• 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…

  • Badminton,  iPod Trial,  MYP,  pegeeks,  Technology in PE,  Uncategorized

    Mastering skills in Badminton – enhanced by Tech!

      I have written previously about a Badminton Unit I trialed last year with Simon Mills where we focused on Mastering skills starting with basic and then moving to progressively more difficult skills as the unit went along.   I should add that these skills came from a book (yes a book!) from our office – Badminton: Steps to success. This unit was harsh – we expected students to Master a particular skill before they could progress and we pushed them hard on peer coaching and had frequent teacher assessment as part of this unit. This year I am taking my G8 students a step further.  Many of these students were a…

  • Badminton,  collaboration,  Teacher Reflection,  Technology in PE

    PE app for Badminton Class

      A hard days work by Kalexanderson CC BY NC SA Everyone tells me that I spend too much time on work.  I don’t feel the same way.  Robert Appino got me thinking more about Game based learning and Jarrod Robinson and Liz Halina inspired me this week with the work they are doing on App building and on recent data that suggests the Video Analysis of student work is enriching technique and confidence.  So I decided that I would work a little later and longer on a Badminton App for my students (and their parents) to use during our next unit. The unit itself centers around Mastering a Skill…

  • iPod Trial,  MYP,  Teacher Reflection,  Technology in PE

    Slow Progress – iPod trial

    Undecided by Rafael Peñaloza CC BY NC SA Have you ever thought that things would run at a certain pace, but been amazed at the reality?  That is how I am feeling about my iPod trial.  I suppose because I read about the great things that other PE faculties and teachers do, I dreamed that all of this would suddenly begin for me here at UNIS.  However, I am findng that it takes longer than I had originally thought.  My post here is not intended to be negative or pessimistic, I am loving finding out what I could/should do with my iPods in class, but there are some hiccups that are…

  • admnistraion,  formative assessment,  MYP,  pegeeks,  Teacher Reflection

    Assessment

    We are having some great discussions at school at the moment around assessment.  It seems that our students are overwhelmed by summative assessment and to be honest so am I.  I have been trialing playing with more formative assessment this year and it is going well, but it still adds up to more marking and time away from feedback and advice in lessons (things slide when I am tired of marking…) but I thought it would generate some more questions.  I pondered whether I needed to offer a ‘large’ piece of assessment to students – could I offer smaller pieces of work over time and forego the summative big piece? …

  • pegeeks,  Technology in PE

    Ipads at school

    So this year I have managed to get my hands on a shiney new ipad3 and I have decided to start doing my own trials at work.  I work at a school that uses tablets and one-to-one technology with our students and although I am a very big fan of this, it is cumbersome in PE and can limit what you can do out in the field.  I have decided to try and work through the year with some set goals in mind.   I am aiming to try and use Google docs so that I can do formative assessment and note taking during my lessons and then be able…

  • pegeeks,  Teacher Reflection,  Technology in PE

    Processes

    I find that I ask students to reflect on their learning very regularly and try and ask them to think about this on so many levels and from different viewpoints but I haven’t really put all my ideas or learning down in a forum where I can draw from it with ease… so I want to try and do that over the next few weeks.  No doubt it won’t be as well-done as some of my student works, but it is important to start. Schools work slowly – it takes time to have your new ideas approved and as the idea goes further up the chain I find that it…