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Running head: ELEMENTARY PHYSICAL EDUCATION CLASS OBSERVATION

Elementary Physical Education Class Observation

Tracy Appleget
Ivy Tech Community College

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ELEMENTARY PHYSICAL EDUCATIONAL OBSERVATION

INTRODUCTION
The physical education teacher I decided to observe was a new teacher. He was a
classroom teacher that had become a physical education teacher after serving two years at the
same school. Ryan Sekula had taught both 2nd and 5th grade at Garden City Elementary. When
the previous P.E. teacher had retired Ryan applied for the job. Ryan stated that instead of
switching grades for the third time he had rather teach physical education. He felt that he was
privileged to have gotten the job. During the time of the observation Ryan was observed
working with a fourth grade class.
The second observation was completed by my classmate Mayra Lopez. Mayra observed
another teacher at a separate location. Mayra observed Walt Morris. Walt Morris was a physical
education teacher for Fox Hill Elementary. During the time of the observation Mayra was able
to observe a kindergarten class.
CLASSROOM OBSERVATION EXPERIENCES
Ryans class was set in a gym. In the reading throughout the class we learn that the
setting for the physical education class can be in anywhere from a gym, classroom or even a
hallway. The gym that Ryan taught in was large enough to accommodate a very large group of
people. I did notice that there was easy access to the outdoors. Ryan used the back door of the
classroom to allow the students to do exercises outside. This allowed for the teacher to vary in
his instruction.

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In the class that was being observed there were 20 students. One of those twenty student
was wearing a cast. Ryan knew that there was a student with a cast and had already made
accommodations for that student. In the textbook we are taught that students with disabilities
should not be overlooked. All students must be given an opportunity to participate.
SIMILARITIES
The similarities in the two observations are many. Both teacher were male. Both classes were
taken place in the gym. The teachers both went off a lesson plan were the state standards were
being met. In the course of each class all students were given the opportunity to participate.
Both teachers exercised safety precautions. In Ryans classroom the students ran laps
around the gym as a warm up. After the students completed two laps they were to sit in the center
of the room in the middle of a circle that was painted on the floor. He stated that during gym
with younger students he would have the students run the length of the room. One of the rules
that Ryan used when the students came to the center of the room was that the students were not
allowed to slide on their knees.

In Walts classroom the students were running 360s. To

prevent any injuries Walt had the students only run in groups of six. He did this so that the
students would not run into one another.
The teachers both used a whistle to communicate with the students. The students in both
rooms understood that the whistle meant that the students were to follow instruction. In Walts
classroom the blow of a whistle one time meant go and two blows meant stop. In Ryans
classroom the blow of the whistle indicated the end of the lesson and that the student were to
look to him for any instruction.
The type of assessment in both classrooms was from the teacher monitoring the students.
In both Ryans and Walts classroom the teacher monitored the student to make sure that they

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were completing the skills required. The students in both classroom were able to observe the
teacher demonstration. The book describes that there are two types of assessment Formative and
summative. (Kivar, 2012, 181). While the students were not given a formative assessment each
student was watch to see if they were participating in the class. The teacher in both settings gave
a type of summative assessment. At the end of the instruction the students were told if they were
doing the exercises properly.
When the student in both classroom entered the gym they waited for the teacher to give
them instruction. After the teacher gave the instruction the students completed the tasks. The
students were then instructed on not showing bad sportsmanship. The students were taught not
to discourage any of the other students.

DIFFERENCES
Although both classes took place in the gym. The teacher I had observed used the
outdoors. The teacher I had observed took the students outside to practice kicking punting and
throwing a football. Ryan used the outside to provide more area for the students to do the moves
properly and without causing injury to others. The book tells us that the movement has a
relationship to space (Kivar, 2012, p.79). The teacher wanted the students to be able to kick and
throw the ball and also provide as much space as possible. By going out doors the teacher gave
each student ample room to complete each task.
Ryan used a lesson plan maker that gave state standards. Ryan said that he would put in
the standards that he wanted to use and those standards were met automatically. In Walts
gymnasium, he had posted the national standards. Ryan told me if I wanted to look at his lesson
plans I could by logging into his account with planbook.com.

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When it comes to appropriate dress the teachers differed as well. In Ryans classroom he
only looked to see if the student were wearing tennis shoes. If the students were not wearing a
type of gym or running shoe that student would lose a point. In the class of Walt, the students
were in inappropriate dress if they were wearing jeans. It was also noted that there were many
students that did not have appropriate shoes on.
Classroom management in the two classroom was handled differently. In the case of
Ryans class, the class was graded as a whole on behavior. If the teacher had to correct any
students on safety, the class would not get a golden ticket. In the case of Walts classroom, if the
students were corrected they had to move a clip down. Ryan graded the class as a whole and
Walt graded the class as individuals.

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References
Kivar, S. C.-O. (2012). Elementary Classroom Teachers as Movement Educators (4 ed.). New York, Ny:
Mc Grall Hill.
Morris, W. (2014, September 24). Physcial Education Teacher. (M. Lopez, Interviewer)
Sekula, R. (2014, 24 2014). Physical Education Teacher. (T. Appleget, Interviewer)