John Gallucci

Professor Flores
Secondary Management
Due Date: 11/13/20
How To Manage a Classroom

The Setup of the Gymnasium

In most gymnasiums we will see the typical basketball courts, equipment, and maybe

even a stage. However, what can make the difference between a good physical education teacher

and a great one can be seen in how they setup their room. The first thing that I would put in my

room is placing descriptions and pictures of different exercises the students must complete

throughout their station warmups. Each station would have a choice of 2 exercises. This allows

the students some freedom and to take ownership of what exercises they would want to do. The

next thing that I would implement is the student of the week bulletin board. This bulletin board

would highlight the students who have shown either good effort or attitude while practicing and

playing games. Another thing that I would place next to the student of the week is the schedule

of the sports the class is going to play. This way they can look and see what sport is in store for

that class for the next week or so. Another thing that would be seen when walking into the

gymnasium would be a projector connected to a computer. This allows the opportunity to show

the students videos as an example of how to perform different tasks. Finally, I would like to start

a collage of pictures of the students playing the different sports throughout the year.

Respect and Rapport

The first effort I would try to do is to learn everyone’s name in the class. Dale Carnegie

said it best when talking about the importance of learning a person’s name “A person's name is
to him or her the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” I think the best way to

earn respect from anyone but especially in the classroom is to give respect to your students. The

first and most basic way to do this by taking enough interest in the students to learn their names

and their interests in order to get to know them. This can not only gain respect, but it can gain

some rapport as the students see that you care about them. It is much easier for a student to be

disrespectful or rude to a teacher if they do not feel a connection with them. Another way I

would try to gain respect and rapport is by having a sense of humor with my students. Having a

sense of humor can break down barriers that people put up. Sharing a laugh can allow students to

see their teacher as a person rather than a possible drill sergeant for getting activities done. This

can be a tricky line to navigate but it can be a good way to defuse a stressful situation.

Culture of Learning

The first way to support some of the learning differences is by evaluating the different

capabilities of the students. Grouping students on ability can make the activities more effective

as students can focus on a particular skill. For example, if 4 or 5 of the students are struggling

with a dribbling a basketball, I would group them up to allow them to build up those skills.

During this time, we can manipulate the equipment to emphasize a particular skill. For example,

if students struggle tracking a ball during volleyball, we can use a beachball instead of a

traditional ball. Grouping can also work well for the advanced students as they can compete with

others on a similar level to them. Being able to match students based on skill level is imperative

because if they are mismatched the activities can be boring to everyone involved. If a student is

constantly struggling without success, they can be demoralized. On the flip side if a student is

always overmatching their opponent, they will become bored and not focus on building up other

skills they may need to work on.

 The second way I would create a culture of learning is being able to use the equipment

(projectors, video, pictures, etc.) to cut down on possible difficulties with language barriers and

students with disabilities. In many cases there will be students where English is not their primary

language. While we may not be able to speak every language, we can communicate in using

visual props or cues and body language throughout our lessons. The use of videos and pictures

can help give direction without using any words to communicate. While this is great for

including ESL students, this type of teaching can also help the class as a whole. While some

students do well with written or oral instruction, many students are visual learners as well. The

challenge as a teacher is being able to teach to the entire class effectively, not just the selected

few.

Rules and Routines

In the setup I would have marked stations for the students to go directly into, after their 5

minutes to change into different clothes. Each station would have 5 students with all 5 stations

together making up the warmup. Every 2 minutes the students will rotate stations clockwise

through all the stations. The stations would have pictures and descriptions, so we do not have to

waste time with setting up the stations and explaining the different exercises during class time.

Once the warmup stations are complete, I would have everyone partner up and one group of 3.

Depending on the lesson I would either give a visual demonstration of me performing the next

task or show the class a video of what they are supposed to do. This should be brief with 2-3

minutes max before going into our next activity. After this one student from each group will be

instructed to grab the necessary equipment and play in their groups. After playing the game for

5-8 minutes I would stop the class and go over cues and ask questions to the class on how they

think they can improve their performance. This should last 2-3 minutes before going into a
modified activity. The modified activity should last 5 minutes. Once this is completed, we can go

into the actual game for the remainder of class which should be 5-8 minutes leaving 5 minutes

for the students to change afterwards. The exit slip can be a quick fill out using technology after

class is over.

To have the class run smoothly some of the transitions I would make during class would

include “freeze” and “move around.” This would be how I start and stop the class from doing

activities. When students are asked to partner up I would have them go toe to toe or link arms to

identify the groups that they are in. Using these procedures correctly will help save transition

time. If the students fail to do this correctly, I will explain to them that the longer this takes the

less time they will have for the activities. We will repeat the partner process until they complete

the groups correctly. If a student is being disruptive or dangerous to other students, they will be

warned once before getting taken out of the activity. Failure to establish these rules and

procedures will result in a chaotic classroom with long transition times and failure to complete

all the parts of the lesson.

Organizing the Learning Space

First, I would mark off the stage and any other protruding obstacles to give warning to

the students, so they do not run into anything by accident. Next, I would set up the warmup

stations with cones and numbers to label each station. The stations would include pictures and a

brief description of the different exercises as well as the number of repetitions at each station.

Then I would have the necessary equipment scattered on the edges of the gymnasium so when

the students are instructed to get the equipment there is not a line at one designated spot. The

equipment will be placed inside hula hoops so the equipment is not rolling in the way while

playing the games. Finally, I will have the boundary lines made with poly spots if we need to
divide the gymnasium for games or activities. The layout and organization should keep the

students engaged with quicker transitions to keep the students active and moving.