Tag Archives: fun

Nov. 29th. Movement Journal #4. A Term In Review

As my final blog post I thought I would try to revisit what I have learned over the past few months, what I have enjoyed and what I am looking forward to.

Let me start with the basics. I have learned that P.E. can be fun. That may sound obvious but for me it was a huge learning that has evolved since September. As a child I wasn’t a huge fan of P.E. I was athletic and enjoyed a variety of sports but they were always solitary activities. I enjoyed swimming, dance, and gymnastics but I tended to shy away from group or team activities. I strongly disliked the competitiveness of team sports and dreaded participating in sports that I felt I wasn’t very good at. So, this course was a wonderful opportunity for me to revisit P.E. and gain a new, fresh perspective. I greatly enjoyed all the activities we participated in and was particularly surprised to find that I thoroughly enjoyed activities I hadn’t in the past. I think it made all the difference that as a cohort we made the effort to make the activities enjoyable, cooperative, inclusive and attainable. It seemed that we could all participate in the activities and didn’t feel we were being judged as the activities were manageable for everyone. I also liked how we designed activities so that no one was ever in the performance spotlight, it was team effort, that was supportive at all times.

I also greatly enjoyed learning about physical literacy as a concept. As an adult I do not participate in any of the activities that I did as a P.E. student. It is unfortunate as I am sure I would still enjoy dance and gymnastics in-particular, but my lifestyle doesn’t seem to afford these activities at the moment. Rather, I now participate in hiking, pilates and spinning classes. Also, I am also much more concerned as a adult about my complete wellness. For example, I am careful in selecting what I eat, I try to get as much exercise as possible, although it is increasing difficult in such a busy program, and I take time for myself to get outside and get some fresh air. When I was a student in P.E. we never talked about wellness as a concept and what it meant to live a healthy lifestyle. It was more about how many laps you could run in ten minutes. I am happy to see that there has been a shift towards physical literacy, in that there is a focus on teaching children how to live a balanced lifestyle and why that is important. I am also excited to see that there is room now in P.E. to teach activities which will realistically be a part of a student’s life. Not many of us will become professional soccer or basketball players but we might go hiking, biking, or to a yoga class and it is nice to see how we can incorporate those activities into our P.E. lessons.

I am grateful that I have learned a variety of activities that can be applied to my practicum class and future classes. I feel I am leaving this course with practical hands-on skills and improved confidence that I might be able to teach this subject. I look forward to my years ahead in the gymnasium and outside in teaching students about what it means to live a well-rounded lifestyle. I hope to design lessons that are fun and inclusive for all. I will rest assured that there are plenty of resources available for my information and colleagues who I can share ideas with. I look forward to continuing my P.E. education and vow to never make another child run the ten minute mile again!

Thanks for a great class!

Movement Journal for Week 10 (Nov 27th): Amanda Santos

Congratulations to the group this week. Liz, Cheryl, Mary and Rob, the lesson was so much fun. Upon first glance, physical and health literacy seems like a hard topic to create a PE lesson plan around, however, you all did a great job incorporating both topics into the lesson. The creativity of the warm-up and cool down was awesome and the instant activity was so much fun as well. All in all it was great to have so much choice and flexibility within the lesson.

I never really thought about health and physical literacy before this course. These concepts are an integral part of the foundation of physical education and life as well. It is clear that health literacy has a symbiotic relationship with physical literacy. Being a balanced person and understanding how to be literate and take care of one’s own self is important for children to understand. Physical education is no longer just about sport but about the child or person as a whole. Health literacy encompasses more than I thought and learning about the many aspects of health literacy was enlightening. The lesson made me take into consideration how literate I am in both health and physical literacy and how I can change that.       

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!

Movement Journal for Week 9 (Nov 20th): Amanda Santos

It was so great to be back in PE class. I never really was a fan of track but I was into field. However, this class made me change my mind and helped me to understand some ways to make running fun. Thank you very much Devon, Michelle, Megan & Jen for a great concept and class! The main activity was my favorite and it made me want to run more! I could see myself using that exact lesson plan for my practicum class. The group did an amazing job and made us work hard, I was super tired after!

The chapters this week were very interesting and the talk about disability and inclusion in PE class intrigued me the most. It is so hard to include every child, as every child’s interests are different, so adapting a lesson of PE in track and/or field is a challenge in itself. As we are learning, classrooms are a safe space and PE class is no different no matter where you are. As teachers, we must try to make our lessons as accessible as possible and include all types of learners. The main activity was a great example of that, for the most part you were either walking or skipping, or even doing a light jog. When it came time to sprint, it was short, and the concept made it fun. The movement skills and techniques involved were useful and helped with the main activity.

Jenny Cho’s Movement Journal Post – Week 9 Individual Sports

Great to be back for our PE class! I absolutely love track and field. I really enjoyed the way they set up relay. It was not competitive, everyone was engaged and everyone tried their best even when it wasn’t a race! I would love to use this whenever I have a chance when I am teaching.  Way to go Megan, Devon, Jen and Michelle.

The chapter for this week focused on diversity in a classroom, and our discussion question left us all confused. It is so hard to find a balance in a diverse classroom. We were looking for answers, but that is when we realize, there is no right or wrong answer. As a teacher, we have to weigh out the options and chose the one we believe is best fit for our class. It is very important for teachers to build that relationship with their students in order to assess their strength and weakness. It is ideal to include everyone and let them express themselves. Just like Megan, Devon, Jen and Michelle’s lesson. Everyone was able to run at their own pace with no pressure. I am sure there would be more resources/lesson plans available for us to carry about an all inclusive physical education lesson.

Tiffany’s Movement Journal_Post Lesson Reflection (Oct 14)

This was my first “practice teach”, and I must say it was a great learning experience.  The first thing that struck me was the energy that was generated just by being outside – we were blessed with beautiful sunshine, the fresh air was invigorating, and Meghan’s enthusiasm was contagious! Even though our class was nothing fancy – we didn’t go on a paddleboarding field trip, or go on a hike up at Grouse Mountain – merely being outdoors had a positive impact on our physical and mental well-being.

One thing that I learned from this group teach was the importance of clear, written communication.  I can be a bit of an “organization freak”, and throughout the process of planning our lesson, I color coded and made charts to my heart’s content.  Our group discussed all of the logistics and felt ready to go.  After the lesson however, Steve pointed something out that none of us realized – even though we had discussed and expressed everything in our group teach, not everything was documented in our lesson plan.  We did not realize the importance of written communication – if “something” is not written down, those who were not part of our discussions would never know that that “something” ever existed.  What if, as a future educator, I was sick and couldn’t deliver the lesson I had planned? What if I did not write my lesson plan clearly, resulting in making the life of my TOC extremely difficult? What if I did not outline the safety precautions properly on the field trip forms, and a student got hurt as a result?  As professionals, we must remember that we are being held accountable for all of our actions, so we have to act as diligently and responsibly as we can!

Lastly, I want to take this time to thank the class for all of your enthusiasm and participation! Without it, our lesson would never have been able to take form.  Thanks for giving us such a wonderful learning experience : )

Movement Journal Week 2 – Michelle Parker

Something I reflected on a lot this week was the hall of shame games article. The three games I was struck most by were dodge ball, tag, and red rover. I have lots of memories playing all of these games growing up and I remember them quite fondly.

When it came to dodge ball, I was never that good at throwing the ball but I was good at jumping and dodging. Growing up we played many variations of the game and our teachers always tried to make the teams fair. Little did I realize until reading this article all the negativity behind the game.

Tag is a game that I believe does not need to be a hall of shame game; if played in a positive way. There are variations of the game where everyone can be involved; for example: “everyone’s it tag.” I think if tag is played correctly it can be played in a positive environment that is inclusive and fun for all students.

Finally the last game that stood out was red rover. I absolutely loved this game growing up! The competitive aspects of the game and trying to break through my friends were so much fun! Looking back at the game I understand how it taunts the less athletic students but it also is so dangerous.

I learned so much from the hall of shame articles. My perspectives on teaching P.E. were changed and I hope to provide my students with a positive learning environment.

Jenny Cho – Week 2  The Physical and Health Educator

I learned a lot about shaming in games today. It is amazing how things are changing to improve the holistic view of students in P.E.. Even though this is a physical education class, it made me reflect on my opinion and teaching. When I heard dodge ball was a type of shaming game, I was baffled. How could such a fun game be a negative? It definitely can be. I now can see how we are singling out individuals and using their body as targets. Our first group did a great job in alternating dodge ball into a safe and yet, a competitive game!

Also, after we played dodge ball, I realized how this game can also be negative towards the thrower. When I got hit on the head, I laughed it off and thought it was funny as I know it is not intentional. However, I didn’t realize how it can negatively impact on the person who threw it at me. The moment he/she came over to apologize, I knew he/she felt guilty for hitting me. (Please do not feel bad!) This is when I truly understood the different kind of shame we can apply when we play targeting games on each other.  There are certain aspects that might seem harmless but we really have to ask ourselves whether or not it is beneficial for the students in a holistic view. 

What an experience today, I cannot wait for next week!