Week Eight – Differentiation

After getting to know the group relatively well and reflecting on my actions throughout the placement so far, I knew how the group learned and what teaching methods suited their needs. With this in mind I could plan a strong differentiated lesson. After reflecting on the lesson I learned that having good time management and positive enforcing behavior techniques helps significantly when differentiating a lesson. As I have the skills to do this I felt like this session was very effective and the children learned a lot individually and as a group. This was also recognized throughout reflecting in action when I was teaching the session, because it was clear for me to see that the three groups of children were doing different tasks to suit their ability, for example one group was doing the 100m relays, the second group were doing fartlek training and the third group were doing 100m sprint training. Using good time management and communication skills I knew when exactly to progress or regress the task with the different groups which I found easier to do by putting the children into ability groups. To alter this session to create a more positive effect I could have given the groups goals to achieve in order for them to know themselves when to progress or regress. I believe this could teach them more than just athletics, for example, decision making and reaching individual targets which is good for social development as well as the physical benefits that the children receive. However, after reflecting on this session I believe it was very effective in progressing the children.