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!