Friday was a wonderful day, albeit cold – so cold. If I had a choice, I’d be wearing my jacket during most of the time in class. In any case, I must give thanks to Mr. Rogers for that crazy shuffle warm up he made us do for what seemed like a very. long. time. That really got my heart pumpin’, my blood boilin’, and the heat risin’! A great start to the day.

The main goal of the day was going through the group lesson on volleyball! Oh, volleyball. If you asked me what my least favourite sport of all time was, I’d respond with that. Anyhow, I really enjoyed the activity presented, and it might have made me reclaim my liking for volleyball. We were split into four sections; each group focused on a specific skill: setting, bumping, serving, and free play (focusing on either or all three skills mentioned earlier). The amount of time spent within each section allowed everyone to develop good form and a range of skills – it was perfect.

I also thought Clarissa, Amanda, Terence, and Rylan executed the lesson impeccably. The energy they brought to the gym floor was great; it was clear that the energy level was then transferred and shared to the rest of the class. I was also impressed by their time management, and planning skills. As mentioned earlier, there was ample time to practice and perform well, individually, within the sections.  Despite the fact that I thought the warm up at the beginning seemed a bit long (though, that’s probably because I have low stamina), the warm up did its job. As well as the stretch at the end was a good way to cool down. Anyways, great job guys and gals!

Great work Terence, Clarissa, Amanda and Rylan!! You al did an awesome job in your group teach for volleyball. I loved your collaboration as a team and the engagement of each of you. You definitely had control of the class and made it a very fun, safe and exciting learning environment. Wonderful work!!

I started playing volleyball in a team setting in grade 4. I was never really good at it until about grade 7 when I had some fantastic coaches and once I joined the Thunder Volleyball Club. Since then, I have absolutely loved the sport and was so happy to get to play a little during the group teach. You all did an awesome job at breaking down the skills in to easy yet fun building blocks. There was never a point when I thought someone was struggling. You al worked really well making sure that we were succeeding and trying to help when it was needed, as a teacher should.

I also really enjoyed our discussion about physical literacy. Where I work we “teach” physical literacy to children ages 6 month up to 7 years old through gymnastics. The articles that we read for class were very relevant to what I do at gymnastics and I was thrilled to be able to make that connection and see it play out in the gym. Physical literacy to me is super important and I believe that it should be seen as something that is fundamentally needed in all schools.

Physical literacy is a term that I have heard around for awhile now but not had a full understanding of its meaning. It has been interesting in the last couple classes to learn what it means to be physically literate and to promote that in physical education. I like the idea of breaking down sports into fundamental movement skills. I think a lot of the enjoyment that comes from being physically active has to do with feeling comfortable and competent. This is why kids who naturally excel at sports immediately enjoy them and continue to play sports and be active. Whereas children who find they are not immediately competent at sports or physical activities may develop a negative association perhaps from public failure or embarrassment. It’s always easier to pursue things that we have a natural ability for. I do not have a natural ability at math, but if it is broken down for me into simplified steps and patterns, it becomes easier for me to grasp. It makes sense that the same logic would be used for physical education. I think that up until now, more emphasis would be put on helping a student who is struggling with math than one who is struggling in PE.  However, I think that physical literacy is just as important as math literacy.  Hopefully the new PE curriculum will emphasize the importance of encouraging competent and confident movement patterns in children throughout their schooling so that all children can learn to enjoy physical activity, not just children with a “natural athletic ability”.

Physical Literacy-

After reading the articles on physical literacy I better understand how the current curriculum is trying to combine confidence and control in physical activities. It seems to be taking the whole person into consideration instead of just the activity they are doing. I could not remember how I was evaluated in physical education when I was younger but it is nice to see that the way they assess children is more about what the child is able to do and the long-term effects. I find the Passport to Life a very interesting assessment tool. Since no child is the same it is nice that they set individual goals that involve the parents. I think parents are very influential in a child’s physical life and the more teachers and parents can work together the more successful the child will be. I also like how it’s divided- active participation, living skills, life skill and movement skills. It evaluates how a child can move but also looks into how the child feels, what can be their motivation, what is their previous knowledge and how they interact with other children. They make it so it’s a building block that will be a long journey not just a subject they have to pass and then move on.

This past Friday Clarissa, Amanda, Terence and I did our group teach exercise. I was surprised about how difficult it was to teach a P.E. class. I had another group teach project in another class earlier in the week and it was much easier for me personally. Although I think our presentation was good, but I feel like my personal performance was lacking. Physical literacy is a difficult concept to grasp, I think because it’s so different to what I always assumed P.E. was attempting to accomplish. I appreciate it, but it was hard to facilitate a discussion on. It worked out alright though.

After the discussion we proceeded to the fun stuff. I felt like our lesson was engaging well crafted and well timed. I may have been a little aggressive with the warm up (sorry), but the stations were well planned and kept everyone constantly moving. Although the warm up wasn’t ideally executed, it served a purpose to highlight the purpose of physical literacy. That simple stance was used as a fundamental building block in each of the following stations.

Overall, I’m just glad I gained the experience here, in a safe environment. I have already noted various things that I need to improve when I move into the gymnasium. Truthfully though, coming into this program I was most excited to teach P.E., now I think it may be just the opposite. Hopefully I can build on that group teach exercise to become a more confident P.E. teacher before I step in front of my first class last this year.