At the time of writing this blog post, I have not yet had an opportunity to watch the speakers, though I look forward to hearing these various experts' ideas on learning. From reading “Can Creativity Be Taught,” many concepts we’ve discussed this semester are apparent throughout this article, such as 21st century teaching and learning.
I have done a lot of thinking about how not just students, but all people learn to be creative. Mobley says we need to unlearn our ways of thinking in linear ways and think outside the box. But this is something that can’t really be learned… There is no simple formula for teaching and learning to think creatively… We have to just immerse ourselves in situations which allow us creative freedom, or even force us to think in a creative way to complete a given task. I can help my students think more creatively, like Mobley, by providing them with opportunities to do so through riddles, simulations and games. Maybe my PE class can ultimately become a mini version of the IBM Executive School. What better place than a high school physical education class is there to challenge the brain through game play. Now more than ever, PE teachers are forced to rethink our practice. Team sports? .... Nope. Sharing equipment?... Out of the question. Moderate to vigorous exercise indoors? … Think again. We are all being forced to discover new types of activities for our students. I have a few ideas regarding what might allow them to think outside of the box, such as scavenger hunts and various team building games. I look forward to discovering not only more COVID friendly PE activities, but now want to find more which will provide students with opportunities to get creative and ultimately enhance learning.
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This week is particularly full of unanswered questions.... I am now thinking of an episode of one of my favorite cartoons -- Futurama -- which featured an all-knowing giant alien brain which could answer any question in the universe. I think many teachers across the district, one week before we return to in-person/hybrid model/phase 2 (whatever you want to call it), would like to ask that brain a few questions at this point.
At the time of writing this post, I have not yet had the chance to partake in a deeper dive into literature covering my topic this week, although I am hopeful to discover what contributions have already been made regarding the relationship between fitness trackers and student motivation and performance in PE. I have already administered a “Personal Health Profile” survey to collect data on students’ exercise habits and feelings about exercise. My students have also created their first “Personal Weekly Activity Plan,” which could lead to discoveries regarding how personal goal might improve a student’s motivation or performance. I plan to continue to collect student data in the form of running performance data. Students will participate in a series of long distance runs (Student in Group A using fitness data trackers such as Nike Run Club, Group B using no tools), and track their times and distances on a running log. The running log will also have students set goals for each run. Runs will be completed in-person as well as asynchronously. After participating in a series of runs, while setting goals and tracking their progress (some using fitness tracking tools), students will be resurveyed about their habits and feelings about exercise. Unanswered questions… Will my methodology be able to prove that the fitness trackers in combination with goal setting were impacting motivation or performance in any way? Should I have a Group A (students who use fitness trackers) and a Group B (students who do not use fitness trackers), and compare data within the two groups? Does it make more sense to have all students not using fitness trackers for their first set of runs, then have all students (or some) use them for another round of data collection? I fear not all students have access to these tools (those who do not have smartphones). Will I be losing all of my students who are staying virtual and how will that impact my study? (This is specific to NHS PE… We are meeting with admin today and hopefully at least this much is answered!) “What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must we want for all children in the community. Any other ideal for our schools is narrow and unlovely; acted upon, it destroys our democracy.”
To me, this John Dewey quote seems like the basis of human decency - The “Golden Rule” - Do unto others as you would have them do unto you (or in this case, your children). In “the Flat World of Education,” Linda Darling-Hammond lays out these five policy prescriptions for the American education system…
While Darling-Hammond is considering the educational system as a whole and how we can improve it, I am only one little teacher… I will now try to narrow down these large-scale policies and see how they can be applied or modified to make sense within my practice. 1. Meaningful Learning Goals -- “Content and skills need to be considered together…” (294). When designing PE lessons, don’t put too much emphasis on students being able to quickly memorize new concepts or pick up a new skill. 21st-century “real-world” skills, such as critical thinking, collaboration, and appropriate use of technology should be considered in my lessons as well. However, a lesson which teaches 21st-century skills will only do so effectively if grounded in real, tangible content. 2. Intelligent, reciprocal accountability systems -- “If students are to be expected to achieve higher standard, it stands to reason that educators must….as well …. High and rigorous standards for teaching are a cornerstone of a professional accountability system focused on student learning” (302). This is a bit above my paygrade. To try to make this work on a personal scale, I interpret this to entail that educators should hold each other accountable to be as good as we can! Teacher-leaders need to be supportive, yet set high expectations for their teams! 3. Equitable and adequate resources -- “... a new federal policy must address the deep and tenacious educational debt that holds our nation’s future in hock” (309). Once again, while it is not my job to make federal policy (thank goodness), I must be considerate of the inherent inequities amongst my students and do everything I can to make the curriculum equitable for everyone. Just spitballing here… but in terms of equitable resources on a district level, PE teachers should be willing to reach out to other PE programs across their district when they are in need or equipment, information, or any other resources which might make their class more equitable for all of their students. Sharing is caring! 4. Strong professional standards and supports -- “... it is imperative that the United States develop policies for recruiting, preparing, and retaining strong teachers, especially in high-need schools” (313). Reinventing teacher training and professional development is a big task, but us teachers can help make this happen by sharing our experiences with our professional development opportunities. Be vocal! Provide support to effective ones with positive feedback, recommending colleagues or even pitching something for your school/department to your admin. Be honest about ineffective PD programs and use your voice by providing feedback to help eliminate. 5. Schools organized for student and teacher learning -- “Finally, to transform systems, incentives must be structured to promote collaboration and knowledge-sharing across organizations, rather than competition (326). Simply put -- help your colleagues get better! Just learned something new which might be helpful to other members of your staff? Create a screencast and send out a mass-email! See something that a colleague is doing which you don’t love? Time to collaborate and make each other better! No hard feelings if we all want to learn and be better! Wowser! I climbed into the rabbit hole of academic journals and scholarly articles, and I’m hoping I'm maybe beginning to find my way out. I’ve stumbled upon a few different pieces of literature so far which seem to be along the same lines with what I plan on researching. So far nobody stands out as “seminal" so far, although one of the articles I found is cited 117 times (does that qualify as seminal?) -- “Feasibility and Effectiveness of Using Wearable Activity Trackers in Youth: A Systematic Review,” published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR) in November 2016 (1). Much like what I plan to investigate, “the aim of this review was to examine the effectiveness of wearable activity trackers as a tool for increasing children’s and adolescents’ physical activity levels.” It was a bit of a relief to read the first sentence of this study’s conclusion: “There is a paucity of research concerning the effectiveness and feasibility of wearable activity trackers as a tool for increasing children’s and adolescents’ physical activity levels….” (I had to Google ‘paucity’ ... it means there is very little research done on this). Hoping that the work done by this study can aid me in my research and provide validity to my discoveries.
I found a few other articles that relate to my research as well, although they are not cited as much as the one above… “Using Novel Technology within a School-Based Setting to Increase Physical Activity: A Pilot Study in School-Age Children from a Low-Income, Urban Community” is cited 6 times and concludes that fitness trackers in combination with goal setting did not increase physical activity in 5th and 6th grade students, but “It is also possible that this intervention was not successful because a single step goal was set, used for all participants regardless of their baseline activity levels.... it is possible that the intervention would have been more successful if participants received individualized goals based on baseline activity levels, as was successfully done by Koufoudakis...” What do you know?! The conclusion of this study leads me to another -- Koufoudakis’s study: “How Feedback and Goal-Setting Impact Children’s Recess Physical Activity” (cited by 3). THE CYCLE CONTINUES!. This study could also help validate the methodology I plan on employing within my action research, in which students will set their own personal goals based on their individual levels of fitness and development, though I’m not sure if the article is impactful enough to use in my research, only having been cited 3 times… I’m a bit all over the place right now in terms of finding the right literature. But I’m feeling better than I did a couple hours ago. Hooray for progress. |
About Dustin Green:High School PE Teacher Archives
March 2021
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