Although “An Educator’s Guide to the ‘Four C’s’” had NO mention of physical education whatsoever, I believe applying these principles to my classroom will influence my teaching practices to build 21st-century learners. I’ve always believed PE is more than the class where students learn about health and fitness…
3 Steps to 21st-Century PE Teaching Step 1: Communication/ Collaboration -- PE is the place, more so than anywhere else on a school campus I might argue, where students get to practice communication and collaboration. I’ve always tried to preach and model the values of good sportsmanship and what it means to be a good teammate, and establish that culture of “learning to play nicely together” in my class (perhaps the most important skill one needs, regardless of century). Step 2: Critical Thinking -- Establishing lessons which promote critical thinking and creating takes a bit more consideration. Allowing teams to work together to come up with their own strategies to succeed in a game is one way to promote critical thinking skills (I think of the wide variety of strategies employed by my students over the years while playing capture the flag over). Conversations about long-term health allow for critical thinking opportunities as well. Step 3: Creating -- So far this year my students have created their own personal biography slide (each one of my classes has their own slide deck). I think this has helped them to take control of their identity and proudly represent themselves (with creative freedoms to add images, colors, gifs, and so on, to their slides). They've also had a few assignments in Flipgrid in which they get to demonstrate their creativity (and responsibility) via a social media-ish platform. Recently I’ve successfully challenged my students to create games on Flipgrid on their own and I was truly blown away with their creations! I hope to be able to continue to implement activities which allow for more creative freedom in my class. I wonder what activities are out there that allow for more creativity in PE which I need to know about...
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Where am I at now with my action research?
Answer: Have not officially started collecting data, but getting all of the following information dialed in... DQ: What tools and procedures can a PE or athletic program put into place that will easily transition from face-face-face to distance education? RQ1: What is the impact of incorporating technology into PE lesson design? a)Do students exercise more often when using the tools? b)Does student scores improve with the use of tools? How I will measure: I plan to collect this data first by providing a Google Form Survey to students: “Fitness Trackers/ Running Apps Personal Use Survey.” This survey will spit the students into two focus groups…. Those who use fitness trackers and those who do not. (a) The survey will go on to ask them about their exercise habits in their everyday lives. Through their answers provided, I will see if there is a correlation between use of tools and daily exercise habits. (b) Allow students who use fitness trackers to use them during class time and assign the class a long-distance run. Collect data in the form of students run times…. At a later date, re-assign run, but this time require students who previously did not use a fitness tracker to now use one. I hope to see if there is any correlation between the use of trackers in class and student performance. RQ2: Does this use of technology improve students’ health and fitness? a) What are their attitudes towards exercise b) What is their personal fitness status? c) Do they follow a personal workout plan? How I will measure: (a/b) Survey students on current attitudes towards exercise and their current habits related to health and fitness, like whether or not they already follow a personal workout plan. After providing all students with a chance to use tools, requiring them to create a personal workout plan, and follow through with their plan, re-survey students on their feelings towards exercise and their personal fitness status. (c) See if there is a correlation between students who have already followed a personal workout plan in the past and their responses regarding feelings about exercise. (CONCERN) Is subquestion (c) in the right spot here? Does it go along with the overarching RQ2 (“use of technology”)? Would it fit better under RQ3, or should it perhaps be scrapped altogether? Should RQ2 just be reworked? RQ3:What tools and strategies support face-to-face and online learning? a)How can I leverage digital tools and media to make physical fitness a social enterprise? How I will measure: Refer to answers provided by survey in RQ1 to gather data on which tools students generally prefer to use on their own time. Provide new survey which gathers data on students’ feelings about tools and strategies used in class this year. Informal and formal assessment of student work provided in distance lessons. Reach out to physed experts on social media to gather data on what tools and strategies other teachers are utilizing -- teachers on Twitter, PE Central group on facebook, Journal of Physical Education Research. (Questions!) Do RQ3 and sub-question (a) work together? Is having only one sub-question okay here? Are these methods of data collection sufficient? Adora Svitak’s TED Talk (Wow -- What an impressive 12 year old!) resonated deeply with me and had me reflecting on my practice, proudly at times. One of Ms. Svitak’s chief arguments is that adults need to be learning from kids, just as much as the reverse. Immediately I thought of my action research, and how I will be collecting data directly from my students, such as which fitness apps they prefer to use, and ultimately learning about my practice from them. If there is one thing this young speaker makes very clear, it's that adults can learn from kids. Not only does she clearly express that with her words, the whole talk quite literally demonstrates that a 12 year old can offer a lot of great knowledge. Ms. Svitak also points out that oftentimes kids have restrictions placed on them which underestimate their abilities and inhibit their growth. She goes on to say that instead of restricting them with rules and underestimating students’ abilities, we need to take their wishes into consideration. I always try to create more student buy-in by collaboratively creating class norms with them early on every school year. I’ve always believed that students will treat me with more respect if I treat them more like “adults” than “kids.” Teachers who flex their power on students with unnecessary rules are only creating restrictions and hard feelings. I’ve seen teachers go too hard with rules and expectations early on in the school year, only to immediately lose buy-in from too many of their students. A very wise colleague once said to me: “Students don’t follow rules because the teacher repeats the rules all the time. Students are much more likely to follow the rules simply if they like your class and want to be there.” Sir Ken Robinson's TED Talk, “How to Escape Education’s Death Valley,” caught my attention the second he gave PE a shoutout: “A real education has to give equal weights to the arts, the humanities, to physical education.” Woohoo! In all seriousness, I became a PE teacher because like Mr Robinson, I believe it is often overlooked, yet invaluable to a child’s development -- both physically and social-emotionally! Mr. Robinson’s point that “[Great teachers] are not there to pass on received information. Great teachers…...mentor, stimulate, provoke, engage” had me drawing parallels to similar arguments presented by Falk and Blumenreich, McDowell and Darling-Hammond. I’ve always tried my best to limit the amount of class time spent giving direct instruction to students, while maximizing their time learning and growing through play and exercise. By putting my trust in students, treating them with respect, allowing them to have a voice in my class, and by making my class as enjoyable as possible for everybody, I hope I am taking the right steps towards putting them on the path to a successful future. When making the decision in the spring to commit to this masters program, the wicked problem I wanted to solve was “How can we do PE online?” Since then, it’s evolved to be a bit more specific, as well as applicable to both online and in-person learning... What tools and procedures can a PE or athletic program put into place that will easily transition to distance education and support students to develop lifelong habits?
Because my passion behind this research has always revolved around online learning, our current format for school hopefully shouldn’t be an impediment on my research. I’m hoping that on the contrary, this period of distance learning could be conducive to the research that I need. With that being said, I still have a ways to go in dialing in exactly how I will go about collecting data, and I feel that I need to figure that out quickly. Whether we continue to do distance learning, or return to in-person, I’m hopeful that I’ll have enough experience in both realms to get to the bottom of my driving question. I can apply design thinking to my dilemma by considering my end user…secondary PE teachers and students. What have other PE teachers found to be effective in supporting learners develop lifelong habits while teaching from a distance? What motivates students to want to be active when learning online? Will effective strategies for online learning in PE transition well to in-person learning? According to Linda Darling-Hammond, the reason the world is becoming “flat?” Globalization due to massive technological advancements in recent decades. Whereas the United States used to be the gold standard when it comes to education, recently we are quickly falling behind other countries which are more effectively adapting to the times. “The amount of new technical information is doubling every two years, and it is predicted to double every 72 hours by 2010” (Darling-Hammond 4).
When thinking about the exponential advancement of technology, I can’t help but think about what we’re being faced with as teachers in 2020. If 10 years ago new technological information was already doubling every 72 hours, I guess the amount of new tech teachers are being bombarded with in 2020 isn’t a fluke. Tech is only going to expand from here -- Put on your learning caps everyone! My head feels like it wants to explode when I begin to try to think about our educational system, its problems and what I would change. When we think about trying to improve our system, there is no one quick-fix. This would have to be a massive shift in educational philosophy and policy altogether. Darling-Hammond points out that in addition to inequities in schools caused by poor funding and lack of resources… We also simply need to revise what we are teaching our students. Recently, higher-achieving nations “Reveal a robust and disciplined approach to teaching mathematical reasoning and complex problem solving where knowledge is continually applied to real world problems and students are asked to go beyond routines to use mathematics flexibly in new situations” (12-13). I have often marveled at the lack of real world knowledge that our students graduate high school with. (Disclaimer: next sentences may be offensive to math or science people)... Why is it that students are required to take calculus before learning anything whatsoever about financial literacy? Why are students required to take biology in which they need to memorize all the parts of a cell, before knowing anything applicable to their own bodies, health and nutrition? To try to improve our system, there would need to be a massive amount of policy change from our government. Without wanting to be too political here, when I think about how most federal programs targeting education reform were basically eliminated during the Reagan era, as well as the damage done by the No Child Left Behind Act, it hurts my soul to even begin think about the long-term implications of Trump, DeVos and education in this country. Probably not the best perspective to take, but I sometimes think it’s just easier not to think about the big scary picture at all and just focus on my students. Darling-Hammond, Linda (2010). The Flat World of Education. New York, NY: Teachers College, Columbia University. |
About Dustin Green:High School PE Teacher Archives
March 2021
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