Movement Throughout a Lifetime

Learning about physical stamina at local boxing club.

The aim of both Physical Education 20 and 30 is lifelong participation.  In urban schools, it is rather easy to expose students in grade 11 and 12 to a variety of movement activities outside of the school.  Of course learning and mastering basic movement patterns and traditional game concepts will give students the basic skills they need to participate in any activity.  However, there is so much more beyond traditional games.  I feel it is important for students to try as many different movement activities as they can as this allows them to make decisions that will keep them active throughout their lives.

In rural schools it is more difficult to allow students the same opportunities because travel costs are so much higher but I did not want to my students to miss out.  With approval from my principal, I took the PE 20/30 class on a full day field trip each month of the semester (5 trips total).  Each trip included 2 or 3 activities.  In order to fit these all in, we would leave before regular school hours and return after supper.  The students loved these trips!  It not only got them out of the classroom but was eye opening to those who were leaving their small town in a few months to pursue post-secondary education.  Students learned the basics of these activities in a non-threatening environment.  The activities that we did were rock climbing, bowling (10 & 5 pin), gymnastics, inner-tube water polo, wheelchair basketball, boxing, alpine skiing, snowboarding, orienteering, dragon boating, group fitness classes, racquetball, squash and walleyball.

Inner tube water polo is an intramural program at a local university.

Funding these trips took a great deal of work as the travel was very costly.  I applied and received many grants, the students worked the school canteen, and each student was required to pay a $30 fee.  These trips drew a lot of students who wouldn't typically take credit PE into the class.  They were so thankful in the end and had a really good time!

Students were assessed on their willingness to try and involvement based on both teacher and self-evaluations.  Alongside, there was a technology assignment attached to these trips.  One assignment required the students to analyze the activities and the Basic Movement Patterns they utilized throughout.  They used pictures of them doing the activities and put them together in a technology format of their choice (PowerPoint, website, blog, ePortfolio).  Collaborative Portfolio Assignment

Becoming a Hair Artist

In my second year of teaching I was lucky enough to get to teach our Cosmetology program.  I love this kind of stuff so this was right up my alley!  There are not too many teachers out there who can say they are the Phys. Ed. and Cosmetology teacher.  I took a few courses in preparation for the course including Manicures & Pedicures, Make-up Artistry and Skin Care.  I did not get any formal training in the hairstyling portion of the course but it has always been a personal interest so much of the techniques were not new to me.  For the techniques that I did not know how to do, I would ask stylists in the community to come in and help out.  In Cosmetology 20, learning pin curls and finger waves is part of the curriculum.  These are rather complex and rather old-fashion but is meant for students to understand the principles of a curl and how the curvature works when it comes to styling.  I really appreciated the help of these professionals and so did the students!  We all learned so much and it was great to see how we all progressed.  We all had lots of fun but decided it wasn't a hairstyle we would be wearing anytime soon.

Campaigning Roman Emperors

In Social Studies 9 we studied the rise and fall of the Roman Empire.  We began our unit with a series of activities that got students understanding who the infamous Roman emperors were.  After learning about their personalities and leadership styles, the students were then asked to create a campaign poster as if this leader were running for a political leader today.  This idea is based on a lesson I got from www.pbs.org.  Click here to see the lesson Getting to Know the Emperors of Rome.  I created my own rubric and assignment that was a reflection of the lesson on understanding successful political campaigns.  I showed the students a few different campaign posters and they picked out the important characteristics.

Lesson Example

I gave students the rubric ahead of time.  Students then created their poster in Microsoft Publisher.
Campaign Poster Rubric

Student Sample

Battle of the Blades

In a K-12 school, many adjustments have to made by students and teachers in order to accommodate the various activities and events.  December is Christmas concert month and so the gym is limited for PE classes as the stage is set up.  For my PE 20/30 class we would spend the month of December at the skating rink.  This course ran every second day for the entire afternoon which worked very well.  However, I am not a skilled skater by any stretch so this made me nervous.  I wanted to stay away from games of shinny as I knew the vast range of skating experience would result in exclusion and minimal learning.  I came up with a "Battle of the Blades" competition.

I would group the students into groups of 4 or 5.  Each group would have an experienced skater (usually a hockey player or figure skater), students with some experience and a student with no skating experience.  By grouping the students this way, it brought the groups to a level where everyone could be included.  Leaders would emerge and they would teach each other the skills that were required for their skating routine as well as for their lessons.  Each group was required to teach a lesson to the class.  These lessons were aligned with curricular Basic Movement Patterns and basic skating skills.  As well, this fell in nicely with Rhythmics and Dance as outlined in both the Physical Education 20 and 30 curricula.  Each day would consist of 1 class period dedicated to the student-lead lessons and 1 class period creating and practicing their Battle of the Blades program.  On the last day of school before Christmas holidays, all classes would be invited to the rink to watch these routines.  It became a tradition and exciting for the entire school!  We would put together a finale with the entire class as well as the teachers put in a skating program too!  Our school also had some very serious figures skaters and so they were invited to perform for their peers.  Afterwards, some elementary classes were invited to stay and skate with the grade 11s and 12s.

Click on the following link to see the assignment details and rubric: Battle of the Blades Assignment

I have provided a video of one group's performance.  They did very well on this assignment and incorporating the skill levels of each other.  They were creative and displayed great teamwork!

For an outline of the student-taught lessons and assessment click on the following link: Skating Peer Teaching Assignment

Each student was also required to complete a self-evaluation Peer Teaching Self-Evaluation.

All You Need is Love

Since the time I was 13 years old, cheerleading has been a part of my life.  After 5 years of competitive cheerleading throughout middle and high school I went onto 2 years of university cheerleading.  I have also coached many teams all of which have been a variety of age and skill levels.  When I took a teaching job in rural Saskatchewan, it just seemed natural that I start a cheer team.  Cheer is a difficult sport for most people to understand.  Most have a difficult time even classifying it as a sport let alone understanding that there are competitions of more than 2,500 athletes that take place right in our very own province!  Needless to say, starting up a team was a major task and long journey.

As with anything, I dive in with big plans and big goals.  Once again, students joined not fully understanding the sport and my administration agreed that offering another extra-curricular program could only be positive for the students, but did not quite know what was to come.  The season started off very difficult with keeping students involved and getting a practice schedule set.  As many small schools experience, it is typically the same students involved in the activities, sports and clubs not to mention top academic students.  These students run themselves thin trying to do everything and be a part of it all, so adding in another activity was a difficult commitment for many.  However, we ended up with a strong 8 girls who were willing to commit and give it shot.

Our first competition!  We were a hit!

We started with nothing and finished the season with everything: a complete routine, uniforms, successful competition standings and our cheer family.  The 8 girls (along with family and friends)  fundraised over $10,000 which paid for uniforms, competition fees, travel, hotel and accommodations.  We attended 4 competitions and travelled all over the province to be a part of this exciting sport.  We placed top 3 at all of the competitions but that was not our biggest achievement...

This small team truly became a family and became role models within their school and community.  Their peers, families and teachers were blown away by their skills!  The theme to our music was "love" and the girls truly took that to heart.  They went through so many ups and downs throughout the year but they would always pull through because they didn't want to let down their "family".  They really taught me a lot about being a coach and a positive role model.  In the past, I feel like the cheer teams I coached were already established programs where things just seemed easy.  I would show up and coach athletes who were knowledgeable and experienced.  This experience was so much different but yet so much more rewarding.  I am so proud of my team!  As a teacher and a coach, one of the most rewarding parts of the season was when we were asked to perform at the Director's Lunch by the Director of Education himself.  Although there were other established and higher competitive teams in our division, it was us that got invited and we were all ecstatic!

The last thing I truly learned about being a coach of such a special team was that these students truly made me see why I became a teacher and a coach.  Although teachers do not get paid to coach, the "payment" I received from coaching this team was more gratifying than any paycheck I have received.  My first couple years of teaching were extremely difficult and I was so thankful for the opportunity these girls gave me.  All I needed was love!

Development of Relationships in Elementary PE

In my third year of teaching, I continued to teach Physical Education but was branching beyond middle years and high school courses into elementary (grades 3 to 6).  The renewed Saskatchewan curricula focuses on 3 main goals in which students will work towards in PE: active living, skillful movement and relationships.  As someone who consistently incorporates Don Hellison's teaching personal and social responsibility (TPSR) into my PE program, I wanted to continue this with the elementary students.  The Saskatchewan curriculum indicates that "relationships" is multifaceted and is used for students to "develop a deeper understanding that will enhance their physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual selves through and within movement experiences" (Saskatchewan Ministry of Education, 2010).

To make this understandable to young students and allow them to personally evaluate their social responsibility, I created a quick and easy method known as "Gymnasium Genius".  At the end of each class the students would reflect on their behaviour and actions based on five items:

1. Prepared
• Appropriate gym attire
• On-time & gets ready in a timely fashion
• Ready to learn
• Waiting quietly on 3-point line for class to begin
2. Respectful
• Of yourself, to others, the equipment and the environment
3. Cooperative
• Following instructions
• On-task
• Helpful towards others
4. Open-Minded
• Willing to learn
• Open to new ideas, activities & games
• Positive attitude
5. Excellence
• Putting best efforts forward
• Role model and leader to peers
• Striving to exceed expectations

Throughout class we would constantly be referring to these five items. At the end of class, the students would line up and would be given a star sticker based on his/her behaviour which was then placed on an incentive chart.  Receiving the star was mainly based on my decision in the beginning but those who did not receive a star were asked to stay after class and individually we would discuss what went wrong and how it could be improved for the next class.  Within a month, most students were able to identify positive and negative behaviours. They made their own decision whether or not they were deserving of their star.  The students who did not feel they were a Gymnasium Genius went to the "Get Ready Wall" and then we would discuss improvements for next day and work on ways to solve the problems.  Once students received five stars they then got to choose a prize from the "Star Bucket" which included many things like funky sunglasses, bouncy balls, highlighters, pens, pencils, erasers, bracelets and mini Frisbees.  The video shown are students participating in a technology activity.  We could not be in the gym for class as there was a high school presentation going on, so we remained active in the library.  The students played Just Dance 4 on Nintendo Wii.  Although only 2 remotes could be used at once, all students participated and enjoyed the class!

When completing report cards, it was easy for me to look at where they are with respect to the Relationships goal.  I simply had to look back at my anecdotal notes and also those incentive charts.  It was easy making report card comments and the students were well aware of their relationships within the classroom.

Strengths:

• Students understood expectations and were always aware of their own strengths and weaknesses.
• Easy assessment when it came to report cards.
• Curriculum goals and outcomes are being met.

Improvements:

• Not all students are motivated by prizes (especially students in grade 6) so alternative plans needed to be made for some.  In the future, I will develop a "prize card" which has 5 options on it for the students to choose from once they get their 5 stars.  There would be things like choosing the warm-up activity or 5 minutes extra recess time.  This would be more motivating to older students or students that do not care about "things".
• Integrate ways to intrinsically motivate students as the year goes on so that they are developing relationships because they want to not simply because they get a prize.