Making Connections thru Professional Development

Today I had the privilege of attending two professional development sessions. The first being the CBE Physical Education Workshop. The second was an impromptu meeting among some elementary phys ed teachers to discuss formative assessment and the new report card strands. It is difficult sometimes to find professional development related specifically to Physical Education, yet when you do it's often very useful!

CBE Physical Education Workshop

The two areas I was most interested in were the use of Social Media as it's related to physical education, and wrestling. Now I haven't programmed any wrestling for a variety of reasons, though combative units seen in elementary settings can do very well (this was more of a personal interest, though many new applicable ideas came of this!).

Social Media with +Mark Bylsma 

I had the privilege of first meeting Mark at an Elementary Phys Ed Workshop last year in his previous role with the CBE as the Physical and Health Education Learning Leader at the CBE's downtown office. Mark's roles have since changed but he is an advocate for PE, Health and general wellness in all aspects of education so it was nice to see him leading a workshop for PE teachers.

The primary focus of this discussion was on the use of Twitter for Phys Ed teachers. I can tell you first hand that getting involved in Twitter on a professional level has made me a much more effective teacher! Through Twitter I've had the opportunity to meet and 'chat' with many Phys Ed teachers from across the world (literally!!).

I won't get into details of Twitter, suffice to say, that if you're not on it already ... it is a worthwhile investment. Today was a great opportunity to meet many Phys Ed teachers making the leap into the world of Twitter and I don't think they will be disappointed. Mark did a fantastic job giving an introduction to this great resource and I think we'll see many new tweeps within the #yycbepe community!

Wrestling

I've 'taken' wrestling in high school, but the hour and a bit I spent on the wrestling mats of Woodman School, I got worked! At the moment I can't see us offering a combatives unit at our school (this is a unit that can start off with thumb wrestling) for various reasons, other than the age of our students (many elementary schools have been very successful). That being said, it was a very informative session. Aside from learning a variety of exciting and dynamic warms ups, I learned that I have to work on my flexibility! I give credit to the dedication many wrestlers have for their sport! I was able to walk away from this session with many applicable ideas relating to fun and dynamic warm-ups that I believe our students will enjoy.

Impromptu Assessment PD

Not too long ago I had sent an email looking to collaborate on our FitKIDS initiative at our school. Being the only Phys Ed teacher in our school sometimes makes it difficult to know if what we are doing measures up. It was great to see so many schools offering a similar program, getting kids active prior to learning or during learning. What came of this email strand was an invite to participate in an impromptu workshop to look at assessment practices at different schools and how they relate to the new report card and to one another.

It was fantastic! Nearly ten elementary phys ed teachers all discussing how our formative assessment would support our report card writing! We could have easily spoke for hours on how to best support our teaching with all the ideas that everyone had to share. Already plans are in the works to meet on a monthly basis to discuss assessment, modules and ways to improve our teaching practice.

Going Forward

I believe we offer a great Phys Ed program at PHS. What I'm after however are ways improve what we offer by making it better, more challenging and more academic for our students. I can't take credit for the phrase, 'gym is dead, the new phys ed' (that goes to +Nathan Horne) but I do believe in this. Phys ed is more than dodgeball and floor hockey, though both have their place. By attending workshops like these I believe that the ideas shared will create positive phys ed experiences for our students and, hopefully, a love for physical activity as they grow.

As always, thanks for reading!

-CFM

Just Dance!

When is a good time to dance?

This was the question I asked our students as we began to learn about dance.

-at home
-halloween dance
-at school
-at a birthday party

... were a few of the most popular answers shared with me after I asked this question. My response - Anytime!


It was great having a discussion about dancing, with each group of students. I could sense some hesitation with a few students, yet the majority of the students were excited and ready to get started.

Keep a look out here and I'll do my best to share with you the outcome of some of the successes and challenges of our Just Dance unit.

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Here is an excerpt from the Grade 2 and 3 Just Dance unit:

Grade 2 - Just Dance

In a group of four present the dance that Power using the ideas and dance moves choreographed by Just Dance. Remember that you are welcome to add originality (your own ideas) to your dance.




(If you are having trouble viewing this video you can watch on YouTube http://youtu.be/wletFQfRfJs)

Grade 3 - Creating a Dance

In groups of four, create and present a dance using the short music clip from Katy Perry's Roar. 

Groups will be assessed by their peers on their teamwork (synchronization), effort, respect and their overall performance using our everyday self-assessment of SuperStar, Good and Okay. 

(Thank you +andy vasily and +Joey Feith for the ideas and inspiration on these assessments!)

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Phys Ed's October Challenge

I've managed to share my October Challenge in our school newsletter, on our website and outside our gym doors, even on twitter, and yet somehow forgot to write about it here... so here we go. 

Each month I am going to try and set up a challenge of some sort to encourage healthy living within our school community. Phys Ed's October Challenge is simple, Fitness Bingo. Now this isn't your typical bingo. Instead we want you to go out and get active by completing the whole card and when you manage that, you win! You win the satisfaction of knowing you are leading a healthy and active lifestyle and for doing so, I'll be sure to send you a certificate of completion. Please make sure to visit the following link (the same link as the bottom of the Bingo Card) when you have completed the whole card: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1EkcyoAZ3qClQS2bee59euW6AD66kjxaG7llYnZeaJt4/viewform

Now for the #pegeeks out there ... Once students, and maybe staff, complete the challenge they are encouraged to click the link at the bottom of the card. This URL leads them to a Google Form (these are so powerful and I've only really just started to use them!) that they can quickly complete. 

The information entered into this form is then captured in a spreadsheet that I have access to (there is some great applications of gforms for assessment with such features!).

Here's the cool part - I've set this up so once someone completes this form, they will automatically receive a certificate of completion from me!! A cool, tangible result for those that complete the challenge.

How this works - Google has the ability to run 'scripts', which is basically a way to automatically complete tasks. Now, the development of scripts is beyond me but if you spend some time looking on the web (in my case connecting with other Phys Ed teachers) you can find a gscript that will work for you. In my case, it was a traditional 'mail merge' script called 'autocrat'. The gscript autocrat took the information from my form and populated it on a certificate which automatically mails the student a copy of their certificate. 

I have to give all credit to +Matt Pomeroy for the idea of the Fitness Challenge. After watching a Google Hangout of Matt, +Adam Howell  and +Naomi Hartl, the team behind +PHYSEDagogy, I was inspired to get the gscript 'autocrat' a try. 

I'm hoping that I'll find other ways to incorporate Google Forms into my teaching, maybe even autocrat. I can say for certain that each month we'll have an exciting challenge for our students and staff to take on. 

Until then, thanks for reading.

-CFM

Assessing a Small Village

I sometimes feel overwhelmed ... ok, most of the time I get a sense of being overwhelmed at assessing all our students at PHS, nearly 650 of them! It's our job to ensure that we continually assess our students for a variety of reasons - report cards, moving their learning forward, even to offer a glimpse of how my own teaching is being received.  I've been at this job for over a year (yes, not long!) but I'm finally starting to get a grasp of some innovative ways incorporate assessment into my lessons. The biggest challenge for me is the 30 minutes that I have with nearly 45-48 students (two classes). I'm trying to pack a lot into a short amount of time - movement, a lesson, practice, an activity, some assessment -  to name a few. 

This is what makes this job so fascinating some times, finding ways to make it easier for me and more exciting and challenging (in a good way) for our students. Now, I can't take credit for the work I've done with this idea. Though I did the leg work to get it going, the ideas came from the amazing group of #PhysEd teachers on Twitter and the North American Assessment Team (more on this soon!) from peplc.net.

What I Did

After figuring out what I wanted to assess in with the skills related to kicking and trapping, I created a Google Form. If you haven't experimented with Google Forms, they are one of my newest friends in the world of eduction!

The cool thing about Google Forms, for those new to them, is that they will automatically capture the information entered in a nice spreadsheet (half my work is done!). There is a lot more that can be done with 'conditional formatting' which I haven't explored yet, but plan to do so soon. I do know however that I can target some information on the spreadsheet and have certain colours appear. So if a low observation is entered, I can quickly identify areas of concern (for either the learner or me as a teacher). 

My next step was to create a QR Code for the URL of my live Google Form (I've used QR Codes before when teaching orienteering and hope to do the same this year expanding further into geocaching).  My QR Code is taped in the window of my office for easy access and I'm ready to go. 

The Process

Earlier I described my biggest challenge - 30 minute blocks with a lot of students and only one of me. I do have another teacher in the gym with me and this is looking like an effective way to utilize that teacher (there is a new teacher in the gym every 30 minutes). Now I have the ability to give the visiting teacher my iPad (or their own), scan the QR Code (no need to enter a URL) using a QR Code reader and they will be automatically directed to my observation form.

Already this has proved to be beneficial. In the past two days I've managed to capture more data than I have been able to in the past with the same amount of time. 

I hope that this quick explanation will be enough to get you interested in exploring Google Forms and QR Codes. If I've helped you in any way or you have a few questions please let me know by tweeting me, @ChrisFenMac, on twitter.

Thanks for reading!

-CFM

The Importance of the Basics

More often than not, we hear about students having issues playing games during recess and times of unstructured activity.  In Soccer for instance, 'He didn't follow the rules' and 'She used her hands to pick up the ball' are some of the comments we sometimes hear as recess supervisors.

It wasn't until now that I've started to think why do these arguments occur at recess. There must be some reason for it. Many say 'Kids will be kids', and 'not everyone will play fairly', but what seems to be the reason (I think) is simple - a lack of ability in fundamental skills.

Why do students use their hands in soccer? Often, it's a result of not having the ability to trap the ball with their feet. I've seen this over the past few days teaching our students kicking and trapping skills. The students we've seen having difficulty on the field at recess have usually been the same students struggling to effectively trap the ball or kick for accuracy. Simple drills of dribbling to control the ball and stopping on a whistle, or music, cue have highlighted the challenges that some have.

I've learned that the relationship between the students struggling in Phys Ed are sometimes the same students encountering roadblocks in other aspects of their life at school. This illustrates the importance of Physical Literacy and how fundamental movement skills are so important in a child's development. My focus has really changed over the past while to incorporating fundamental movement skills into as many aspect of our PE program.

Ask your child if they can hop, gallop, skip, catch or throw. Better yet, show them how or ask them to show you!

Thanks for reading!

-CFM

The ABCD's of Physical Education

I remember an instructor in my undergraduate degree led us on an hour-long hike with a giant moose antler on his pack. He never referred to it, but everyone knew it was there. It was a mild distraction at the beginning of the hike but eventually we could see that it would have great significance to the lessons that were being taught that afternoon. As the lesson was wrapping up we could easily find the answers all had to do with the giant moose antler he'd been carrying that day.

Every time our students at PHS walk into our gymnasium they are often caught gazing up at the words, 'The ABCD's of Phys Ed' above our doors. Little do they know (unless they have begun to read this blog) that these words are a giant moose antler being carried from lesson-to-lesson, ever so visible and soon to carry a lot of meaning.

Alberta Education has set a small list of General Outcomes for the Physical Education program - simply stated, the ABCD's of Phys Ed. It's these outcomes that our students walk by everyday.

Activity

Students will have an opportunity to develop skills through various activities that are relative to their age. It's here that we set the foundations of movement for our students and teach them to draw upon their 'toolbox' of skills participating with confidence and competence in games and activities.

Benefits Health

We all know that being active has health benefits, though this is something that we might take for granted. Likely few of us reading this can actually identify a point in time when we learned the relationship between health and activity. Imaging if we could say that this is a concept we were very familiar with in Kindergarten or Grade 1? Now imagine the impact this early knowledge could have on the lives of children.

Cooperation

One of the hardest skills for many young children to learn is how to interact positively with others. My belief is that if we can provide a variety of situations, a variety of partners and a variety of circumstances for activity we can foster and develop an understanding of positive social interactions. Sure, we ask children all the time to 'get along' or to 'take turns', but unless this is experienced through explicit instruction it can easily be misunderstood.

Do it Daily ... for Life!

It is important to understanding that the common definition of literacy (reading, writing, speaking and listening) is starting to expand. Physical Literacy is the ability for someone to move with confidence and competence in a variety of activities. As a child if we don't develop the skills to throw we will likely not participate in activities that involve throwing. The same can be said for running, catching, swimming and the like. Being able to perform a variety of basic skills as a child will increase our likelihood of being active as we grow older. When is there a better age to instill a love for an active and healthy lifestyle!

Thanks for reading!

-CFM

School-wide Literacy and Phys Ed

For some time now I've wanted to increase the amount of cross curricular learning that occurs in the gym. I've always done my best to incorporate what is happening in the student's homeroom into the lessons they are a part of in Phys Ed. Until now, I've never really found a way to incorporate language arts.

During the first few days of school this year our staff had an opportunity to take part in a Literacy Map inservice put on by two of our colleagues. I've had the opportunity to learn about Literacy Map in the past, actually taught it myself for two years, but have never learned as much as I did in that short session, and this got me thinking ...

... I bet I could find a way to incorporate our school-wide literacy program into what is happening in Phys Ed.

I figured if I took the key words of what I was teaching the students (Fundamental Movement Skills), put them in a prominent spot in our school (in this case as you line up to enter the gym), and use the Literacy Map markings I could increase understanding of not only the words and how they can be spelled, but also increase the students understanding of them in general.

It seems to be working. For the past week I've been asking students if they could remember the Fundamental Movement Skills they have learned the previous day (and throughout the week) and most students were able to recall this information and explain the learning activity that accompanied the movement. It was really interesting to see students who would look in the direction of this bulletin board (from inside the gym the words are not visible) and then could easily remember each skill.

My plan is to continue to support the Literacy Map program and other school-wide and classroom specific initiatives within Phys Ed. The next step in all this is to see how this knowledge, and specifically the grapheme markings, transfer into each student's homeroom.

Until then, thanks for reading!

FitKIDS is back at PHS!

FitKIDS is back at Panorama HIlls School!

Let's face it, after a good workout, a walk at lunch or playing outside after work with our children we often feel refreshed, more focused and ready to take on the next project. This isn't only a feeling an adult gets. Many children can benefit from some extra activity to stay focused in their classrooms, have better social interactions and build their self-esteme.

FitKIDS is inspired by SPARK, Ignite! and CrossFit Kids, three world renowned programs that seen benefits of physical activity before, or coupled with, learning. At PHS our FitKIDS programs will be taking concepts of each and putting them together into a brief 20-30 minute lesson to help set up our students for success.

The general thought is that some students could benefit from some extra activity prior to learning. Now when we say learning we are not discounting the tremendous amounts of learning that occur in Physical Education classes, but rather, the day-to-day learning that occurs in a student's regular classroom.

Stay tuned as we share the excitement of FitKIDS with our PHS community.

Recess Activities at Panorama Hills School

Over the next six days students will have an opportunity to learn and play two age-old recess games - Wall Ball and Four Square. Requiring limited equipment, these two games can be played almost anywhere with just a ball and a few friends.

Both games will continue to develop the fundamental movement skills of our students while working on aspects of team work, cooperation and fair play.

In the coming days, ask your child about their experience with these games. Do their experiences relate to the ones you had as a child? Years separate us in age, but perhaps the memories we had of playing these games will be reflected in the experiences the our students will share with us.

Our goal of focusing on Physical Literacy, and its development of fundamental movements skills, is to encourage life-long activity. The more proficient we are at these skills, running, hopping, throwing, etc., the more likely we are to participate in activities as we grow older. As we explicitly teach the rules of these games in the coming days along with new fundamental skills and modifications for various ages groups we hope to see these activities adopted into the play of our students at recess and during their free time.

PHS - Physical Literacy

Photo: Canadian Sport of Life

Over the next six days students of Panorama Hills School will be introduced to a variety of FUNdamental movement skills, also know as 'locomotor' and 'non-locomotor' movement skills.

- Locomotor skills are movements we do when our feet move our bodies from one place to another place. 

- Non-Locomotor skills are movements we do when we move in one place and usually not move our feet.

Can you think of a 'locomotor' or a 'non-locomotor' movement? Think about activities we've played outside? Or in the gym?

There is a growing trend encouraging families to place importance on a child's ability to be physically literate. We are becoming more aware that the ability to run, catch and throw with some confidence will encourage further participating in physical activities. Similar to reading, writing, listening and speaking (traditional components of being literate), physical literacy is one's ability to move with confidence and copentency in a wide variety of environments (PHE Canada, www.phecanada.ca) . As adults we may have encountered situations where we lacked certain physical skills precluding us from participating in an activity - perhaps we were never taught them or maybe we never felt confident. 

 

At PHS we endeavor to provide students opportunities to develop fundamental skills to become physically literate and to have confidence to tackle physical challenges when faced with them in our daily lives. 

In the next while, we'll do just that! After all, our goal is to set children up for success in their life and to live an Active Life.

Back to School ... oh, and a first post!

It's Labour Day Long Weekend and that means students are back to school on Tuesday (at least students who attend CBE Traditional Calendar Schools) and teachers have been back for a few days now. My emotions are somewhat mixed at the moment after spending my summer break with my wife and 11 month old daughter, however I am excited to be back to work and preparing to tackle many projects.

This year will mark the beginning of my second year teaching Phys Ed and I couldn't be more happy about this unique opportunity. For those that don't know Panorama Hills School, we are a community school in our 5th year of a growing population of nearly 650 students. As the only Physical Education Specialist at our school I have the opportunity to teach and interact with a very large population of students and staff.

Over the course of the year I hope that I can blog about the great bunch of students and staff we have at PHS and their journey in Phys Ed.

Stay tuned for more to come!

-CFM