If you’re beginning your physical education student teaching journey, then you might feel like a fish out of water.
It’s hard being both a student and a teacher at the same time. Not really knowing your place. Wanting to make a great impression, but also realizing you might not know as much as you thought you did.
It’s one thing talking about what you’ll do when you step into the gym, but it’s another to put it into practice.
I remember all of my Phys Ed student teaching practicums so vividly and I made A LOT of mistakes.
In this blog post, I’ll give you 7 tips to help you get the most out of your PE student teaching practicums.
1. Appreciate All Teaching Opportunities During Your Physical Education Student Teaching
If you’re anything like I was, then you are so excited to start your PE student teaching!
I couldn’t wait to teach my class and lead them through a lesson.
But much to my disappointment, my teaching college had first year practicum students only leading small groups for the 4 week practicum.
I remember my partner teacher asking me, “How do you feel about teaching small groups?”
I looked at him, point-blank and said, “I think it’s stupid”.
Oof.
That was over 10 years ago and I still feel embarrassed by my response.
What I should’ve realized is that teaching comes in all shapes and sizes.
Yes, you’ll typically start with full class instruction to introduce skills and games to your students. But the vast majority of teaching is working one-on-one and in small groups.
I didn’t value the experience when I first started my PE student teaching, but I wish I had taken more time to do so.
I would’ve spent way more time developing relationships with my students, which is what teaching, especially in Phys Ed, is all about!
Whenever you’re given an opportunity to teach, no matter how big or small, take it! Every chance you have to teach is a chance to learn!
2. Ask Questions During Your Phys Ed Practicum
Oh, man! If there’s one thing you need to do during your PE student teaching, it’s asking questions!
If your teaching college is anything like mine, a lot of the professors, bless their hearts, have either never taught in an actual school, or they’ve spent 20+ years out of the schools and a lot of their methods are out of touch.
Your partner teacher is an experienced PE teacher. They are on the front lines every day and know what works well in a physical education program.
They have so much experience and are a wealth of knowledge!
Ask them every single that comes to your mind.
Here are some questions that I asked my mentor teacher on my first practicum after watching him teach for one day:
- How do you know the comfort level of a class and individuals?
- How do you get to know all your students on a personal level (especially when you don’t teach them for every module)?
- What techniques do you use to address all your students’ learning styles and preferences?
- How do you develop pedagogical tact? (Honestly, this man is one of the most tactful people I’ve ever met. I was super lucky to see him teach)
- How do you deal with students that are goofing off and distracting?
You might not always have to ask your partner teacher your questions, sometimes you can just observe how they behave.
I also recommend writing down what you see your partner teacher do and their answers to the questions they get. I guarantee you’ll experience something similar when you’re a teacher and you’ll wish you had written down what your partner teacher had done.
3. Write Reflections and Take Notes During Your PE Practicum
You might be wondering how I remember the specific questions I asked my partner teacher 10 years ago. Well, I don’t. But my notes do!
I had to take notes as part of my grade for my physical education student teaching course and I’m so glad I did.
There are also times when I’m thinking back to an experience from my Phys Ed student teaching days and I think, “I swear I wrote this down” and I’m able to look back. This helps me, even now, when handling different situations in my classes.
Writing things down creates a strong connection within our brains so it’s much easier to remember experiences. Even if you don’t ever look back through your notes, writing things down can be so helpful.
Take Digital Notes
I suggest taking your notes digitally. I am a huge fan of using Google Docs because you can access them anywhere.
I wrote all my notes by hand and it takes a lot longer to write. Plus, when you handwrite, it’s more time-consuming to find specific notes in the future.
Write Reflections
A full day of teaching can be EXHAUSTING. Even if it’s a great day, you have to be “on” all the time.
The thought of writing reflections after the fact can seem like something you want to push to the side, but I promise, it helps you a lot.
After every lesson you teach write down what worked well and what you would change in the future. Maybe this is something specific to how you taught the lesson, rules that you added to make the game run more smoothly, or how you handled a behavior issue.
Taking just a few minutes to write things out helps you process your day and will help you in the future when you’re in a similar situation/teaching the same lesson again.
Use Talk-to-Text
If you don’t want to write anything out, then I suggest using talk-to-text.
I’ll be honest, I write a lot of these blog posts with talk-to-text because I am a lot faster at speaking than I am at writing. Sometimes my hands slow down my brain, haha!
If you go this route, then I do recommend proofreading after you’re done talking, because technology has some weird ideas of what you mean.
For example, my microphone thinks I say “fizzle”, “visit”, and “his head”, literally anything it can think of … except “Phys Ed”.
4. Be Open to Feedback
Whether you like it or not, you’re not a bona fide Phys Ed teacher just yet. You still have a lot of learning to do. This will happen during your student teaching, but also throughout your teaching career.
This is great news though, because it means that you have a partner teacher with you that is (hopefully) very supportive and open to giving you actionable feedback.
One of my favorite qualities in my students is when they’re teachable.
Our partner teachers love that in their student teachers as well. They want to see that you are willing to grow and learn.
Take their feedback and apply it to your teaching. You might be surprised by how well their suggestions work, even if it isn’t something you would normally do.
If you don’t like what they suggest to you, then that’s okay!
Explain to them why you would prefer a different method or just don’t do it when you have your own PE class in a couple of months.
However, you should always be open to taking criticism because your mentor teacher is trying to help you get better.
5. Use Your Phys Ed Student Teaching to Try Things Your Way While
When your mentor teacher hands over the reins to their gym, it can feel like you need to teach the Phys Ed class exactly like how your partner teacher does.
But remember, your PE practicum is your chance to learn and grow.
You need to teach in a way that is complementary to your personality. Even if you’re very similar to your mentor teacher, you have your own unique qualities that will help you teach your students.
What I mean by all of this is, teach in the way that you think you want to teach. Do what you think will work. Even if it’s way different from your partner teacher.
In the famous words of Ms. Frizzle, “Take chances, make mistakes”.
Your physical education student teaching practicum is a chance for you to try things and make mistakes in a safe and controlled environment.
If things work, huzzah! You’ve found a great teaching method.
If it doesn’t work? That’s okay. Now you know that there are things you need to tweak or change drastically.
After you try new strategies, talk with your mentor teacher at the end of the day and ask them for suggestions or alternative methods you could try.
6. Work to Overcome Your Fears
Anytime you’re in a new situation, you’ll have some fears or anxieties about the whole experience.
But like we talked about in the last section, your PE student teaching practicum is all about learning, growing and trying new things.
Work with your mentor teacher, and personally, to overcome your fears.
When I first started my Phys Ed student teaching I was 20 years old and I was placed in a high school. I was teaching “kids” that were 2 years younger than me.
Add that to the fact that I’m a serious introvert, and I had a lot of fears in my PE practicum.
I was worried that the teachers wouldn’t take me seriously and that the students wouldn’t listen to me. I was worried that I would be mistaken as a student (spoiler alert: I definitely was).
But that’s okay.
One thing I still regret about that practicum was not taking advantage of the opportunity I was given.
I wasted a lot of time worrying about what would happen if I messed up, and I really didn’t do very well in my student teaching.
My mentor teacher was so helpful and kind. I was very blessed. But that PE practicum wasn’t the best experience for me.
Set Personal Goals for Yourself
Flash forward two years later (I had a year off studying my other major in between my two education years) and I was at a new school, with new students, and a new mentor teacher.
My only goal for my Phys Ed practicum was to say “yes” to any opportunity that came my way.
That was a game-changer for me.
I decided that I didn’t care if I was nervous, I was going to try everything.
And boy, am I ever glad that I did.
I became a significantly better teacher during my second practicum than I did during my first.
7. Participate in Extracurriculars During Your PE Student Teaching
During my student teaching, I always participated in extracurricular activities.
It’s such a great way to develop stronger relationships with your students. AND it always makes a great impression on the Admins.
These impressions can go a long way to help you get a job.
Always remember that principals talk to one another.
Some of my favorite extracurriculars during student teaching are:
- Coaching: If you have coaching experience, or not, volunteer to coach one of the sports teams at your school
- Dances/Pep Rallies: See if there are any upcoming school events that need additional teacher help. Planning committees are always looking for extra chaperones.
- Non-Athletic Related Clubs: Sometimes Physical Educators are seen as the athletes of the school, but be open to trying new clubs. You probably have hobbies outside of the health world that you can help out with, and you never know how these clubs could help you get a job in the future
I hope you find these tips helpful so that you can get the most out of your physical education student teaching.
Don’t forget to grab your free PE lesson plans and teaching resources.
I wish you luck. You really have chosen the absolute best career! If you have any questions or need some advice, I’m here to help. Send more a message on Instagram @teachingpak and let’s connect!
Have fun out there!
