• Teacher Reflection,  Uncategorized,  volleyball

    MYP #PhysEd and the inquiry cycle – Net Games for HS students

    Mastermind by Steve Berry CC BY SA YIS have adopted the MYP Next Chapter this year and this means that our PE Department are starting to sort out how our criteria have changed under the new guide.  My colleague, Alex, and I are quite into semantics, and can quite easily engage in conversation about what words mean and how we ensure our learners are truly connecting their learning to their assessment and feedback through the use of the key command words.  So far I am enjoying the fact that the new command words (eg. describe, explain, justify) are the same words that are found in other subject guides, this ensures…

  • MYP,  pegeeks,  Teacher Reflection,  Technology in PE

    Just Dance!

    I am not a trained Dance teacher.  I like dancing, but I am hardly a professional.  I can teach dance but I really wish I was better.  I discovered Just Dance on our Wii and after listening to Jarrod Robinson discuss how he uses Just Dance in his classes and talking to Alex Thomas, I am jumping on the bandwagon. I have always gone for traditional Dance methods – teach moving to the beat, offer some dances such as folk or line or paired dances and then look at different styles and study videos on Youtube  and try some more basic moves and then ask students to create a dance.…

  • PE Hangout,  peer coaching,  pegeeks,  PEPLC,  Teacher Reflection

    Concept based learning – Invasion Games

      Lego Spellen by Dirk Houbrechts CC BY NC For those who know me, you will know that I have recently moved from UNIS Hanoi to Yokohama Int’l School.  This has been a big change for myself (and my family) and I am working in a new PE department and have taken on the Head of Department role.  I am relishing the opportunity to put many of our good practice down in writing so that it is clear to others that our PE dept sees some fundamental truths as important and that this manifests itself in our classes, everyday.  Now I am also part of the #PEPLC community, organising a…

  • iPod Trial,  Teacher Reflection,  Technology in PE

    All teched up, where to from here?

    Ultra-modern Cabot Place by UGG boy UGG girl licensed CC BY Last post on our iPod Trial at UNIS… The school year is almost done and so finishes our iPod trial in the MSHS. Before I go into the end products, it is important for me to thank Ed Gilbreath and the Tech team (especially Mr Long) for the opportunity to trial mobile tech in PE and for my own professional growth and learning during this process. I would also like to thank Clint Hamada for his never-ending patience and wise sage-like advice at times of despair and for sharing our home computer with 4 iPods and related issues.  And…

  • Google,  PE Hangout,  pegeeks,  Technology in PE

    #PEHangout 2 – Concepts

    I am very excited to share our second PEHangout via Google Hangouts.  If you missed the first one you can check it out here. We are all now getting the hang of this technology (almost) and it was really great to start talking about Concepts with the panel.  Alex Thomas, Jarrod Robinson and I (with support from an internet-down Ken Forde) chatted a bit about what we get up to in our PE lessons and started circling the really big topic of Concepts and how we see this within the contexts of our classes.  It was clear by the end that we felt there are three areas that we focus…