Dance isn’t something that comes naturally to me. The only time I believe we’ve done dance in PE was during the month of December, in preparation for the Christmas Party where we would have a Ceilidh. Practicing involved having the boys line up on one side of the hall and the girls on the other, with each taking turns to select a partner. Possibly the most awkward thing ever when you’re in your pre-teens! So seeing dance in a different way was great fun. Everyone was moving and having a great time, and I felt like we’d achieved something by the end of the class. I thought the ladies did an excellent job leading, and I have to also give a shout out to Meghan for being such a ‘risk-taker’!
This week during practicum, we’ve been able to see how physical education is being implemented in the schools. Southpointe has 4 specialists who cover the K – 12 years. The first day when I walked into a PE class the students were sitting individually on their ipads reflecting on videos of their batting movements. I think it’s safe to say that physical education has definitely changed from when I went to school!
I’ve been able to watch my class transition through skill building drills to mini-games, before participating in full class batting/fielding games. They even played Chuck the Chicken! Not only that but they have also been connecting to their next Unit of Inquiry (body systems). How did their muscular system/central nervous system/respiratory system help them achieve that movement? How are they connected? Thus, the students already have some knowledge before they even get started! It’s great seeing everything that we’ve been discussing during our classes being implemented in the field.
Hi Gemma!
I loved reading your post. I haven’t been able to observe that many PE classes at my practicum, and the ones that I have observed were mainly game-playing and class management since the kids are so young, so it is exciting to see that what we are learning is being implemented in real classrooms!
I also completely agree with you about dance classes – the only experiences I had with dance in school was square dancing, and it wasn’t all that fun! Rather than focusing on having fun, we had to turn our attention to following complex instructions awkwardly while trying to stay in close approximation to the partners of choice. In our class last Wednesday, everyone was engaged, working hard, and having a blast. Thanks ladies!!
Hi Gemma!
My PE dance classes were equally as awkward! Every year we had to take line and square dancing lessons with the male PE classes. It was terrible. Nobody wanted to be there, it was uncomfortable, and eye contact was never made.
Like Tiffany, I was not able to see many PE classes during my practicum. My class shared their gym time with the other Kindergarten class so our time in the gym was only around 20 minutes. Add in classroom management, instructions, and all their questions, and their time spent running around is cut down to about 10 minutes. Because of this, my SA generally just gave them extra outside/playground time – a less complicated option and one without time restriction.
Lastly, times have definitely changed with technology being implemented in classes that you wouldn’t generally associate with technology! Students seeing and then being able to assess their own technique is very cool.