Running head: EXTERNAL TEACHING REFELCTION

External Teaching Reflection

Chelsea Koenigsfeld
Fontbonne University

EXTERNAL TEACHING REFLECTION

Reflection on Teaching
To begin, Im pleased to have completed my external teaching. Its a rewarding feeling to
accomplish an event Ive been preparing for all semester. I chose St. Clair middle school for my
teaching, more specifically the gym class. The class period I chose ended up being all girls in
the 7th and 8th grade, which is something I wish I had taken more advantage of when planning my
unit. Overall, I had a lot of fun with the students. They were extremely energetic, but also
showed good listening and participating skills. I could tell they were excited to have a guest
speaker, which made me feel more welcomed to teach their class a lesson. The gym teacher
enhanced the experience by keeping the girls in line, but also acted as a student and added
enjoyment for the students and myself.
When I was waiting for the class to begin, I felt more nervous than I did in the previous
micro-teachings. This was expected, but I also noticed that I wasnt nearly as nervous as I would
have been if I hadnt of taught the previous micro-teachings. Not only was I not as anxious in
the external teaching, but also in other presentations I was assigned in other classes. This was a
great improvement. The class size at the middle school was about 25 students, which is most
likely the largest amount of students Ive ever spoken in front of. I remember feeling slightly
relieved to get the first few words out to the group of students, then rest came fluently.
My external lesson was over MyPlate. I was pretty knowledgeable of the concepts of
MyPlate, enough to where coming up with activities for the students came easily. The part that
made me most anxious was the lecture portion of my lesson. I knew the students were
anticipating gym class, so their energy levels would be maximized, therefore, not wanting to sit
for very long. The students were old enough to not act out because of their excitement, but I still
wasnt sure how long theyd sit still. With that being said, I just went over the basics of MyPlate

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and didnt get into a whole lot of detail. This is where I wish I would have altered my lesson.
MyPlate has very generic guidelines that are easily understandable. When I assessed their
knowledge of the subject, more than half of them have heard of it. I wasnt expecting this
because I was informed that their nutrition knowledge was low, but I was also excited to see that
it had been heard of. I also had asked for them to name some of the groups included in the
MyPlate structure. As a group, they had named all of them except for grains. Another
component of teaching I did not take into consideration was when I asked a question, they all
shouted. I was happy to hear responses, but it caught me off guard when I asked the first
question. For the following answers, I asked them to raise their hands. I also included two
colored hand-outs to provide a visual and context behind my lecture, as well as using measuring
cups and hand gestures for portion sizes.
I was most excited for the activity portion of the lesson because I knew that the students
would enjoy them. The first activity I had them do was based off of Red Light, Green Light, but
instead I would say a Go food or a healthy food for green and a Slow food or a processed
food for red. Another lesson I learned was to have them do movements that were more difficult
so itd take them longer to get to the finish line and ones that were quiet, as well, so they could
hear me say a food. The second activity involved individualized participation. As we stood in a
circle, I picked a category of MyPlate, such as, protein, and had them toss a tennis ball to one
another. Counting to 30, each person that had a number that was a multiple of five had to say a
food that fell into the protein category. This gave them knowledge on foods that were healthful
for them to eat that they liked and knew of.
I have grown more than I imagined from this project. I am happy to say that I
accomplished it and dont have to complete another lesson again soon, but I will certainly be

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more prepared to do so. I slowly recognized why this course is required for my degree, and
appreciate it more now. Completing the external teaching is what gave me the rewarded feeling
because it brought me out of my comfort zone. When we completed the last activity I had
planned, I asked them to name one thing that they learned today to a partner. Just by overhearing
the students, I knew that I at least made them think more about their options and what their meals
include. My main goal was to encourage the attempt of making their plates more balanced,
colorful, and nutritious, but also showing them that they have many options to do so. This was
important to me because I remember when I was their age, I felt like there was nothing healthy to
eat and had no guidance; I never had anyone explain to me all the foods that are considered
nutrient-dense. Behavior change was my overall goal if I were to have taught all four lessons to
the students, but since it was only one lesson, the answers I heard from them were more than
satisfying.