If you're a Physical Education teacher in Quebec, you've come to the right place...
Topic & Rationale
Welcome to my site! I am a first year University student studying Physical & Health Education. As part of my Media, Technology & Education course I was required to develop an online unit plan for the education level of my choice.
I have chosen to create an online resource of games to be taught by Physical Education Teachers in Elementary schools (Kindergarten to grade six) in Quebec. All of these games follow the Quebec Education Program (QEP) and fall under the following four categories:
1- PURSUIT & EVADE: Creative tag games involving various strategy opportunities
2- TERRITORIAL: Wide games often requiring complex and tactical decision-making
3- NET & WALL: Games tackling the principles of ball placement and individual positioning on the court
4- STRIKE & FIELD: Games that focus on striking and fielding a ball, as well as offensive/defensive tactics
These are elementary games that I had put together in my first semester, and they revolve around the Teaching Games for Understanding (TGFU) concept. TGFU simply does just as it suggests: allows for the students to learn and grow through fun games rather than the teacher coaching them through numerous drills. For example, games in the Strike & Field section revolve around concepts such as striking an object into an open area so opponents can't retrieve it, etc. rather than merely playing baseball for the entire class. Each of my games can be plugged into a lesson plan, as I have stated which aspect of the QEP they correspond to, as well as the suggested grade level:
Cycle I - Grades 1 & 2 Cycle II - Grades 3 & 4 Cycle III - Grades 5 & 6
I have chosen to create an online resource of games to be taught by Physical Education Teachers in Elementary schools (Kindergarten to grade six) in Quebec. All of these games follow the Quebec Education Program (QEP) and fall under the following four categories:
1- PURSUIT & EVADE: Creative tag games involving various strategy opportunities
2- TERRITORIAL: Wide games often requiring complex and tactical decision-making
3- NET & WALL: Games tackling the principles of ball placement and individual positioning on the court
4- STRIKE & FIELD: Games that focus on striking and fielding a ball, as well as offensive/defensive tactics
These are elementary games that I had put together in my first semester, and they revolve around the Teaching Games for Understanding (TGFU) concept. TGFU simply does just as it suggests: allows for the students to learn and grow through fun games rather than the teacher coaching them through numerous drills. For example, games in the Strike & Field section revolve around concepts such as striking an object into an open area so opponents can't retrieve it, etc. rather than merely playing baseball for the entire class. Each of my games can be plugged into a lesson plan, as I have stated which aspect of the QEP they correspond to, as well as the suggested grade level:
Cycle I - Grades 1 & 2 Cycle II - Grades 3 & 4 Cycle III - Grades 5 & 6
Assessments, Evaluation & Media
The students will be assessed and evaluated throughout each unit, and not just at the end of the school year, as it has been in the past. They will develop and implement team strategy plans, and illustrate their understanding of the material covered by participating and showing their improvement over the course of the year.
Since the media is omnipresent and predominantly influential among today's youth, I would surely incorporate it into my lessons. I could set up a website such as this one and have a blog section where I would periodically ask questions (regarding their health and physical activity outside of school (Competency 3 of the QEP), or even about specific skills and strategies practiced in class), and they would be able to answer online. On the site there would also be a forum/discussion board enabled so that teams can hold online meetings or submit their strategy plans there, and I could monitor their progress (similar to McGill professors' use of WebCT). This would, in the end, save paper and be a more sustainable way of communicating with the students! I would surely give them participation marks for logging in to their account and being responsible enough to see what's happening there (of course, this applies only to Cycle III students).
Another way of bringing media into my class, would be to have them bring in print articles (from newspapers or magazines) that show their favourite sport, annd have them explain the article to the rest of the class (or even blog about it on the aforementioned class website). If the lesson of the day is comprised of a more complex activity, such as kin-ball or tchoukball, I would also consider showing them a video from the Internet to get them excited about learning the new sport, and to give them a better idea of what it could look like!
Since the media is omnipresent and predominantly influential among today's youth, I would surely incorporate it into my lessons. I could set up a website such as this one and have a blog section where I would periodically ask questions (regarding their health and physical activity outside of school (Competency 3 of the QEP), or even about specific skills and strategies practiced in class), and they would be able to answer online. On the site there would also be a forum/discussion board enabled so that teams can hold online meetings or submit their strategy plans there, and I could monitor their progress (similar to McGill professors' use of WebCT). This would, in the end, save paper and be a more sustainable way of communicating with the students! I would surely give them participation marks for logging in to their account and being responsible enough to see what's happening there (of course, this applies only to Cycle III students).
Another way of bringing media into my class, would be to have them bring in print articles (from newspapers or magazines) that show their favourite sport, annd have them explain the article to the rest of the class (or even blog about it on the aforementioned class website). If the lesson of the day is comprised of a more complex activity, such as kin-ball or tchoukball, I would also consider showing them a video from the Internet to get them excited about learning the new sport, and to give them a better idea of what it could look like!
Reflections
I never thought making a website would be so enlightening! Weebly is very user friendly, and I was able to figure out most of its features on my own. I had fun creating Porky Piglet's Games for Elementary Education, and truly wish that it was assigned earlier in the semester (when there were less heavily weighted projects to do and final exams to study for) so that I could have put even more into it. I hope to continue developing this online resource throughout my four years at McGill, and even into my career afterwards. It's a great resource, and with today's technology I can access it not only from a wired computer, but also from a phone or iPod connected to the Internet. Apart from adding more game categories, I would even consider including a blog to post and share even more ideas with the Phys Ed population in Quebec: lessons that are successful (or not!) and suggestions to improve them for future teaching, etc.
I have also added links to some of my peers' online game resource websites (which, like mine, were also created for the Media, Technology & Education course at McGill), because in Physical Education we are constantly looking for new ideas and sharing our games with others. Having everything easily accessible online will be an asset to lesson planning later on.
Overall I'm very satisfied with my website. It will be a tool I can use, and share with my friends and colleagues in the years to come. It's one thing to have hundreds of games written down and stored in binders over the years, but it's a completely different (and simpler?) experience to stumble upon pages and pages of activities at the click of a mouse. And as I mentioned above, I would like to add more games to further expand my resource. I will add more activities in the following categories:
Foundational Movement
Games that act as ‘building blocks’ for more complex activities and sports, including movements such as running, jumping, and moving through space
Cooperative
Games stressing the importance of teamwork and communication
Special
Games that have been adapted for special occasions, such as holidays, or that don’t quite fit in the other categories, such as blindfolded games, etc.
I have also added links to some of my peers' online game resource websites (which, like mine, were also created for the Media, Technology & Education course at McGill), because in Physical Education we are constantly looking for new ideas and sharing our games with others. Having everything easily accessible online will be an asset to lesson planning later on.
Overall I'm very satisfied with my website. It will be a tool I can use, and share with my friends and colleagues in the years to come. It's one thing to have hundreds of games written down and stored in binders over the years, but it's a completely different (and simpler?) experience to stumble upon pages and pages of activities at the click of a mouse. And as I mentioned above, I would like to add more games to further expand my resource. I will add more activities in the following categories:
Foundational Movement
Games that act as ‘building blocks’ for more complex activities and sports, including movements such as running, jumping, and moving through space
Cooperative
Games stressing the importance of teamwork and communication
Special
Games that have been adapted for special occasions, such as holidays, or that don’t quite fit in the other categories, such as blindfolded games, etc.
