The big project this semester is to design a unit with a colleague who is not in the cohort and not in my content area. Originally I chose art and wanted to do a Día de Muertos movie. However, the timing of the unit was not sufficient. So I switched gears to my big Spanish Field Day project and how to make it better.
As it turns out the best way to make the Field day work better is to unpack the phys ed component.
Physical education and modern languages actually have a lot in common. Not in the results but in the methods. Students need lots and lots of practice with new skills before they are assessed on the skill. Students need lots and lots of feedback on specific components to make the other components work. And technology is strong in both areas. For the phys ed classroom, having appropriate diagnostic software and video tutorials helps the teacher manage a lot of data. In modern languages the support technology works about the same way.
Here are links to TPACK in physical education:
KIDS.GOV was "the" site I went to for a lot of the following links.
Elementary
Flag House Activity Guides --contains PDF files of several activities you can do with elementary school children
Play with Carla --designed specifically for girls to learn about physical activity to promote healthy bones
Activity Tv -- features video tutorials for a variety of physical activities like dance, martial arts, and juggling
Middle
Girlshealth.gov --focuses on educating girls to be healthy and fit
BAM --this site is is very kid-oriented and you can build your own activity calendar
High School
HealthierUS.gov --website designed to help people be more active!
The President's Challenge --Site includes an activity log and resources for all ages.
There is more to write on this chapter but I need to work on the actual unit. My friend at the elementary school has agreed to help me figure everything out--he teaches physical education. My high schoolers will teach specific skills through a Spanish lens....and teach new words at the same time. My master plan includes the French classes as well. I need to email the principal with an outline of my plan and continue to bust out the unit. I LOVE THE PROCESS OF DESIGNING A UNIT. Love it. This is the job for me.
Update: I have been working "my butt off" on the unit. Working with OL has been really helpful because he can break down a lot of the concepts for me. He teaches very discrete skills to k-5 kids and his goals (aligned with MLR's) are like my goals in Spanish: teach building blocks to do bigger, better, things.
As far as TPACK goes we decided that pairing our classes and communicating via Skype will help scaffold up to Field Day next spring. He has a drop down screen in the gym and projector built right in....so we are hoping to coordinate schedules enough to make it work. My kids will be making instructional videos, which will be preceded by vocabulary slideshows, that the elementary kids will have access to after the first quarter.
We are using technology to teach Spanish and "fizz ed". Yeah!
2 comments:
Amity,
Girlshealth.gov was great and I am going to share it with Addy and her friends. I am also going to forward it to Ms. Carr the health teacher as TWKDMS and hopefully she will incorporate into her curriculum.
Flag House was my favorite site because of the variety of physical activities that apply to both males and females. I like the sites that connected fitness with health education and the sites that were specific to females.
Great videos and includes something for everyone. Checkout - Physical Activity for Everyone: How Much Physical Activity Do You Need?
http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/index.html
The integration of Modern Languages with Physical Education is very creative way to engage all your students and adding technology integration as the conceptual lens truly brings TPACK alive in your classroom. The student’s artifacts are going to be awesome.
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