PEPLC begins

Twitter is amazing PD and any PE teacher interested in jumping into the revolution that is taking place would be greatly adding to an incredibly diverse and rich opportunity.  Other subject area teachers have mentioned that they are blown away at the PE discussions and great World-wide sharing that takes place daily and are jealous of the way that PE is leading as an example, join to watch and read and then splash out and start sharing!

PEPLC or PE Professional Learning Community has been set up by Andy Vasily and Nathan Horne and is supported by a committee of other great PE people: has come out of other PD that they have had within their own school’s and adapted to create the first ever regional PE PD.  I spoke to Andy and he thought he might have 40 teachers sign up but he had over 250 PE teachers sign up to be a part of this initiative.  This signup was completed through Twitter and has seen a large following based on his #PEPLC hashtag.

Teachers had to decide what disciplines interested them and share a little about themselves in Andy’s survey, and then he has put together teams from this that bring together people’s interests and also their region (to keep in the same time zones).  The flexibility allows groups to keep to their own schedule and also to work around interests and to share what they want to get from this PD.  Our work is shared through Google Hangouts and allows groups with common disciplines to also watch these discussions and learn from other groups, not just be privy to a single group view point.  Or the group may choose to stay insular and this is also okay.  It isn’t clear yet what the end result will be, but with so many people discussing the major themes in PE and Education it will be wonderful to share and connect with like-minded PE teachers and to see where this discussion leads us in terms of our thinking and reflection on our subject and the direction we are moving in the World based on our experiences and our research and discussion.

I am excited to lead one of the groups focused on Curriculum, Leadership and Assessment (3 different disciplines) for the Asia Region and look forward to sharing what we discuss with you all soon.  I recommend looking back over the PEPLC website to see what is happening and to share in the conversations as well as the Google/YouTube videos that introduce the topics created by some stellar experts in the PE World.

The American leader groups have put out their first Google Hangout, well worth having a listen to the issues that I am sure we will all discuss along the way… thanks guys for sharing!