Well done to the physical and health literacy group this week! It was a lot of fun being offered choice to explore stations of interest and to pursue new stations or activities if we were curious. I think this ability to choose really allows students to engage more with the lesson as they cater to individual interests, skills, and strengths (or weaknesses). This lesson also did a great job in incorporating cross-curricular competencies and activities in order to demonstrate physical and health literacy, which is a great way to involve activity into other core subject matter. For example, the Spell Ball game was a great activity for students to work on their spelling, while incorporating other skills like passing, dribbling, and strategy.

The discussion in the smaller group settings also allowed for a dialogue to distinguish between DPA and PE. Daily Physical Activity is different from PE and should occur on every non-PE day for 30 minutes during the school day, extended to another 30 minutes outside of school. It is important for students and parents to understand the importance of activity and the positive outcomes it may have on your body. By implementing school based physical activity, we are able to prepare and encourage students to live physical and healthy lives, as well as to think alternatively about PE classes for students who may not consider themselves ‘athletes.’

Awesome job to the group for demonstrating how we are able to incorporate health and physical literacy in a cross-curricular manner!

The two groups that presented on Friday both did a really good job and kept the whole class very energized! First off, the Gymnastics group that presented first had great structure and organization in the facilitation of their activities. I also really liked that from the beginning, the emphasis on safety was placed. In this way, the group was able to address one of the guiding questions about safe and inclusive environments. By separating into groups, there was also a team atmosphere that was really encouraging, as everyone had really great positive attitudes. The group was also able to address gymnastics with limited resources, simulating a PE environment that we as TCs may encounter at some point in our practicums or future teaching endeavors.

The second group-teach was on Dance, which was the perfect way to close out the PE lesson. It was a very high-energy lesson and teamwork (with some healthy competition, ie. Dance battles) was encouraged, much like the previous group-teach. Personally based on my experiences in the past, dance units were never my forte. I never enjoyed it and never fully participated/expressed myself. In all honesty, yesterday’s group-taught lesson may have been the first time I fully engaged with a dance lesson (big props to the group for encouraging the high energy!). I learned that through dance, students are able to express themselves and understand their own bodily movement. At the same time, this practices spatial awareness.

Great job to both groups!

This week, the focus was on TGFU for social awareness in a PE class. The activity that was taught by the group was very well done, which I believe was the result of a step-by-step/progression style of the activities. The group was able to divide their game into three different styles or levels, which allowed everyone to participate fully and understand the game more thoroughly.

A discovery approach is useful in gameplay because it allows students to understand the games and realize strategies or purpose behind activities. This allows the teacher to take a step back and facilitate, rather than providing all solutions to the students. In this way, students are also presented with the opportunity to take the lead on their own learning. To ask questions, learn strategies, and o progress together as a class. TGFU is a method in which could also carry over to other literacies outside of the PE class.

Educators can provoke further questioning among learners by encouraging a safe and open environment. This environment would allow students to generate discussion without judgments. An educator with this style of teaching would also be able to facilitate discussion, not by providing all the answers and information, but by posing questions towards the students, while allowing reflection time to share their thoughts and understandings as a class.

When I first found out we had a PE class in the Teacher Education Program, I got excited as I love being active and being involved in sports and activity.

Growing up, PE was one of the classes I most looked forward to (unless we were doing cross-country running or dance – definitely not my strong suit). But regardless, PE was like an extended brain break for me growing up.

I had a lot of positive experiences and some negative experiences. The negatives being participating in activities that felt like punishment (such as doing the beep test or having to run laps if something wasn’t done properly or if I was speaking out of turn). But these negatives were overshadowed by a lot of positive experiences I had sharing in activities and memories with fellow classmates. I feel like participating in PE class helped shape me to who I am today, and helped me recognize skills and the physical capabilities in which I value today.

In the case of fears about teaching PE, I’d have to say that I’m worried about ways in getting kids involved in activities they don’t want to do or lack interest in. This scares me because activity is essential and the purpose of PE is to involve and include all students to be actively engaged in activity. I’m hoping that through my own positive and negative experiences, I can learn from them and shape an effective PE environment for my own students in the future.