I was lost. When I think back to where I was at regarding my pedagogy, almost exactly one year ago at the start of distance learning, like many other teachers I had no idea where to begin. Perhaps PE teachers especially needed to figure out how to adjust more than anyone. Based on many conversations I've had, when the majority of people think of online PE, they imagine the teacher leading a workout and all students following along and diligently exercising on-camera. This is problematic for several reasons… For one, as much as I pride myself on my high energy-style of teaching, I do not think I can effectively make it through five workouts, one for each class, every day of the week. More importantly, requiring students to exercise on-camera is kind of an ethical grey area, and something that neither my students or I want happening. Thankfully, with the help of Touro University's Innovative Learning Master’s program, I have expanded my Teaching Pedagogical Content Knowledge, or TPACK, in such a way that my virtual PE lessons don’t have to be as one dimensional and dull as the “exercise on-camera” class. When it’s time to exercise, my students work within Edpuzzle, following Youtube workouts which I have converted to Edpuzzle videos with notes and questions for reflection. This way they can be held accountable for completing a workout without having to exercise on-camera. I have also utilized Edpuzzle not only for workouts, but for instructional videos with content from practicing good nutritional habits, to how exercise makes you a better student, and even a Ted Talk on the importance of sleep. I have also utilized virtual class time this year to focus on running and fitness applications for smartphones, from functionality to all of the benefits they can provide. Many of my students have taken advantage and shared their progress via screenshots of their data. I’m hopeful that the use of running and fitness applications will lead to more of a more passion for exercise and ultimately more active lifestyles. My lessons often direct students to work within Google suite - most commonly Google Docs and Forms. While basic elements of Google Suite such as sharing access and making copies were challenging for my students at first, I am proud of how smoothly integrated into my curriculum it all is now. The difference is like night and day from month one of this school year. Now when we have a lesson in which we view content online, such as a website with key concepts on nutrition, or a youtube video on mindfulness, completing the follow-up Google Doc or Form has become second nature for my students. Quizizz is also a favorite among my students as well, as we often use this tool as a way to review key concepts from previous lessons. All in all, I am very proud of what my PE class has become in our current hybrid model of learning. My TPACK journey has been a long one, but boy has it been worth it. I am no longer lost.
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I wrote out my interview questions. I had a vision of me sitting down in front of my laptop and answering these questions. I thought I could organically and smoothly flow about my research with no script. I pressed the record button. Mind goes absolutely blank.
My uncut A-roll is very weak and embarrassing. Thank goodness for movie magic because my interview needs some serious cutting and editing. Apparently when it comes to being on camera, I cannot talk good. I have now learned that I absolutely NEED to write a script. Writing is something I know I am okay at. Because my A-roll is 30 minutes of video with only maybe 2 minutes of usable audio (and 28 minutes of stop and start nonsense and stuttering), I’m planning to start cutting together the interview footage I have with my B-roll. Perhaps not the most traditional way to make a movie, but I know once I begin editing, my documentary will begin to take more shape and it will help me to write the rest of my script. I enjoy editing but am terrible on-camera. I feel confident about my vision and process for this documentary however. I will need another day to film A-roll and B-roll once my rough cut is made. I would say right now within the learning pit I am somewhere between “I need to work hard at this” and “I think I’m getting it!” I had my students film themselves for a few flipgrid assignments earlier this year. While I participated in the assignment too, I did not experience this sort of camera shyness. However, I can now certainly imagine what some of my students were probably feeling. If I do assign another Flipgrid project with my classes, I will be sure to suggest writing out a script beforehand. NVUSD Mission Statement
It’s tough for me to find any real holes in NVUSD’s mission statement. It’s pretty apparent that it was written by expert mission statementers... That being said, as a biased PE teacher/athletic coach, I guess my one gripe could be the need for a greater focus on physical activity for our students. By reading all of the the districts goals within the NVUSD mission statement, I noticed physical education was mentioned only one time -- within Goal # 1 -- “Improve performance outcomes for all students, and at least one year’s growth in one year’s time in all core subjects (ELA, Math, History/Social Studies, Science), World Language, Visual and Performing Arts and Physical Education.” Likewise, Athletic programs are mentioned once under the subheading “Students thrive socially, emotionally and academically” ... “Promote and support athletic programs that comply with current best practice and provide student athletes with opportunities to learn and grow.” I’m wondering if PE (or even recess/ lunch / student free- time) can be mentioned as well within the context of social and emotional health of all students in the district, as this is obviously important for everyone, not just those who participate in extracurricular athletic programs. Rather than just focusing on “growth in one year’s time” when mentioning PE, our district's mission statement might be improved with a specific goal around the social/emotional/physical need for students to be active. Reflecting upon the production of my capstone project, I haven’t ran into any serious issues so far. I just finished one of the first steps of tediously linking everything together on my capstone website… so far so good. I am excited to continue to build that site and ultimately create my mini-doc to go with it. Back before the days of wanting to be a teacher, my major as an undergrad was actually media studies and film production, so (hopefully without getting anyone's expectations too high) I do feel comfortable with the prospect of creating a short film.
As I compare the professionally made documentary film, “Kenny Stills - Why I kneel,” to some of the older capstone videos made for this Master's program, some differences in style are very apparent. For one, the professionally made documentary uses a wide variety of footage -- a combination of found footage from his playing career, historical found footage from the civil rights era to contemporary media coverage, B roll filmed for the purpose of the documentary, as well as A roll in the form of interview footage. The older capstone videos I explored showed the interviewee within the same shot with very little variance the majority of the time they were shown on camera. I hope my mini documentary will be a useful product for PE teachers who are looking for innovative lessons and considering a productive use of technology in class for their students. I plan to alternate between many different shots and types of footage, from B roll, footage of smartphone running applications being utilized, to even found footage featuring professional athletes or relevant memes -- anything which will keep my audience entertained -- all while minimizing my time on screen. |
About Dustin Green:High School PE Teacher Archives
March 2021
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