I really enjoyed the physical and health literacy lesson by Cheryl, Elizabeth, Mary and Rob. I liked how there were so many choices for activities and many of them allowed students to be creative. When I first went into the gym I thought there were four stations but then saw that there were 16. I thought that was great because there was less of a chance for line-ups so students can try many different activities. I saw at the obstacle course a group of students made a hungry hippo game with just two crates, 2 scooters and bean bags. They seemed to really be enjoying themselves. I think that is something that we should all be instilling in our students that simple materials can create fun games. They had many games where a person had to be aware of their body and what it could create. The instant activity had you using your body to create letters and the warm up and cool down had you using your imagination to turn into animals or imagine that you were in certain situations.

The discussion we had was very interesting because it made you reflect on how much exercise a child actually gets in a day and what is considered exercise. When you break down the 60 minutes required it is actually very doable. A teacher can do cross-curricular activities to teach subjects that can involve physical activity. Or a quick activity in the morning or brain break can also be incorporated. Sometimes just that little bit of exercise can make a difference. In my school all students have to go outside to play and are not allowed to stay in the classroom unless it is really cold outside and I think this is very good. A child needs to run around or at least have a change in environment to function.

I think the group had a good balance of activities that incorporated all different interests of students. Some students prefer individual activities and others enjoy working in groups. Good job!

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.

I learned a lot this week about Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU). When I was younger, I remember playing games in physical education and how fun they were but I never realized how the skills we learned could be so transferable to other activities until I got older. I believe in PE we need to expose children to many different skills but also let them know that everything they are learning has a purpose. If a child believes that what they’re learning in PE has a purpose that can be applied to many activities then they may be more willing to participate.

This week for our group discussion we were talking about what is important and I realized that for me it was multi activities. If you expose a child to many different ways to use a skill then the child has more chance of succeeding in one of them. This week’s group nicely broke down how we gradually build on a skill then make it harder to challenge ourselves. At first, when we were playing the main game and our group had to get to the other side I was wondering why the cones on the far side were not closer. The other team’s arms were not long enough to reach us so we just had to walk across. I learned as the game gradually got harder that there was a purpose to the distance. In the last part, the other team could take one step and that allowed them to protect their area, which I found made it impossible to get across. It made me realize the steps we take to teach a game. You want to allow a group to get confident in the game then let them build strategies. You do not want to discourage anyone by making a game too hard where they feel they will not succeed.

 

 

1. The thing that worked well in our lesson is that everything was connected. We had an idea that we wanted to teach skills for baseball and all of our activities were connected to that. For our Incoming game, we had the student’s practice working as a team, throwing, catching and pretending to run to home when they were done. They were able to transfer those skills into the main striking game. I contributed by coming up with the main activity, and finding ways to modify other activities so everyone was included. I think our group worked very well together and everyone pulled their weight.
2. I noticed about planning and teaching that there are many areas you have to consider when planning a lesson- does the lesson flow and does it have a purpose, is everyone included, are any of the games shaming games, is it safe for the children and how much time should you allocate for each activity. Since one of our chapters was about assessment, everyone in class was able to give feedback on what worked. We had to modify our last game to make it safer since some people slipped on the mats and people were running into each other. I think this was good because it helped us see what worked and students were able to come up with suggestions on how to improve it.
3. I noticed that all of the students were participating and seemed to have fun so that helped with the lesson. I’m glad we had activities that included everyone because you really got to see the skills everyone had and you did not need to be super athletic to participate in our games.
4. The things that I would do differently are pay closer attention to the safety of the children. I would have used softer balls and had them touch the mat with their hands or tap it with their toes instead of running on it. Also, some of my instructions needed to be clearer because some students were a little confused and the passing game would have been good to do twice since after one round everyone knew what to do.  I think over all I learned that teaching a physical education class is very different than other lessons I have done because of the size of the gym and there’s more distractions for children. You need to find a balance to lead the class but also participate with them.

Chapter 6: Assessment and Physical Education

-Assessment: process of collecting and organizing information- students knowledge skills and attitudes

-Evaluation: the subsequent process of judging students’ learning based on that information

Need to do assessment “Before, After and During Instruction”

-Learning Domains:

Cognitive– things that students are able to know. Psychomotor- things that students are able to do. Affective– things that students are able to value

-Principles of Assessment(4)

Continuous– development of students, Collaborative– include students/parents, Comprehensive– balance of curricular    outcomes ought to be assessed- -a variety of assessment strategies be utilized, Criteria Based– what student should be able to know, do or value

Norm-referenced: how well a student does in relation to others (national norms, school norms or class norms).

Criterion-referenced: consideration of students’ learning relative to some sort of ideal outcome. (It is possible for no or all students to achieve the minimum standards for success.)

Validity: measure exactly what is intended to be measured.

Reliability: a measure’s ability to have consistent measurements

Role of Assessment in P.E.

Know what knowledge, skills and attitudes students already process

Pre-assessment: may be beginning of school year or just prior to instruction in any given unit. Formative Assessment: during a lesson. Summative Assessment: end of term/unit. Evaluation and grading: after information is collected

Types of student Assessment:

Exit slips: written student responses. Fitness Tests: focus upon health-related fitness component, though some may also focus on skill-related components. Observation: most common method. Learning Logs: provide students with an opportunity to track their own behaviours in class and outside of school. Performance Tasks usually complete within a class period. Portfolios: for PE, it is important to include items that address all three learning domains. Skill Tests: allow physical educators to isolate and focus on particular skills that are clearly included as curricular outcomes. Written Tests: to assess student knowledge of P.E.

Measuring student learning- rely on checklist, analytic rating scales and rubrics- generally more “grey” than “black and white”

Tradition: Plan àTeach àAssess

Contemporary: Assessment= primary role “backward design”

1. Decided upon the desired results,
2. Determine the acceptable evidence
3. Plan for learning experience/instruction.

Questions:

1. Reflect upon the assessment practices you remember from your time as a student. How would you describe your former physical educators’ assessment practices? How were these assessment practices similar and/or different to assessment practice in other subject areas?
2. Sometimes during a performance task students may not perform as well as they are capable of performing. Should students be allowed another opportunity (do-over)?
3. Of the many possibilities for reporting students’ grades (ex: numerical scores, letter grades, pass/fail systems, and analytic rating scales) what would you suggest would be most ideal?

 

Chapter 12: Movement Domains

 

. Intro: -goal of PE is to assist children and youth to develop skills for a healthy lifestyle

-to do so, variety of physical activities need to be introduced

. Movement Concepts-form basis of the movement lesson (What is the body doing? Where is the movement going? What is the dynamic content or quality of the movement? With whom or what is the mover relating?)

. Fundamental Movement Skills-most basic movement skills found in any complex skill (ie. dribbling a soccer ball requires running, dodging, turning and changing speed)

. DAIGG-Dance, Alternative Environment Activities, Individual Physical Activities, Gymnastics and Games

1/2) Dance and Gymnastics-students can come up with own routines which allows for great self-expression and creativity

3) Games-post popular component of PE, great way to learn new skills in a less competitive environment than sports

. Game Definitions (pg. 218):

–Developmental Games: very simple and may involve basic skills such as running or guarding

–Lead-Up Games (bit more complex) lead to Formal Games (game/sport that is more rule-based and competitive)

–games pedagogy approach involves teaching indirectly and allows for students to work collaboratively while actively constructing their own learning

4) Individual Activities-performed alone or socially (ie. yoga or biking)

5) Alternative Environments (great for field trips!)-often outdoor based (ie. hiking, swimming)

-less controlled environment than the gym so student’s safety is crucial

. Conclusion-whole spectrum gives students competence in a wide variety of activities, creates important skills needed for physical activity within the classroom and beyond

 

Questions:

1. Are there any physical activities you can think of that aren’t included in the five movement domains?
2. What factors should you consider when teaching activities from the different movement domains? (eg. Dance, Developmental or Formal Games)
3. How can you encourage your students to become more physically active outside the classroom?

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.