Spotlight Saturday 7: PhysEd Source

For the potentially final Spotlight Saturday, we’ll be taking a look at PhysEdSource – a site that the BCTF website links to on their PE specialist teacher page. This site is intended to be “an online directory that aims to provide useful web links and other helpful resources for professionals in the field of physical education”.

They have sections for gymnastics, outdoors activities, sports and games, individual activities, and dance, as well as general health and DPA, plus links to research on physical education and physical activity, focusing on a Canadian perspective. In the sections for activities, they are typically broken down, and you can find resources for setting up units, breaking games down into specific skills or tactics, or guides to different movements for things like dance, gymnastics, or yoga. It’s definitely an interesting site to check out.

They have a variety of resources for DPA activities, and they have a section on assessment too.  You know a resource website has really covered their bases when they even have resources for juggling! 

In addition to providing the majority of their content in English, they also provide quite a few links to French-language resources – I’m not quite fluent enough to vouch for those pages, but it definitely seems interesting, and their link to a tennis-lesson page seems neat!

Two-week Practicum: Share your thoughts & experiences!

Hi everyone!

This is a place to share your thoughts and experiences from the two-week practicum. What lessons, games, and activities did you try out? What  challenges did you face? How did you overcome them, and how do you plan to deal with them in the upcoming school-visits and extended practicum? What were the highlights of your time in your school? Were there any great resources you found and used that you would like to share?

Share your thoughts as a comment below, and don’t forget to also contribute by asking others questions on their experiences, or giving feedback if asked! Collaboration is an excellent tool for teachers, so let’s make the most of this fantastic forum we have for it!

Thanks!

Word of the Week 7: PE Inquiry

Our word this weeks (PE inquiry)  is inspired by our past few weeks at practicum. I think most of us would agree that inquiry based teaching is at the heart of our education at UBC.  As Teacher Candidates, we are encouraged to include an element of inquiry in all our lessons; we are encouraged to give students the time and space to ask questions, explore their surroundings and  wonder about the word around them.  While this model fits nicely into math, science, art and language arts lessons, I noticed my PE classes were chock full of  fulfilling IPO’s, covering fundamental movement skills, ensuring students are safe in the gym, completing student based assessments and managing student behaviors in the gym. With all this to cover,  when should teachers incorporate inquiry in PE? Moreover, as PE teachers who are devoted to teaching skill development, encouraging activity and having fun in the gym, what are some ways we can make our PE lessons more inquiry based that do not take away from activity time?

 

Spotlight Saturday 6: Action Schools! BC

This week’s spotlight is on Action Schools! BC, which is “a best practices whole-school model designed to assist elementary and middle schools in creating and implementing individualized action plans to promote healthy living while achieving academic outcomes and supporting comprehensive school health.” It includes components of PE, DPA, and healthy eating, to create a very holistic program which provides a foundation for life-long healthy living.

They have six action zones: School Environment, Physical Education, Classroom Action, Family & Community, Extracurricular, and School Spirit. Each of these six area includes the top five ideas for increasing physical activity and healthy eating, and there are some really great suggestions on these pages.

Action Schools! also provides complimentary professional development resources to schools, through workshops and mentorship programs. They also provide a great deal of resources, such as planning guides, action pages, and posters, so you can take action on some of these ideas. There’s an interesting section on student leadership as well!

Possibly the neatest feature of the site is the listing of “playground circuits” that have been created for schools throughout BC. You can search by district, and view suggested circuits to use the playground and field area in PE and DPA. My school is already on there – is yours?

Spotlight Saturday 5: PEGames.org

Today’s post is an overview of a really neat site that Fraser found – www.PEGames.org, and in particular the section on Primary warm-up games. They list equipment needed, and give a great overview of how to play the game. While not quite as focused or detailed as the PlaySport site, these games are great for a fun icebreaker, warm-up for a lesson, or just a fun idea for some DPA. New games are regularly The website also has a section on full length games, if you’re looking for something a bit longer, although they do also include a variant of dodgeball so use your discretion. There’s a section on classroom games too – again, great for DPA! I really like the look of the game “Assembly Line” – it encourages a lot of creativity, and also has the potential for a large variety of motions. Lastly, the site lists a lot of great ideas for Fitness Circuits and Weekly Challenges – definitely take a look at this resource, it has a lot of great information and I know I’ll definitely be using some of these games next week!

Word of the Week 6: Evolution

We found ourselves deep in discussion on the evolution of pedagogy this week.  Our conversation covered the political, social and structural changes in education in BC, and Canada more broadly. Admittedly, we are no experts in the history of elementary academia, but it was nice to pause for a moment and reflect on the ways in which past trends influence present decisions. For Robinson and Randell, an understanding the history of physical education is important as it helps us understand physical education today (2014, 13).

What events do you think have been most fundamental in shaping physical education curriculum today?  How do you think the curriculum today will effect future physical education programs?

Spotlight Saturday 4: Heart and Stroke Foundation’s Healthy Kids

Time for another Spotlight Saturday! Today I’m taking a look at the “Healthy Kids” section of the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s website, and in particular their “Healthy at school” section.

To gain a basic understanding of the importance of heart health, and how this can (and should!) be incorporated into schools, there is the “Heart Health in Schools: Why it Matters” section. There are tons of facts and recommendations here, based on research the H&S Foundation has conducted and collected. It’s definitely a great place to really get to know the “why” behind keeping kids healthy in school.

From there, check out their “Lesson Plans & Activities” page. They’ve got lesson plans for grades K-8, with lots of games, activities, and even ways of working physical activity into the curriculum! If you click on the link to more resources for teachers, you’ll also find a few more activities, as well as a printable healthy-eating cookbook. There’s also a great pdf with ideas for activities for DPA/brain breaks, which you can view here!

If you’re still looking for more, check out this page, with resources on their Jump Rope for Heart and Hoops for Heart programs – this fundraising campaign is also a great way to get the whole school involved in being active and increasing physical literacy.

Have you checked out the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s “Healthy Kids” resources? Have you used any of their activities during your school visits or practicum? What do you think?

Word of the Week 5: Competition or Cooperation?

To what extent should we foster competition in our Physical Education programs?  Should educators bypass traditional competitive sports like soccer and football to make way for yoga and recreational dance?  According to John Steele, chief executive of the of the UK Youth Sport Trust, “competition is not a dirty word.” Steele argues that teacher should not be afraid of educating children about winning and loosing.

What are your thoughts on competition in Physical Education programs?

For more reading on competition in PE see: http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6356569

 

Here is another great article on Competition and Fair Play by Ellen Singleton:

 This is the kind of experience I plan to encourage by Singleton ..

Spotlight Saturday 3: Easy Assessment App

Time for another Spotlight Saturday! A few people asked if I could give an overview of this assessment tool after our “assessment speed dating” activity on Wednesday, so today’s post is an introduction to the Easy Assessment app. This was one of the apps mentioned in chapter 15 of our textbook, on using technology in physical education. It was 99 cents when I purchased it for class, but it looks like it’s currently freeThere’s also a pro version (which I haven’t played with), and that app costs $1.99. The app is for Apple products (iPhone, iPad, iPod), but there are likely similar apps for Android/Windows products too.

While not only useful for PE assessments, there are a few key features of this app that seem like they would be very helpful in this class in particular. Once you open the app, you can create a variety of rubrics on scales (ranging from 0-10, so your scale is customizable) in varying areas. The possibilities are limitless, and you could assess on anything from balance, speed/time, form, and technique, to more affective things like leadership, teamwork, and safety. This means that the tool can also be used for any unit, from invasion games to gymnastics to dance to target games! You can also upload rubrics as .csv files, if you already have prepared them in a spreadsheet – I haven’t tested this tool out, but it seems like it would be a neat feature that would save some time on a phone/tablet.

You can also either manually add class lists or import them. Students can be assessed in groups or individually, and once assessments are added they can be viewed in-app, or can be sent via email or Dropbox.

When assessing students, the scales can be adjusted on the various criteria. Notes, photos, and video footage can also be added – this is what is exceptionally helpful in a PE context, because “a picture is worth a thousand words” after all – and video in this case is likely worth more! The downside to this tool is that the tech (phone, tablet, etc) with the app would need to be brought to and used in the PE classroom, but as long as students are told why and how the device will be used (and as long as it doesn’t go against any school or district policies of course!) it could be incredibly useful, especially in assessing things like form/technique.

Has anyone tested out this app? Anyone interested in checking it out now? And does anyone know of alternatives for non-Apple users?