I remember hearing a vox from Justin Schleider about free professional development, and that vox has stuck with me for quite some time.  His idea was about free PD where every teacher brings a lesson to share. I loved the idea and could wait to get it going. I was a new member of the Wisconsin Health and Physical Education Board (SE District Coordinator) and this was my first idea I wanted to implement. The board loved the idea and let me run with it. Two years later and the model has switched some, but the idea of free PD is amazing to me.  I can feel the excitement every time a new workshop begins and when it's done, I can't wait to being planning the next one. This blog is about how I make it happen every other month. I have found that a 4 hour workshop is best, because most people have to travel a half an hour to an hour to get to the PD site. I also continue to move them around the district, so the opportunity can be there for more and more educators. 

Some districts have teachers documents all the continuing education credit hours for the year. Some are mandatory and some can bump you up on the pay scale. Most everyone needs something or would like a certificate for their educational portfolio that use Danielson's domains. Offering attendees a certificate of completion is a great way to get educators there as well. It's hard to beat FREE PD, educational credits, friendships, and great learning in a relaxed atmosphere. Check out the certificate of complete I have created below.

The best part of the model is that it is easy to make happen and continue to repeat. I'm looking to get a few more people on board to help with the process, but it has been very easy for me to run a years worth of workshops every other month, without any other help. I do love the leadership opportunities it presents. From the leadership standpoint of the host school showcasing your school and offering PD for your staff. Letting individuals learn and present to their peers in a very relaxed atmosphere. I hope it helps them consider presenting at a state level as well. The connections made have been awesome and the response has been overwhelmingly been outstanding. I would love to hear your thoughts about this model and I would love to get this model going in many other states. I hope to get you on board and give you a chance to be a leader and cultivate more leaders in a grassroots effort! 

Are you looking for a great way to assess your physical education classes during team and individual sports? Do you want to put your students in charge of administering the assessment? Do you want to give your students a great way to see how students are being successful during the unit? The team sports assessment procedure is a great way to see growth of your students from the beginning to the end of a unit. TSAP is able to give you measurable data that can show true growth of each individual student in class. Students will be able to administer this assessment, and while they are administering the assessment they will see examples of what successful skills and strategies look like. I wouldn't have known about the game performance assessment without the help of Dr. Steven Harvey. Thank you Dr. Harvey for your help with this process and I really wanted to share this process with other physical educators, so they could learn as much as I did. I hope you consider Implementing TSAP into your assessment repertoire. Lets take a closer look at TSAP specifically through a badminton TGfU unit.

If you are looking to incorporate the TSAP assessment into your classes, then you will need to plan and prepare ahead of time. The first day should be a tournament or game day. You must get your students involved, playing, and assessing. For my badminton specific unit, I have 6 nets and I set up mini tournaments (4-5 players) at each net. I had tournament sheets printed and ready for each net, TSAP forms out and ready for each individual student, and even some ping pong tables set up for extra students and a little bit of fun. Before games started, I had to quickly cover the rules I needed them to follow in the games, and I also had to cover what they were assessing on the TSAP form. This did take a little while to introduce, so please be prepared and ready for what you want to say. Also remember for this to truly work, you must keep the exact same tournament in tact for the final day of the unit. If you do this, it will give you valid growth numbers! Posted below are some examples of documents I created for this to work in my class.

here camethe tricky part, or what could've become the tricky part. I have three games worth of data on 224 students and now needed to get the number in their system where I could understand it. I had health class with my students the next day so I designed a Google form that they could use to plug in their numbers. This task could've taken me hours if not days but with her help it was done in about 3 to 4 minutes of class time. The efficiency index and performance ratings are figured out by using these formulas. Efficiency index is (volley / 2 + successful shots) / (10 + lost ball) and the performance score is calculated by (received ball / 2) + (efficiency index * 10). You can see how I set things up below on the google form and google sheet so you don't have to do any calculations.

It was time to get down to business! Now that the TSAP was done and completed I knew it was time to get down to TGfU skills and strategies that my classes needed to be successful. Here's a rundown of my day two activities, so you can see how I run a TGfU badminton unit. For everyone's understanding, I see my 7th and 8th grade students for 41 minute classes with a class size of 24-30 students every other day.

This day was used to review some of the previous material taught and then to expand on it even more.

By this time of the unit with my middle school students are ready to showcase what they have learned by being involved in a singles tournament. I'll have two different tournament sign-ups and I let my class pick which side of the gym they would like to play on. There are three courts on each side of them gym and this works perfect for twelve people to rotate from playing and being a referee. I keep the games short so students are not out for very long. Check out a sample tournament bracket below.

I also used the SeeSaw app to create another opportunity for my students to showcase what they had learned. Day #1 the students needed to have a minute of footage of them playing during a singles match. The only requirement was to have them watch their video, to reflect on different shots they used, and to see how much they moved their opponent around the court. Below you will see a sample video from an 8th grade class.

The second day of the singles tournament I wanted students to "play out" a perfect game situation as if they could perform any shot. The thought was that I could hear the knowledge they accumulated over the course of the unit, even if they couldn't successfully perform the skill. Below is a picture of the SeeSaw assessment sheet that I handed out to my students to help them through their assessment and also a video of a students reflection.

Alright, well now you know the information and activities my students participated in. Everything was extremely active, students had many touches, and were always working on skills and strategies in a game situation. This are some of the key components of TGfU and a game centered approach. I believe this approach builds competence, which develops confidence, this leads to motivated students, and allows students to participate fully. I'll now share what I discovered when the unit was over.

As I stated earlier, you need to run the final TSAP tournament the exact same way. This will make your data results valid. I set up the same tournaments with the same students and allowed them to play for the same amount of time. Everything was the same. Now I just needed to collect all the data and find out how much they grew as badminton players. Below are my results.

After having all my students plug their results into the same google form, I was quickly able to sort through the google sheet to get some final numbers. Here is a few things that I learned.

1st Test Average Efficiency Index
1.35

1st Performance Score Average
26.18

2nd Test Average Efficiency Index
2.08 = 54% increase
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2nd Performance Score Average
52.73 = 101% increase

I knew my students were getting better, but these numbers blew my mind. To have proof that TGfU Badminton really worked and it really worked well. In my findings I believe doing these things really helped my students grow:

Lots of birdies hit (singles games, 1v1 rallies, etc)

Development of skills / strategies together in a game situation

Lots of practice time - An average of 82% (27/33 minutes) of class was dedicated to active lessons

Assessments / formative checks on 4/6 days

Active playing time + analyzing how others play = high levels of learning

I hope you learned a little bit about the Team Sports Assessment Procedure and I hope you will consider giving it a try. I think that it can validate what we are doing as physical educators. I also hope you learned a little bit about running a TGfU unit as well. When I started teaching this way, I really think my students learned how to play the games much better. An understanding of the game, in game situations, practicing skills can lead to amazing results for your students. Let me know if you have used TSAP or your other thoughts on TGfU in the comments below or feel free to send me an email if you have any other questions.

It all started at #SHAPEBoston! Well that's not totally true, but that is how these two superpowers came together in my classroom just a couple of weeks later. Here is how the story goes.

I have been working through implementing the TGfU model in my physical education classes over the last 4 years. I picked up on the model through Twitter. I have been learning and introducing more units every year. I really enjoy using the model in my classes and I have seen many successes in my students over the years. There are so many things to love about the model, but my favorite aspect is how it really helps develop competence and confidence in all my students through more touches in small sided games and lead up activities. This leads to much higher levels of motivation and participation from almost all of my students. Thanks to Dr. Dean Kriellaars for this quote.  I could see this early on when I first implemented the model and it made me want to learn more and implement more, and so I did.

The more I learned about the model, the more grew connected to other like minded physical educators using it in their classroom. It also got me connected to current researchers that are focused on the model as well. These connections grew and I was lucky enough to be asked to present at #SHAPEBoston with Dr. Steven Harvey and a crew of practitioners from around the world. It was exciting to hear more about their story and to share the successes of current practitioners with passionate educators at the SHAPE America National Convention. This was my first National presentation and I thought it went pretty well.

While at #SHAPEBoston, I was able to attend a fabulous Polar session that was led by a couple of amazing educators, Collin Brooks and Mike Doyle.  I was excited that I was able to attend and that I could learn from these two educators.  I was selected to participate in the session and I realized that a reward for participating was a Polar A360!  Yeah!  Got my hands on one.  I do like new technology :). I learned a ton from everyone at Polar, Collin, and Mike.  I was especially impressed with Collin Brooks's presentation called "The Heart Rate Awakens."  He worked extremely hard to make a Star Wars related fitness activity to keep his students engaged and motivated while learning about fitness concepts.  It was so cool to see and participate in this session live.  I was bummed when the session was over, but I was hopeful now to get some more Polar A360s.  Now how would I accomplish that?  

Clearly by the look on their faces they enjoyed using them.  Check out their average daily steps on a weekend.  They are always very active and love the outdoors, but the Polar A360 motivated them to move, challenged them to get their heart rates up, and they truly enjoyed the watch's interface in general.  I knew my students were going to love the learning experience with them now, thanks to my "test subjects."

I would love to hear how you use Polar A360s, pedometers, or heart rate monitors and what your thoughts are on them.  Thanks for reading and I look forward to learning more from you as well!  

Personality Traits in a Relationship in a March Madness Format

This lesson was the conclusion of a three week (7 class period HG&D unit). I wanted to finish the unit focused on healthy relationships.  I located what I believe to be the top 37 personality trails of people who are in healthy relationships.  I wrote them out on index cards and spread them around a table in the health room.  Listed below are the 37 traits.

Reliable
Warm
Fair
Intelligent
Knowledgeable
Conscientious
Trusting
Hardworking
Secure
At East
Emotionally Stable
Perceptive
Even-Tempered
Energetic
Practical
Curious
Sociable
Creative
Well-Organized
Funny
Relaxed
Generous
Flexible
Joyful
Patient
Selflessness
Compassionate
Understanding
Encouraging
Honest
Respectful
Helpful
Modest
Honorable
Courteous
Optimistic
Devoted
Creative
​Happy

I called the students over to pick the personality trait that they thought was the most important and wanted to persuade the class to believe the same.  Students were responsible for writing and introductory sentence, 5 reasons why their trait is the most important (giving real life examples), and then a conclusion sentence. 

To add to the fun, I set up a Personality Trait National Championship Bracket by using the website challonge. This website is great for tournaments and I was able to showcase the bracket throughout the day, move on students that won their debate, all in real time, so we could crown a National Champion.
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When the students saw the bracket they were very excited to battle it out for the National Championship. I knew I needed to add a voting piece, so all students would stay engaged throughout the lesson and they would feel like the decision to move an individual to the next round was fair.  I used the website polleverywhere so we could do a realtime vote and find a winner in 10-15 seconds. I set up one question that said person 1 and person 2. Before voting I would remind the class which personality trait they were voting for when selecting 1 or 2. Students then casted their vote and I was show the results on the SmartBoard and the move the winner onto the next round. 

One class period (40 min) was not enough to finish the tournament, so you should plan for two or more. I would make round two more of a debate style where each participant would get 30 seconds and a 10 second rebuttal. I think the students would really enjoy that. Overall this lesson was really fun to teach and the students enjoyed participating and learning in this type of an environment. Overall they heard over 150 different reasons why and how to use these different personality traits to keep your relationship going strong!

Well the 2013-2014 school year just came to a close!  What an amazing year!  The physical education staff at Merton Intermediate School finished off the year in style with one of the best Field Days ever!  We celebration all things Merton with over 1,000 students being active and engaged in outdoor fun for the entire day.  Our “Celebration Day” is broke up into two different portions of the day.  The morning sessions are with homerooms that compete in team building games for class points and spirit points against their grade level, while the afternoon session is filled with choices of community fitness, sport, recreational, and a few downtime activities.  In this post I will give you ideas of how to “flip” your games / activities so students and teachers will know and understand what is expected of them before they arrive at the station.  I will also give you some ideas to turn your Field Day into an amazing culmination event for your physical education classes by bringing community fitness / sport teams / former students into your school to teach and instruct!  You can give your students choices in their activities which will create an amazing experience for all!

Over the last couple of years I have realized that video is a powerful player in classroom management and learning styles of our students.  I knew that I needed to add this into our Field Day.  Over the years we have struggled with teaching our teachers or station leaders what to do at every station, and sometimes it lead to frustration from the teachers (adding another thing to their plate) or to the students (learning a game / activity from someone who didn’t know all the rules).  I knew something needed to change to help with the management of the 1,000 students who are excited for the activities, but are not always ready to listen outside while moving from station to station with 100 of their closest friends.  Thanks to iMovie and smartboards in every classroom, I can now quickly and easily flip my stations so each student can watch videos of them in the morning right before they go outside to participate in them.  It’s pretty amazing walking around the school seeing and hearing 35 different classroom teachers and their students watching the Celebration Day Kickoff Video.

The week before celebration day all staff members get the master schedule with times and locations of stations, written directions for stations, and the video instructions with all the rules.  They can prepare their homeroom classes for each station, watch and read the directions so they understand what is expected of them at each station, and they are fully prepared to help during the day!  Here is an example of the master schedule.


Celebration Day Master Schedule 2014

The morning of celebration day the students get to watch the instructional videos so the rules are fresh in their heads, and no one needs to instruct them as they begin each station!!  Here are some clips of stations that I have used in the past!

There was no video for the Merton Mash Up, but this was a dance that was created by 5 Merton Intermediate School students.  We used this dance as a station, so we could teach all students this dance during the day.  At the end of the day we gathered al 1,000 students in our bus lane so our whole school could perform the dance at the same time.

I love giving student choices.  A few years back I had the opportunity to teach double classes with another physical education teacher.  At first we thought this would be some really tough years, but then we decided to offer choices for every unit and let the student choose their own physical education adventure.  Read more about it here.  We soon realized that our classes were the best behaved ever and the participations levels were through the roof!! Kids loved the choices.  We really wanted to bring that approach to our Field Day.  To make this happen we knew that we were going to have to use our amazing community members and organizations.  We contacted anyone and everyone within a 15 mile radius that had anything to do with sport / fitness / recreational activities that we could have come in and teach our students.  This was an easy sell….almost everyone we contacted wanted to be a part of our Celebration Day.  It was beginning to come together.  We had community members, business owners, teachers, former students (who excelled at their activity / sport), and a few stations that needed teacher supervisors.  I did use a Google Spreadsheet to have teachers sign up for supervising a station, so their responsibility was to monitor the station, help the volunteer running the station, and help students transition to the next station.  Here is the list of stations that we had at Celebration Day 2014:

OFFICIAL CELEBRATION DAY STATIONSBasketball, Drama (Double Session), Football, Humane Society, Biking (Double Session), Fishing (Double Session), Rock Wall, Cooking, Geocaching, Fun Hula Hoop Tricks & Challenges, Board Games, Card Games, Rollerblading / Rip-Stick / Skateboarding, etc., Soccer, Hockey, Dodgeball, Volleyball, Martial Arts, Kickball, Lacrosse, Wiffle Ball, Yoga, Hip-Hop Dance, Strength & Conditioning, Wrestling, Legos, Wii’s, Archery (Double Session), Florist (Making Floral Arrangements),

DETAILS, DETAILS, AND MORE DETAILS….Now to figure out how to make this work!! 537 students were part of our student choice celebration day stations.  We had about 2.5 hours in the afternoon to rotate through our stations.  We were able to lock in 30 different stations.  We decided that 35 minute stations with a 5 minute “passing time” between stations should work.  Some stations were really detailed and needed more time so we decided to make some activities “double” stations so they could have an hour and 15 minutes to participate.  We also knew that we didn’t want too many students at each station, so we had to make some caps on how many students could sign up.  After we had all these details locked in and ready to go, then we began the sign up process about 1 week before Celebration Day.

LET THE EXCITEMENT BUILD AND THE SIGN UPS BEGIN!!

For the first year I used Google Forms to sign up all students for their stations, but this year students were selecting more choices and there were more stations for them to select, so I looked for something more simple.  I stumbled uponSign Up Genius and it looked perfect for what we were trying to accomplish.  After about an hour of use I had all the details set up and the sign up was ready to go.  This system looked great.  I was able to plug in stations, times, max number of participants, and I could pull reports in many different ways.  To help alleviate some problems I made a flipped video the students needed to watch with their parents before they signed up.

All of our feedback from teachers, students, and parents were VERY positive.  Students were very well behaved and had a lot of fun.  Teachers were very impressed how well everything went and how organized the activities / stations were.  Parents were also impressed on the choices that their son or daughter could choose, how active the day was, and how excited their children were to be at Celebration Day!  All in all the best Celebration Day EVER!!  If you have any other questions feel free to send me a Tweet @Physed_Pomeroy!