2012 - 2013 Teaching Reflection

After a fantastic summer with all of its ups and downs, I figure now is as good as any time to reflect on the school year that has come and gone. I'm back at school now getting ready for the year ahead, but thought I'd use +andy vasily's "Twenty End of Year Teacher Reflection Questions" to help get me started with planning, organizing and preparing for the upcoming year. Here goes:

1. What were my most successful areas in teaching PE this past school year?
I did a great job of getting kids to smile - I think this is definitely my forte. My approach to teaching and the relationship that I'm able to establish with (the majority) of students is my most 'successful area' in teaching PE, and along with that, is getting the kids to have fun and establish and/or maintain a love for PE.
I also thought that I built positive rapport with the classroom teachers and other staff at the school so communication about students was easy. I attended student support meetings whenever possible and I think that helped to emphasize the role and importance of PE within the school. Within the PYP Curriculum Team, I helped to revise and tweak the PSPE Scope and Sequence so that there's a solid set of outcomes and guidelines to help us with teaching PE in our department.

2. How am I a better teacher this year compared to where I was at the same time last year?
I am another year experienced in teaching PE! Last year, I had just wrapped up my first year of teaching PE and came into year two a lot more confident. I grew through experience and felt more solid about my skills and abilities as a PE teacher having taught the units two times now...and having made changes where needed. So, I'm definitely better because I'm more confident.

3. How can I better involve students in giving me feedback about my teaching?
I'm thinking through some sort of app. You know when you're at an airport bathroom, you can select the happy face stating your satisfaction with the cleanliness of the bathrooms? I think it'd be helpful to have something like that...something quick and easy for my younger students. To elaborate on that, maybe feedback forms can be completed or just question and answer sessions before or after class. This year, our school had a focus on feedback and I used an iPad to record some of their verbal feedback about me, other colleagues and PE in general...but by having me stand there with the iPad, I'm sure they weren't as honest as they wanted to be...and the most constructive feedback I received was that we need to play more football/soccer. :P This is a question I'll continue to consider...

4. During the last year, how did I take initiative to become better at my teaching practice?
First of all, I started getting online and looking around for PE Blogs and found PYP PE with Andy as well as a few other blogs that offered some ideas for teaching PE for younger students. I got some great new ideas from them. I also joined Twitter after Kath Murdoch visited the school and shared her experiences with it through a professional perspective and I started my own account. As this happened kind of late in the year though, I didn't get on and use it as much as I would have liked, but for this upcoming year, I'll be sure to participate in more of the #PEchat forums which I found useful. I also discovered the #PEPLC through Twitter and signed up to be a part of that, so my fingers are crossed that will happen as well!

5. How can I improve upon the physical environment in which I teach?
My team is exceptional so already, the physical environment of being around them, teaching and learning with them is at a high. Our campus is also beautiful and has a lot of great outdoor space and fields for outdoor lessons. While the gym space itself is nice, it's not big enough to accommodate the number of classes we have most of the time so that impedes some lessons, especially for me as a junior school teacher, as I tend to get defaulted to the smaller space(s). BUT, we make it work so it's not so bad. To improve upon it, we could plan our units better and I could just have a bigger repertoire of rainy day games outside and smaller space games and activities that still involve getting the students to be very active. Suggestions are welcome!

6. What were the strengths of the assessment that I used in my instruction?
Assessment is still an area I'm working on improving with my classes. I've tried self-assessments and peer-assessments (with a partner and as a whole class) but they don't always work out well because of the level of understanding of my students...and of course the bias they carry when evaluating their friends...or not friends depending on what day of the week it is. We also have benchmark checklists that have been created for the units we teach and I go through them, give a letter (based on the junior school grading criteria) and then write comments that I can look back on when it's time to input grades for report cards...which is just a letter without any comment. I also submit portfolio pieces that I've experimented with over the past two years until I find a unit that the kids love and can assess themselves on accurately and I tend to write comments about the students' learning with regards to that unit. As a former classroom teacher, and having always written lots of comments, I wish I could write report card comments...though I'm sure that's not the case with the other single subject teachers and my team. I see value in them though and I like having that communication with the parents...as opposed to just a meaningless letter.
So, strengths? I guess that I used a range and I tried new things!

7. What types of assessment did I use?
I guess I kind of said that above.

8. Which areas of assessment should I better develop next school year?
Again, I kind of elaborated on this above but I'm going to work on making assessments easier and online using iPads which I'll try to incorporate more into my teaching.

9. What behaviour management strategies worked well for me?
This year, I had a lot of firsts in behaviour management, including having my pants pulled down. Yes, that happened...twice! I handled that situations well because I didn't hit the first kid (when I think back, if anyone in any other setting (like in public) ever tried to pants me, I'd probably slap them) and I had already experienced it by the second time around. The first parent meeting was rather awkward, though. This first third grade offender went on to be one of my favourites (not that we have them) by the end of the year. The second pant-ser was just a young girl in my EC 4/5 class that tried it out after seeing her dad and brother fooling around. Her mom was also quite embarrassed.
I have to experiment a lot more with strategies to find ones that work and am always open to suggestions and trying new things. Having time-outs and carrying on with overly fun games works well for extreme situations (and as bad as it may sound, sometimes when you've got 20 other kids, that's what works). I'm excited for the start of a new school year to make essential agreements and establish a positive learning environment in PE. I want to get more input from kids about positive reinforcements instead of negative ones to start off as a major behaviour management strategy. I will blog about how the start of the year kicks off in regards to classroom management!
 
10. What specific behaviour management strategies should I improve upon?
I need to focus on positive rewards and motivation in the class instead of negative reinforcement and punishment...I have to get the students on my side and, although sometimes unavoidable, act as though punishment won't be needed when I start the year...who knows, maybe next year I'll only have angels in my PE classes! :P

11. What students were hard to connect with? Why were they hard to connect with? What can I do to better understand these students and work toward better connecting with them next school year?
It's always hard to connect with the ESL/EAL kids in the beginning, especially when they're adjusting to a new life and language at the school. They're freaked out by everything that's happening and when they're only seeing me minimally, I find that hard. However, after a few sessions, and when they start to see me in a different light (and hopefully as the 'fun' teacher), that no longer becomes an issue. If there are naughty kids that ride my patience, that can be tiring...but at the same time, these kids normally end up being in my favourites group by the end. Students that are really reserved, quiet and shy are hard to connect with as well, because they see me as energetic, outgoing and loud so that can be scary-ish...I have to remind myself to not be so intimidating even though most of them discover in the end that I am fun, approachable and loud in a good way (yes, that's totally possible, right! :P). Another group I find somewhat difficult is the group of students that are athletically inclined and who play one or two sports outside of school (or in the school) competitively. They tend to think activities in class are boring and 'hate' the activities that the majority of the class still loves. To fix this, I need to work on differentiating more (I do find this challenging with big groups in small spaces) so that I can keep everyone happy. I'm also going to make myself more visible in the homeroom classrooms. I want to observe more of what's happening in the classes so I can connect their learning to my PE class where possible. I think sacrificing my planning time to do this, will benefit me but also my relationship with the students and the teachers. Hopefully this will help to establish better connections.

12. Which PE units worked well for my students this school year? Why did they work well?
I taught a couple of fantastic units this year. I had a "Games" unit to kick off the year with my third graders and they loved it. It was a good way to get them all active, smiling, involved and on mixed teams while they were still getting to mesh and establish themselves in their new classes. I also had a "Dance" unit in Grade 1...we used a lot of YouTube Wii dance videos to involve the kids and they REALLY enjoyed this; for them, it's cooler to learn a dance from a Smurf than from a teacher who isn't blue or nearly as animated! :P Another high this year was a celebration day where we celebrated the Chinese/Lunar New Year in class and had a bunch of stations with a hint of Asian culture. We had big kids helping little kids and everything went perfectly...I want to try to incorporate more cultural learning into my lessons as our school's motto is "Excellence in Education for Globally Minded Students"...we need to foster the globally minded bit and PE is a good outlet for that...they remember everything too because they're doing it!

13. Which units did not work well? Why? How can these units be modified, tweaked and improved upon next school year?
"Adventure Challenge" units always have a lot of potential and I love them but I really need to work on getting a better repertoire of activities that engages the kids...here's going to be where I use iPads and QR code scavenger hunts around the school and gym with physical challenges! I love teaching this unit across all the grade levels! I also want to get them using compasses and maps and since it's the way of the future, do it on iPads as well as on just compasses and paper maps.
I'm also gonna work to improve dance units across the school...get some set songs and dances for the different year levels and then be committed to changing them up so things aren't repeated and don't get boring every year.
My Grade 2 "Games" unit really got the short-end of the stick this year. It was my favourite (and theirs too) last year but because it was at the end of the year this year, we had interruptions, Sports Days and other events that took away from getting the students to create their own game. One class did it but another didn't. I've moved the unit so it happens earlier in the academic year now so that should prevent this from happening again!
Finally, in not teaching all the classes in a grade level myself, the assessment differs from teacher to teacher. So that students get the best deal, my main goal is to moderate with the rest of my team to ensure that we're doing the same/similar things and that the assessment tasks are the same.

14. Where am I currently at in regards to integrating technology within my instruction and PE program?
Ouuu! I'm getting there and trying more and more! This year, my team is lucky enough to have iPads so I've been looking at apps to check attendance, write lessons and just plan my everyday of teaching. I use Spotify, which I totally recommend, to create playlists for my classes and they add songs to the playlists for us to listen to during class, but more importantly for our dance unit and its final assessment tasks. I use the projector to beam up Wii dance videos from YouTube. This year, we're going to have projection screens permanently mounted on the walls so we can use projectors to beam up dances and other demonstrations that could help get across key concepts/skills that are expected in class - so much better than setting up a portable screen with limited time between classes! This also works really well in displaying student skills and abilities on the wall; a great way to showcase student learning! I've also used iPads to have students record different skills (mostly gymnastics, and so far a lot of forward rolls) for the student to see where he/she can improve and what he/she is doing well/needs to work on. I get really excited thinking about how much we can do with more iPads and outlets for integration! :)

15. How is the environment in which I teach conductive for integrating technology?
It's adapting and opening itself up, that's for sure! :)

16. How did the used of technology enhance the learning of my students?
I think that by students being able to record and then see their own movements is invaluable and the biggest perk of technology in PE. There are so many apps out there that I still need to make a bigger effort to try out, where students can analyze their movement. They're not comparing their movement/skill to other people in the class, but to themselves which is awesome. The capability for students to record their progress and growth with certain skills is also pretty awesome with technology.
Secondly, and this is really important, but with integration of tech into PE, we can teach kids about healthy use of technology. We can show them how technology can be healthy (and how too much is unhealthy!) and excite them to get outside and exercise, if we show them the right apps. We live in a technology dominated world. Kids don't just go outside and play and have ONLY their imagination to lead them anymore. They have tons of computer games and video games that imprint on them and influence their imagination. I mean, yes, Super Mario for NES and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on TV may have added a flair to mine and my brother's playtime, but not as much as technology does today. It's everywhere. Kids need to get out more and hopefully we can promote a healthy lifestyle that still incorporates tech into out lives to model for the students we teach. Balance is key and we have to show them that!

17. Which areas of technology integration do I need to learn more about?
I need to experiment more with what I have learned. I learn about great apps and things to try but always feel like there's no time to really try it out for myself and then get into it in my classes. I want to dedicate a couple of hours every week to try out new apps that could really benefit my teaching and students' learning. I need to learn more about how QR codes work but first on my list, are the EasyPortfolio, EasyAssessment and EasyAttendance apps that I've only heard good things about...and they were developed by a PE teacher!
I'm also going to get into EduBlogging (outside of this) so I can blog about student learning, reflect on my teaching but also give photographic and video evidence of student learning to the parents (and students themselves) more frequently than in a newsletter at the end of every unit. I'm really excited about this! 

18. What opportunities existed for collaboration with the classroom teachers? How did I take advantage of these opportunities?
At our school, we have cross-curricular meetings every Thursday for different grade levels and the units they'll be teaching. I attend these and give insight into what we'll be doing in PE during the unit but lining things up and getting units to correspond, doesn't work as ideally as I would like. With multiple classes on, space and equipment restrictions, sometimes if there are 3 classes on at the same time, we can't all be doing the same unit. Scheduling for space dictates, for the most part, what we teach and when. But, when I can, I try to make a connection, no matter how small, to draw on something that's being learned in the classroom.

19. What feedback did I receive from administration regarding my teaching practice?
I received some great feedback this year from my principal. It's really reassuring that he, and my previous principal, knows I'm trying to be more collaborative and integrate classroom units into PE and vice versa and my efforts have been praised. I also think I have a great relationship with the students (well, 98% of them anyways) and this was something both principals have commented on. He wants me to stick around, I have a permanent contract and the efforts I put into my teaching, into bettering my teaching and to giving the kids the best PE experience I can have been noted.

20. What are 3-4 professional growth goals that I have going into next school year? How can I monitor whether of not I am staying on track?

1. Collaborate more within my team - Get us on the right track, team teach and assess at the same level with the same expectations.

2. Write ALL of the PYP planners that I need to write. I've been saying this for two years and something always creeps up that needs more attention. Sure, we have planners, guidelines and lots of stuff informally to help us plan and whatnot, but this information needs to be put into the IB planners. I need to do this. Mostly for my own sanity...although finding the time might make me insane.

3. Integration. I want to integrate more tech. I want to integrate more classroom learning. I want to integrate more cultural awareness into my PE lessons. I want to foster the idea of cross-curricular learning and really make it obvious, all the while boosting the reputation of our awesome subject!

4. I really want to get involved in the PEPLC. I think I have a lot to share but so much more to learn...and I'm keen to learn. I stand to learn a lot more about PE in general, but as I said before, behaviour management is something I need to work on. I've done some great assessments but want to add more to the mix. I love learning new things and trying them out first hand and as a PE teacher, I'm so lucky to be able to just whip out a new game and give it a go. The students love it too...except when it's a bust...because they love having new games to play; the best is when it's a 'fun' game that teaches them a new skill that they don't notice. Ahhhh, the joy! :)

I'll monitor my progress on these with the help of my team. We set goals as a department for ourselves, for our program and for the school and we check in with each other from time to time. I'm so lucky to be so well supported in achieving my goals and am confident in myself too...but I'll keep you posted, too! :)