The last two groups did really well with their lessons!  The gymnastics group did really a great job of scaffolding our skills and giving us the introductory lesson to the world of gymnasts! They did a superb job of showing us how each station worked and what they specifically wanted us to work on at each station. They were very clear with what parts of the body we should be focusing on at each station. The various sets of skills were not overly hard nor were there too many; therefore allowing us students to focus on building up one or two skills, and building them up really well. I particularly enjoyed the “balance beam” station. While I would be pretty frightened of going on a real balance beam they created the environment for it! I felt if I were in an actual gymnastics class and started with practice on benches, I would have the confidence to move up to the real thing! I want to commend the group for creating that safe space!

The dance group was also fantastic! They really got us moving! I was so exhausted at the end of their lesson! I liked that their focus was on expression and movement rather than getting perfect steps. And while we worked on timing and counting in beats, it was still fun and focused on the movement aspect! Being one to let loose and be silly, I thoroughly enjoyed the chance to be free and have fun! They taught a few dance moves which were used throughout the whole class; this was very effective teaching tool! We were taught only a few moves but were free to add our own flavour. As well, they used the dance moves in different ways, in the group dancing with Cheryl, the game and the dance-off. I thought the friendly dance-off was a nice touch and definitely something tailored to our class. I think our class is comfortable enough to have fun with something like a dance-off and I thought it was a great addition to their lesson.

I thought that both groups did an excellent job with their presentations! There are some very talented students in our cohort and feel like all the presentations keep getting stronger and stronger. With the gymnastics group, I loved how they incorporated Halloween so much into their presentation. It was really cool how each team was named after a different halloween creature (eg ghosts, zombies). I also loved the halloween tag where each group that had to act like the creature their team was named after. I thought that was a very creative and neat way to shake things up. I also greatly enjoyed the stations and think they’re an excellent idea to use when there are multiple teachers in the room even though they may be much more difficult to run individually. I found that each station focused on a very specific skill (eg balancing, rolling) that was relevant to gymnastics and that was great to see.
With the dance group, I loved how gradually different skills were introduced. I found the popcorn dance to be very liberating and fun. I was a bit nervous about the dance off but I really liked working together as a team and thought it was great that there were no winners and losers in any of the games that were introduced. I’m not sure which group did the egg, chicken dinosaur game as a warmup but I thought that was a very fun and inclusive game as well that I think I will very likely end up using in my longterm practicum. I also really enjoyed the confidence of the teachers in the dance group. It seemed like all the teachers and students were having a lot of fun that day.

Unfortunately, I was away the day of the dance and gymnastics presentation! However, in that statement alone, I believe the importance and draw of dance and gymnastics is illustrated by the fact that I — someone who has not been interested in PE in the past — was disappointed to be missing this part of our class. Dance has many cross-curricular connections, as well as connections to culture and society. Of course, one of the most common cross curricular connections of dance is that of storytelling skills being demonstrated through dance and movement. However, one can incorporate the movement and rhythm skills of dance in every curricular area. During my short practicum, I taught a lesson using rhythmic movement patterns to practice and internalize Skip Counting in grade 1 and 2 Math. Children stomped, tapped, and clapped beats, as well as crossed the midline as they chanted their skip counting patterns. Dance can be used as a way to introduce cultural connections in the classroom using a cross-cultural art-movement form.

I also believe that dance aids in children’s social and emotional development. I have often observed young children letting go of many of their inhibitions when dancing or participating in more expressive forms of movement. Partner and group dances can increase cooperation within a class community, and the performative aspects of dance and gymnastics encourages a supportive audience as well as builds confidence for those performing.

I think both groups did an excellent job of presenting their lesson. They were both engaging and I had a lot of fun participating.

I found that the gymnastics group was very balanced out. I did not feel like I was doing the same thing in each of the four stations. For the forward roll and log roll it was demonstrated for us and then we got to practice it. If we had any problems there was feed back on how we could improve our rolls. When we did the front walk and crab walk we practiced a couple of times and then to challenge us they added a bean bag. I thought that was an interesting way to build on our skills and realized it takes a lot of concentration not to drop the bag. I liked how there were options for the  jumping technique. There was a higher and lower vaulting box to allow students at different levels to participate. Student’s could choose the box they felt more comfortable with and if they decided they wanted to challenge themselves they were given that option.  A student was not singled out for doing the lower box. They also incorportated that for the hoops. The student could either use both feet which was an easier task or one foot. The last station one for the bench really helped with a student’s balance. They had different variations of balance techniques and I liked how when the line for the backwards balance got too long it was immediately addressed and  you were allowed to skip that part so you were not standing around.

I learned in our discussion group that the wooden wall mounted gymnastics equipment is no longer used because of safety. I remember as a child how I really enjoyed playing on it especially when my teacher made obstacle courses where you had to climb over, under and swing on the rings. I understand that with so many children there are more chances of accidents’ happening so I see why they would want to get rid of it. It’s a shame though because it was a fun piece of equipment.

1. I thought the flow of our station rotation and the lessons within each station worked really well. The different skills taught in each station were gradual, as it started off with basic movements to more challenging ones. I also thought we worked really well with the time given, and we were able to modify/adapt our lesson plan to fit our schedule.

My fellow group members and I shared the workload evenly between the lesson plan and reading summaries. It worked out really well. Although, credit for activity ideas goes to Klara!

2. There were a number of changes to our lesson plan. Within my station, I did not realize how difficult it was for students to do the bear walk and crab walk while weaving between 5 cones -back and forth, and because we started with only two line ups, there was more wait time for them than actually moving around. So, I made three lines instead of two, to spread the students more evenly, and removed 2 cones. In the end, they were able to weave between 3 cones (spaced out), and challenge themselves with the beanbag. This modification gave everyone more time to practice their walk at least two times before adding the bean bag.

3. When I started off with 5 cones and 2 line ups,  the students found it difficult to weave  through the cones. Also, with a number of people lining up in the two lines, there was a lot of wait time, and I noticed the students just hanging around. So, I created a third line up so I could space the students out more evenly, and to quicken up the pace of the line. I heard a lot of responses that told me that it was too difficult and tiring weaving through 5 cones, so I changed it and used three cones instead, and spaced it out so they had more time to walk forward than focus on weaving in and out. It worked really well – students had enough time to do the walk with and without the bean bag.