OCTOBER 14, 2018
Physical Education curriculum does not only cover lifelong skills related to movement. As we have learned in my class, nutrition has a big influence in our daily lives. Well-balanced, healthy meals are what provide energy to complete our daily activities, and it is also a predictor for our overall health. We have discussed macro- and micronutrients during our time in class: proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins, and minerals. I would like for each of you to participate in this blog by replying with an example of a good nutritional meal and the importance of one macronutrient or micronutrient. Please provide an example of a micronutrient or macronutrient as well.
21st Century Skills
ReplyDeleteThe 21st Century Skills, such as collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking will be important for my future career as a PE teacher. As a PE teacher, I will more than likely be expected to work, or collaborate with, another PE instructor. We will have to work together to lesson plan and set a routine for our students. Communication will play a role in the collaboration. I will also use creativity while writing my plans and creating games for the students. Critical thinking may be required if I need to regroup students or restructure the activity mid-class. Even in daily life, these skills will be useful for navigating even simple problems that may arise, especially critical thinking. I believe 21st Century Skills should be an integral part of the course content. Personally, I feel using these skills and teaching these skills to students will help them be successful in your class and in life. They will learn the importance of being able to think on the spot and communicate with peers or future co-workers. They will also learn to be creative, and that there is more than one way to do things successfully. Finally, they will have experience collaborating with classmates for activities, and they will see how it ties into real life situations.
The Flipped Classroom
ReplyDeleteFlipping your classroom means students will now watch recorded lectures while at home, instead of during class time. The lectures can be videos recorded by the teacher, or the educator can choose pre-recorded lectures by others such as Kahn Academy and YouTube. The lecture does not even have to be a video. Teachers can voice over PowerPoints or use engaging games to extend content. The options are endless. Allowing students to watch the short lectures at home means the students will complete their practice problems, or homework, at school during class time. This allows the teacher to actively be there and communicate with students if they need help understanding the content. Many people believe flipping the classroom only works for a handful of subjects, but I believe I could use it as a PE teacher. Students could watch a short 3-5 minute lecture at home. While watching, they will get insight on the activity for the upcoming day. The video could relate to the current unit we are participating in during class. When students arrive to class the next day, they will know what to expect and have any questions ready for me. Overall, I personally like the idea of flipping the classroom for any subject. I like the idea of the teacher being there one on one with students if they are not understanding content, instead of them getting frustrated with it at home. I think teachers should consider slowly working towards flipping their classroom to help grow communication and connections with their students.
Constructivism
ReplyDeleteConstructivism is a philosophy of learning founded on the belief that learning is an active, constructive process. This means we construct our own understanding by reflecting on our own previous experiences. A key concept of constructivism is knowledge is constructed rather than being acquired, or we actively construct our own meanings. We create our own concepts and ideas linked to what we already know. The four theorists behind constructivism are Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, John Dewey, and Jermone Bruner. Constructivism differs from traditional ideas about teaching and learning because it creates a more student centered, hands-on learning environment. Groups are incorporated more in constructivist teaching. Students are viewed as if they are in control of their learning. The focus has shifted from the teacher to the students. Students are expected to play a more active role in their learning, while the teacher is no loner in the head role. Teachers have moved away from the authoritarian role to now being a facilitator or guide of learning. They provide students with opportunities to test the adequacy of their current understanding. I like the idea of constructivist teaching because it focuses on student interest and applies real world application activities. I could use constructivism in my future career by using more group activities to allow for more collaboration. With me losing the authoritarian role, I can give students leadership roles in the classroom. I would just simply guide the activities and let them critical think and problem solve. I can also use more question and answer and discussion to check for understanding of the skills. I personally like students being in control of their learning and it being a more hands-on environment. I agree with implementing this teaching strategy in my physical ed. class.
Teaching Digital Natives Partnering for Real Learning
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading Prensky's book. I had heard of partnering in some of my courses at Athens State, but reading this text helped me gain a true understanding of the partnering pedagogy. I like how there are three different levels of partnering, as this allows you as a teacher to choose which works best for you and your students. I agree with Prensky when he discusses how important technology use is in the classroom. I learned that technology helps partnering successful. It is the teacher's job to find all available technology and do their best to understand as much as possible. However, the teacher should only guide students while they use it. Teachers are no longer responsible for telling. They now will guide or coach their students. The students will be active in their learning, which allows them to stay more engaged. Teachers can utilize guided questions and allow students to be in charge of their own way of learning. Student interest is very important, so teachers need to make an effort to truly get to know their students. I personally like the partnering pedagogy. I think it is great for students to have meaningful, real life, 21st century learning. Real world experiences make the learning real and relevant for the learner. Experience with technology and critical thinking are also important skills. Partnering provides just that. As a PE teacher, I can still implement partnering. Although I do not have desks to arrange to support partnering, I can still use different groupings for my students. I also need to know their interests when planning activities. Getting to know their passions can help me create a more engaging learning environment. I can also use technology in my lessons. I will need to research which forms of technology will best enhance and support my content being taught. Overall, I agree that teachers should try partnering, whatever the subject being taught and at which level the teacher is comfortable with.
PP Investigation
ReplyDeleteFor this module, we started out investigating partnering pedagogies as a group. We learned what collaborative learning is and how to make it work. After completing our group wiki, we looked in-depth at our assigned topic. Mine was global collaboration projects. I learned that there are many to choose from, and there is a format for any instructor/students. Global collaboration projects allow students to connect and collaborate online with students across the state or on the other side of the world. It is the teacher's role to decide what subject or topic they want to work on, and then find another instructor to work with. Once the group is decided on, students will collaborate with the students by commenting on posts, creating videos, or Skyping. There are many forms of digital technology to use. Google docs, wikis, and edmodo are a few examples. Teachers can even start their own project to customize the learning to their students needs. I like the idea of implementing global collaboration projects in my future classroom due to the promotion of 21st century learning outcomes. Students are collaborating while working on communication skills, creativity, critical thinking, inquiring, and learning to use technology. These are vital skills to obtain in order to be successful in their future careers and daily life. I also like it because students can still be placed in groups. Smaller groups allow different tasks to be assigned to each. Some may be responsible for research, some may have to create the video or posts, while others comment on the other students' shared creations. I also love the idea because students are so engaged. They will enjoy getting to speak with new students their age. They can relate to them while also learning new content and interests. I recommend global collaboration projects being implemented in every classroom.