Since my pre-assessment involved both a cognitive/affective component and a motor skill component, and this took place the day after my prior pre-assessment field test, I obviously didn't bother giving my make-shift phys ed class the same written assessment, as I would have gotten the exact same answers. I did, however, take them through the full "Day 1" of my volleyball unit plan. After having been exposed to the basics yesterday, they had a bit of a head start on the lesson, whereas, in reality, students would have not had the instruction prior to Day 1. That being said, though, here's how it went....
After returning home from the previous day's activity (assessing my pre-assessment), I remembered later that night that in order for the full lesson to be implemented as best as possible, I needed to have a student "expert" on the basics of the principles of the bump pass. Luckily Teresa (always the responsible one of the group) volunteered to be the expert and preview the basics of the bump with the class the next day. (In the real version, every student gets a chance to be the expert on a particular skill by the end of the unit.)
So to start off today's class, I began with my "Instant Activity" to get everyone warmed up and in the mood to move around. Today's instant activity was "Gator Tag". Normally 1/3 of the class is “it” and has a tennis ball. The rest of the class must avoid being tagged. If you are tagged, you are “it” and must chase others, trying to tag them. Anyone who is “it” when the whistle blows loses the game. With such a small group, of course (1/3 of 5 is less than 2) they played with only one person being "it". So in essence this turned into your typical everyday game of "tag" that we've all played as kids. Amazingly, they actually got into it (with a little extra tomfoolery) and were quite warmed up after 5 minutes of this (on the sand, of course). We followed this with a light active stretch routine. So far, so good.
Next I had Teresa brief the others on the basics of the bump motor skill (knees bent, two choices for hand positioning, etc...). She did a great job of this and when I quizzed the group randomly on some of the principles, they responded perfectly. In a real class, I would have also had students read up and try to remember the basics of the rules of volleyball before class, as well, but in this case I just briefed them on the rules (which, luckily, they already had a good idea of). In fact, I just found this nice guide to the basics, which I would shorten to include only the pages students would need:
http://www.tristatevolunteers.org/sports/guidetovbbasics.pdf
http://www.tristatevolunteers.org/sports/guidetovbbasics.pdf
Following my demonstration of the technique (as I had done yesterday) it was time for the students to practice the skill in a cooperative group. The goal, of course, was to keep the ball in the air using ONLY the bump technique - which can get quite hard when you haven't had a lot of experience with how much force to put into it. Needless to say we upset a few sunbathers along the way. This was a good chance for me to provide some extra support and practice my own instruction of the skill. Robyn, for example, had a tendency for the ball to gently roll off her arms and over the side, or somehow repeatedly "caught" the ball between her elbows. Her main issue was that her elbows were too loose and not close enough together. She naturally still struggled, but I was able to at least help her remember the proper positioning for the rest of the day. For those who kept knocking it almost into the Pacific Ocean, my consistent (but seemingly unheeded) message was to "let the ball hit you and use your legs to reflect it, rather than thinking of swinging at it". It felt good to actually get to instruct someone on the techniques. You really start to get a sense of what common errors will be.
In regard to assessment in a real class situation, I would be watching students during the bumping drills. I realized during this activity that - in a class of 40 (or more?) students, this may be difficult. I decided that in the future, I should set it up so that I have a chance to see every student perform the skill at least once. To do this, I could have the "initial tosser" rotate systematically and toss it directly to the person across from him/her. This way, it would cycle around th group so that I would have a chance to at least see everyone perform the skill once. I would be rating them based on the rubric below:
We regrouped for a quick "2 minute drill" to answer any questions (serious ones anyway!...you'd think adults would be easier to manage!....all good practice though). Following the 2 minute drill, the lesson plan calls for a competitive team game, in which small groups see how long they can keep the ball up in the air without letting it drop. With only one small group, I had them compete against themselves for best time. This worked pretty well and they enjoyed the activity. I do think it would have been more motivating if there was another team to compete against.
We ended with another quick static stretch, while I asked each student to name one thing they learned today. (Again....some pretty silly answers...I'll spare you). The verbal surveying was in place of journal writing, since we did not have journals to write in.
All in all, I believe the lesson went well and is quite well designed. I'm wondering if, in a real class, the timed bump skill game will be motivating and engaging enough for students. I'm also wondering if, with such little practice, this times game might not work so well. (I'm imagining a lot of the rounds of this game ending after 3 seconds). Professor Anderson suggested teaching all of the skills in one day and assessing them as I go along in various skill games. This would allow me to get students into full volleyball games sooner. That is something that I guess I'll have to judge over time,
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