Proposition 4: Teachers think systematically about their practice and learn from experience.
Rationale:
Artifact 1 is a weebly unit I created to implement technology into the physical education classroom as well as differentiate during a fifth and sixth grade basketball unit. As a physical education teacher it is a goal of mine to give all students an opportunity for personal growth. Differentiating through the weebly basketball unit allowed students to move through basketball drills and strategies at a personal pace. Giving students the opportunity to build on prior knowledge allows the class to be more productive for the beginner and the more experienced basketball players. The indicators aligned with this artifact include:
1. They are familiar with learning theories and instructional strategies and stay abreast of current issues in American education.
2. They critically examine their practice on a regular basis to deepen knowledge, expand their repertoire of skills, and incorporate new findings into their practice.
Artifact 1 is a weebly unit I created to implement technology into the physical education classroom as well as differentiate during a fifth and sixth grade basketball unit. As a physical education teacher it is a goal of mine to give all students an opportunity for personal growth. Differentiating through the weebly basketball unit allowed students to move through basketball drills and strategies at a personal pace. Giving students the opportunity to build on prior knowledge allows the class to be more productive for the beginner and the more experienced basketball players. The indicators aligned with this artifact include:
1. They are familiar with learning theories and instructional strategies and stay abreast of current issues in American education.
2. They critically examine their practice on a regular basis to deepen knowledge, expand their repertoire of skills, and incorporate new findings into their practice.
Reflection:
As I reflect on this initiative, I have learned that differentiating in the physical education classroom is beneficial and necessary to all. Differentiation however can be done without the intensity of implementing a full technology based unit in the physical education classroom. To accomplish the goals of differentiation one must remember all students have separate concepts of prior knowledge in regards to skills and strategies of different sports. Allowing students to pick their journey and choose the pace of instruction was beneficial through this unit. Students were invested in personal growth and focused on the task at hand for individual improvement. Allowing students the opportunity to work on skills to improve their personal game gave each student confidence without the vulnerability of embarrassment. Physical education teachers must accept the responsibility of teaching individual skills, especially to our younger students, rather than placing our students in game like situations on a daily basis. The unit was successful yet we had to venture away from the iPad toward the second half of the unit. Our school went to a 1:1 iPad ration two years ago in middle school and our physical education department thought we had to utilize this technology, which led to the creation of this weebly unit. A soccer and volleyball unit were also created to go along with the rotation. These sites can be found at www.gsespesoccer.weebly.com and www.gsespevolleyball.weebly.com . The idea was innovative and created excitement for our students but it took away from the physical aspect of our class. Our students spent a majority of our class period on their iPad rather than involved in the action. We decided as a department that it would be more beneficial to treat this as more of a flipped classroom approach where the students were expected to watch the lesson ahead of time at home and then during class coaches would support the students in physically mastering the skills taught through each unit.
As I reflect on this initiative, I have learned that differentiating in the physical education classroom is beneficial and necessary to all. Differentiation however can be done without the intensity of implementing a full technology based unit in the physical education classroom. To accomplish the goals of differentiation one must remember all students have separate concepts of prior knowledge in regards to skills and strategies of different sports. Allowing students to pick their journey and choose the pace of instruction was beneficial through this unit. Students were invested in personal growth and focused on the task at hand for individual improvement. Allowing students the opportunity to work on skills to improve their personal game gave each student confidence without the vulnerability of embarrassment. Physical education teachers must accept the responsibility of teaching individual skills, especially to our younger students, rather than placing our students in game like situations on a daily basis. The unit was successful yet we had to venture away from the iPad toward the second half of the unit. Our school went to a 1:1 iPad ration two years ago in middle school and our physical education department thought we had to utilize this technology, which led to the creation of this weebly unit. A soccer and volleyball unit were also created to go along with the rotation. These sites can be found at www.gsespesoccer.weebly.com and www.gsespevolleyball.weebly.com . The idea was innovative and created excitement for our students but it took away from the physical aspect of our class. Our students spent a majority of our class period on their iPad rather than involved in the action. We decided as a department that it would be more beneficial to treat this as more of a flipped classroom approach where the students were expected to watch the lesson ahead of time at home and then during class coaches would support the students in physically mastering the skills taught through each unit.