Worth checking 4 Generations 4 Education for valuable professional development opportunities!
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Personalized PE Badges
ImageI am using Badge Maker to create PE badges that I award when students demonstrate IB attitudes or strive to be one of the IB Learner profiles.
Future Performer #1
StandardMy name is Coni and im from Argentina🇦🇷, I’m 9 and I love gymnastics 🤸♂️ football ⚽️ and I also play tennis and I’m learning how to play the piano. I love to dance and play with my friends. My goals are to do the best that I can and never give up. To achieve my goals I’m always practicing and I never give up.
My message is “never give up on what you want to do”.
All too often we are finding ourselves in various locations around the world and, as international educators, we crave to see how our students evolve. We are wondering about the outcomes of our efforts and if lucky enough, we get a glimpse of what some of our students become. I am lucky enough to have met Coni, again, after 2 years, as her family spent a holiday in the city I teach.
This is the opener of the #Future Perfomers predictions series of blog posts: students that positively impacted my professional activity and that I am aiming to stay connected with.
Say ‘YES’ to PE #FitWork!
The purpose of #Fitwork is to empower our students to transfer knowledge and understanding beyond school’s environment and to initiate meaningful actions that may enhance their physical activity level and change lifestyle behaviors.
The first monthly PE homework in grade 4 will be aired this weekend. Initiated by @mrobrienman, the activity is planned by the PE educators (@FitnwitPE,@physedsais, @BriarJohns) involved with this grade level and supported by their collaboration with Home Room Teachers. Here’s the activity for this month:
#FitWork 1 – Dare or Bear!™ FitnwitPE
What shall I do? Call an animal of your choice (bear, frog, crab, etc). Make sure you can imitate and demonstrate its movements. Animal sounds are allowed too!
How long? For 3 minutes, everyone in your family has to use the moves of the animal you called: going to the kitchen, moving to the pool and back or scratching the back on the door).
How many times? Each family member can call ‘Dare or Bear’, twice a day. Feel free to use it in key moments: getting up and out of bed, MRT waiting line, movie time or when playing in the park.
What else? Add a twist of fun by being as creative as you can when deciding the rules of your ‘Dare or Bear’. If you don’t Dare (animal walks), then choose to Bear (consequences: 5 Burpees, 10 Jumping Jacks or let your imagination loose).
Remember:
- Be clear, concise and demand commitment.
- You can only be famous for 3 minutes!
- Have fun and let us know what went good or…what needs improvement!
Next #FitWork, in a month time! Until then, have fun and keep it simple!
End of the Year Reflection
In the rush of the last three weeks of school, I couldn’t miss the chance to connect with my students and the learning that happened this year. Technology is ubiquitous now days and I am happy that I have got a glimpse from my favorites partners in this learning journey: the students!
I created a Padlet for each grade that I work with and I have shared it on their grade Seesaw online portfolio. The aim was to enhance the value of all the learning experiences we have been through.
Then I edited a Google Form document for each grade that contained a set of relevant questions for the PE context. Since the end of the year is busy with events, I have managed to navigate and take from my free time and not their PE time, to apply the form and collect students’ answers.
The answers were nothing but simple thoughts that learners felt comfortable to talk about: While some “wish to do more swimming and dancing”, others dream to “get to run in the speed of light and getting a six-pack”. The students are “proud of working in a group and they wish they could “get better working independently”. Some they learn best “by making mistakes”, others enjoy “playing games, listening and asking questions”. “We should have chocolate or ice-cream fountains” and they feel very proud and motivated when playing Go Home, Stay Home and everyone is cheering their name.
Lastly I have worked in Canva to display an overall presentation of this reflection, including the Padlet and the answers.
I feel that the power of reflection may enable students to better express and acknowledge their achievements or areas of improvement and it constitutes a great opportunity to generate meaningful feedback. I would definitely use this experience in the beginning of the next academic year, when it can prove beneficial in harnessing information related to students’ prior knowledge. With an increased value of the pre- and formative assessments in learning, I am curios and excited about the road that lies ahead. It keeps me engaged and motivated on a path that I am passionate about: Learning.
Let’s connect if you want to exchange similar learning experiences or to find insights about this reflection!
Time For a Conceptual Understanding in Physical Education
We enjoy educating, we embrace challenges and most of the time we do spread the positive around us. We are looking for inspiration in our quest for making the difference and often we surpass ourselves.
We enter the students’ world and we explore mistakes in our lives. We allow ourselves to fail, often, and we are comfortable with not knowing what is about to happen.
We are vulnerable but we step outside the comfort zone. We believe we can learn anything starting by questioning everything.
We dream big.
According to Erickson (2014), ‘children need to grapple with the content, knowledge, and skills they are learning in order to reach conceptual understandings’.
Join me in this workshop to explore together how conceptual understanding will help students decode life and adapt their learning to different situations.
Time For a Conceptual Understanding in Physical Education
Reference:
Erickson. H.L. 2014. Transitioning to Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction. How to bring content and process together, p. 55. Corwin.
Gamification with an empirical approach
ImagePYP Connect. Collaborative Learning. Presentation. Singapore. February 2017.
