I feel physical expression can sometimes tell us more about a person than what they say through text or even words. What sparked my interested in this week’s guiding question is how much I realized I used this when I’m evaluating my students for swimming lessons. Just by looking at someone’s body language, you can begin to understand why they struggle sometimes, perhaps they are having an off day. As a teacher, I believe we should place great importance in reading body language of our students. I think the first step in developing this literacy is by simply getting to know your students. I have by no means mastered the ability to read minds or anything. What I’m saying is that its possible for us to develop these skills and help us to be stronger teachers and be more attentive to our students.
The idea of physical expression also relates to our observation and assessment of student learning. By being able to read their physical expression when they are performing a task, we can gage if they need more practise or need a bigger challenge. I think that as we develop a better sense of physical expression, we not only become better at understanding how the students feels but we can also reflect on our physical expression to continue to grow.
Yes, I agree of the standards of expectations of teachers and we would be much more attentive and creating individual educational plans per student and you can develope your very own assessment based on the new BC curriculum which is more broad in means of teaching and also narrows in on practical experience and knowledge of physical education. By observing and assessing a students performance is key to grading rather then based only on skills/performance. An example, a student gives it there all, as a student explained in discussion. Can’t we then grant them a great grade
I agree with you on looking at students’ unspoken cues for how they are engaging with a lesson. I noticed this working in after-school care, where you could tell whether or not a game you were facilitating was going well based on changes in body language and tone of voice. You can tell when a negative “vibe” is building with individual students or groups of students, so it’s very important to stay on top of this and redirect when something isn’t working before something backfires in a more major way, creating a negative experience that sticks with a student for a long time and effects their ability to engage with PE.
What you said about understanding your students is an important part of this too – it’s one thing to recognize that something is happening, but they key is responding in a way that relates to what is happening in the student’s experience. One thing that I find is so easy to do but often gets forgotten is to simply ask the kid “what’s up” – they’ll often just tell you if the trust is there. So simple, so effective, but so often overlooked as an excellent way to build a rapport with kids.