RUNNING HEAD: WEEK TWO- FIELD OBSERVATION 1

Week Two- Field Observation

Zach Zimmer

ITL 608

Professor Peter Serdyukov

2/17/2019

National University
 Week Two- Field Observation 2

Abstract

The week two portion of the field experience involved following up the initial interview

with Coach Tirapelle with both an observation and a closing interview with thoughts and

questions about the teachers learning map for the particular lesson. During my observation of

Coach Troy Tirapelle’s class I was able to get some great insight into lesson planning in the PE

field. I got the opportunity to view a great boot camp lesson that was preparing the PE class for

the upcoming PFTs next week. For the interview section of the assignment I learned a great deal

on how Coach Tirapelle approaches preparing for his lessons. I learned how he accommodates

all of his learners, how his early years of teaching PE has molded his classroom management

style and beliefs, how he plans for interferences in his planning (such as rainy days), and how he

both formally and informally assess his students.

Introduction

The goal of the Week Two- Field Observation was to observe and conduct a closing

interview with the designated teacher on how lesson plan with UDL and LMM principles in

mind. The purpose of this assignment was to get insight from a seasoned teacher on how to plan

efficiently and correctly plan for your lessons. I have known Coach Tirapelle for a long time

now, he is a phenomenal PE teacher and I expect that his lesson planning skills will be excellent.

I also expect to gain a great deal of knowledge about lesson planning that I will implement into

my classroom. I plan to achieve this outcome by taking great notes and observing intently, as

well as, formulate interview questions that will help me understand how Coach Tirapelle plans

for his lessons with UDL and the LMM principles in mind.
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Observation

Getting the chance to observe Coach Tirapelle teaching his PE class was a great

opportunity. I gained a wealth of knowledge, especially concerning lesson planning, that I will

implement into my own teaching. When I observed Coach Tirapelle’s class they were finishing

their last week of boot camp in preparation for Physical Fitness Testing (PFT). Since PFT was

on the horizon the primary focus of the lesson was strength, flexibility, and fitness. When I first

went out to observe the class, they met in their usual spot outside the gym sitting in roll call order

waiting for Coach to exit the locker room. Once he came out and finished taking roll the class

was put through a set of dynamic warm ups. Dynamic warm ups are essentially a set of

movement drills that increase in difficulty and help get the blood flowing through the body.

After finishing the dynamic warm up the class headed to the track to perform the fitness section

of the lesson. When at the track Coach split the class into two groups, boys and girls. He

explained that he split the class up since it would be easier to time the boys and girls separately

due to the fact that boys and girls have different expectations when it comes to the PFT (girls run

a mile under 10 minutes, while boys run mile under 8 minutes) After the class was split up, he

explained that they have been working on this progressive running exercise for a few weeks now.

They started by running one lap for time while progressing every week until they ran a timed

mile. The class was doing three fourths of a mile when I went out to observe. The boot camp is

a great example of working towards one of the psychomotor domains, physical abilities. As

Burden states, “Physical abilities: The student has developed basic movements that are essential

to the development of more highly skilled movements. The student meets the demands of

complex sustained movement. The verb express can be used for this level (e.g., expresses

endurance, strength, flexibility, agility, or dexterity).”(p.104) After the class finished running
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and Coach Tirapelle recorded all their times it was time to transition into the gym for the strength

and flexibility training. After the long walk back to the gym, the class entered and sat down on

the basketball court in roll call order waiting for further instructions. Coach then split the class

into 6 different groups or lines. After the class was correctly in six different lines, he then put

them through a series of strength and flexibility exercises that were related to PFT. The class did

exercises including pushups, sit ups, up right crunches, bicycle crunches, supermans, seated toe

touch, quad stretches, butterfly stretches, trunk lifts, and downward dog stretches. After the

strength and flexibility was finished there was only 15 to 20 minutes left in the period. Coach

Tirapelle let the class play basketball or have free time as a reward for good behavior and effort.

After spending two weeks interviewing and observing Coach Tirapelle it was

enlightening to see how his learning map came together. The most meaningful part of the

learning map I witnessed was the boot camp that was coming to an end. The boot camp was a

six-week plan that he implemented to train the student’s strength and cardio through increasingly

difficult exercises. The class started off by running one lap around the track. After running one

lap the class then progressed to running two laps after one to two weeks, depending how they

performed. They then moved onto three laps, which I observed, and finishing up with running

four laps around the track, or a full mile. This was a great plan to implement for the mile test in

the PFT. Instead of expecting kids to start off by running the full mile, he eased the kids into the

mile. Progression training is one of the most basic concepts in the fitness world. Progression

training refers to, “Progression is the way in which an individual should increase the load. It is a

gradual increase either in frequency, intensity, or time or a combination of all three components.”

(TEACHING AND LEARNING TO STANDARDS, 2002-03)

One of the concepts I kept my eyes out for was how Coach Tirapelle implemented UDL
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and the LMM elements into his lessons/planning. While observing the lesson I did not see much

of UDL incorporated into the lesson. The main component of UDL I saw incorporated into the

class was the means of multiple forms of representation, specifically with the students with

specific disabilities. Each of the SPED students in the class were assigned a peer aide who

would help them by giving them extra demonstrations, encouragement, and any extra help they

may offer the student while performing the fitness exercises. The interesting thing about the

aides here at Buchanan High School is they are fellow classmates in the collaborative mentoring

class. These are fellow students who during their class periods will assist/aid a SPED student in

their general education courses such as PE. As for the LMM principles, I saw these distinctively

used in the classroom. Coach Tirapelle planned with all his learners in mind for the lesson. Any

student who needed an adaptation from running could self-pace or modify the run by giving

them extra time or changing the distance. He incorporates a very strict behavioral/directive form

of teaching learned from prior years’ experience of teaching PE. As I have mentioned numerous

times both this week and last he is a firm believer in running a tight ship because it prevents

injuries and makes class run smooth especially in PE. The target for the lesson was getting

students prepared to achieve the California PFT standards (sit and reach, sit up test, mile run,

modified pull-ups, and trunk lift). The assessments came in two different forms. The first being

the informal assessment which was Coach Tirapelle walking around during the strength and

flexibility portion and making sure that students were practicing proper form while doing the

exercises. If they were not using proper form, he would make sure to adjust them and model

correct form for them. The second form of assessment for the lesson is going to be the California

PFTs themselves. These are the formal assessments that all PE teachers are required to

administer. As for instruction it was obvious that Coach Tirapelle planned to use a
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behavioral/direct instruction when it came to the lesson I observed. The instruction was straight

forward. When performing any exercises, such as the dynamic warm ups, Coach would tell them

the exercise they would perform, demonstrate it, then the students would mimic the exercise.

The same went for the strength and flexibility portion of the lesson. Lastly, the management that

Coach Tirapelle incorporated into the lesson was an assertive discipline style. The students are

taught from day one how Coach expects them to behave in his classroom. Dressing out, listening

while he is talking, and transitioning to a new facility/area and immediately getting in roll call

seating are just some of the rules that Coach Tirapelle expects his students to follow.

Following my time observing Coach Tirapelle teaching in his PE class I was pleased with

how it went. I thought that the lesson was effective and achieved exactly what it set out to do.

When planning for the lesson Coach primarily focused on improving student’s flexibility,

strength, and cardio in preparation for the upcoming PFT. In putting together this six-week long

lesson called a boot camp, Coach thoroughly planned every aspect. This boot camp did not

throw the kids into running a mile right away. They progressed up to the mile by increasing the

laps run week by week. It was a great implementation of progressive training which is highly

regarded in all sports and forms of physical fitness. While it was not the most exciting lesson it

did a phenomenal job of helping the students prepare to tackle and succeed in the PFTs.
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Observation Debrief

After observing Coach Tirapelle’s PE class I had the opportunity to interview him once

again. The first question I had for Coach Tirapelle was what was the composition of his class

and if there were any students with special needs how did he specifically plan for these needs?

Coach Tirapelle explained to me that his PE class predominantly consisted of Caucasian

students, with a few minority students in the class including Hispanic, Asian, and African

American students. As for students with special needs he explained he had a few. Coach

Tirapelle had two special education students in his class that period. When it came to planning

for these students, he told me that both the students had one on one aides through our

collaborative mentoring program here at Buchanan HS. These are fellow high school students

who will help special education students in their general education classes. These students will

help by demonstrating the skill or exercise that they are supposed to be performing as well any

other help they may need. Coach Tirapelle also plans for these students by taking extra time to

demonstrate for them as well as walking around and giving them extra attention in case they

need additional assistance. He also has two students who have a 504 Plan for PE. Both of the

students 504 Plans are asthma related. For these students, he explained whenever they are

performing a cardiovascular exercise he makes sure to give these two students extra time to

finish, allows them to self-pace, as well as modify the run if need be.

The second question I posed to Coach Tirapelle was what the goal and objective of

today’s lesson was and if he believed he achieved those goals/objectives. With today’s lesson

primarily focused around the end of the PE department’s six-week boot camp, he explained that

the goal of today’s lesson was making sure that the students were properly prepared for their

PFTs coming up next week. Combined with the running exercise that they performed at the
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beginning of the class as well as their strength and flexibility exercises after, Coach Tirapelle

said he believed that he accomplished the goal by giving the students the tools to succeed.

However, it was ultimately up to them what they did with these tools.

The next question I asked Coach Tirapelle was if he felt like the students were actively

engaged in the lesson as well as if he was satisfied with their behavior this period. He told me

that it was a tough question. Due to the fact that it was the last week of their boot camp and their

lessons were primarily focused around the fitness aspect, it is very tough to keep the kids

motivated and actively engaged. However, even though it was not the most entertaining lesson

all the kids performed and gave 100% during both their cardio and strength/flexibility activities.

While it was not a particularly exciting lesson for the kids, Coach Tirapelle told me that he was

pleased with his class’s behavior this period. He did tell me that this was probably his most well-

behaved common core PE class of all, so very rarely does he have any behavior issues with this

period.

My fourth question was, “How did you structure today’s lesson and what are some of the

teaching strategies/styles that you incorporate into your lessons?” Coach Tirapelle broke down

the lesson as such: First the class always reports to their designated spot in roll call order while

they wait for him to exit the locker room. After roll call the class performed some dynamic

stretches to prepare for their three-lap cardio workout. After the dynamic warm up the class

went out to the track and ran three quarters of a mile. Following the cardio workout, the class

walked back to the gym and performed their strength and flexibility segment of the lesson.

Finally, after strength and flexibility Coach let the class play basketball or relax for the last 15 to

20 minutes of class. As for the teaching styles/strategies that he tries to implement he told me

about two he likes to implement into his lessons. The teaching strategy that he implements into
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his lessons is a reward system. Coach Tirapelle explained he always tries to reward his classes

when they are doing a good job for the day. As I stated in my observation the class reward for

getting through all the fitness with no behavior problems was 15 to 20 minutes of basketball or

free time. He also gave the kids a choice of the reward so every student had a say in the matter.

As for teaching style, I believe it is no surprise that Coach Tirapelle is very much a teacher who

implements a directive/behavioral teaching style in all his lessons. As he has told me in the last

two weeks Mr. Tirapelle believes that running a tight ship in PE is a necessity. He works from

day one to demonstrate how he expects his students to behave in his class. That is to listen and

be respectful, enter the gym or new area and sit in roll call order while awaiting instructions, and

participate to name but a few.

My fifth question for Coach Tirapelle, “How do you both formally and informally

assess/evaluate your classes?” For the informal assessment Coach explained that the most

effective practice he has found over the years is to be very observant and walk around and watch

every student while they perform a skill/exercise. If the student is not doing a skill properly, he

will approach them and offer constructive feedback such as, “Keep your elbow in when shooting

your free throw.” If the student is doing particularly well he will make sure to give them positive

reinforcement like, “You struck that soccer ball really well Michael. I like how you struck it

with the top of your foot and not your toe.” As for the formal assessments in his PE class I was

told there are three basic formal assessments. The first is a skills test at the end of every unit.

The students will be called to the side at the end of a unit one by one to perform some of the

basic skills they have learned over the span of the unit. These skills could consist of a bounce

pass in basketball, a pass in soccer, or a set in volleyball. Another formal assessment done at the

end of a unit is a written test. Coach Tirapelle explained to me that the written test typically
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consists of either the rules for a sport or the history of a sport that they went over in the

beginning of the unit. The final formal assessment was the PFT or the Physical Fitness Test that

every PE class has to perform.

For my sixth question I asked Coach Tirapelle what were some of the common

interferences that force him to adapt, how does he adapt to these interferences, and were there

any interferences today that forced him to adapt his lesson? He told me that the most common

interferences that he faces in PE are rainy days and facility conflicts (such as SAT’s or sporting

events). While we did not face any of those when I observed he explained to me that you have to

simply go with the flow. When it is a rainy day they will always have to do PE in the gym.

However, he still makes sure to get in their fitness. On rainy days, Coach Tirapelle’s favorite

adaptation is to incorporate a walk and jog exercise with his class. This is not only a great way

to get exercise even on a rainy day, but also teaches the students about pacing as well. When it

comes to strength and flexibility segments he also like to utilize the wrestling room, where he

will have the kids perform sit ups, pushups, etc on the mats so no one gets any injuries as they

might on a hardwood floor.

My seventh question for Coach Tirapelle was what past experiences, personal beliefs, and

life experiences influence his lesson planning and classroom management? While he did not

have much to say about how his past experience influence his lesson planning, he did say that his

past experiences as a young PE teacher definitely influence how he manages his classrooms

today. As Burden states, “The amount of teaching experience you have influences planning

decisions. Previous experiences provide you with a more complete mental image of lessons and

thus, your initial lessons need less adjustment.” (p. 63). He explained to me that possibly the

most important lesson he has learned since becoming a PE teacher was the necessity of giving
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clear instructions to the students. He told me that often times kids will get confused if you do not

plan how you are going instruct your students. That is why he always thinks carefully before he

speaks to make sure the instructions are clear with no wiggle room for students to misinterpret.

Another lesson Coach has learned since teaching PE was the need for organized transitions. In

PE since there is so much moving around from the field, to the gym, and other locations. he told

me that from day one he begins to teach the kids his expectation for every time they transition to

a new environment to enter the gym/field and sit in roll call order and wait for further

instructions. This ensures that the kids do not get inside the gym and begin running around

wildly or start messing with equipment before they are supposed to.

The eighth question I posed to Coach Tirapelle was what type of management style does

he incorporate into his PE class and why does he believe this to be a successful style? After

observing the class, the answer was obvious to me before he even answered. Coach told me that

he uses an assertive discipline model in all his classes. As I stated many times PE is a very

different bear than your typical classrooms, and the risk of injury is much higher. Coach

Tirapelle explained to me that it is his responsibility to make sure every student is safe as well as

make sure that no student interferes with another's learning experience. He takes no flak from

his student’s if they are being disrespectful or goofing off, and they are immediately sent up to

student services to get a proper form of discipline. This more often than not is a simple lunch

detention, but some of the more serious offenses could receive Saturday school.

My final question for Coach Tirapelle was if there was anything he believes he could

improve upon in the lesson I observed. He told me that he thought the lesson went very well

overall, especially as it was a rather boring lesson for the students since it was primarily fitness.

The only aspect he said he would change looking back would be to not alternate between boys
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and girls performing the exercises during the strength and flexibility segment. He explained by

doing this there would be less downtime for the students, which a PE teacher’s goal is ideally

having as little downtime as possible for the students.

After this week observing Coach Tirapelle’s class I came out with a trove of new

knowledge pertaining to lesson planning. I thought the lesson was very effective for the

objectives that Coach Tirapelle had in mind. With the PFTs on the horizon Coach wanted to

make sure his students were readily prepared for the tests. While it was not the most exciting

lesson for the students, it certainly did achieve its objective in preparing the students for the

various tests the PFT is comprised of. However, one aspect of the lesson that I would have liked

to see more of was the use of UDL. The majority of the lesson consisted of Coach Tirapelle

telling the students what he wanted them to do (run 3 laps, 20 pushups, 30 sit ups). There were

not many instances of multiple means of representation, engagement, and expression. The only

two aspect of UDL I noted in my observation was the aides that were assigned to the special

education students and the accomodations made for the students with a 504 Plan. The aides in

the class were very interesting to observe. Often they would give the kids extra instruction or

demonstration if they did not understand and I was surprised to see that they did every exercise

with them while encouraging them. The interview went very well as well. I found myself

agreeing with many of the answers that Coach Tirapelle was explaining to me. Especially the

section of classroom management. While I do believe there are times for cooperative learning in

PE I believe that most of the time the management style in PE should be that of directive or

behavioral. With a vastly larger classroom area and with physical activity added into a lesson,

you are bound to face injuries and discipline issues in PE. I believe that putting forward your

expectations and routines with your class is a fundamental tool of having stellar classroom
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management in PE. As I have found much of what PE demands is good classroom management.

To sum it all up, I had a great time observing Coach Tirapelle’s PE class and I will definetely be

trying to model many of the lesson planning tools he uses into my future lesson planning.
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References

TEACHING AND LEARNING TO STANDARDS. 2002-03. PHYSICAL FITNESS FITT

PRINCIPLE. retrieved from

https://www.ode.state.or.us/teachlearn/subjects/pe/curriculum/fittprinciple.pdf

Burden, P. R. Methods for Effective Teaching. [National University]. Retrieved from

https://nu.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780133955705/