I’m going to focus on one particular guiding question for this post – what are the conditions for including all learners in game play? I feel like this is a really important part of the teaching model we focused on this week: Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU). One condition is having games where a clear “winner” is not a focus of the game. I thought the invasion game lesson, Alien Invasion/Prairie Dog Pick-off, was a great example of this – the students who won the game in the end included students whose skittles had already been knocked over, so there was no identifiable winner. Also key to including all learners is to minimize down-time and have movement be something that is constantly happening in a PE lesson. This avoids turning part of the class into spectators, which makes many kids nervous, and keeps as much time as possible open for students to explore and practice different movements.

In general, I think Teaching Games for Understanding is a model because of its emphasis on experiencing and learning. Rather than a focus on mastering sports, TGfU focuses on the lifelong benefits of healthy activity and getting kids moving in fun and engaging ways. I really like the fact that the TGfU model gets the kids playing games right away – it takes the pressure off working towards playing the game “perfectly” as the ultimate goal and instead focuses back on the experience of the learner in trying different ways of being active.

I had a great time playing invasion games this week. Prairie Dog PickOff was surprisingly difficult to play: one must be able to multitask by having an acute awareness of both the opponent’s object and the defended object, not to mention the physical prowess involved in throwing and blocking. It was very useful to practice in smaller groups ahead of time; excellent job finding a way to simplify the game to teach specific skills, Group Teach 4! I feel like the approach this group took towards the invasion game was in line with the TGfU curriculum model. Instead of reducing the game into boring skill and drill time, an altered version of the game was used for practise in order to develop game appreciation. Also, in between rounds, the leaders decided to motivate people who were spending the whole round defending by introducing a new rule. This had the effect of ensuring that all students developed tactical awareness of offensive and defensive technique, another important aspect of TGfU.

Before this lesson and Chapter 3 reading, I had no idea how many curriculum models existed for PHE. It is both inspiring and intimidating to realize how many ways this subject can be taught. I am inspired because I see the strengths and weaknesses of the various models, but I am intimidated by the selection and application process because I would be concerned that I might create a hodge-podge curriculum that makes sense on the individual activity level, but lacks clarity and cohesion overall.

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.

Here is our summary! 🙂

PE Lesson

This week we explored different teaching methods in P.E. I was glad to get a better understanding of some theories through our group discussion. Steve was able to join our discussion and explain the idea of class-run sports organizations with students being involved in various roles such as head-coach, equipment manager, and media relations. I understood that it would take some time to organize the unit so that each student is contributing but I think it would be a great opportunity to bring PE into the classroom.

I thought the group that presented provided a brilliant modelling of the Teaching Games for Understanding method. Rather than immediately immersing us in the objectives and rules of the invasion game, their group set up more simplified activities that allowed us to build upon our skills and knowledge to better strategize in the end. During my practicum this week I encountered a volleyball lesson that could have benefitted from using this progression method. In my observation, groups of 6 children were asked to volley a volleyball and make 30 touches. I found that some individuals didn’t have a strong sense of the movements for bumping or setting, these students were not motivated to play and their teammates were avoiding passing the ball in their direction. With stations focusing on skill progression this lesson could have gone smoother and ended with the 30-touch activity. I think this team teach lesson has had the most impact on my teaching style. It ties in the theories of the Zone of Proximal Development, meeting kids where their at developmentally and giving them the tools to practice skills, and then test what they’ve learned with a challenge. Fridays class was a job will done and a great application of course themes!

Learning about the Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) model has reinforced the importance of breaking down game fundamentals. Games are more than just skills and drills. Team work, decision making and game knowledge are key components for a child’s success with a game. These components are interchangeable between different sports as well as life skills. Making the game accessible for all students to be successful will make the game more enjoyable. 

As important as the TGfU model is, I think it is important to use it along side with others models depending on your students needs. Using the mix curriculum model is important to keep in mind to not became fixated on one type of curriculum. Each class will be different, therefore the teacher must modify the curricula to fit the students needs.

In what ways can educators provoke further questioning among learner?

The educator should resist helping the students at first. Giving the students space  furthers the students questioning and encourage them to make their own decisions about game play. Have the student engaged in active experiences, then inquire how these experiences can be implemented within the larger picture, for example, society, community, school. The fundamental component for provoking questioning among learns is give the students more control!

What are the conditions for including all learners in game playing?

The Teaching Game for Understanding (TGfU) approach is a model which is inclusive for all students regardless of ability and skill level. This approach focuses on giving students the opportunity to actively experience, enjoy and understand games. Having a learner centred approach put the needs and abilities of the participants first over the importance of the game. Modifying games to make sure they are inclusive for all students abilities is a the component of this approach.

It was my pleasure to lead a class alongside Ally and Kaira for our netball lesson. It was fun and challenging for us to come up with our ideas and then execute them with the class. I thought that the most successful part of the class was when we played our modified netball game at the end. The game gave everyone an opportunity to practice the basic skills we had taught earlier into a game environment and everyone seemed very enthusiastic. I also thought that having the opportunity to practice the basic skills prior to a game environment went well because everyone was given the opportunity to gain some confidence in their skills. I felt as though we all worked well as a team, however I personally felt as though I contributed to the group my background in netball, and so was able to explain the game of netball to my group members and then the class. Although I fumbled in my explanation of the game, this is something that I will talk about later when I address what I would have done differently, I hope that I was supportive and encouraging and helped with skill development and game application.

I found that planning the activity went smoothly, however having not ever taught a class there were a lot of logistics that seemed far less of an issue than they ended up being. It was easy when we were planning to discuss our time restrictions, however when it came to leading the class our time restrictions went out of the window. As I mentioned above it was also more difficult than I thought it would be to describe the modified netball game. Given a second chance I would have the best way to explain the game on a sheet in front of me to refer to. Assessment was also another thing that was relatively simple to plan but much more difficult in practice. I am still wondering about the best way to assess every single student.

Overall the learners’ were very enthusiastic participants. I think originally it was difficult for them physically and cognitively to forget what they know about basketball and other net sports in order to fully participate in netball. However once we started the modified netball game everyone was landing and pivoting perfectly which was really exciting to see! As many learners’ had a lot of questions initially and there were some original difficulties in picking up the skills this contributed to us going over time and so that would be something to watch out for next time.

I really enjoyed having the experience to lead a group lesson and have learnt a lot from both writing the lesson plan and executing the lesson. Thank you everyone for your enthusiastic participation and I look forward to all the future group teaches!

I was surprised how nervous I was to actually teach this PE class!

I knew exactly what we were going to do, I was confident in my team and in our organization of the class and choice of the lesson but when it was time to actually start teaching I was very intimidated by the space of the gym and the acoustics.

I wanted to use the whistle as a class management technique to save my voice and discourage yelling during gym class. This would be the signal to stop, listen and be. gin activities as directed by us, your teachers today. I wonder if anyone noticed because I even outlined in my lesson when to blow each whistle!

I was nervous about not being heard and because of that really didn’t want to speak at all. I was happy with our demonstration of this brand new game and very very impressed with everyone’s participation and how quickly everyone grasped the concept. I was so nervous about teaching a brand new game that I was very clear on instructions – even  outlining someways to be succesful at strategy – Steve said maybe this should have been left up to the students to discover (as that is what TGFU is all about) so next time I will leave more space for student exploration in my PE lessons. It is very rewarding as a learning to discover and own knowledge for yourself, but I also really wanted this to be successful. I also felt like the group was very cohesive and happy when Everyone Wins. This is a great way to make everyone feel included, regardless of athletic ability.

Invasion games are complex games and I thought Prairie Dog Pickoff was a great way to introduce invasion games – we used the website PhysicalEducator.com It has plenty of resources and modifications for this game. Check it out for more fun PE games.

We also wanted our lesson to have an overall SPACE theme. I liked our warm up activity because it fit the theme and allowed the class to explore the full size of the gym (and think about how much space they had when finding places to put their hoops). It’s also a good way to be silly and warm up at the same time. That was also the approach to the cool down activity. Some students will be unable to focus and I thought using the hula hoops was a fun way to stretch out and calm down while still having fun. I thought breathing inside the hoop was also a great way to visual overall calmness in the body.

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR BEING GREAT SPORTS AND FOR EVERYONE WINNING!

Thanks for a great summary group! It was nice being out in the sun 🙂

– Kaira, Sienna, and Fiona

EDCP 320 Week 6 Reading Summary