So, one of the things that working in an IB PYP School involves, is portfolios for the students. Some schools go the electronic route, which I'd love to give a try, where as others go the old school paper and binder route; the latter is the only I've experienced.
In my previous school, I would spend one day of the weekend at school nearly every week. I was a classroom teacher then and work consumed my life. I'd stress out about getting work done but not just done done...perfection done. I always had lots of photos of the students in their portfolios and constantly had a camera with me to document student learning - either with photos or videos. I started with scribing but later figured out it's better to have it on video...and then I would scribe from the video to put words into the paper portfolios since it's not really possible to include videos - though I'd include a CD at the end of the year. At my old school, portfolios went home three times throughout the year. I remember I'd think I was done but then a student (or students) would do something amazing that I just felt I had to include...even if it meant staying up late and coming into school at ridiculous hours in the morning...I would spend more time on these portfolios than I did on my own school work in university! We were required to include a 'tag' with all of the student work we put in the portfolio that would explain the piece...and I would go the extra step to write a comment on how the work was completed by the student or something along the lines of the process that particular student went though to complete it. We also had to mount all of the students' work on black paper before sliding it into the binder sleeves. But, in the end, I was always happy because my students' parents always really appreciated them and I'm REALLY optimistic that the students will treasure them later on. I mean, my mom still has some of my elementary school work in a large chest in her bedroom...I wish it was all neatly organized in a binder as that would certainly save space and the process of going through bits and pieces, one by one, to see any progression of work. With a portfolio, it's (usually) in a chronological fashion, even if it's still divided by Unit of Inquiries, so this progression is obvious.
Now, I teach Physical Education (PE) and I'll be the first to say, it has been refreshing to not have the same pressures of being an elementary classroom teacher for a while and also get a new perspective on teaching. At the same time though, I feel that (unlike being a classroom teacher) my role as a single subject teacher and the role of physical education is severely under appreciated. I miss parent contact as most of my dealings with parents now are about negative behaviour as it occurs in class. I miss the feeling that parents take me seriously and that what I'm teaching is actually valuable for kids! Like all subjects taught in the classroom, physical activity and the promotion of living a physically active lifestyle is very important...if not more important (yes, I said it!)! With epidemics of obesity and the high carb/sugar/fat diets that kids are now exposed to, it's even more important that the role of PE teachers be profiled more seriously. I've even read articles recently about PE in schools and the threat that PE programs face because of cutbacks in school districts...REALLY? What's going on people?! Instead of taking PE classes away, wouldn't you think we'd have more? And that it be combined with extra health classes as the two go hand in hand? Here's one controversial read that was emailed to me by my principal a couple of weeks ago:
http://nyti.ms/11RIZM3
While some of the ideas are good and I am a huge fan of transdisciplinary teaching across subjects, I don't think it's helping with the fight to promote PE as a valuable and extremely necessary subject.
At MIS, PE doesn't face such challenges so that's something to be grateful for. I teach each of my classes twice a week for 45 or 55 minutes each and most students are involved in after school activities which get them active. I'm not saying that I don't think the students should have more PE classes because ideally, that'd be great, but the students aren't in any danger of losing this valuable subject. As for my role in promoting it? Well, it comes back around to portfolios!
For the past several weeks, these things have been time eaters. I've transformed my living room into a work station - cutting, pasting, collaging and cropping photos. I am now confident that when I retire, I will kick a** at scrapbooking but, that's still a while away. Portfolios should be all student work and evidence of student learning including mostly pieces chosen by the students. What I'm submitting to the classroom teachers is the kids' work - they're in the photos, they've done the reflections, they've answered the questions I've asked them about PE in interviews during my non-teaching time. What I do (and where I go the extra mile) though, is make them look pretty and make them stand out. My hopes are that the parents flip through the students' portfolios, come to the PE page and say, "Hey! This looks great! Bruce, tell me more about what you do in PE. What are you doing here? Do you like PE?" etc. When parents start asking these questions, the profile of the subject grows. Parents may just flip on by something that blends in or doesn't really stand out and that could leave out this valuable PE discussion time that the subject needs. These portfolios also feel like my one opportunity I have to "show off" PE as our current reporting format doesn't allow me to comment on student progress but only give letter grades. It's an uphill battle but I think I've already got a couple of parents expecting something great from PE in the portfolios again this year and I feel that I've got some serious support from a couple of them...and that makes the hours and hours of cutting, pasting, collaging and cropping worth it to me. Three classes of pieces left to complete by the end of the week makes for an extremely busy week, sore hands and a scummy coffee table from glue...then it's on to Student Led Conferences...but that's another post! :)
On the table, on the sofa, on the floor...surrounded by portfolio madness!
In my previous school, I would spend one day of the weekend at school nearly every week. I was a classroom teacher then and work consumed my life. I'd stress out about getting work done but not just done done...perfection done. I always had lots of photos of the students in their portfolios and constantly had a camera with me to document student learning - either with photos or videos. I started with scribing but later figured out it's better to have it on video...and then I would scribe from the video to put words into the paper portfolios since it's not really possible to include videos - though I'd include a CD at the end of the year. At my old school, portfolios went home three times throughout the year. I remember I'd think I was done but then a student (or students) would do something amazing that I just felt I had to include...even if it meant staying up late and coming into school at ridiculous hours in the morning...I would spend more time on these portfolios than I did on my own school work in university! We were required to include a 'tag' with all of the student work we put in the portfolio that would explain the piece...and I would go the extra step to write a comment on how the work was completed by the student or something along the lines of the process that particular student went though to complete it. We also had to mount all of the students' work on black paper before sliding it into the binder sleeves. But, in the end, I was always happy because my students' parents always really appreciated them and I'm REALLY optimistic that the students will treasure them later on. I mean, my mom still has some of my elementary school work in a large chest in her bedroom...I wish it was all neatly organized in a binder as that would certainly save space and the process of going through bits and pieces, one by one, to see any progression of work. With a portfolio, it's (usually) in a chronological fashion, even if it's still divided by Unit of Inquiries, so this progression is obvious.
Now, I teach Physical Education (PE) and I'll be the first to say, it has been refreshing to not have the same pressures of being an elementary classroom teacher for a while and also get a new perspective on teaching. At the same time though, I feel that (unlike being a classroom teacher) my role as a single subject teacher and the role of physical education is severely under appreciated. I miss parent contact as most of my dealings with parents now are about negative behaviour as it occurs in class. I miss the feeling that parents take me seriously and that what I'm teaching is actually valuable for kids! Like all subjects taught in the classroom, physical activity and the promotion of living a physically active lifestyle is very important...if not more important (yes, I said it!)! With epidemics of obesity and the high carb/sugar/fat diets that kids are now exposed to, it's even more important that the role of PE teachers be profiled more seriously. I've even read articles recently about PE in schools and the threat that PE programs face because of cutbacks in school districts...REALLY? What's going on people?! Instead of taking PE classes away, wouldn't you think we'd have more? And that it be combined with extra health classes as the two go hand in hand? Here's one controversial read that was emailed to me by my principal a couple of weeks ago:
http://nyti.ms/11RIZM3
While some of the ideas are good and I am a huge fan of transdisciplinary teaching across subjects, I don't think it's helping with the fight to promote PE as a valuable and extremely necessary subject.
At MIS, PE doesn't face such challenges so that's something to be grateful for. I teach each of my classes twice a week for 45 or 55 minutes each and most students are involved in after school activities which get them active. I'm not saying that I don't think the students should have more PE classes because ideally, that'd be great, but the students aren't in any danger of losing this valuable subject. As for my role in promoting it? Well, it comes back around to portfolios!
For the past several weeks, these things have been time eaters. I've transformed my living room into a work station - cutting, pasting, collaging and cropping photos. I am now confident that when I retire, I will kick a** at scrapbooking but, that's still a while away. Portfolios should be all student work and evidence of student learning including mostly pieces chosen by the students. What I'm submitting to the classroom teachers is the kids' work - they're in the photos, they've done the reflections, they've answered the questions I've asked them about PE in interviews during my non-teaching time. What I do (and where I go the extra mile) though, is make them look pretty and make them stand out. My hopes are that the parents flip through the students' portfolios, come to the PE page and say, "Hey! This looks great! Bruce, tell me more about what you do in PE. What are you doing here? Do you like PE?" etc. When parents start asking these questions, the profile of the subject grows. Parents may just flip on by something that blends in or doesn't really stand out and that could leave out this valuable PE discussion time that the subject needs. These portfolios also feel like my one opportunity I have to "show off" PE as our current reporting format doesn't allow me to comment on student progress but only give letter grades. It's an uphill battle but I think I've already got a couple of parents expecting something great from PE in the portfolios again this year and I feel that I've got some serious support from a couple of them...and that makes the hours and hours of cutting, pasting, collaging and cropping worth it to me. Three classes of pieces left to complete by the end of the week makes for an extremely busy week, sore hands and a scummy coffee table from glue...then it's on to Student Led Conferences...but that's another post! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment