It is 1030 on Wednesday and I am blowing off the general session to reflect a little. Tuesday started off with a bang. The standards-based grading and instruction session with Jo Bailey, Rich Wiles, Kari Bullis, Wendy Jones, Lynn Burrows, and Dave Gustitch was fantastic. They briefly explained their journey into standards-based grading. This was helpful because they all were at different points much like the participants in their session. After their intro, we were up and moving. They had spread out signs on the wall that helped people to reflect on where they were on their journey. I loved how we were up and moving.

The next activity was a cool mission impossible game where we had to work together to put in sequential order how to create a standards-based lesson. When we were finished we were all had to stand up and pretend to row a boat or work in the garden. The main point of this activity was to understand that you start a lesson by picking the standard. You then move to determine the evidence of learning, followed by the assessment. The last thing you do is choose the activity. You can see how that differs from a traditional lesson in the graphic from their slideshow below.

The next part of the presentation I loved was the ability to pick where we wanted to go in our standards based instruction journey. I chose how to unpack a standard. Rich and Wendy made it a painless endeavor leading us through this complicated process. This made me wonder, though. Why does SHAPE America not have all these standards unpacked for us? Why do teachers who probably have no formal training in curriculum have to unpack standards? There are so many people doing this can’t we get together and create a resource for physed teachers? From everything I understand is that unpacking a standard is an inexact science. Some people may agree it was done properly while others may disagree. SHAPE needs to put teaching physed and health as a top priority and give the teachers the resources they need to create a quality physical education program. If you would like a copy of their presentation click here.

I had to leave the standards based session and facilitate my session on social justice. The room was packed and the energy in the air was palpable. Andy Milne with his silver tongue was at the top of his game. The crowd was attentive and engaged. My favorite part of the session was that I learned from them as much or more than they learned from me. They would chime in with resources and anecdotes that were amazing. We wrote the resources down on chart paper and people were taking pictures of it at the end so they could continue their learning journey. If you would like a copy of the session click here.

The next session I attended was with Dr. Harvey and Shrehan Lynch. Their session was how to teach Netball using TGFU. They showed us a great introduction to Netball video which you should watch by clicking here. Netball is a fantastic activity to play during Women’s History Month.

In England in 1895, ladies using broomsticks for posts and wet paper bags for baskets played the basketball game on grass. Their long skirts, bustle backs, nipped waists and button up shoes impeded running and their leg-of-mutton sleeves restricted arm movement making dribbling and long passes difficult. The ladies decided to adapt the game to accommodate these restrictions. Link

During the game of Netball you can’t move with the ball. This was because, as stated above, women did not wear attire that made running feasible. This is a great discussion you can have with your class about privilege and access to sports and activities. In addition to highlighting women Netball also shows that there are sports that are being played outside of North America that are awesome. We have to show our students that there is more to the world than just their town, state, or country. 

The session was very energetic and informative. They told a brief history of TGFU and showed how various builds were used to scaffold in the rules of Netball. The session was active and informative. I had a blast! The best part of the session was that Dr. Harvey and Shrehan played the game! If you want to learn more about TGFU or Netball contact @misslynchpe or @drstephenHarvey on Twitter.

After the sessions, we were finally able to play Paddle Zlam. This was my favorite part of the conference. We had about 20 people playing the games and having a blast. We were not playing to burn calories, work out, or continue their physical literacy journey. We were playing because we were having fun. This is why most people engage in sport and leisure activities. They want to socialize and enjoy themselves. I believe that in our attempt to be taken seriously we have lost sight of this fact. If students are not enjoying the activity we are losing an important part of our teaching.

Reflection over. Back to learning.