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Reflection – Michelle Parker
This week was my group’s turn to teach. We taught track and field, specifically sprinting. I think our lesson went well, my instant activity was short, fun and engaging. The class enjoyed the warm up as well. We did dynamic stretching to music and it turned into a dance party. I think these ideas really transfer to the classroom as students really enjoy doing things this way. I also felt that my discussion group for the reading summary went really well. We had a great discussion and I almost did not get through everything I needed to for the summary. I felt that the reading was really engaging for us to discuss and we were all in the same mindset for it.
Our planning was difficult. We ended up changing our lesson plan quite significantly as we had planned way to much. However it came together in the end which was great. We ended up changing our track relay the morning of. We realized that the track was bigger then we were thinking in our heads and needed to modify the game so there was not as much running involved. We wanted to make the game enjoyable for people who are not runners and we felt this modification was important for that.
I felt the group was really engaged and I was not expecting this! I felt people were not excited when they heard what we were doing but the attitude really changed as we got into the activities. I think we managed to make running fun!
Tiffany’s Movement Journal_ Week 9 (Nov 18)
This week’s reading summary was particularly interesting to me – in modern society, so many things are taken for granted and normalized, that certain topics such as diversity can so easily be overlooked in the PE classroom. Notions such as “Bob can’t participate in class today because the activities involve running and he is in a wheelchair” or “Liam is a strong and healthy 17-year-old male Caucasian student, he should be on the football team” are so ingrained into our culture that we rarely stop and critically assess them.
I still remember experiences from school, when boys were expected to play soccer outside and girls were expected to participate in quiet activities, when a Sikh boy couldn’t participate in roller blading because the helmets didn’t fit over his turban, when a boy with a physical handicap never participated in our PE classes. I recall recognizing the injustice of the situations, but never stopping to think about or address the issues.
Throughout the week, diversity seemed to be a common discussion in our classes. Racism, gender biases, stereotyping – these are just a few of the epidemics that have taken over society. These epidemics are not spreading through loud or visible means however. They are silent killers, deeming us mute and seemingly ignorant of the discrimination and segregation happening all around us.
In all of our class discussions, the solution spiraled down to something fairly simple – awareness. Simply by speaking out loud about an issue, or educating people so they could learn more about something that was previously ambiguous, can bring topics out of the darkness and demystify and de-normalize them. Yesterday, Sheena did a wonderful job of leading our group discussion and helping us to identify what we should be aware of (in regards to diversity) as educators. I hope that as a cohort, we can continue to question and build on each other’s thoughts and ideas, and push each other forward on this amazing learning journey!
Blogging – ABC Cohort
Hello ABC Cohort
I would like to clarify the class blog and any misunderstandings of your participation in the class each week to complete either a post based on one of the guiding questions or a comment based on an original post. Part of your completion of this course is to complete this assingment.
Please take a moment to refresh the requirements of this asisgnment that is driectly from your course outline:
Assignment 1–Movement Journal, Comments and Capstone summary
This assignment is divided into 3 parts: (a) 5 online movement journal contributions based on guiding questions, course objectives, personal reflections and/or course content; (b) 5 online comments contributions to journal contributions made by your colleagues; (c) 1 capstone summary entry.
You are encouraged to use any form of journal recording as you wish. For example, blog, online journal, website, picture book, prezi, etc…
We will divide the class into two groups (group A and group B), alternating weeks, A and B will either submit a journal entry or comment on other submissions. Be conscientious about your contributions and reflections, avoid generalizations and unsubstantiated claims. As this is a public sphere, please ensure that you are considerate of others and how they may react to your words. Choose tact and tone with care. We are not aiming to solve problems, but rather be curious about our experiences and learning.
- Movement Journal Contributions (this is your post):
A guideline for length is a paragraph to a maximum of 250 words. Responses shall be posted online for your colleagues to read and respond to on the UBC PE Blog – https://blogs.ubc.ca/ubcpe/. Prompts for movement and reading responses will be provided in class, and can be found in this syllabus. The personal journal will take various shapes and will be influenced by the learning that occurs in the course. This is an individual assignment. All entries are to be posted on the class blog and a copy to be kept by each individual with a final submission the last week of class.
- Journal Comments (this is your comment):
A guideline for length is a paragraph to a maximum of 250 words. Respond to a classmates posted contribution on the class blog. Tie responses back to course objectives, content, and conversations, along with what your colleague has written. There may be one or more comments to an original post. Please feel free to continue discussion further than the one post.
3. Summary Reflection: (This is the final capstone of all your experienes in the class)
- Prior to the final week, you will summarize your journal contributions, and reflections you have made or received into a Capstone Reflection. The Capstone shall be guided by the following questions, “How does physical education fit into education the whole child? “What do physical and health literacy mean in an elementary classroom?”, “What makes a good PE educator?”, and “What does it mean to be physically literate? Please envision your audience as a school administrator who may interview you for a teaching position. The Capstone Reflection shall be between 250 and 500 words and shall not be a repetition of journal entries, but rather a distillation and summary of concepts related to elementary PE.
Here are some adidtional points and clarification:
1. We have completed week 6 as of today, so Group A and Group B you should have after todays class 3 posts from a guiding question in the course outline or an observation in the class and 3 comments to a week that the other group would have posted.
2. Today, Group B should be posting their posts based on the guiding questions and Group A you should be replying to one of these posts via a comment.
3. Group A – please post ASAP (say by Friday)
4. Group B – please reply to a post by Monday evening.
YOU CAN CATCH UP AND MAKE A POST AT ANYTIME! Yes! Please catch up and make your post or comments to get up to the 6 total.
I am in my office in scarfe 2123 from now til 1:00pm today, and available by appoontment if this is still a concern. Please also use the digital sandbox to asssist you with your blogging and digital literacy.
Any quesitons or concerns that you are having, please contact me ASAP via email.
Kind regards
Movement Journal – Michelle Parker
One thing I reflected on this week was how PE was taught in my practicum school. This past week I was able to see two different PE classes with two different teachers. Interestingly, both classes played some form of dodgeball. The grade 7 class played a variation of dodgeball called partner dodgeball where they were taking turns hitting their partner. The grade 3 class played “skittles” a game where they had to hit down pins in the back of the opposite territory. Then they played the version of dodgeball where once a student is hit they go to the opposite side and have to hit someone on the opposite team to get back into the game. It is interesting to see so much of a hall of shame game being played in the classroom.
The result of this really made me think about how I would plan a PE lesson. I think my first PE lesson will be one with a variety of activities and one that is inclusive for all students. As I get to know the students I can learn what they enjoy doing and plan inclusive games around their interests.
We looked at alternative environments for lessons. My school is located within a residential area so walking to other environments is limited. However, they have a huge grass field in the back. There is a lot of space to set up fun amazing race, obstacle course type games. Some of the activities we did in this week’s class would work really well in this environment.
How to register to blog!
Thank you to Elixa for creating this great video on how to register to bog.
It can be found here: https://youtu.be/9g8yjfmjdFY
How to register and blog!
Follow the instructions in the video above…
CITE Movement Journal
Growing up I never really enjoyed PE, I had more negative experiences then I did positive. The only positive part of my experiences from PE was when it was time to leave. I wasn’t a very athletic child, this made it very difficult for me to be a valuable part of the class. Many of my PE teachers would make captains, and since I wasn’t very good at any sport, I was usually picked near the end. This brought my self-esteem down and those experiences still affect me to this day. Instead of having fun while i play sports, I am more self-conscious, I still have a fear that if I don’t play my hardest I will be last pick again.
I think that the most important thing we need to teach in PE is to stay active. Regardless of the child’s skill level we have a responsibility teach that individual to take care of their body. My concern is that I might be too soft on them and let them do whatever they please. I don’t want to force a child to do something and if they fail I don’t want them to feel like they are not good enough.
Sharing stories, and reflecting on our own experiences is valuable because it will help us develop a personal identity. This identity is important if we want to become an effective teacher. They can also aid us when we are trying to relate to our students. For example, because I know the feeling of being picked last, I will never allow my students to pick their own teams. This way I can focus on always uplifting my students. Finally, I am very excited to be in this class, and I hope that I receive plenty of constructive feedback so that I can be a great PE teacher.
On a side note, this was my first course in my post secondary career where I was expected to be active. It was quite a shock for me to experience that. It made me think that courses similar to these should be offered more and required for college student to take every year. According to “HealthLine.com,” 44 percent of college students in the United States suffer with depression, and 19 percent of young people either contemplate or commit suicide. Fortunately, researchers have proved that exercising and being active can decrease depression. One reason for why this happen is because, when an individual is regularly active, their brain releases neurotransmitters, endorphins and endocannabinoids. These are called the “feel-good” chemicals. One of their less scientific purposes is to make the person happy. In conclusion, I believe that requiring students to enroll in courses similar to this will help reduce the percentage of depression in universities all across the world significantly.