The purposes of organizational time savers are to increase more time on task for the students throughout the unit and during the lessons.  It is also important to have a smooth transfer from the set up of the lesson to the take down.  Every lesson and activity will be different and will use specific equipment and space.  Here are some organizational time savers to utilize in a volleyball unit:

Teaching Space

¬Prior to a lesson, decrease the risk of injury by moving any objects that may be a hazard to the lesson i.e. benches along a wall that will be used for an activity.

¬To create an environment that allows for more on the ball touches with smaller groups; we used the 6 badminton courts during game play instead of the 2 volleyball courts.

¬ In other activities use the whole gym space available and encourage groups to spread out. 

¬The lines of the gym floor are a useful tool instead of cones or markers that students can easily trip over and increase the risk of injury. 

Equipment

¬Make it the students’ responsibility to set up and take down the nets before allowing them to start new activities or dismissal.  The first day you can designate part of the lesson as instruction on the proper way to set up the nets.

¬Utilize both the badminton nets and volleyball nets [and their different height ranges] in appropriate games.

¬Equipment used for targets: cones, hoops, taped areas on the floor and wall, lines on the gym floor and even students.

¬To encourage the use of the whole gym space, spread equipment out along the different walls of the gym.  Make it clear to the students when it is the correct time to engage in play and that prior to instruction equipment must be left alone.

 

During The Lesson

¬When addressing the class, make sure your back is never turned to any students.

¬Before giving instruction, maintain the role of authority by receiving silence from the class before speaking.  As a teacher you want to avoid talking over your students and enforce the rule right away.

¬When giving instruction to the class always make sure the equipment that the students have is placed on the ground to avoid bouncing and playing with

¬To avoid loss of time on task emphasize the proper technique or structure of the game by using student demonstrations before and during the activity.  During game play if you see a group demonstrating an exceptional job then freeze the other students for 30 seconds.  Get the students to observe the group that is being successful and study what techniques are enhancing their performance.

¬During group and partner games, ensure that students are changing their partner.  Students can benefit from other partners; this allows them to receive feedback or to assist their partner from their own knowledge of the sport