Does either "flipping" or CBL have a future in your teaching practice? Why or why not?
In a perfect world, I like the flipped model in education. It makes sense to have students explore content before coming to class. I know that there are many limiting factors that make this model difficult to implement how it was intended. I think covid alleviated some of these issues by schools pushing more technology into students’ homes. I know at my school that every student has a Chromebook or iPad and hotspot if needed. This really allowed the classroom to be brought home and increased the options for our students. It raises a whole other issue of HW, but I don’t feel like getting into that right now. There are definitely some lessons that I teach where students could go over rules and the game and have a foundation before coming to class. I only see my students once a week for 1 hour. This would allow more time for the students to actually play than just sitting and listening to the rules. I do worry that this would just increase the educational gap between our students. Some will have done it and some will have passed it over. Would this actually make things more difficult when we were in class? Idk? If everyone buys in, it opens the door for more “doing” which is great. I think I view it more as an option here and there than a day in day out practice. For me personally, I don’t know that it would be needed all the time. It will be interesting what the classroom teachers have to say about it being in a very different setting than I am. In terms of CBL, I do believe that it has a place in our classrooms. It promotes critical thinking and applies real-life scenarios to students' education. We may actually be able to do way with “when will I ever use this?” This would support our 21st-century skills and build strong connections with the world around us.
1 Comment
When I think about building confidence in my students it always comes back to building strong relationships and trust. I believe that these are the foundation that every teacher must develop to ensure that students feel safe and confident to learn. I often cruise through my lesson and individually check-in with each student or small group. My goal in doing this is to give every student a voice. Sometimes there are a few students who take over a class and demand the teacher’s attention taking away from students who are more reserved. I love joking around with my students, I love small talk. I encourage students to talk about what they have been up to outside of class, we talk about other classes, we talk about sports that they are participating in, etc. I make an effort to get to know them, show an interest in them and what they are doing. I’ve also had the opportunity to teach the same students for the last three years which has really helped build a strong relationship. Another area that I have helped students build confidence in what we are doing is making sure that they get enough time to practice the skills for each sport that we are focusing on. We never jump right into games. I always break down the skills from basic to more advanced as we progress and give them ample opportunities to show what they know and need to work on. I’m not afraid to go back and practice a skill that wasn’t achieved. Students’ are aware that they are going to get a lot of time to practice before game scenarios. Practicing in a low-stakes, non-competitive environment is important when learning something new in PE for students’ who are new to the sport. Teaching scenario: I had a student last week that did not want to participate in basketball. He is on the spectrum (very high functioning) and sometimes sits out because he doesn’t feel comfortable trying things that he hasn’t done before. We have a lot of quality one-on-one discussions about having a growth mindset and giving things a try. He always responds really well when I give him a chance to explain what he is feeling. I’ve made it a point when I see him leave an activity to give him a minute to himself. I never call him out publicly to come back to the group or ask in front of the class why he is sitting out. In that time alone, I think he is also thinking about ways that he can join. He does a great job of self-regulation in that regard when he gets frustrated. Our relationship over the last three years has gotten a lot stronger and I know that he needs that time. We often joke that if he knew how to do everything already, I wouldn’t have a job! We also discuss things that he is good at and how we can transfer those skills to what we are focusing on. He has a great motor and is one of the best runners in the class. Luckily those skills translate really well to a lot of different sports. 1. What were the key ideas you noted from the C-Content speakers. Any synthesis thoughts on them as a whole? 2. Then consider the list you created from the context of your classroom and your teaching practice. - What are your insights from this analysis? - Are there common threads in your perceptions? - How do your findings fit in with the other topics in this class: 21st century teaching & learning, equity of opportunity for students, the brain, problem-based learning, etc. 3. As an instructional leader, how might you apply Mobley's 6 insights to help your students (or your colleagues) to think creatively? Creativity is key. Pink, Robinson and Brown all discuss that we are in a fast changing world where the importance of creativity is present more so now than anytime in history. Jobs are rapidly being outsourced and we are left with jobs that take a creative mind or more right brained focused thinker. Can creativity be learned? It seems as though we are all born with creativity. We have lost this important skill over time as we have been a part of a system that does not value it. I have the pleasure of watching my 3 year old be creative everyday. It amazes me what he comes up with. If he doesn’t have something or isn’t sure of how something is used, he makes something up. He has zero issue with being wrong. There are no constructs or systems inplace to tell him he is wrong, other than my wife and I. It is strange that we don’t nurture this and promote this as children get older. I agree a lot with what the presenters were saying in their talks. I’ve seen some of these before, and it really makes me think about the systems that we have in place. We need to help students explore their passions and ignite their creativity around these areas. We need to create meaningful lessons that engage students and offer high levels of fulfilment. This begs the question: how do we get students involved with what they are interested in? All the talks had a similar message about our current educational system and its catastrophic flaws. It is not working and it is very outdated. I like the idea that John Seely Brown presented about shifting from knowing to making and playing. I think that this is one of my favorite things about PE, the fact that you are creating and playing. There is very little lecture time. I know from experience that I perform much better in these environments. When tasked with sitting and absorbing information, I can’t sit still. I’m anxious, I tap my foot excessively, I doodle all my margins. I need to be up and moving, and so do our students. Allow our students to create and be an active participant in their educational journey. Blog:
This week, please blog about how implementation of such policies could affect change in education and in public schools. Include both the moral/ethical imperative stated in John Dewey’s quote made one hundred years ago, “What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, we must want for all children in the community. Any other ideal for our schools is narrow and unlovely; acted upon, it destroys our democracy.” Everything that Darling-Hammond laid out in her final chapter is important for success in schools. All five areas are important and each school could of course improve in those categories. Policy is always discussed for education, and the next great promise and innovation that is going to put us at the top. In reality, it seems that our government just spins their wheels, slaps a new title on it and tells us this is the next great thing. While all this is happening, we have teachers already doing things that DH outlines. It has always been on the teacher, and always will be. Good teaching is good teaching. Sure, teachers could use more support and planning time, but there are so many teachers already doing these things. I feel fortunate enough to teach in a district that isn’t live or die by the textbook, that allows teachers the freedom to teach and prepare how they see fit. Of course, there are standards and standardized tests, but how material and content is delivered can vary. Quality teachers should be training quality teachers. This would be an interesting discussion at the district level deciding who should mentor, but that would feed a system that needs help. It seems often that the senior teacher, or longest tenured teacher takes on a student teacher. Nothing against them, but I feel that there are other teachers who would have a much greater impact on a teaching candidate. I was placed in this exact category, though at a very good school with an amazing PE program, but I always found myself gravitating toward two other teachers who I thought represented more of who I wanted to be and were learning about. As DH mentioned, putting an emphasis on critical thinking is such an important approach. She mentions how other countries are doing this/have done this with much success. It really makes sense to build upon this as a fundamental foundation in education. It translates across all content areas and develops individuals for success outside of the classroom. I agree to some extent with the Dewey quote at the beginning of the chapter. I believe that all parents want what is best for their children. Not just the “best and wisest.” It really comes down to access, funding and equity in education. MONEY. Of course I don’t believe that it should be that way, but it certainly is. Wealthy populations have access to higher quality of education. All our children should have this opportunity and I do agree with the quote in that regard. In your blog, consider reflecting on your journey towards 21st century teaching practices (or leading them). After reading about what is expected (in terms of the standards, 4Cs, etc) and the path the journey takes, what are you feeling? What can you do in your classroom/school to engender 21st century teaching and learning? What do you need to learn? Include your thoughts related to the Darling-Hammond readings, too, as they apply.
For some reason when I hear 21st century teaching, my mind immediately goes to technology. It is certainly a big part of teaching now, but there are many more aspects to it. It is really just a tool to enhance what many educators have been doing for a long time (at least the good ones). As I examine the 4 c’s and my practice as a teacher, there are definitely areas that I excel and of course some that I can improve upon. After examining the NEA pamphlet, it was not mentioned that PE was important in the 21st century. It mentioned just about everything else, except PE. This is a whole other issue on its own, but interesting that educational we don’t value health and wellness through PE.
2. Creativity In PE, creativity can be broken down into some of its simplest forms. It’s one of my favorite elements about sports and games. No two days are the same. Every game is different based on many different factors. As an athlete you get to be creative about the movement patterns that you perform, about the strategy that you are going to use to succeed, etc. Students’ are encouraged to express themselves in a competitive environment. Creativity also comes in the form of what games we play, how we play them, and who we are playing with. 3. Collaboration and Communication Most Activities that I do have a collaborative component. We often work in partners or small groups where collaboration and communication are important. Of course, as we get into each team sport, these really become the foundation of success. Working with others is so important and we discuss this often in class. I am still developing ways to include technology in PE. I want to make sure that it will add to my class and not just be a substitution. As I conduct my research, I’m looking forward to taking a few steps in the tech department and implementing some fitness trackers. This will be a great way to track some data and a natural progression to including technology. Welnet: Fitness Tracker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbN6pyNxZLY Edutopia: Health and Wellness 21st century https://www.edutopia.org/blog/technology-teach-health-wellness-mary-beth-hertz Implementing 21st century Skills in Health and Physical Education http://njpsa.org/documents/21stCenturySkillsPresentationupdated3-1-16.pdf
It was difficult to find a case study specifically in PE for 21st century learning. I was hoping there would be some videos of various teachers demonstrating what this looks like. I ended up finding various sites and videos with suggestions on how to implement content and ideas in the 21st century classroom. One site related to health education and programs that can be used to help students better understand what they put in their bodies from food and drinks. They suggest various online games and activities that can be completed on the computer. Another cool site I found created a program that tracks student success using fitness monitors. This caught my eye because I would like to use fitness trackers for my APE students. It would have been ideal to find a teacher implementing some of these resources. It is always nice to see it in practice. I did find a slide deck that discussed 21st century standards and implementing them in Health and Physical Education. They didn’t do a great job implementing them in a real life scenario, rather listed them and left them up for interpretation. The few examples that they did use had growth rubrics as well as demonstrating content knowledge. I believe that all the 21st century standards should be implemented in a successful PE classroom:
Question: How does increased proprioception and heavy work in Adapted Physical Education affect student quality of life and physical activity?
|
AuthorMy name is Bailey Tucker. I teach Physical Education and Adapted Physical Education (APE) at Calistoga Elementary School. I have a strong passion for sports, athletics and fitness. I've been involved with sports my entire life and that is what ultimately led me to the path of teaching. I have recently obtained my APE Authorization to teach PE to students with special needs. This has been a growing passion of mine and I have immensely enjoyed working in this new field with my students. I'm looking forward to this next chapter and working towards obtaining my masters degree. Archives
February 2022
Categories |