First and foremost I’d like to say that Cristina, Lisa, Christine and Audrey did a fantastic job on their lesson. I loved how we were put into clans and was then used as a way to keep us organized for the rest of the lesson. I also really appreciated the prey-predator game they chose and immediately I could see how it could be applied to a science lesson- I will most likely be using it!

Another big thing I took away was the realization that we really don’t have to go far when taking our students outside. We are so lucky to live in a city that is surrounded by beautiful green spaces and parks and you don’t need to always plan an extravagant field trip to Stanley park, deep cove or cypress to reap the benefits of an outdoor lesson. Those outings may not always be possible so in the mean time- JUST GET OUTSIDE! It seems kids are spending less time outdoors and I find this really unsettling. I spoke to my sponsor teacher about this and he told me that many of his students have never been to the beach before. They’ve never experienced the smell of fresh salt air, the sensation of wet sand between their toes, the excitement of gazing in a tide pool and finding tiny little creatures and I wonder, if they’ve never experienced these things, why would they care to learn about it? Why would they care if it were no longer there? How could they understand the importance of reducing our carbon footprint? How would they ever learn to respect and care for the natural world? And what would all of that mean for the future of our world?

In planning and teaching our lesson, I felt very restricted given our time allowance. There was so much we wanted to include in our lesson- acknowledging the territory, the importance of positive self talk, modeling proper technique, giving adequate feedback along the way and of course, plenty of time to play! However, it was a strong reminder of the importance of having everything prepped, organized and ready to go in order to make the most of a lesson, whether it be 30 minutes long or 60. With that in mind and considering everything we know of the importance of physical activity for mental, physical and emotional well being, I’m surprised and disappointed with the fact that elementary P.E classes are only 30 minutes long. I don’t think this is enough time not only for a teacher to try to incorporate so many necessary and enriching elements into their lesson plans, but also it doesn’t give students enough time to play either. I noticed how engaged everyone was during the timed and competitive portion of 21 and I think my biggest challenge throughout the whole process was having to tell the class that the time was up! However, I believe this points to the need to place more emphasis on physical education and to incorporate physical activity across the curriculum.