Checking Your Understanding: Chapter 1 Questions

1) What is meant by the idea that teaching is a goal-oriented activity?

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        Teaching is a goal-oriented activity because as a physical educator the teacher must set course goals for the class or individual to achieve. Either way, having the class realize there are goals to achieve motivates the students to attend class and accomplish these goals appointed by the educator. When a physical educator creates goals for the classroom he/she should be concerned with three domains; psychomotor, affective, and cognitive. Teaching being goal-oriented, allows the teacher to assess the students to see where a student is at with a specific skill. All dedicated teachers want students to improve over the duration of his/her class and with proper instruction improvement should be seen in physical education. An example of an individual goal for a student would be running a mile ten seconds faster in the span of a month. For a physical educator it is important for him/her to make goals possible to reach, so the students do not become discouraged and unmotivated.

5) Why is the movement task-student response unit of analysis so important in physical education?

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        Movement task-student response unit of analysis is important in physical education because it allows the accomplishment of objectives through the progression of experience. When the students are engaged in the activity the task of the educator is to observe his/her students for body language and problems with proper technique. After the physical educator has observed his/her class he/she can now provide positive advice for the students to improve upon. As a teacher the movement task-student response can grant time for assessment. If the students are grasping the task and performing well the teacher can then advance to a more complex level of the task. For example, if students are successfully making 3 lay-ups consecutively the educator can then ask the class to attempt the lay-up with his/her less dominate hand. Another action the teacher can decide to do is switching the task and introducing an entirely new task for the students to perform.

7) What is the relationship between teaching functions and teaching skills? List two teaching functions teachers must perform, and describe two alternative behaviors teachers can choose to perform these functions.

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         A well-established teacher uses daily functions and skills without even thinking of it because over time the actions become natural. Teaching functions and skills work together providing teachers with valuable feedback on individual students. The more understanding a teacher has for the students he/she can become a more effective educator because the teacher can work with individual needs. A curriculum can be altered once the teacher understands the class better, as the previous curriculum may not of been the best route for success. Two teaching functions teachers must perform are the presentation of tasks and developing content. Content behavior and management behavior are two alternative behaviors a teacher can choose to perform a function. Content behavior can be used in a presentation because the educator will tell the class the type of presentation. Then, the students will engage in the presentation, like watching a video. Next, the teacher helps students answer questions pertaining to the video and later the teacher can modify any concerns. Management behavior can be used when developing content by allowing the students to get involved. The teacher may organize the class in groups and then the groups can give ideas to the educator on information the class would like to learn. Both content and management behavior can be used presentations and developing class content.