Kenthen Thomas blog week two movement.

Physical activity for as long as I know has been an integral part of my memory, from playing and running to just downright having fun. However in the early years of physical education the structured fun that was being taught to me was in more than one way very confusing. I wasn’t sure what was going on and why all of sudden the act of running and having fun had to be so structured with so many rules and why there always had to be winners and losers. The fun of physical movement befuddled what i thought to be just fun, thus i think physical education needs to be clear and concise about what the projections are for the children and what they hopes are for their assessment and achievements. Running and having fun and just moving are integral parts but the term physical literacy is also a huge part of what will make up the educational part of this learning experience. Also the constant need for my own reflection and self assessment of my own teaching techniques and considering and reconsidering what works and what doesn’t. Also there seems to be an overwhelming fear of PE as a class and how can I as a teacher change that fear, how do I combine fun, athletics and the inevitable competitiveness that will arise in a class of twenty or more personalities?

Wow, what a packed and productive last class. I can’t believe we managed to fit in group discussions, two group presentations, and a resource share. I am really happy we had the opportunity to share our resources with everybody else. I was really impressed with some of the lesson plan ideas and resources that I was hearing and thinking of ways how I would incorporate them into my extended practicum. The group presentation on Yoga did an incredible job considering the time constraints. I found myself quite relaxed and stretched out after their activity. Yoga is a mind-body workout that will improve flexibility but also bring back focus and concentration. I teach grade 1’s and I imagine they may have trouble focusing while practicing certain yoga poses, however I’d like to try it with them perhaps as a cool down at the end of a PE session, with a peaceful song playing in the background. Yoga’s gentle movements are useful tools to relieve tension that may have built up during the PE activity and may help relax them. Breathing exercises is also an aspect of Yoga that I want my kids to practice. I would introduce the breathing exercises to them during our yoga cool down and keep referring back to them in times of anxiety and stress that they may encounter throughout the day. Overall, I think Yoga poses and exercises are adaptable to any age level and its skills can translate to actions that are mindful when engaging in other things.

I am really grateful for the opportunity to have BC wheelchair sports visit our class and enrich our knowledge on the opportunities they provide for individuals with physical disabilities to engage in able-bodied sports. Opportunities provided by the BC wheelchair sports truly changes the lives of individuals with physical disabilities as it encourages, supports, and respects their active living goals. By doing so, a sense of achievement and success is provided for them. This feeling will contribute to their motivation to continue in their personal active life goals and embrace a life long physical literacy. As I reflect, I remember one of our professors pointing out that it is inadequate to have able-bodied individuals to experience wheelchair sports themselves to motivate them to create equality and fairness for the students in the class. Although I agree that it is important for the people who introduce this topic and provide this opportunity to have expertise and knowledge, which transfers into their ability to appropriately deliver content material to the right age group. However, having had the opportunity to personally experience wheelchair sports myself, while not knowing much about the programs that BC wheelchair sports offered, the equipments themselves, the sports, and the skills that it requires; I am confident to say that this experience has really made me realize how talented, strong, and athletic these individuals are, and has motivated me to have my students exposed to this information and be able to experience this themselves.

Journal, Comments & Capstone

This week of PE was awesome! We had some ladies visit from BC Wheelchair Sports and were able to experience playing basketball, rugby and tennis, among other sports in wheelchairs. I was inspired at how many different sports/games can be played by including both able bodied individuals and participants  in wheelchairs. Experiencing wheelchair sports first hand was a much better and insightful experience than reading about how to include people in wheelchairs in PE from the text. I had a great time and feel much more confident in my ability to incorporate lessons that are inclusive of all throughout my career. It is awesome to know how many resources are readily available for us as future educators. I appreciated how these sports gave athletes with disabilities the opportunity to actively participate and engage in PE, instead of “participating” by keeping score or doing something else that does not neccesarily get them moving around. I will definitely be contacting the ladies from BC Wheelchair Sports to visit my future PE classrooms.

Jeevan Mann

EDCP 320

Prof. Steve McGinley

December 1^st 2015

Assignment 4: Cross-curricular Lesson

Based on the H.A.C.E (Health & Career Education) lesson I taught my grade 4/5 practicum class on bullying, I would extend the lesson to incorporate PE by having the students create and perform a dance with movements that are associated with the 4 types of bullying: verbal, physical, covert & cyber bullying. I would split the class up into small groups of 4-5, and have them use their bodies to creatively express movements that they consider to be associated with terms that are connected to the 4 types of bullying. Some example of words they could use to express bullying through movement/dance include: teasing, intimidation, excluding others, etc. This lesson would allow students to think critically of what it looks like to be bullied, as well as expressing the emotions involved of bullies, victims, bystanders and oppressors of bullying, while being physically active. The Big Ideas that are tied into my cross-curricular lesson of PE and H.A.C.E. from the new BC curriculum are the following:

Personal choices and social and environmental factors influence our health and well- being.

Developing healthy relationships helps us feel connected, supported, and valued.

My original H.A.C.E. lesson plan on bullying is below.