Sunday, 21 April 2013

Justification of unit


There are four main domains for facilitating Teaching for effective learning (Tfel), learning for effective teaching, creating safe conditions for rigorous learning, developing expert learners, and personalizing and connecting learning. To illustrate quality teaching within my unit plan I will run through the key domains and demonstrate where and how each part of the Tfel framework is being implemented. 
Domain 1- Learning for effective teaching
In my role as a leader of learning (instructional leader) I will develop awareness of myself as a learner and a leader (Department of Education and Children’s Services, 2010) by continually planning and developing, in order to create strong, safe learning environments. I will understand that my preferences for thinking, learning and leading will shape my lessons and that this leadership must be strong and positive. It is important to have clear goals and that the students are aware of these goals. Leadership will define the unit, so in order to be successful I will continually develop strategies to enhance my leadership and its effect on learning within my classroom. I will develop an appreciation of the differing strengths and dispositions of my students in relation to their learning and adjust plans to suit their needs. Tasks will be aimed at drawing out these strengths and acknowledging the subsequent good work of students. Students will be given opportunities to extend their learning practically, theoretically, and strategically through the use of differentiated task options. The volleyball journals will give students (and the teacher) a chance to reflect on their learning and give feedback in future planning of units and lessons. As students are entering the senior strand of SACSA they will be given more responsibility and therefore be actively encouraged to have discussions and debates with minimal teacher guidance. Students learning will be aided by the use of specific and memorable teaching cues for example to help students remember the “W” formation, the “westside” hand signal and call (see video) are used, which allows for students to easily remember the “W” formation for receiving the ball in volleyball. Another useful way of aiding students learning is to provide information through a number of outlets in order to cater for the differing styles of learning. For the volleyball unit I will be providing audial cues before, during and after games and practice tasks, technically sound demonstrations throughout the lessons when required for clarification or consolidation (If you cannot personally show “correct” technique then use a YouTube clip), and finally a whiteboard will be used to give students a clear understanding of formations, positioning, and tactics that are required. Another key aspect to this unit of volleyball will be the implementation and encouragement of guided discovery, which will enable the students to personally discover each tactic or movement during the games. This will give students a deeper understanding of the required tactics and formations and enrich their overall learning experience. Guided discovery also encourages students to become more independent learners, allowing them to work with less teacher instruction and at higher levels. For the effective teaching of this unit I will need to utilise my strong level of content knowledge. Strong content knowledge will allow for my instruction and leadership to be more efficient and effective. With strong content knowledge students also become more comfortable, as they know that you are teaching them well.  While constructing this unit I was heavily involved in a number of professional learning communities. Professional learning communities like The PE GEEK, and FLO (discussions with peers) help in a number of ways, including being able to work collaboratively, a valuable source of ideas, and great for answering any questions that arise.  Being involved in professional learning communities is a great way to share experiences and develop units and lessons that are proven to be effective. During the unit students will be given information on local community clubs where they can play volleyball (or other sports) and be encouraged to investigate these. Community clubs will also be approached to provide a spokesperson or guest teacher to come to a lesson and spruik their club. Encouraging community participation is an important aspect of the SACSA framework, and would fall under all of the Health and Physical Education strands (physical activity and participation, health of individuals and communities & personal and social development) if students get involved.
Domain 2- Teaching for effective learning: Create safe conditions for rigorous learning
For effective teaching and learning it is important to develop a safe and autonomous learning environment as well as forming democratic relationships. In order to nurture these relationships it is important to construct a unit that allows for student input and suggestions. Giving students a say in the classroom both empowers and motivates them, while also giving them a sense of belonging within the class. A key aspect to any relationship is healthy debate, within an effective classroom, ideas and theories will be unwaveringly, yet sensitively debated to ensure that all students’ opinions are heard and respected. Learning is not black and white, so norms should be questioned if it improves learning. During this unit students will be encouraged to work together and share ideas in order to form a learning community. Often students when working in a community of learners can solve problems that they otherwise would have asked the teacher, consequently giving them more independence and the teacher more time to assist learning challenged students. Besides forming a community of learners, students will be given the tools and strategies to become more independent learners. Encouraging independence will help in their transition from year 10 into year 11, where independent learning and study is crucial to success, and ultimately in their post school lives of adulthood. A key to being an effective and independent learner is to continually question things, for example why is that formation more effective? How can I improve my technique through the use of biomechanics? Etc. Another way to foster  safe learning conditions is to structure work to suit students zone of proximal development or readiness, this can be done by differentiating learning tasks in order to keep students at a level where they are all motivated and challenged appropriately. Tasks can also be differentiated by interest and learning styles in order to increase motivation. An example of a task differentiated by interest could be offering different practice tasks such as spiking, blocking, digging, which will give the student the opportunity to choose which area interests them more. The assessment tasks included in the unit are also differentiated for interest giving students the option of a PowerPoint presentation, a video presentation, or an online blog style poster. The depth of analysis can also be altered to cater for different levels of readiness. Students who complete this unit will be pushed beyond their comfort zones resulting in increased motivation and a deeper understanding/connection to the content. Whilst students will be pushed, it is also paramount that they all achieve success in order to encourage lifelong physical activity, personal development, and community participation.

Domain 3- Teaching for effective learning: Develop expert learners
As opposed to the “traditional” style of teaching physical education, my unit will have a game sense and TGFU (teaching games for understanding) pedagogy. Using these new pedagogies allows the students to cultivate a deeper understanding as well as developing sound tactical skills and knowledge. A games sense approach allows teachers to use games as the focus of the session. By focusing on the game, rather than on technique and skill practice, players are encouraged to become more tactically conscious and make better decisions during the game, as well as beginning to think tactically about game concepts whilst developing skills within an accurate context and most importantly, having fun. Essentially by focusing on the game (not necessarily the 'full' game), players are encouraged to develop a greater understanding of the game being played. Therefore players/students are more tactically aware and for that reason are able to make better decisions during the game. At the same time skills are being developed within a realistic and fun context rather than practice in isolation (Towns, 2002). To implement TGFU successfully a teacher needs to have a strong knowledge of the sport in relation to sequence of skills, tactics and strategies (Hopper & Kruisselbrink, 2002). It’s paramount that a teacher implements a suitable progression sequence of skills to develop student’s game knowledge, tactical awareness and problem solving skills (Hopper & Kruisselbrink, 2002). In the volleyball unit the progression of skills students learn and develop was created using research and knowledge of the game. Another way to for students’ to develop a deeper understanding is to promote dialogue as a means of learning, for example Learners are asked to actively engage with the content being learned rather than being reliant on the teacher for learning. Ideas are presented to learners as open questions to be reflected on and integrated into the learner's own context (Vella, 2004). This promotion of dialogue as a means of learning encourages independent learning and gives students a sense of ownership with their learning.

Domain 4- Teaching for effective learning: Personalise and connect learning
Making learning personal and being able to connect it to other subjects, aspects of life etc. is crucial to effective teaching. This will be achieved in my unit of volleyball by connecting learning to students’ lives and aspirations by demonstrating how it will be useful to them in a multiple number of ways, not just when they play volleyball. This can be done firstly through the idea of transfer of knowledge, where it is commonly known that there are certain types of games/sports that are similar to each other and therefore there will be some knowledge that can be transferred between these games e.g. other net games like tennis, badminton will use similar tactics and formations to volleyball. The notion of teaching sports with a tactical approach will be useful to all students in their everyday lives as well, because life is not straightforward therefore you have to devise tactics and strategies to best deal with situations that may arise. Strategic and tactical thinking is a must for anyone in the business sector, so most questioning and thinking skills covered in this unit will be transferable to the real world, at least loosely. Another great aspect to this unit of volleyball is the ability to assess students’ performance during game situations (Mitchell et al, 2006) rather than through drills, this form of assessment gives the teacher a much better idea of whether the student can perform the skills when they need to, not just during drills.
References:
Department of Education and Children’s Services (2009) Building Learning Power conference, Adelaide, 19 March 2009. Conference papers. Teaching for Effective Learning Team, Curriculum Services, DECS, South Australia
Department of Education and Children’s Services (2010) SA TfEL Review Tools handbook. DECS, Adelaide
Department of Education Training and Employment, (2001). SACSA framework. Retrieved from website: http://www.sacsa.sa.edu.au/index_fsrc.asp?t=CB
Hopper, T., & Kruisselbrink, D. (n.d.). Teaching games for understanding: What does it look like and how does it. (2002).
Mitchell , S., Oslin, J., & Griffin, L. (2006). Teaching sport concepts and skills:
A tactical games approach. (2nd ed.). Human Kinetics.
Towns, J. (2002). Game sense. Retrieved from http://www.activehealth.uow.edu.au/gamesense/
Vella, J. (2004). Dialogue education at work: a case book. John Wiley & Sons.

Resources for South Australia


Resources

Active for Life

Australian Council for Health Physical Education and Recreation (ACHPER)


Children's Health 
Development Foundation
South Australian 

Department of Human Services

Sports Medicine Australia


Australian Sports Drug Agency

Australian Sports Commission

Active Australia

Active Australia Schools Network (AASN)

Home Economics Institute of Australia

National Heart Foundation 

SPARC Disability 
Foundation

Human Kinetics

 Volleyball SA


Year 10 Volleyball Lesson Plan (SACSA)


Learning Area: Physical Education
Unit Topic: Volleyball Specialisation.
Year Level: Year 10

Tactical problem – Attacking as a team

Lesson Focus- Serve receive as a team

Objective- Serve receive and transition to attack.

Curriculum Outcomes:
Value learning in, about and through movement.

Students develop their physical skills and abilities to advanced levels to enable lifelong involvement in physical activity and critically reflect on their ability to use them to form relationships in an increasing involvement in the community. [Id] [In] [KC1]
Students develop a sense of optimism about creating an active, healthy future for themselves and others in the community through generating and analysing ideas and planning and organising activities to maintain and improve fitness and health. [F] [In] [T] [KC1] [KC3]

Lesson Outline:
50 min lesson involving small volleyball games and a full game where students will work as a team both small and large to achieve their best result in both the serving skill, receiving the serve and in game play.


Focus Area:
Games and sports: including sport-specific skills, creating games, team-play concepts, roles in sports, personal and interpersonal skills developed through sport, patterns of sport participation, and benefits of sport participation to individuals and communities, and enhancing sports performances.


Teaching Objectives/Aims:
For the students to acquire, apply and evaluate movement skills, concepts and strategic awareness in order to respond creatively, competently and safely in a variety of physical activity contexts and settings. Students will learn these movement skills through game sense play and some skill work around the serve.


Introduction - Warm up 10mins:
Warm up will involve students getting into teams of three and playing the small game they played last week against another team of three. Only using half of a court but have teams on both sides of the net.
They will have one person underarm toss the volleyball to the setter who sets to the attacker to get the ball over the net. They will do this for 5 mins to refresh their memories of the game of volleyball and the aim.
For the next 5 minutes they will incorporate the serve instead of the toss to the setter to start the game, they also did this last week but as the serve is an important aspect of the game we will focus on it again and in more depth today.
This will start getting the receiver’s use to moving for the ball and setting up for attack but in a smaller space.

Student key Questions-
What do they know about the serve, its role in the game of volleyball?
Rules involved?
Which serve is more beneficial the underarm or overarm?

The teacher will then ask a student who has good skills to come up and demonstrate the over arm serve going through some key points with them such as – tossing the ball high on the arm with their non-hitting arm, stepping forward as to gain momentum, raising their hitting arm high and straight and hitting the ball with an open palm.

Learning Activity 15mins - Serving activity. 
This will be an introductory activity into the serve. Students will work in teams of three still as to not disrupt them and use up time allocating teams again.
The students will play a small sided game where the aim is to gain points.
They will set up having one person serving the ball from the green line before the back line - to give them more opportunity to get the ball over the net.
The other two people will be on the other side of the net -
One in the receiving position one in the setting position.
If the receiver manages to get a pass up from the serve the receiver gets 1 point, if they then get it to the setter and another hit is made its 2 points.
 If the server gets the ball over and the receiver gets it but doesn’t make a play out of it its 1 point and if it’s an ace its 3 points.
The setter doesn’t get points whilst in that position. Have students keep score.

Rotate after 5 serves each. After each person has had a go push back to serve behind the volleyball court back line and play again. Try to ensure students are overarm serving.
At this stage add in that the server can now receive a point if they can move down the court and receive the ball from the hitter when it comes back over the net – this will teach the importance of being prepared and off-the ball movement skills.

Teaching points –
Walk around the gym and ensure all students are serving within the rules eg. Releasing the ball before hitting it and not stepping over the line.
Continue reinforcing key points about the serve.

Student Key questions-
Why is the W formation best for receiving the Volleyball?
Does this formation leave much space on the court?
When receiving a serve how should you be positioned?
Why does this position give you a higher success rate?

Learning Activity – 10 mins

Game 1

Setup- 6 v 6

Goal- Set up to attack

Conditions-
  • Full court
  • Regulation rules
  • Initiate game from a free ball from the server position
  • Rally score

Questions-

Q- What is the best way to organise your team to receive the serve?
A- Use the W serve-receive formation, playing positions

Q- How does using a serve-receive formation help your team?
A- It helps with communication and all players know their roles.

Teaching points-
Get low to the ground with arms out in front – demonstrate.
Stay on toes to allow ease of movement towards the ball.
Ensure you are taking up as much space on the court as possible in your W formation.

Conclusion Activity/Full game play – 10mins

Setup- 6 v 6
Conditions-
  • Normal rules.
  • Full court


Exit Questions:
What are 3 things you learnt about the serve today?
Why is the W formation important?

Special Considerations:
If students are struggling to get the ball over the net they may use the underarm serve and if needed step closer to the net.

Evidence of student Progress:
Students should understand the importance of the serve in the game of volleyball and successfully initiate a game using it. After this lesson you should also see students who have served quickly move themselves back onto the court ready for defence. This will show that students understand the important off the ball play in the game of volleyball. 

Resources:

Department of Education Training and Employment, (2001). Sacsa framework. Retrieved from website: http://www.sacsa.sa.edu.au/index_fsrc.asp?t=CB

Volleyball- Lesson 20 from Mitchell, S. Oslin, J & Griffin, L (2006) Teaching sport concepts and skills: A tactical games approach, 2nd Ed, Human Kinetics

Appendices


Exit card


1.     Something you found challenging this lesson
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2.     Something you really enjoyed this lesson
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3.     Something you did not like this lesson
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Volleyball Skill Assessment Checklist



Descriptors
clarifications
No evidence
rarely
inconsistently
occasionally
usually
Constantly
Preparation for play
Suitable attire / assists with equipment set up / completes in adequate warm ups and cool downs.






Skills
Passing
Good ready positions / watches the ball off their opponents hands / moves early to cover position / presents flat platform / little arm swing / directs the ball forward / loops the ball to the target zone.






Setting
Moves under the ball / has hands up early in the ‘open diamond’ position / receives the ball above the head / plays the ball accurately with appropriate loop.






Serving
Uses a settling routine / makes good contact with the ball / directs the ball to the target zone / demonstrates variation.






Spiking
Approach is dynamic and well-timed / swings and lifts both arms to maximise height / contact at full extension / strong contact / wrist snap on ball / variation of execution.






Communication and teamwork
Includes all teammates / calls early and clearly / encourage teammates / positive outlook / uses specific call (‘mine’, ‘in’, ‘out’, ‘help’ etc.) in appropriate game scenarios.






Strategies and tactics
Receiving formation basic W
Students know their position in the formation / students understand where they move along with the roles in each position.






Advanced receiving formation
Able to demonstrate abstract plays which utilise player strength and opposition anticipation






Transition from receive to attack
Demonstrate appropriate movement and set ups in order to maximise preparation into attack






Transition from attack to defence
Demonstrate appropriate movement and set up which enables greatest amount of court coverage / demonstrate ability to anticipate play prior to execution






Coordination between front and back court
Players demonstrate cohesiveness in movement patterns for specific game scenarios








Biomechanics Assignment

Choose 1 key skill from the game of volleyball e.g. Dig, spike, set, block, serve.
You are to perform the given skill to the best of your ability, and you will be given time to practice this skill during practical lessons. Once you believe you are competent, your skill will be recorded. Your assignment is to be presented in digital format (video, PowerPoint presentation, or Blog style online poster)

Upon viewing your skill execution, you are required to complete the following tasks:
  1. Outline the demonstrated biomechanical principles and explain how they are used (10 marks)
  2. Compare your skill to a technically “perfect” athlete (explore YouTube for these videos) (10 marks)

Once completed, you are to “intervene” your skill execution. This means, you are to coach yourself to become more proficient. In biomechanical analysis, the key is to make this a simple progression through the skill requirements. Therefore, you are required to:
  1. Outline key technical teaching points of your chosen skill
-       Preparation, Execution, Follow through (10 marks)

4. Transfer these teaching points into your skill
-       Demonstrate how you would coach yourself to learn the required skill / perform the skill at a higher level.
-       These teaching points must be related to Biomechanical principles. (10 marks)



Biomechanics Assignment Rubric

Fail 1
0-39%
Fail 2
40-49%
Pass
50-64%
Credit
65-74%
Distinction
75-84%
H.Distinction
85%-100%
Content knowledge
Breadth of understanding
(correct use of terms and concepts)
30%






Content complexity
Depth of understanding (Appropriate level of analysis and review)
30%






Illustrations, Tables and Diagrams
(Presented creatively, clearly and effectively)
30%






Language features – grammar, punctuation, spelling & paragraphing
10%








Volleyball Journal

Each week (1-5) as a homework task students are required to construct a volleyball journal.
The journal will consist of independent research on the following items:
Each should be a minimum of 100 words.
  • Week 1 - The Rules of volleyball
  • Week 2 - The history of volleyball
  • Week 3 - Information on either a local player or coach
  • Week 4 - Information on a international player or coach
  • Week 5 - A set play you have learned in practical lessons (include diagrams)