Post #3:

This week our class was focused on invasion games led by Krystal, Eric and Sam. I loved this whole lesson that they taught, and I really enjoyed the fact that it was given a theme to work with, that ended up tying the entire lesson together.  The most valuable idea that I took away from this lesson was that of inclusion. I think, in terms of P.E. I often consider games or activities where there is always a winner, be it soccer, basketball, floor hockey, etc, the end of which usually concludes with one team winning. The space invaders game, however, brought forth a new way to conduct activities that include everyone, and therefore give every student, a chance to win. I think that it would be significant to conduct these types of games within our P.E. classes because students can really learn the value of teamwork as well as the usefulness of keeping those around them included in the activities they choose to participate in. I specifically liked this because the students who may be less physical and those who may be more physical, and even those who are in between, can all be involved in the game, and therefore the stronger players must align themselves with those who they may look don upon in a game where they compete instead. This is such an important skill for students to acquire because they must learn how to work with whomever they may come in contact with, whether it is in P.E. or their classroom, or later in life when they have co-workers.

For me, I would really like to use this lesson within the classroom during my practicum, not only because I think the students would really enjoy the game, but because there is so much merit to involving students in a game which is fun and inclusive at the same time, and I think the class I am currently in would benefit greatly from this lesson.

First off, I really enjoyed the group teach this week, so thank you to the group for such a great job on your lesson. I think the most valuable idea that I took out of the week was around physical literacy and what this means for me and in regards to the setting of a school. Personally I have never considered myself as physically literate, because I often connected it to being good at P.E. and I would not necessarily consider this subject to be my forte.

However, I came to the realization that my physical literacy is specific to me and therefore integrated within my strengths in certain activities and the weaknesses I have in others. It is a personal journey we all take and through it we grow towards our own potential rather than the potential of those around us. From this realization I came to notice that, as we went through this lesson and our team grew in our “volley-cross” skills, I found myself cheering on my teammates and opponents because I no longer felt the need to compete against them. My physical literacy became about what I was doing and how I could grow.

I think that, in becoming future teacher, this is such an important mind frame to promote for our students. No two students are the same, and therefore they are all on their own journeys in their physical literacy. I think that if we put forth this mindset in our classrooms, the environment becomes more about working together to help everyone grow on their own journeys and, in doing so, it removes the stigma of what it means to get a certain letter grade, one that’s rewarded based on the present mentality associated with the need to beat others.

Post #1:

My fear walking into this course came from two letters, P.E. The context around which I know this subject falls into what I would categorize as negative. I have never really enjoyed P.E. and it has strayed quite far from those subjects in which I would consider favorites. To write that I was walking into this course with even a semi-positive frame of mind would be like a smile, the same smile one carries on their first day at a new school, the one that hides the nerves… I was not looking forward to what was to come.

As you begin to meet people however, and discover friendly faces among the crowd, the nerves slowly dissipate and the fears you had fade to a minimal existence. This is how I felt as we began our free play. I began to remember what P.E. was like as a child, and as a joined in on a game of passing a volleyball around, my new friends became reassurances that we were in this together.

By the end of the day I found a new respect for P.E. that I had lost somewhere along my journey through school. Perhaps it is that I am now considering it from the perspective of a teacher, or that I feel comfortable enough with the people I am around to know that P.E. is not a competition and therefore I do not have to be the best. This experience is about growth and so my new found appreciation for P.E is just the beginning.