going to be doing today. Then at around 12:05pm we go
outside to the ramada and put down the squad numbers which are 6 colored plates numbered 1-6
in which each class sits in their designated squad number which was established on the first week
of school. My mentor teacher Mr. Jacobs brings a cart of equipment with equipment that is
necessary to teach and complete the lesson. Depending on what the equipment is he will either
leave it in there or set it up on the ground in the ramada. Once lunch is over the class that has PE
or Physical Education comes directly to the ramada and sits in their designated squad numbers.
The ramada outside is a big structure that we sit under which provides shade and is adjacent next
to the playgrounds where students have recess. The class would then come into a line and Mr.
Jacobs would say “Hey ladies and gentlemen quietly sit down at your squad number”. Once the
students sat down class has begun and he would check in to each squad number in which the
student at the front of the line would look at the other students that are in their squad to make
sure they are present and to make sure they have the right shoes. If everything was perfect the
squad leader when asked to give a report would say “Here and dressed”. If there was a student
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April 20, 2019
Dr. Burris
Reflection

absent or if someone had the wrong shoes such as boots or sandals for PE, the squad leader
would mention that when giving their report to Mr. Jacobs. Mr. Jacobs would start off by
addressing the class on current events that are currently going on at the school and he would
encourage students to participate. More recently he has been pushing students to donate to Kids
Heart Challenge or Jump rope for heart in which the donations go to the American Heart
Association to help treat people with heart disease and to help fund research to hopefully find a
cure for them. He would call up a student in class who donated and label them as a “Heart Hero”
and then award them with a prize in which the rest of the students would applause. Then Mr.
Jacobs would give an overview of what we are going to do for the day. After that he has the
students warm up by making them run for a few minutes. Then when Mr. Jacobs wants to get the
students attention so he can quiet them down and tell them what we are going to move on to next
he blows his whistle in which all the students stops what their doing, puts their hands on their
knees, and looks towards Mr. Jacobs without talking. Then we would move onto the lesson once
we have the students frozen. The student’s behavior up to this point is them being quiet and
respectful. However, after Mr. Jacobs hands out equipment and tells the students what to do and
what not to do there are more times than not when there are students not doing what they are
supposed to be doing. When we get into the activity students will fight with each other, be
disrespectful, and not follow directions when given throughout the activity. Mr. Jacobs responds
immediately by either putting the student in a timeout if the behavior persists and or pull the
student aside and talk to them about their behavior and what they need to do to correct it. Once
the second class of the day arrives to the ramada this is where we transition into indoors.
Halfway through the class we gather everything and move the class inside. Usually class is inside
however since lunch was going on, we must go outside so all the grade levels can finish their
lunch and so maintenance can clean the gym. Once we have all our materials gathered and into
the cart, we escort the students to the gym so we can resume class. The gym has white tile with
different colored lines running across the floor. There is a stage which is used when it is too hot
to be outside for PE. There are banners on the wall that show the schools achievements. Once we
get inside, we resume with the lesson and stay inside for the remainder of the day. Once we are
finished with the lesson Mr. Jacobs has the students put away their equipment and sit down in
their squads. Mr. Jacobs then proceeds to recognize a “Star Student” who was behaved and did
something to make them stand out from the rest of the class. Once he says the name of the
student they come up and Mr. Jacobs awards them with a coupon code in which they can redeem
for a prize. Then the student gets sent off before anyone else to be the leader of the line so they
can walk back to class. Once the teacher shows up Mr. Jacobs sends off the rest of the students in
which they stand in line.

So What? (What did you learn from the observation? What important ideas immerged from observation?). In
this section, you should describe your feelings, ideas, and analysis of what you observed in the classroom. This
usually should happen quite a while after the observation, so that the events have time to resonate more with you for
reflection.
Dimitri Archipov
April 20, 2019
Dr. Burris
Reflection

Each of the following questions must be answered:

 The Classroom Environment: How was the room set up for the lesson? What was different this time or from
your own past classroom environments? Did the set up play a part in the success of the lesson? What might
have been changed to make it better?
 The Students: Do you think they learned what they were trying to learn? Did the lesson reach each student
individually? What were some of the differences among the students and how could they have been
addressed differently, perhaps?
 The Teacher: What methods did the teacher use and were they effective? What things did he/she do to help
students learn? Do you agree with his/her approach? Why or why not? How did they use their voice/body
language? Did they manage the class well in your opinion?
 The Lesson: Were the different components of the lesson complement and build on one another? Did the
methods help or hinder the learning of the objective, do you think? What parts of the lesson worked? Didn’t
work?

Response
First, I’m going to start with the classroom environment. The room setup for the lesson is a bit
funky. When I come in when everyone is having lunch in the gym we are forced to start outside.
There is a big ramada outside which provides adequate space for the lesson. Then halfway
through the second class we move back inside the gym. Its not that big of a deal because the gym
and the ramada is so close to each other so it really isn’t a problem. Next is how Mr. Jacobs sets
up the area before the students come and sit down. He places 6 colored plates down in a row that
are numbered 1-6. These are squads and each student are assigned a squad during the first week
of school. This is the setup of the room in which the rest is just open space for the students to
complete the activities. This was different from my past classroom experiences because when I
was in PE, we didn’t have this squad system. Instead we were just gathered in a group and we
were told what to do. This set up plays a part in the success of the lesson because it makes sure
the students are organized and avoids the environment from being crowded. What might have
been changed to make it better is to have a designated space for PE. This is so we wouldn’t have
to keep transitioning from inside to outside and so Mr. Jacobs can decorate the room how he
wants it to help make it a better suited environment for the students.

Next, we are going to move on to the students. I think they learned what they were trying to learn
as just by observing the students you can visually see them succeeding in whatever the activity
is. In my opinion I think its easier to see the successes of students in PE because since PE is
about having fun while also learning how to do physical things such as playing basketball, as a
teacher you can see visually see them improving right away. I don’t believe the lesson reached
each student individually because as Mr. Jacobs was explaining the lesson you can visually see
that on some students faces, they were confused. Also, with some students you can tell that some
of them just don’t care about the activity at all. Sometimes they will bother other students and
show no desire or interest to put effort into the activity. Some of the differences among the
students is that some of the students were hyperactive. In warmups when everyone will be
jogging around there is at least one student who is sprinting as fast as they can, and they will be
screaming. Once everyone freezes, they will still be moving their legs or swinging their arms or
some sort of motion. Next are the students who blurt out random saying while Mr. Jacobs is
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April 20, 2019
Dr. Burris
Reflection

talking, talks to someone right next to them loud, and be just disrespectful in general. Mr. Jacobs
shuts this kind of behavior down immediately right when it happens to discourage the student
from doing it again. These types of students can be addressed differently by pulling them aside
during class and tell them what they are doing wrong and what they need to be doing right. Also,
these students just need to be told to not talk to remind them that this is not a time to be being
disrespectful.

Thirdly, is the teacher. Mr. Jacobs uses various methods to make sure the students understand
what they need to know and complete. The first method in which is unavoidable as a PE teacher
is to let the students move around freely in a designated area. This allows the students to be pick
a comfortable area to complete the given activity. The next method is giving verbal instruction to
the students as a group. This makes sure the students are using their eyes and ears so they can
replicate what they saw and heard during the activity. Finally, the last method is differentiated
instruction in which Mr. Jacobs will explain the set of instructions differently to students he
visually sees are struggling with the activity. All these methods are effective because since they
are diverse and appeal to different types of learners it makes sure that students with different
learning styles are accommodated for. The things that Mr. Jacob did to help students learn was to
visually show to the class an example of what they are expected to do during the activity. This
makes sure the students visually see what they need to do and use what they saw and heard as a
guide to replicate it. Also, he used a lot of mnemonics to helps get the students attention and to
also help them remember actions that they do during warmups every time they come to PE. For
example, when he has everyone freeze after everyone is done running he says “Strechability
is…” and the class would finish the phrase by saying “flexibility” Then he prompts everyone to
start stretching by starting off with whatever stretch he shows to the class to replicate. I agree
with my mentor teachers approach because he teachers in a variety of ways to make sure
everyone is learning and understanding. Also, he gets a lot of students come up to him after class
and tell him thanks for the lesson and for helping them. Mr. Jacobs would use his classroom
voice when he is talking to everyone in their squads before the lesson starts. Then once the
lesson starts and everyone is spaced out, he starts to project his voice loudly and firm. When he
is giving instruction everything he says is with tone and inflection to make sure everyone hears
him and to make sure he isn’t boring the students with a monotone voice. Once a student starts to
act up and he pulls the student aside and talks to them he doesn’t scream at them. Instead he uses
a calm tone but a heightened volume to warn the student they are close from a timeout. I agree
how he uses his voice because it communicates a lot of different things to students. My mentor
teacher is very expressive with his body language. Mr. Jacobs emotions flow through his body
language. When he wants a student to get back on task, he will look at them with a made face
with his hands on his hips to tell the student to get back to work. This is great because you don’t
have to yell at a student to get back to work and potentially make matters worse in certain
situations. In my opinion my mentor teacher managed the class well as everything was organized
and he made it clear to the students that bad behavior won’t be tolerated with.

Lastly is the lesson plan. The different components of the lesson built on each other. At the
beginning of the lesson we will usually start with the basics of the new unit that we are starting
on. Then throughout the lesson Mr. Jacobs would add a couple more aspects to the activity in
Dimitri Archipov
April 20, 2019
Dr. Burris
Reflection

which the student would have to complete what they replicated at the beginning of the activity
and a couple more components that Mr. Jacobs would introduce as the lesson goes on. Its perfect
for making sure the students are remembering what they learned earlier in the activity and to also
make them focus on the new components to make sure they understand the concept completely.
In my opinion the methods helped the learning of the objective because since the objectives are
kinesthetically orientated it complements the methods perfectly and offers a variety of instruction
for everyone. The parts of the lesson that worked was how the different components of the
activity helped build on each other. Also, the warmups worked because it geared the students to
make them think that this is time for PE, so it helps them adjust the way they think to a different
subject. The parts of the lesson that don’t work is awarding students with a coupon code because
from the classes I have observed it doesn’t seem to motivate students to behave to get it.

Now What?
(How does this impact you in your future activities as a teacher? What do you need to learn more about? What
would you like to change?). In this part, you should consider how this information and observation impacts your
future as a potential teacher. What things do you need to learn or would like to know more about? What will it take
to accomplish this?

Each of the following questions must be answered:

How did this experience impact your views about education, teaching, or learning? What did you learn about
yourself as a teacher from this experience? What things changed/stayed the same? What things would you like to
learn more about as a possible professional in this field? What ways would you go about learning these things or
finding this information?

Response
This experience impacted my views about how important learning is because to be put in this
environment and to look at the students from a teachers point of view made me realize how
important that everyone goes to school so they can develop and go through various experiences
in a safe environment. Without education people would be lost and won’t be fully developed
intellectually and may not succeed in the real world. What I learned about myself as a teacher
from this experience is that I’m not afraid to talk to students and help them. I loved helping a
student and then watching them succeed in which that gave me the best feeling in the world. The
things that changed was the vocabulary that I used when talking to students, using more body
language and changing the way I think when teaching. The vocabulary I am currently using is
basic vocabulary in which students can understand. Also, the way that I think when I’m teaching
is, I will look around for struggling students and assist them. I will constantly ask myself “what
will help them understand the best” which works out for me most of the time. The things that
remained the same was how I used my voice and doing research at home to create new activities
to propose to my teacher. The things that I would like to learn more about is how to be efficient,
how to use my time more wisely and how to communicate better. These three things in my
opinion are vital in becoming a great teacher. The ways I would approach in finding this
information is to ask other teachers, scour the internet and to attend professionalism teaching
classes to make sure I am maximizing my potential. After gathering this information, I will then
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April 20, 2019
Dr. Burris
Reflection

implement it into my teaching by trying different approaches and methods and recording the
results of each one.