Module 1
Online Pedagogy and Building Digital Communities
Welcome to Module 1: The purpose of this module is to help physical educators discover new methods to teach online and learn about different tech tools that could contribute to building an online learning community with your students. This module will have you reflecting on your own pedagogical practices and evaluating research-based pedagogical practices that have been shown to aid in creating a safe and inviting learning community, allowing you to create a tool box of ideas to find what methods will work in your own classrooms.
Online Pedagogy and
Building Digital Communities
Online pedagogy can pose some challenges for physical educators which is why this module will examine different strategies, some new, some old and perhaps some strategies are repurposed but all of which you will hopefully be able to add to your teaching toolkit. Creating and maintaining a positive learning environment; building a learning community; giving consistent feedback in a timely manner; and using the right technology to deliver the right content are key factors in strengthening student engagement in online courses (Nafukho & Chakraborty, 2014).
This module will focus on the PHE curriculum, however, when examining the tech tools and considering how you will integrate them into your own teaching practice always be mindful of the hidden curriculum when it comes to technology. As with any skill, technology may come naturally to some students and not so much for others. As teachers we know our own students and what scaffolding they may need to manage and learn the new tools or software programs introduced in this module. We hope to provide you with the information and opportunities to develop your personalized pedagogical approach towards building healthy, safe, and inclusive Physical Education communities.
The Big Ideas
Building Blocks
Teaching practices are forever evolving and coupled with the pace of technological innovations, many best teaching practices include a digital component. Whether it's using google classroom, sharing and editing each other's work online, or working through a VR online activity, students need to become good digital citizens to learn how to communicate with their peers and develop that skill for their future careers.
Physical Educators are in a unique position to coach and teach many skills for the 21st century learners such as teamwork, creativity, innovation and problem-solving. As educators, it's our role to set the foundation of building blocks to help students become smart, conscientious, and innovators both behind the screen and in person.
Building Community
Building a classroom culture is one of the first things we do with a new class, whether it's face to face or in a virtual classroom. Creating a classroom climate built on respect, trust and communication is half classroom management, half modelling the expected behaviour and engaging your students with your teaching finesse and add a sprinkle of teaching experience. Simply put "Get over yourself - challenge any fear of giving up control of the online space and grow to be a facilitator and let students come to the forefront" (Barber & Mann, 2022)
Below are a collection of teaching tips from Dynamic Engaging Learning Environments, W. Barber & A. Mann which is in print and will be published in the book Thriving Online: A Guide for Busy Educators.(Eds. B. Hunter, R. Kay, 2022).
Co-design of learning space - Negotiation, Flexibility, Grab that trapeze and Fly !!
Setting class norms re social media, respectful interactions, trust and right to pass
Don’t be afraid to disrupt status quo
Ask for help and SAY you don’t know - or reach out to help someone else
Celebrate mistakes, enjoy the left turns, find adventure on the tangents
Encourage multiple formats for assignments and tasks
Building communities with your students also means building a community within your own teaching departments. The sooner we can stand in front of our classes and admit mistakes the sooner we can build trust with our students which is the starting point for creating a safe place and collaborative classroom.
Activity #1 - Article: Read and Reflect
Building a community is more than the superficial digital announcements on your school's platform where students post questions asking about their homework and assignment submissions. It involves student engagement during class, getting to know each other, share positive and constructive criticism with each other and feel comfortable engaging in authentic discussion in breakout rooms (virtual) or in table groups (face to face).
The community you build online or in your classroom should be a safe place for your students to share their ideas and express who they are without judgment. A community should support one another and acknowledge individuals for their successes and help them build resilience and learn from their mistakes. Carol Dweck (2008) refers to this as "Growth Mindset" - finding the resilience to persevere and not expect things to be easy. Growth Mindset has become one of those teaching buzz words and with good merit.
In the spirit of building an online community with all the the other educators who are taking this module, the first activity (found below) requires you to be honest and share your teaching stories, whether it's from your 1st year or 21st year of teaching. Please read the CBC on teachers perspectives of teaching during COVID and see we are not alone in our concerns.
Activity #2 - Jamboard Teacher Confessions
After reading the stories from these 3 teachers we hope you can relate to them in some ways. This next activity is meant to be fun but also informative. A place where we can all share our experiences of teaching in a virtual classroom, or integrating technology in face-to-face classroom. Consider what are some things you wish you had more help with and advice you would have given yourself at the beginning of your teaching career?
The purpose of this activity is to see and share your stories or success or failure with other teachers for the sole purpose of learning and building our community. Please be mindful of your responses and practice good digital citizenship.
Jamboard
Link
Activity #3 - Watch Video and Reflect
After participating in the Jamboard from the previous activity, you may notice certain drawbacks to engaging with one other in that manner. Alternately, if you were one of the last ones to post an idea, you had the benefit of reading the post from the previous teachers. This may have helped you develop a rapport with this group of people you have never met before.
Now imagine those post-it notes happened in real time and you were able to dialog with people that are experiencing the same challenges you are facing. This sense of community is something often forced in classrooms, because we don't typically get to choose our peers. So the question remains, how can we authentically develop that same community and respect for one another that people develop in other online communities mentioned in the Ted Talk. As you watch the video, please keep your students in mind as you ask yourself these questions and reflect.
Do you have personal experience with a digital community (big or small)? Or do you post or comment on other's posts or receive support, positive feedback or suggestions on things you have posted?
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How might your students identify with the speaker's story?
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Can you see value in creating this type of digital community for your students?
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Why does the speaker use the digital community for support?
1
Many students have been using digital communities long before taking your class; through Facebook, snap chat, tic tok and YouTube to name a few. They intrinsically know what behaviour 'feels' good such as receiving a positive comment, or a 'shout out' or levelling up on a gaming platform. They also know what behaviour isn't good, as seen in the graph below 45% of U.S. teens reported 'feeling overwhelmed because of all the drama'. In addition to this, 44% of U.S. teens 'unfollow' or 'unfriend' people with drama being the number one reason for doing so. The data is clear, these communities are present in the daily lives of our students and if you haven't already experienced it or participated in a social community, by posting a comment or content online we suggest you do so. Comments on another teacher's YouTube video about an activity you want to try, or maybe a recipe blog or even 'clapping' for someone that received a promotion on Linked In. Our communities may look different from our students but they are still present, so engage with them and put yourself in your students shoes to see why these online communities can be a source of positive reassurance and support for many.
M. Anderson & J. Jiang (2018, November 28). 2. Teens, friendships and online groups. Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/11/28/teens-friendships-and-online-groups/
Armed with this information, you should have a better idea of how building your own digital community could help your students. Exposing students to a positive online environment and helping them build their Digital Citizenship will benefit them now as well as later on in life.
Activity #4- Padlet Community Dialog
Does building a Digital Community seen like a daunting task? Don't know where to start? This activity will cover these topics and more. What better place to start experimenting with digital dialogue than right here through this course with teachers across Canada. Building an online community with students doesn't only happen when students are 100% virtual. It can also come into play when you're teaching face-to-face. Many schools boards are already using some type of learning management system such as Brightspace, Blackboard, Google Classroom or Microsoft Teams or in the classrooms to help keep student organized and give them access to all the course material digitally.
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Creating a safe digital space for your students also includes these platforms, and is perhaps more important - because sometimes students can act one way in person - but another way online. Therefore it is up to us to set up the norms and whether that means to gradually releasing the responsibility of posting on the classroom digital platform or creating smaller digital groups, either way we want to hear your strategies! Too many teachers use these platforms as a depository of information without taking advantage of the community building opportunities embedded within each platform.
After reading the blogs below, click on the padlet button and share an idea about building a safe virtual space and how you can engage your students in a digital community. It can be an idea you are currently using or a co-worker may have recommended it, you could also build off an idea you read in one of the blogs below. Share your comments and help build this resource of tips and tricks for yourself and teachers across Canada.
Building Tech Savvy Students
?
There is an assumption that all young people are tech-savvy or that they are 'digital natives' and that just because they grew up with technology it means they all know how it works. This can't be farther from the truth. As with any skill, it needs to be taught, practice and re-taught if bad habits set in, which is often the case when students use computers and don't get instruction on how to organize their files or properly upload a document. As educators we've been encouraged to use more and more technology in our classroom which can keep assignments paperless, report cards digital and field trips virtual. But with the increased use of technology, there is a growing gap of students that are being left behind.
Answer the following questions to yourself:
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Have your students ever submitted an assignment that was blank?
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Do you have any students that share a home computer with their parents or siblings?
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Do your students use the internet at the public library, instead of at home?
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Have you helped students locate a document named 'Untitled'?
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Do your students create their own typing style of typing with only 2 fingers?
If you answered "Yes" to any of these questions then you have experienced the digital gap that affects many students. This has been a growing concern as we increase our use of technology in the classrooms and in educational institutions. We take for granted that students have used platforms such as Google Classroom or Microsoft Teams in other classrooms and so they are familiar with how to post a question, submit an assignment etc. Regardless of whether they have used it in the past students may not be as adept at using technology as they pretend to be.
tudents show basic computer and information handling
competences which are occasionally put into practice in the classroom, while almost all of them are used at home; skills training comes mainly from outside school."
"S
Not only did COVID take students out of the classrooms and force them to learn at home, but it completely eliminated the support system they had at school for troubleshooting with their devices or technology. The home environment is probably still the primary training environment for students when it comes to learning how to use technology. Thus if we aren't explicitly teaching it in our classrooms, someone will be doing that at home and whether that a good or bad thing, is still up for debate. However one thing is for certain, technology is not going anywhere, so having our students develop proper tech skills is what is going to help them be successful in the future.
So how do we start shifting our pedagogy, or adapt our teaching practices to mitigate this digital gap?
Firstly, keep in mind is that even though they may have grown up with technology, that doesn’t mean they know HOW to use it, this goes for devices and for software. Be careful of our assumptions towards students and recognize that as diverse our learners are, so are the diverse set of skills they come with into your classrooms. Some students may love technology and others may shy away from it, however, the more we familiarize them with it and shift their attitude towards technology we help them develop a growth mindset towards it, which in turn can help them develop their tech skills.
Because of the pandemic, many kindergarten students were using computers and becoming digital citizens. They are also typing on the computer and submitting online documents, but at some point, we still need to teach them 1) proper keyboard skills and 2) organization of their documents and folders
Let this be a testament that no age is too early to talk to them about being a good digital citizen. Althought the infographic to the right is geared for elementry students, the lessons are still the same. We should treat everyone with respect in person or online.
Technology
Technology in the classroom
Here are a few more tips to add to your tool belt to build digital citizenship in your face-to-face, hybrid or virtual classrooms.
Prior to the first assignment, model how to submit. You can also have them submit a 'test document' as an exit ticket
Have each student create specific folders for your class to help them stay organized in their online drive or on their computer.
Create simple check lists when introducing a new tech. Include the skills they need to know or have learned before leaving. Here is a checklist from Chrombook Classroom that offers one for each grade division.
If they want to play games have them practice their typing skills with this collection of free online typing games from CommonSense Education. Check out 'Dance Mat typing' or 'Typing Club'.
Using K-W-L Charts can also help students reflect on what they have already learned and what questions they still may have. Click on the Word icon to access a free KWL Chart
Moving Your Pedagogy Online
Technology will continue to change, sometimes at rates faster than we can keep up with. This results in constant adaptation of your pedagogy to integrate technology appropriately. We are educating individuals that live in a world where technology is prevalent and they are already using and learning off of. Thus, to keep our teaching practices current and inline with the changes of society we should do the same thing. These changes don’t have to be major, but can be as simple as using a website for your course or using QR codes as a formative assessment tool. This section will introduce these ideas and many more.
Activity: Blog Post - Read and Reflect
Pedagogical practices can change so much depending on the topic, the culture of your class and the subject you’re teaching. As a health and physical educators, we know this too well. Our pedagogical practices vary drastically depending on which unit we are teaching and where our 'classroom' is for that lesson. Teaching the invasion territory outdoor units (i.e. foot ball and soccer) is much different than the net-wall units (i.e. badminton or volleyball) and different still is how we teach the healthy eating unit in a classroom. However, what about teaching vitrually? And what about teaching Phys. Ed virtually?
This blog article describes and gives examples of 5 pedagogy strategies that could be adopted to teach health and physical education virtually or face to face.
Blog Post
You may already be using some of these strategies in your classrooms, or want to start exploring the possibility of merging the amazing things virtual learning has to offer with the benefits of teaching in a physical classroom. This module will explore, inspire and challenge you to think outside of the box and old models of teaching Physical & Health Education.
Teaching Virtually
Moving your teaching practice online is not only about the content but how you teach it and how your students will interact with the tech tools and be engaged in the lesson. Teaching virtually is different than face-to-face and it may feel like going back to the drawing board and revamping your entire teaching style. Even though they are different, they share a lot of common core elements.
Accountability
Movement Skills
Routine & Structure
Engagement
Differentiation
Relationships
We all have concerns about whether or not students are mature enough, will they be accountable for their work or will they understand the assignment? The answer is yes - and the real question is are they MOTIVATED to do the work?
Every student from K-12 has grown up with technology, they are engaged by it and will continue to learn, grow and work with technology into their adult lives. As educators, it is our duty to set them up for success and teach them the 21st Century skills they need to thrive in this complex world entering into our 4th Industrial Revolution of Technology and Artificial Intelligence.
The concerns about responsibility and accountability are on every teacher's mind, and physical educators are no different. We need to set our standards high and expect our students to rise to the occasion because we know they can!
Tech Tools and Resources
Here we have curated tech tools, apps, and other productivity tools you can use in your classroom for students and teachers because everyone needs to stay productive and organized in a digital world. Click on the word icon for the list of the below tech tools.
Classroom
Productivity
Fitness / Phys. Ed
Google Chrome Extensions
Just for fun
Podcasts
Edpuzzle is a unique video editing platform that allows teachers to add questions, delete sections, give voice overs, you can also view student responses and analytic of completion. Also available as a CHROME Extension.
TOBY is a productivity tool that allows your to save your open tabs and organize them in collections. Open TOBY to view all your tabs and restore your last session. Simpler and more organized than bookmarking your tabs. Chrome extension link for Toby.
TOBY
for Chrome
Activity # - Tech Tools and Resources
Considering the technology you use and incorporate into the pedagogy strategies you already know. Often times we get these ideas from colleagues, online sources or seminars. New technology and resources are being developed every day that educators across Canada can use in their classrooms.
Think about your most useful tech tool that has either made a difference in how you teach or something you are starting to just sinking your teeth into but you feel that others should know about it.
In the spirit of introducing new tech tools, we ask that you share your tech tool, website or application on Wakelet (which is similar to padlet but offers different layouts and includes an accessibility feature). Watch this short video for an intro or dive right in, the choice is yours.
This article summarizes several approaches that looks at improving student engagement in an online class. Key topics include how students interact with content, collaborate with one another, and the communication that takes place within the online course.
When you read this article consider what adjustments you have made over the last few years, whether it was teaching virtually, hybrid or face to face.
Below is a summary of the 5 student engagement strategies from this article. If you hover over them you will reveal some tips for implementing them in your Health and Physical Education class.
Activity # - Read and Reflect
Hover over the boxes
creating and
maintaining positive learning environment;
1
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Open communication with students (building team environment in class)
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Digital citizenship (constructive feedback, no put downs)
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Communication with students and parents
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Setting norms and expectations
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Building a safe online environment
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Open communication with students (building team environment in class)
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Digital citizenship (constructive feedback, no put downs)
2
building learning community;
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Community Dialog
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Fun, interactive activities (gamification)
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Sharing Digital Moments (something they are proud of)
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Giving students choices
3
giving consistent feedback in timely manner;
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Q&A time outside of class for real time answers
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Peer assessment with conversational feedback (coach to athlete scenarios)
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Open communication with students (building team environment in class)
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Digital citizenship (constructive feedback, no put downs)
4
practicing flexibility using right technology to deliver the right content;
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Current tech to deliver content (hunt on tic tok for health video and critique them
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Give students options when using tech
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Open communication with students (building team environment in class)
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Digital citizenship (constructive feedback, no put downs)
5
providing proper support system
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User Friendly software for students
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New software; provide support (teacher or peer) for troubleshooting
Research has shown that students want a positive learning community with proper tech supports and timely feedback given on their assignments. What have you seen in your practice that can add to the research about how to engage students in an online, hybrid learning environment?
Activity # - Padlet Post
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Consider the following questions when reflecting and consolidating the information from the article, then post your answer on the padlet.
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Do some engagement strategies pair better with different pedagogy styles?
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Does your pedagogy, virtual or face to face satisfy any of the above categories?
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How might you adopt some of these engagement strategies when teaching face to face?
Sir Ken Robinson touches on several key ideas in this TedTalk such as the idea of Linear Education and Conformity. He also discusses getting out of the manufacturing model of education and instead of expecting every student to be the same, we should celebrate and nurture their unique talents.
Ted Talk
"T
hat human flourishing is not a mechanical process; it's an organic process and you cannot predict the outcome of human development, all you can do, like a farmer, is create the conditions under which they will begin to flourish"
Sir Ken Robinson
Athletics has the potential to bring out the best in our students, through teaching them to receive constructive criticism, self-assessing their performance, and not to mention working collaboratively in a team. Do you see ways you may have already integrated these skills into your lessons? Do you agree with Ken Robinson, in that schools have become more of a manufacturing plant for education? Consider ways physical education breaks these structural norms and ways you can advocate for its importance in your school.
The skills listen above; self-assessment, collaboration, receiving constructive criticism or critical thinking are global learning competencies and can be taught from being involved in sports. However, the difficulty is that not every student navigates towards athletics nor does every student find athletics fun or interesting. So engaging them in our physical education classes can pose some challenges, but it will ultimately help them learn to live healthy lives as well as teach them the skills they will need to thrive in their future workplace.
Global Learning Competencies
Global learning competencies have already been integrated into the education sector and in classrooms across the country. Although each province and territory has made some adjustments to the competencies to fit their own curriculum and education outcomes the main theme remains consistent with Canada's global competencies which are;
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critical thinking and problem solving
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innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship
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learning to learn/self-awareness and self-direction
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collaboration
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communication
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global citizenship and sustainability
Integrating these global learning competencies with our curriculum is what will guide us to develop engaging learning environments for our students, whether they are in the gymnasium or an online fitness class. The World Economic Forum's article "These are the top 10 skills of tomorrow-and how long it will take to learn them" talks about how "Critical thinking and problem-solving top the list of skills employers believe will grow in prominence in the next five years."
This reinforces the importance of why engaging our students in digital spaces will help them develop a sense of confidence or growth mindset when troubleshooting and working with technology. Below you will find the top 10 skills listed in the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report.
Consider ways that you can integrate all of these skills in your Health and Physical Education classes.
Speaking about building confidence in technology, the next Ted Talk is from a 17-year-old who started a tech company at age 14 and is now running workshops for schools in Australia. His perspective of what skills he needed to know in the real world and what skills he was learning in school reiterate what was mentioned in the Future of Jobs Report from the World Economic Forum.
Activity - Ted Talk & Share on Slides
Students of today need the tools for 'tomorrow'. They will be working in the 4th Industrial Revolution, with technology, Artificial Intelligence, and robotics leading the way. Teaching them how to interact with the new world they will be growing up in will give them the skills they use as contributing members of society.
The question for the future of education remains; how we can help them learn the tools they will need for tomorrow, today?
Compare and contrast what skills you are focusing on in your classrooms, to the list of skills provided by the World Economic Forum above. Do you see any overlapping ideas? Any assignments that can be adjusted more into a discovery project rather than written paper?
As physical educators, we have an extra challenge when implementing these new skills because of the nature of our subject and the location of our 'classroom'. However, with some collaboration we can share our assignments that have been geared to teach students the skills of the 4th Industrial Revolution by embedding these skills naturally in to the Health and Physical Education curriculum.
We know you aim to empower your students, engage them and encourage them to be life long physical literacy advocates. Lets collect lesson plans, unit plans and resources you can share with your students that will help them feel in charge of their own fitness journey while teaching them the skills for their future, putting students in the drivers seat of their own success.
Sport Education and Gamification
The pedagogy practices of using gamification throughout your units, or having your students plan, run and participate in their own tournament have much to offer your students. This module focuses on what steps you can take towards implementing some of these concepts into your class today.
Pedagogy and Gamification in Physical Education
Gamification
"The application of typical elements of game playing (e.g. point scoring, competition with others, rules of play) to other areas of activity, typically as an online marketing technique to encourage engagement with a product or service." - Google
You probably already use elements of this in your classes, so let's look at some specific examples to familiarize yourself with the term, hover your mouse over each boxes to see the connections within the lessons or units and to view specific examples
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Open communication with students (building team environment in class)
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Digital citizenship (constructive feedback, no put downs)
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Positive point system
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Giving students options for assignments
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Weekly Trophies (MVP, Sportsmanlike, Leaderboad)
Point System
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Open communication with students (building team environment in class)
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Digital citizenship (constructive feedback, no put downs)
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Assigning a rotation of leadership roles, equipment setup etc.
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Use Plickers as game peices
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Players/Students make own choices in the game
The Players
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Open communication with students (building team environment in class)
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Digital citizenship (constructive feedback, no put downs)
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Use different TGFU games as levels
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Working through various skills of a sport also different levels (move on when ready)
Different Levels
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Open communication with students (building team environment in class)
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Digital citizenship (constructive feedback, no put downs)
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Sport skill-based challenges (Team vs. Team, Ladder Tournaments)
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Movement Skill-based (complete exercise sequence, incorporate target game, # of reps etc.)
Boss Challenges
It takes time to make changes to your current pedagogy, not to mention collecting the resources, organizing your assessments but consider implementing small simple adjustments to increase student engagement. Watch the video below as a simple example of how one teacher has implemented gamification with his students.
This teacher; Michael Ginicola from The Phys. Ed. Depot has several videos of how he incorporates simple aspects of gamification into his phys. ed. class. Watch this video to spark your imagination and consider ways you can include gamification in your class. The tech tool he uses in this video is called Plickers and for those new to it, we've included their website for you to explore. Also, check out the teacher's comments from last year.
Activity # - Padlet: Stop, Start & Continue
Comments from teachers who have tried implementing gamification with their classes. Lets see what they have to say
Use the padlet link below to share your thoughts about gamification, things your have implemented already or somethings you want to try. Using the simple "Stop, Start, Continue" framework to reflect on your own teaching practice in terms of implementing gamification and consider what worked, what do you want to try and what you may be intimidated by or will not try again.
You only need to post one reply in any of the 3 categories, please try to colour code your responses (Red, Yellow or Green). If you have a good gamification resource please be sure to include the resource or website to share with everyone.
Activity # - Try it yourself & Reflect
Taking a TGFU game you already play with your students and adding an element of gamification can increase the participation of those few students who often sit out. This pedagogy style is being implemented everywhere because it can increases the number of jobs or roles in each game which can be geared towards students practising different functional skills such as agility, speed, acuracy, self-regulation and communication. Now that you've gathered tips and resources from the padlet activity above, it's your chance to put everything into action.
Watch this short video of a simple target game. Try this game with your students or see if you can modify one of your usual games to incorporate elements of gamification.
Reflect on the participation level of your students. Is this something you would continue? Did it work with all your classes or work better with some classes, why do you think this is, how is the classroom culture different?
Despite all the tricks and tips we use as Physical Educators, there are always those certain students who are hesitant to get engaged in the unit or activity. We all have different teaching styles and different games that suit our teaching styles and class culture but using game elements in your lessons is something that can be added to any lesson.
Sport education is a great way to get all your students engaged in a sport unit and involves dividing a variety of different roles among the students associated with the sport from being the coaching or fitness training, to tournament facilitator and coordinator. Every role is important when it comes to running a successful 'season' or unit, and this framework really opens up opportunities for students who want to pursue a career in sport management and other related areas. This research article shows that sport education increases the motivation in students and promotes a greater climate for "student perceptions of autonomy, competence, and relatedness than traditional PE curricula" Chu, T. L. (Alan), & Zhang, T. (2018).
Activity # - Read Article
"W
e have found that the inclusion of roles during Sport Education not only help in terms of classroom management but also leads to a more complete understanding of the sport studied during the season. “
Siedentop et. at (2019)
Sport Education Unit Breakdown
To give you a better ideas of what a unit would look like, or how to structure each lesson, below are 2 exerts found in chapter 1: Key Features of the Sport Education Model; What Sport Education Looks like from the book; Complete Guide to Sport Education written by D. Siedentop, P. Hastie, and H. Van Der Mars in 2019.
Lesson Scenario
"Mrs. Thomas’s students enter the gym and immediately disperse to different locations, which have been designated their home areas. One student, who we learn is the fitness leader, leads his team through a series of exercises, which he had prepared prior to class. Another student from his from this team has collected six red hockey sticks and three pucks from the equipment area, and is giving these to the players in her team. Once the warm-up is completed, the students begin two games of two-on-one keep-off in their team area..."
Siedentop et. at (2019)
"Mrs. Thomas’s students enter the gym and immediately disperse to different locations, which have been designated their home areas. One student, who we learn is the fitness leader, leads his team through a series of exercises, which he had prepared prior to class. Another student from his from this team has collected six red hockey sticks and three pucks from the equipment area, and is giving these to the players in her team. Once the warm-up is completed, the students begin two games of two-on-one keep-off in their team area. Meanwhile Ms. Thomas is meeting with the coaches of the six teams in the class and is reviewing some of the tactical problems she saw during matches the lesson before. Ms. Thomas asks each coach in turn to identify what they saw as the main area of need in their own team. She then provides a task sheet to each coach based upon their responses. The coaches now go to lead their teams in a practice.
After 15 minutes of team practice, Ms. Thomas asked the team to get their miniteams organized and then go to their match courts. She also tells them “The scoreboard clock will start in two minutes, so I expect everyone to be ready; that means you too, officiating teams”
On arrival at courts 1 and 2, teams of three players each from the Blades of Wonder and The Ice Foxes take their positions for play while players from the Flaming Sticks take their places in the role of scorekeeper, umpire and statistician. On courts 3 and 4, the other three teams in the classes are making similar arrangements.
At the end of the lesson, all teams return to their home areas, the equipment managers return their inventory and the referees from each match gather in front of the class. In turn each of the officials announces the score, reports the fair play points awarded to each team, and announces the player who received the matches’ “golden puck” award for most amazing play of the day."
Lesson 1 - Introduction, Rules of the game, beginning skills
Lesson 2 - skill testing, team announcements (six teams of
six), discussion of roles (coach, fitness leader,
equipment manager,), teams decide on names,
mascots and colours, teams distribute roles
among team members
Lessons 3-7 whole- class skill instruction, within-team
practices
Lessons 8-10 preseason scrimmages, players learn and
practice duty (officiating) team roles (referee,
scorekeeper, statistician)
Lessons 11-15 Formal competition matches
Lessons 16-17 Playoff matches
Lesson 18 - Championship games (gold, silver and bronze
medal games), Award presentations
Middle School Floor Hockey Season
Siedentop et. at (2019)
Throughout our teaching careers we always try to find those teachable moments and a sport education unit is a great way to show your students that every single role in a team, is important.
Students are constantly working in groups or teams whether it's in sports, working on a group project at school, or doing something at home, work or volunteering that requires them to co-operate, listen and work towards the same end goal. There are so many situations where being a good 'team player' is crucial to the success of the project, and the sooner students learn that the better.
Activity # - Teachable Moment
Therefore, if you emphasize and teach that every student has their own set of skills, students may start to change their perspective and attitudes towards each other. Some students have better hand-eye coordination, spatial awareness, organizational skills or a strategic way of thinking. This growth mindset in terms of physical education isn't initially understood by most students but if taught explicitly, they will start to form teams with students that have different skills than them, instead of just picking their friends.
This video clip is great to demonstrate the importance of a team and why every role contributes to the win or final goal. As a physical educator, coach or athlete you probably have a personal story where your role in a sports game or group activity may have been viewed as insignificant, but when it was time for you to shine - resulted in a positive outcome. Keep that story in your back pocket for when that teachable moment with your students comes to be.