The BIG Picture in HPE, our schools, and communities

Over the past 10 years, I have taught quite a few Health and Physical Education courses and been involved in school athletics, mostly as a coach for various teams.  In fact, when I set out on a career path education, one major motivating factor was the opportunity to coach extracurricular sports.  For the most part, this was a result of the amazing and self defining experiences I had as a high school athlete.  I take a great deal of pride in the ability intraschool sport gives us, as teachers, to connect with students on a completely different level outside the classroom.  There is something about building a team, working hard in practice, setting goals, and then competing against other schools that brings people together.  I have so many deeply satisfying memories as an athlete and coach that will stay with me for life.

Recently, however, I have come to realize that there is a much bigger picture that goes beyond what we teach in HPE and the coaching we do outside of school hours.  For a number of years, I have been struggling with the fact that there is not a great deal of "connectedness" between my school and our community.  I also feel that our students' physical literacy skills and overall health has to improve.  According to the 2015 Participaction Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth, which you can read here, "only 9% of 5- to 17-year olds get the 60 minutes of heart-pumping activity they need each day" scoring a grade of D-.  In addition, the report found that kids are more active when they play outdoors and need to be given the opportunity to take more risks during outdoor play.  As physical educators, we have a crucial role in helping to right this sinking ship.  

This Make Room for Play video, created by Participaction, always pulls at my heart strings:

At the start of the 2015-2016 school year, I stumbled across a tweet about the OPHEA Healthy Schools Certification, which is in its inaugural year.  In a nutshell, the program consists of a 6-step process that results in a gold, silver, or bronze rating.  Check out OPHEA's "Healthy Schools, Healthy Communities" video below!

When I saw this, I knew I had found the perfect framework to address what was troubling me about my school community.  I began by connecting with the local public health nurse and then expanded my committee to include teachers, an administrator, students, parents, and City parks and recreation coordinators.  I am so proud of all the hard work we have done together to determine the needs of our community, address a priority health topic (Physical Activity), construct an Action Plan, and then follow through on a number of engaging initiatives.  We have done so well, in fact, that we were recognized by OPHEA in their February Healthy School Feature.  Check out the link to read about what we are doing in more detail. 

I have to say... of all the extracurricular programs I have been involved in, Healthy Schools has been one of THE MOST ENGAGING AND FULFILLING up to this stage in my career.  I wrote that in caps because I really want to stress this point.  I truly feel the importance of being involved in Healthy Schools simply because the scope is so much larger than coaching a single high school sports team.  Now, in no way do I ever want to discount the value of coaching.  I would never consider ceasing to be involved in Secondary School Athletics.  However, what my experiences this year have made me realize is that coaching is one of many key elements that make up the bigger picture, which is community health.  I just hope that more people, especially Health and Physical Education teachers, begin to see the bigger picture so that we can take greater steps towards improving the health of our future, beginning with our kids.  

What did you learn today?

After a very busy January with exams and report cards followed by the start of a new semester this month, it's about time I did some reflection and wrote a new blog post.  I was inspired to do this one by another teacher in my school board, Phil Young, who is coordinating a blogging series called Project 188.  The goal of this is to have more voices heard from our schools.  Be sure to check out the website and follow the project hashtag on twitter, #peel21st188.  

What did you learn today?  That is the key question.  In order to answer it, I looked to my Grade 9 Physical Education class, which was learning the key steps involved in completing a successful lay-up in basketball this afternoon.  During the lesson, we progressed from shooting directly under the basket to a full lead up with dribbling from a distance away.  At key moments, I stopped the class to ask questions, such as:

- At which part of the backboard should you aim for?
- What is the best way to hold the ball?
- What leg should you jump off?  

Partway through the lesson, we co-created a list of key points:  

 

 After our discussion, students practiced the task in pairs.  One of the baskets had an "instant replay" station that consisted of an iPad app called BAM (Bust a Move) video delay Airplayed to a flatscreen TV.  Here, students could practice their lay-ups and then walk over to the TV to obtain instant feedback on their performance (NOTE: A delay time of 7 seconds was ideal).  When they were doing this, I stressed that they refer to the key points we had discussed and ask themselves if they were achieving them.

At the conclusion of the class, students were given an Exit Ticket that asked them What they learned.  These were some of the more interesting responses!

 

I especially like the honesty of the student who said he didn't learn anything today because he already knew how to do a lay-up.  I appreciate a child who is not afraid to speak his/her mind.  Why?  Because these are the kinds of comments that challenge me and, when I'm challenged, I am able to continue improving as a teacher.  

So, what did I learn today?  I learned that no matter where we start or where we find ourselves, we always have room to improve.