“Great Teachers are Equal Opportunists” Chapter 2: Schmidt

I really enjoyed reading this chapter about building a culture of eptness in the classroom. Eptness are creative acts or an activity the teacher deliberately controls in the classroom, which allows all students to contribute to the class as a whole. All students are able to contribute to each class activity because the teacher highlights student’s strengths and abilities so those students have a sense of importance and need for the class. I have learned that the teacher creates an environment right from the start of school to highlight the students’ abilities, skills, and accomplishments. Once students become familiar with their peers abilities the class will begin to work as a community in problem solving and hypothesizing in order to complete given tasks.

I really liked the idea Laurel, suggests making a class resume. I learned that in creating a class resume students have the opportunity to feel good about their abilities and students are more likely to become motivated when they feel they have a role in helping a group or their class as a whole. This is also another great way for students to appreciate one another in class which allows students to trust their peers and enjoy working together as a team. I learned that eptness is a great way to support community, confidence, and team work in the classroom.

In order for a classroom to be successful of eptness, teachers must create an environment where students feel confident and in sharing their abilities as well as making sure students are recognized for their contribution in the class. My understanding is students will begin to withdraw if they do not feel as important as their peers.

In the reading, there are three behaviors that I can use to promote eptness. In the three that I will practice, I believe that my students will respond well in creating a new class culture. The first behavior that I think will be great to practice in P.E is approximations. In the reading I learned that it is important to say out loud and reinforce active kindness and encourage thinking. I have found myself recognizing good behaviors, but rather than speaking to the same group of students I can begin to look and pick good behaviors from the students that rarely get recognized. I believe the culture of my classes will begin to shift in the sense that students will begin to recognize their peers ideas and kindness and recognize them as I do.

Another great tool that I can use in my classes is encouragement. Though I do encourage my students now, I can begin to encourage my students in a different way that will encourage independence and confidence. For example, a day focused on skills in basketball is one of the many opportunities to encourage my students to build their confidence. Currently, I have students in one of my classes that have great skills and equally low skills. I can better encourage students when I see that another student volunteers to assist another during a skill, or when a student lets me know when they need help. In both situations, both students should be recognized to show them I am proud of them for encouraging each other. Now that I know that I should be looking harder for ways to encourage my students, allows me to encourage more students than I have previously.  

Finally, the behavior I like the best and is encouraging is “it’s never too late.” This behavior that I am most excited for is creating a new culture within my physical education class. I can use this tool most effectively in my class with behavior and skills. Students will be given opportunities to show me their good behaviors. I understand that not every day is perfect so I feel students should be able to start over for activities even if they start off on the wrong foot. For skills, often times students feel that they were never good at a skill so they are not going to improve now. I feel with both encouragement and recognizing their effort students should be given ample amount of time to learn the skill without discouraging the student.