2012 Internship Experience

In this seminar I will talk about

My role with Netball Otago My internship context and settingLearning objectives PE and the NZ CurriculumWhat have I learnt?How has my teaching been developed?How will my future teaching be improved

because of this internship?

My role with Netball OtagoHelping with Tahuna netball trial process and attending coaching sessions

Coaching a Year 8 Tahuna Netball Team for the season

Teaching and managing Fun Ferns each Sunday

-especially the 7year old age group

Setting up and packing up equipment for different events

Umpiring for Tahuna and tournaments

Planning sessions- especially for my team

Assisting other coaches

Helping at tournaments

Selling Southern Steel Merchandise and tickets to NPC Games

Driving injured players and equipment around Talent Development Camp

Member of the South Island Secondary School Organising Committee

Internship Context-What is my internship context?Netball Otago is based in Dunedin at the Edgar

Centre however they have just been merged with Netball Southland to become Netball South. This change will not occur until the end of the year.

Netball Otago aim to support netball activities in the community, they are a non profit organisation who aim to promote and grow netball.

Internship Setting I worked alongside my supervisor Nicki Paterson. Nicki is the Regional Manager for

Netball Otago. Nicki has worked in this job for six years and has just taken on a new role in the community as regional director of the Otago Secondary School Sports Association.

As well as working with Nicki I have also worked a lot with Jo Morrision both on the Talent Development Camp and through the Fun Ferns Programme. Jo Morrison is the Game Development Officer for Netball Otago.

  The Talent Development Camp was based in Alexandra at Dunstan High School. This

was a great venue because we used the school hostel, sports ground and local swimming pool which were all situated within the same area.

The coaching that I have done for Tahuna Intermediate has been held at both the school for practices and the Edgar Centre for games. The Edgar Centre has been the setting for most of the activities that I have done including: Fun Ferns, Tournaments, Southern Steel games, NPC Games, SISS tournament and meeting with Nicki at her office which is situated right by the Edgar Centre

Tahuna Intermediate

Talent Development Camp

Fun Ferns

Education-What are my learning objectives? Gain experience in teaching and learning practice in relation to netball.

Develop knowledge and experience in teaching fundamental skills for netball, as well as making activities enjoyable and worthwhile.

Gain experience delivering coaching sessions and providing support to students.

Actively support Netball Otago with running activities for school aged students.

Physical Education and the New Zealand CurriculumThe four strands within Health and Physical Education include:Personal Health and Physical DevelopmentMovement Concepts and Motor SkillsRelationships with other peopleHealthy Communities and Environments

My internship evolved mainly around Strand B: Movement Concepts and Motor Skills, however I feel that developing relationships with other people was another important part of my internship especially in relation to my coaching. I have had to develop relationships with my team as well as their parents and supporters who came to watch their games.This internship has given me the chance to learn more about my specialist area and understand that these strands work alongside each other as a holistic concept.

What have I learnt from my specialist area?

It was really interesting to see how an organisation like Netball Otago works. I was unaware that organisations like this really need volunteers to help with activities. I was often contacted to help with extra activities.

I loved being a part of activities running within the local community. This gave me a chance to work with students from local schools.

Although my internship was based around netball it still had a lot of relevance to teaching. I had to deal with parents, students, teachers, organising events, planning, reflecting and management.

I have learnt how to successfully coach and motivate netball players. I have more of an idea of what players enjoy.

I have learnt that physical education is a holistic concept and not just purely focussed on physical activity.

Importance of catering for many different students and engaging all of them in exciting and well prepared activities. I now know how important it is to make teaching and learning engaging and worthwhile.

How have I developed during the internship?

Experience with managing students of various ages. This was great for my development because I am still unsure which age I want to teach.

Finding activities to suit and be extended or made simpler for a variety of skill levels. This was often difficult and required a lot of extra time than I expected.

Hands on modelling and demonstration to students. This was especially important for the Fun Ferns group.

Preparation and organisation of activities. Sometimes I assisted others with this and other times I did this alone.

Talking with more experienced others to understand and improve teaching and coaching.

Confidence in delivering information and working with students.

Ability to develop relationships with both children and adults.

Understanding of having organised plans and backup plans for coaching practices.

How will this internship benefit my future teaching?

• I can use the experiences that I have had on this internship to help me with teaching situations. My experiences have allowed me to create several different resources for sporting activities.

• I know what kinds of boundaries and expectations to have as a coach now that I have had more experience with coaching teams.

• I can use the knowledge that I have developed with working with different age and skill levels and apply this to learning in the classroom.

• I have had situations in which I have had to deal with parents who are unhappy and I now know that I need to have more confidence in myself during these situations. During one of my netball games I had a parent approach me with a complaint about his daughter having a half game. I had valid reasons for giving his daughter a half game because she did not have an excuse for coming to practise that week. However this man walked off before I had the chance to reply to him.

• I feel that the internship has prepared me well for situations that I will encounter in the future and it has been really good to have support from my supervisor when these situations have occurred.

Do you have any questions about my internship?

ReferencesMinistry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.

Gatman, V. (2005). Physical Activity and Physical Education within Health and Physical Education in the New Zealand Curriculum: Aprimary school teacher’s perspective. Retrieved July 18 th, 2012, from http

://www.tki.org.nz/tkicontent/search?SearchText=physical+education-+gatman&TKIGlobalSearch=1&x=0&y=0