Thoughts towards Overall Unit

I have thoroughly enjoyed this unit and have gained a wide amount of knowledge, that I would be able to adopt into my future classes. Strategies and learning outcomes towards teaching have been highlighted to me and I will further adopt them into my classroom.

From a coaching view, this unit has opened my eyes to the different concepts coaches need to display and involve within their sessions. 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank John for teaching us these concepts and providing us feedback.

Week 13 - Long Term Athlete Development

Week 13 - Long Term Athlete Development

Long term athlete development is exactly that, the steps an athlete takes in order to get to where they need to be. To achieve goals and P.B’s does not happen overnight, there are strategies and outcomes put in place so an athlete can strive to do the best they can and get to where they want to be in the sporting world.

As mentioned by Identifying Excellent Coaching Practice along the sporting pathway, sports Participants indicated that excellent coaching practice for the talent development coaching environment: high performance is driven by results and is a decision making “game” demands a high level of programme management skills by the coach focuses on providing a positive and challenging learning environment, expects high levels of commitment from all involved demonstrates consistent, positive role modelling promotes open, honest relationships involves having a range of coaching styles.

Long term athlete development relies on the athlete developing their overall performance over a length of time. As a coach it is our responsibility to not only act as a mentor but also allow the athlete to share what they are thinking and what they want to get out of their sport of focus.

Week 12 – Mentoring

Week 12 – Mentoring

As seen in week six, it is essential that mentoring is re-visited and continued to be analysed appropriately. Mentoring is an important aspect in both teaching and coaching, without we would not be an asset to the profession.

Mentoring involves teaching others our technique and leaving it open for discussion and tweaking. It is important to ask questions as even teachers and coaches have parts to learn and improve in their profession. We are always learning; whether it is inside the classroom or outdoors.

A mentor is an important person in both teaching and coaching, they are the person the student or athlete looks up to and learn from when in the teaching/learning environment. 

Week 11 – Managing Data

Week 11 – Managing Data

Personalised performance observation involves exactly that – personalising your performance. This can be done in a number of ways when managing data. This term highlights to me the most effective ways when analysing an athlete’s performance. As each athlete is different not only in their field but individually, it is important to think of an array of different techniques when managing data.

Some examples of these can involve:

- Sensor data input = feedback of power, velocity

- Core modules = data entry, alerts (identifies over training, warns the athlete to stop to avoid injury), planner

- Optional Modules = advanced data (normative data for athlete advantage)

As a teacher and or a coach it is important that we have a good understanding managing data. In the classroom as a teacher it is appropriate to know where the students are on the educational scale. As a coach managing data is highly important as coaching highly involves taking in different numbers and keeping a record of the athlete’s performance. As a coach it is within our profession to have a great knowledge of managing various data as this is our job – our expertise.

Making sense of data also highlights to me the aspect of drawing the necessary data from the athlete analysis, and leaving behind the data that isn’t necessary in the athlete’s performance/success. An athlete should be able to access and visually view how far they have come both physically and mentally over a period of time. This is crucial for successful positive motivation.

Week 10 - Sharing and Presenting Information

Week 10 - Sharing and Presenting Information

Sharing and presenting information as noted within our week 10 lecture slides states that pedagogy acknowledges the interaction between how one learns, how one teaches, what is being taught and the context of what is being taught. This jumped out at me as every teacher teaches for a purpose, sharing and presenting information can be done in numerous ways it is crucial that the teacher finds the most appropriate means of understanding for their class.

We must ask ourselves; did the student learn from this experience? What did they get out of it? Because there is no point teaching a child something if they are not interested, we must take into account that each student has different learning styles and patterns and we should accommodate accordingly.

Sharing and presenting information can be done in numerous ways:

     

·       Group work

·         Individual work

·         Through the internet – blogging, wikkis

·         Pod casts

 Interacting with other students in the same subject area from other schools

There are more I could state, but we could be here all day. It is important to note that the presentation of information will be delivered differently by different students, students think different cognitively and this shows within the classroom and through their classwork.

Week 9 -The Expert Pedagogue

Week 9 -The Expert Pedagogue

John Wooden’s Pyramid of success works on the aspect of success with competitive greatness as is key influence of the pyramid. He states that “Success is piece of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best that you are capable of becoming.” This statement shows me just how crucial the pyramid of success is, in the realisation of pursuing a goal and in the end succeeding.

I feel that success also involves mind of matter, you have to be in the right frame of mind to pursue any given task. As Wooden mentions in his 2001 clip, there is a difference between winning and succeeding. As a basketball coach he believed “what you are as a person is far more important than what you are as a basketball player.” This communicates to me that self-success and remaining true to your own values and belief is what can lead you to the right part of success. Everyone brings their own thoughts and skills to the table no person is the same, they all hold different attributes.

This week has made me think in the mind as a teacher; we should adopt this way of thinking into the classroom. By ensuring each student understands who they are and what they stand for is necessary for students to strive and succeed. Teamwork (group work) is essential in the building blocks of student success. As a teacher we need to support the student and give appropriate feedback to each individual student to keep them on the right path, not only for school education but giving them the confidence to pursue later on in the work place and outside of school grounds.

Week 7 - Digital Media - Producing Media

Week 7 - Using Digital Media – Producing Resources

The use of digital media, I feel can be expressed in a variety of ways. The use of cameras, video, digital software to upload photos/images are a hand-picked few.  There is also new digital media on the market available to purchase at an affordable price.

Go-pros (small box like cameras) are useful when filming or taking photos from any angle or location. As the go-pro is so small it is handy to hold and operate, it is also waterproof which takes advantage. Go-pros are on the market ranging from $300-$400, which is an affordable price for people in the sports industry (sports coaches and/or athletes) to help see the fine details of their skills and what needs to be improved if need be.

I-Pads have also been introduced in the past two years by the company; Apple. Ranging from $500-$700 I-pads come in handy as when documenting work and sorting out coaching material it easy to transport wherever you go, can hold a lot of information and also contains an inbuilt camera. Although the zooming quality isn't the best, I am positive Apple will build on the function and improve it for future updates of the I-Pad.

Producing resources is important in both sports coaching and any digital world of media. In regards to sports coaching, it is essential the correct digital media is used for the type of sport you are analysing and incorporating strategies. Sports’ coaching is an area of expertise; each movement is broken down in order to qualify for time results or correct a skill that isn't quite being executed properly. With this acknowledgement and positive/constructive feedback should be given.

Producing resources is important as it further grows our own individual knowledge and by viewing others work can help extend our own thoughts, and as others may express work in a different way; this could open our eyes to new ideas and/or new paths to go on when researching, analysing and documenting information.

The production of a range of different resources can be gathered from the internet, libraries, on-line learning/sporting journals etc. Digitally, I am a little confused but yet interested in exploring and researching for our upcoming assignments. I feel I need to explore sites such as Slideshare and Prezi more in depth to rap my head around what we have been asked to do. Once I understand the digital site I should be comfortable forming my assignment and researching in the on-line digital world.
 

Week 6 - Mentoring

Week 6 - Mentoring

It is now week six, nearly halfway through the unit and so far have found it a great experience. The topic this week is "mentoring" I feel mentoring communicates the assets of a person with high expert knowledge, guiding a person with less on the path to fulfilment. This path could on the sporting side or educational, there are different strategies and outcomes that need to be met in order 

Mentoring also communicates to me that it is a concept in which relates to a person acquiring a wider experienced knowledge base than another. It reflects on the assistance of a person who is interested and willing to learn in the concept that is being taught. This could involve education or any other mean of learning. A mentor offers help and feedback to guide their learner in the right direction. In past teaching practicals I found constructive feedback helped me more then negative aspects. My overall experience was positive one as I was given continuous feedback and examples of how I could improve my lessons for next time.

I feel being a mentor would hold both great responsibility and power. I feel it would provide great benefits in handing down their own teaching skills and experience to the younger generation of teachers. 

A mentor is seen to hold all the answers and provide constructive knowledge. I feel mentors hold a great deal of background, hands on experience and should be greatly acknowledged. 

Week 5 Blog Post - Presenting and sharing Information

Presenting and sharing Information

When the word presenting is mentioned to me, the idea of communicating through different mediums runs through my mind. Such as the formation of how information (words, pictures, colours) are shared and viewed. The meaning of presenting is a necessary component of this unit and through the use of blogging I will be able to share my information and ideas I have. 

The collaboration of a range of ideas that come to mind and and experiences I wish to share about the unit or with class mates is what helps me to blog.

As I am new to blogging and I am not fully aware of how to use all the tools available to the best of my ability but I am excited to explore Blogger, learn more about it and to read every one else's blogs.