By conducting this inquiry project, I hope to learn more about the hesitations, fears, and concerns elementary school teachers have about teaching their physical education classes and what difficulties they may currently face. In order to help develop new resources to better match their needs, I would also like to learn about the current strategies elementary teachers have found effective in implementing their PE lessons.
During the long practicum, I will be connecting with 1 to 2 elementary school teachers and/or teacher candidates to observe their PE classes and if possible, have them come to a secondary PE class to observe various teaching methods firsthand. This will be done over three days over the two months of the extended practicum. Initially, I hope to meet one-on-one with the elementary teacher candidates and school teachers on day 1 early at the beginning of practicum. Days 2 and 3 will be reserved for on-site class observations at the respective practicum schools after the mid-point or towards the end of the extended practicum. I expect to find out the various ways I can support these teachers practically during lessons and also better understand the materials and resources they need during the lesson planning.
More concretely I will be creating a living online resource titled Toolbox through this blog. Elementary teacher candidates currently in the program can access and utilize the resources in the Toolbox during their long practicums. The expected launch date of the toolbox is: March 20th, 2015!
A sample of the information elementary teachers will have access to in the toolbox are:
Strategies for success in your PE class!
Sample lessons for each grade level:
Kindergarten
Grade 1
Grade 2
Grade 3
Grade 4
Grade 5
Grade 6
Grade 7
TGFU What? – Teaching Games for Understanding!
Online Forum
A place to ask your questions
A place to share your insight with colleagues
Additional Resources
How to collaborate with your catchment secondary school
Contact Info
Some of the other questions I will investigate with practicing elementary school teachers and teacher candidates are below:
Would elementary school teachers value working with a secondary PE specialist? If so, how would that practically look on a weekly, monthly or yearly basis?
What resources/strategies/methods do you want or need to become successful in teaching PE to your students?
What teaching methods are you currently implementing in your PE class?
What suggestions do you have to help improve the quality of PE education and physical literacy for your elementary students?
My overarching hopes with this inquiry project is to open the door of communication between elementary and secondary school teachers in the same district and help discover ways to facilitate collaboration effectively in PE.
More concretely I will be creating a living online resource titled Toolbox through this blog. Elementary teacher candidates currently in the program can access and utilize the resources in the Toolbox during their long practicums. The expected launch date of the toolbox is: March 20th, 2015! 
My overarching hopes with this inquiry project is to open the door of communication between elementary and secondary school teachers in the same district and help discover ways to facilitate collaboration effectively in PE.