A Semester of Lab Assisting!!

This semester I was a lab assistant for PED 201, Motor Development. As a lab assistant I help the students plan their labs and give them feedback on what they plan for their lessons. Also, during labs I am there to help students set up or provide assistance when they are having problems. In the beginning, the 201 students seemed to be a little shy and nervous. However, as the semester progressed the students got more comfortable with their teaching skills. It was amazing watching each student really find their own teaching style and work to perfect it. This experience was a learning experience for me. I was there to help the 201 students but I believe I learned a lot from watching them teach. It was also great to see how all of the students interacted with the children. Interacting with the children helped the students really developed their skills. I saw a lot of students displaying great enthusiastic during lab. That is one of the ideas that I really stressed to them. In my opinion, enthusiasm is essential to bring with you on your way to teach a lesson. A great lesson plan can turn into a disaster if the teacher lacks enthusiasm for what they are teaching. I also saw the students improve upon projecting their voices. During the first couple of labs the students did not speak loud enough. It takes a bit of time to get comfortable using your voice at that volume but after just a couple of week they seemed to get it down. A piece of advice I gave from my experiences in 201 and 255 was you cannot speak to loud when you’re teaching. I was also very impressed with was how the students planned their lessons. The second half of the semester; the student’s lesson plans were great. Many students came dressed up to go to along with the theme of the lab, and their games were carefully planned to go along with the theme as well. Overall, I am very proud of the improvements made by the 201 students this semester! Lab assisting has been a great experience for me and I look forward to next semester.