effective_teaching_strategies

Effective

Teaching strategies for standards-based instruction

Effective Teaching and Classroom Management in Physical Education

complexity of games & physical activities

Many abilities are required to participate in meaningful activities.

• Psychomotor skills
• Ability to use skills under variable conditions
• Ability to combine skills with locomotor movement
• Ability to combine skills with non-locomotor movement
• Skill to make a play on an object with a less-than-ideal setup
• Ability to select the most appropriate skill for a situation
• Tactics for winning points or defending a goal
• Knowledge of rules

Several Factors Influence What to Include in Instructional Units

Age of learner

Skill of learner

Desired level of competence at the conclusion of the unit

Research indicates:

Teachers don’t have time to teach every sport and activity.

Should teach a variety of units to meet the needs and preferences of all students.

It takes time for students to develop competence in a sport or activity.

Length of the Unit

If possible, select units that students do not already know or participate in.

Research indicates:

If teachers want to teach more units, select units with less difficult skills.

Complex activities with difficult skills take longer to teach.

After a unit, students should have enough competence to play a game or do an activity.

Length of the Unit

They should have sufficient skills to enjoy participating in it.

The Age of the Learner Affects What is Taught

It takes time to learn skills.

• Strength is a factor in developing movement competence.

Younger students may need modified equipment or are better suited for activities requiring less strength.

Slower movements are easier to learn.

Keep activities simple for younger students.

Teach more challenging activities to older students.

• This maximizes learning and the impact of physical education.

The Skill Level of the Learner Affects What Is Taught

If students lack general motor competence, they cannot build on these skills for more complex skills that relate to them.

Begin instruction at the level students need for success.

Teach fewer units to less skilled students to provide them with opportunities for success.

For students with prior experience in a sport, build on this knowledge.

• Greater initial skill means you can teach more skill and expect higher levels of competence from students when the unit ends.

Desired Level of Competence

Physical education is not meant to prepare students for varsity sport.

Standard 1 states that students should be competent movers.

The goal of physical education is to provide the movement experiences needed to enjoy playing a game or doing an activity in a recreational setting.

Programs that focus only on keeping students active are inappropriate because they are not educational.

Desired Level of Competence

The goal of physical education should be to create competent movers who are confident in their ability to participate in a variety of meaningful activities as adults.

Identifying what to teach:

• When planning a unit of instruction, begin by identifying content knowledge needed for successful participation.
• Analyze how skills are used in the game.
• Identify cognitive learning needed.

• Identify any affective-domain dispositions appropriate for the unit.
• Develop the order of instruction for what you intend to teach.

Types of Tasks Used to Teach Lesson Content

Informing tasks

Extension tasks

Refinement tasks

Application tasks

Include:

They are used to start a lesson or skill sequence

They include the organization of what students will do when they start the learning sequence.

• Where they will practice
• Number of students with whom to practice
• Rotation of students when practicing

Informing Tasks

When introducing a task, limit the number of critical elements needed for initial skill performance.

Extension Tasks

Change task difficulty.

• Can make it harder or easier.

When teachers introduce a skill, they typically present it without task variability.

Extension tasks increase task variability and eventually approach the skill needed for game play or a performance.

Sometimes it is necessary to decrease task difficulty when learners struggle.

Extension Tasks

When developing a teaching progression, the goal is to increase difficulty such that with practice, students are successful.

Tasks in the progression must increase in difficulty so that students eventually learn the skill and can use it in context.

Tasks that do too little to increase difficulty are time-inefficient and can lead to student boredom.

Tasks that increase difficulty too much frustrate students, causing them to give up and stop participating.

• If the task is too difficult, add an intermediate step that is easier.

Task Modification

Teachers should modify task difficulty, not the students.

• If teachers allow students to modify a task, students learn that they don’t need to follow teacher directions.

Learning progressions fall apart, and students fail to learn the designated skills.

• Teachers are unable to develop appropriate task progressions for future lessons.

When teachers give students choices, they allow modifications.

• More competent movers can select the more difficult task.
• All students are successful and challenged.

Ways to Modify Task Difficulty

Include:

Modify equipment

Combination of skill

Change the size of the playing or performing area or field

Change the intent of practice

Change the number of people involved

Modify rules

Ways to Modify Task Difficulty

Include:

Change practice conditions

Break a skill into its parts

When Learning Skills, Students Need to Develop Correct Form

Form breaks prevent students from getting beyond basic levels of play.

Critical elements are the important qualities of correct form for a skill.

Increased numbers of critical elements add complexity to skill performance.

Stages of Learning (Fitts and Posner)

COGNITIVE STAGE

The cognitive stage is the beginning stage of skill acquisition, when learners must think about each critical element they perform.

When teachers introduce a skill, they must limit the number of critical elements they provide to students.

When giving feedback to beginners, focus on only those critical elements provided.

• This is called congruent feedback.

Stages of Learning

ASSOCIATIVE STAGE

At this stage, students can do the task without thinking about each discrete step.

Teachers add more critical elements using refinement tasks.

Depending on task difficulty, multiple refinement tasks are given.

Refinement tasks are interspersed with extension tasks.

• Teachers can provide them as needed to improve the quality of the skill performance.
• Sometimes teachers do not include them on the progression because it is difficult to anticipate when they will be presented.

Stages of Learning

AUTONOMOUS STAGE

At this stage the skill is automatic.

• Students have good form and can use it in a variety of situations.

Students don’t need to focus on the production of a skill but how it is used in an applied setting.

Cues

Cues are shortened versions of critical elements.

Cues can change as skills become more difficult.

• They are easier for students to remember.

• Example: Trunk rotation is needed to increase force on a smash.

Certain terms like ready position apply to multiple sports but mean slightly different things.

When presenting tasks, start by explaining what the feet are doing and work your way up the body.

• Teachers can clarify the meaning for the respective sport or activity.

Application Tasks

The task is for students to use the skill(s) in meaningful games or activities.

The task must also include a challenge such as doing the skill in a certain amount of time, for a certain distance, etc.

The focus is on using the skill rather than performing it with the correct form.

Examples:

• Doing dances to music
• Playing a game
• Skill assessments: Shooting 10 baskets in a row

Guidelines for Delivering Content

What is the nature of the activity? How are students expected to use the skills and knowldge learned?

What is the nature of the activity? How are students expected to use the skills and knowldge learned?

Give feedback

Give verbal directions

What is the nature of the activity? How are students expected to use the skills and knowldge learned?

What is the nature of the activity? How are students expected to use the skills and knowldge learned?

Gain the attention of the learner

Check for understanding

Avoid distractions when presenting skills or teaching

Pinpoint

Effective demonstrations

Plan task progressions

Keep them simple

Monitor student practice and learning

10

Ask questions

Includes:

Feedback is a teacher interaction that follows student performance, which helps the learner decide what to do differently on the next practice trial.

• Did the ball land in bounds?

Knowledge of results: Provides information about the outcome of performance.

Giving Feedback

Knowledge of performance: Provides information about the quality of the performance.

• Was the skill performed correctly?
• Knowledge-of-performance feedback is augmented or extrinsic feedback.

Five Characteristics of Effective Instructional Feedback

05

04

03

01

02

Positive

Differential

Immediate

Precise

Frequent

More often is better when first learning a skill

The goal is to have three positive feedback statements to every negative or corrective statement.

Gives specific information about the behavior

More effective than delayed feedback

Shows how performance differed from a previous performance

Types of Feedback

Specific

Skill feedback

Behavior-related feedback

General

Given in response to a student's behavior (e.g., whether they are following rules and directions).

Includes information such as a critical element if it is feedback about a skill

A general comment about a skill or behavior. Tends to be less effective.

Given in response to a student doing a skill or psychomotor task.

Gaining the Attention of Students

Helpful Hints:

When giving tasks, if students will work with a group or partner, have them organize those individuals before explaining the task.

Talk with your back to the wall so that students focus on you and what you are saying.

Face the sun so that students are able to see what you are doing instead of squinting.

Wait for quiet before talking.

Position yourself away from noise.

Demonstrating Skills

Demonstrations give students a visual picture of what you want them to do.

They help ELL students understand directions.

Teachers can demonstrate or invite students to demonstrate.

If a teacher can’t do a skill well enough to demonstrate, ask a student to help.

Videos are useful for some demonstrations.

Sometimes safety concerns mean you shouldn’t demonstrate.

Demonstrating Skills

Teachers can demonstrate a skill slowly to emphasize key points or critical elements, even when they are not fully competent and able to use the skill in game play or in a performance.

If you demonstrate incorrect form (on purpose), follow it with a demonstration of correct performance so that the last thing students see before practice is the skill being performed correctly.

When possible, demonstrate in context or with a group of students.

Demonstrating Skills

After watching a demonstration, have students practice while repeating the cues of performance.

• Shadow drills done without a ball or object are useful for the initial stages of skill acquisition because they don’t need to worry about making contact with an object.

Make sure all students can see a demonstration.

• Rolling the lines rotates students so all will eventually be in the front row.
• Demonstrate a skill from various views (e.g., side, front, rear) so they know what it looks like from all angles.

Monitor Student Learning

It’s easiest to teach when all students are facing the same direction.

• Errors are more apparent when you see the performance that looks different from the others.

When circulating to give feedback or help students, keep your back to the wall so that you can see all students.

Scan the room to ensure you are not focusing on a small group of students.

• See the entire class.

Mirroring

Mirroring is monitoring students while you are facing them.

STEP 4

STEP 2

You can see that students are able to do the skill and determine whether they are ready for a new task.

You “mirror” the activity of students.

STEP 1

STEP 3

Perform the skill with the opposition hand from students.

Students can follow your actions while you are watching.

Verbal Directions

When explaining things, try to keep it under two minutes of talking at one time.

Keep talking briefly!

• When introducing the skill, the explanation might be longer.
• Use visuals (posters, demonstrations) to shorten talk time.

Less talk means that students have more time to practice.

Speak with enthusiasm.

Speak so students can hear.

• Be excited about what you are teaching.
• Avoid monotone talking.

Checking for understanding

Use explicit task statements when telling students what you want them to do.

• Performance
• Conditions or situation
• Criteria
• Students know when they are successful and have a goal to meet.

Checking for understanding means asking specific questions about what students will do and the order in which they will do it.

Pinpointing and Other Hints

Pinpointing

Task progressions

When teachers stop the class and point out students who are doing the task well.

Progressions should consist of a series of related tasks that gradually increase in difficulty.

If tasks are somewhat related, less teacher talk is needed to explain the next task.

content knowledge mapping (ward)

Ward and his colleagues identified four domains for content knowledge.

04

03

01

02

Domain 3

Domain 1

Domain 2

Domain 4

Knowledge of techniques and tactics

Knowledge about rules, safety, and etiquette

Knowledge about student errors

Knowledge of instructional tasks or pedagogical content knowledge

Asking Questions

Questions have different purposes in a lesson.

• Academic questions
• Relate to the content of the lesson
• Procedural questions
• Ask students about management and organizational issues
• Unrelated questions
• Have nothing to do with the class and basically waste class time

Frequency is more important than the level of thought required to respond (according to Bloom’s taxonomy) because questions keep students engaged.

Good Questioning Technique

Ask the question.

Pause.

• Allows all students a chance to figure out how they would answer.
• This is referred to as questioning wait time.

Identify the person to answer the question.

Guide the responder: If after wait time the student provides no or an incorrect answer, ask additional questions that guide the student to the correct response.

Good Questioning Technique

Avoid asking multiple questions: Two questions asked with no opportunity to respond to the previous question.

• Do not respond to or acknowledge students who call out answers.

• There are exceptions to this.

Do not allow students to call out an answer without your permission.

Choral response: When the teacher wants all students to respond as a group.

Popcorn: Used when brainstorming ideas to solve a problem and answer a question with no one correct answer.

Resources Must be Managed During Instruction

equipment

time

Space

• Spread students out when possible.
• When outdoors, mark off your playing area.

• Make every second count!
• Take attendance efficiently, give efficient demonstrations, and don’t make students wait for a turn.

If all students have equipment you maximize OTR.

Pacing

When given a new task, students usually have the highest response rates during the first two minutes.

• They get tired.
• Competent students get bored and start doing something else.
• Low-skilled students figure out they are not successful and give up.

Teachers should redirect students with new tasks to maximize response rates.

• Use refinement or extension tasks.

Includes:

The entire skill or task is presented at once.

Whole-task learning

Parts of the task are taught and then the parts are put together so the entire task is performed as an entity.

Part-whole learning

Start at the beginning of a complex skill and add parts until the whole sequence is learned.

Forward chaining

• Basketball layup starts with the dribble; the shot is taught last.

Use Motor Learning Concepts When Planning Tasks

• Start at the end of a complex skill and finish at the beginning.

Backward chaining

• The basketball layup starts with the shot; the dribble is taught last.

Assessment

Assessment is part of the instructional process, not an add-on.

Use a variety of assessments to enhance learning.

Finish classes on a high note.

• End with a task that students can successfully do.
• If possible, end with something fun and enjoyable that relates to the lesson.

Use class closure to preview the next lesson.

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