The PE Journal

Why didn't I do this years ago?

Over the years I have devised quizzes, questionnaires, and refection sheets for my students in an attempt to capture evidence of learning, but also to find out more of what is in their heads. We all know that some students are willing to answer questions during discussion time, while others avoid raising their hand. Is it because they don't know the answer, or are they just shy? It's hard to say.

Quizzes and tests are a risk because some students may interpret the question in a way that is different to why you asked it. Sometimes a student's literacy skills prevent them from answering accurately, or their writing is so poor it is difficult to understand what they have written.

The idea of interviewing all my students to uncover their knowledge and thoughts is of course out of the question as it would take far too long.

So I have come up with what I hope is a solution - the PE Journal. 



It works like this:

• It is simply an exercise book. One for each student in years 4-6. 
• I keep these books in a box in my store room and I bring them to PE class.
• I have a pencil case of pens that I bring with me for students to use.
• Students may be asked to write at the start, middle or end of a lesson.
• Writing time is minimal - 2-3 minutes so it does not encroach on activity time too much.
• Sometimes I ask students to write answers to specific questions, other times it may be an opinion.
• Sometimes students self asses themselves or their peers. Other times they reflect on their learning.
• Students can write in sentences, bullet points, construct a table, draw diagrams - it is their choice.
• I have a journal for every class too, which I use just like the students - to model journaling.

Rather than prescribe what topics I will have my students write about at the start of a unit, I leave it up to the moment in a lesson when something relevant occurs to inspire the writing topic. That way it is real and relevant. This journal is checked by me throughout the term and is extremely useful in capturing my students' thoughts, ideas, opinions, reflections and assessments in a journal format which allows personal expression in a private context.

I believe that expressing one's self on paper is cathartic and so the habit of journaling itself is a good one to establish. 

This journal will go home at the end of each semester so that parents can also get the insight I get with the PE Journal.

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I would love to hear about other ways of capturing the learning, ideas and opinions of students that you or other teachers may use. Please add a comment below.

Phys Ed Vision Statement

For this post I simply want to share the vision statement I created to guide PE at my school - Queen of Apostles.

After seeing the TED talk by Simon Sinek and reading his book 'Start With Why', I got thinking about questions like:

Why Phys Ed?
Why do we have Phys Ed at my school?
Why should it remain as part of the curriculum?
Why should anyone think that Phys Ed is important?
Why should anyone believe that I am doing any good for my students?

I couldn't answer any of these easily without writing a long list of the things I do as part of the PE program. This list would be what Simon Sinek calls the 'what' of Phys Ed. But as he explains in his book, the organisations, companies, businesses, leaders and yes - schools, that have people believing, understanding and following what they do all start with 'why'. If you want people to believe in your purpose, as Simon explains, don't tell them 'what' you do, start with 'why' you do it.

So I put pen to paper and wrote down what I thought were the important elements that best explain 'why' I do what I do and 'why' my students, parents, and wider community should be a part of it.

So this is what I came up with:

Queen of Apostles Physical Education

Vision Statement: Why?

Enriching the lives of our students

by developing mind, body, spirit and community

through play.

Learn to do clever things with your mind, fun things with your body and good things with your heart with friends, family, in the community or on your own.

Mission Statement: How?

With sport and physical activity as its context, and by

celebrating individual differences, our mission is to

provide a variety of experiences through which its members

develop mental skills,

physical skills,

social skills and a

sense of community in a

safe and

stimulating environment.

What?:

PE lessons, Sport sessions, Morning fitness, Faction Carnivals, Clinics and other events, Interschool carnivals and Camp.

Core values:

Students will be given the opportunity to

1. inquire about, reflect upon and analyse aspects of their learning.
2. Iearn, practice and further develop physical skills that can then be applied to physical activities and sport.
3. develop and demonstrate empathy, understanding, patience, fairness, kindness and inclusivity.
4. Participate in and contribute towards whole school and community physical activity events.

 And with this I can now point to the big writing on the wall and say "This is why we have PE in our school. This is why it is important and should remain a focus for us. This is why you should join me and be a part of something that is valuable and worth working towards. The wording may take some tweaking in the months to come, but for now it gives me a direction. Everything I do will serve this vision.

See more at www.qoape.com


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Do you have a mission statement?
Have you thought about why you are in your current job?
Does your organisation have it's members believing what it strives for?

I would love to hear your 'Whys'. Please comment below.

Little Effort, Huge Results

So I've got to tell you about our net games unit. For the first 5 weeks of term 1 our year 3-6 classes focused on volleyball, badminton and tennis. All these sports share similar concepts, strategies and skills.

Our badminton equipment is pretty good. I have collected it over the years and have enough stuff to fill out the undercover area with courts. Our volleyball nets and balls are adequate for what we need. We play throw/catch style modified volleyball games.

But for tennis, I was still using those waffle-style plastic bats. Have you ever used those? They are terrible. Rafal Nadal couldn't return a ball with one of those bats! Not only was it difficult for my students to play competently, but this equipment was not inspiring them to want to play.

So I had to do something. I had neglected tennis for many years. We used to have a tennis coach come in and take lessons for those who paid for it. So I took this as an excuse for pushing it to one side. But now that I have decided to teach a 'net games' unit, tennis is back on my radar, and I have discovered that equipment is a big factor.



I decided to purchase some decent racquets. They are not expensive, but short handled string racquets enable students much better control when they contact tennis balls.

Speaking of tennis balls, low compression tennis balls are my new favourite piece of sports gear. They move slower and bounce lower and are therefore much easier to control.

Along the way I discovered some teaching tips that were a bit help in correcting bad grip and technique, particularly with backhand strokes. These pictures show visuals I used to help students understand that the back of the racquet face is used for backhand strokes. The orange tape was helpful for students and their peers to self-correct and peer teach, as it makes it easy to see if students are keeping one edge on top for both forehands and backhands.

         

        

With this new armoury my students experienced great success in not only developing competency, but their interest as a result went through the roof. Students started bringing tennis racquets to school to play at recess and lunch. The courts were full at these breaks. It was great to see, and the lesson for me was to not dismiss the importance of having the right gear. For what was a little effort in ordering some new equipment, the results were huge.