Frame of Reference
My personal belief system for teaching Physical Education is always taking new formations. I have built a strong base with the concepts I have learned from the International Youth Coaching Association (IYCA) and books that I have read. This base consists of a strong desire to get students to move in as many ways as possible, in a fun environment, and for the maximum amount of time. I have adopted a fitness-based education model to incorporate learning of basic movements, coordination, and balance with internal motivation of achieving goals. I am also learning about the Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) movement that is happening and I will be trying to incorporate this into the program as well. The number one goal in my class is to do my best to make sure that every child leaves Assumption School with the skills to thrive in Physical Education in Brooks and more importantly to become active for life.
This year I have began to focus more on fitness education. I have done this because it is more realistic for the whole class to be able to get involved with fitness activities as they don't require a high skill set, just a desire to be healthy. I try to start most classes with a bit of fitness education and then move onto some fun games to get everyone moving and having fun. I am trying to get all students involved with a fitness log so they can be held accountable for completing the daily physical activity requirement of 1 hour of moderate to vigorous activity per day. I am also trying to get students involved in setting personal records and making goals to improve these records. The best motivation is internal motivation because when there is nothing else pushing them like championships, parents, and society, they will always have themselves. If they build their internal motivation now, then they will have a good chance of keeping it for the remainder of their lives. I plan to build this internal motivation through goal setting and personal improvements. When students see that continuous push for activity elicits real results, they will have an appreciation for fitness. Fitness is the number one activity that keeps adults healthy throughout their entire lives. Sport participation decreases rapidly when people hit adulthood and if there is no desire to do anything else then the athlete will turn sedentary and unhealthy which could eventually lead to health issues like heart disease and diabetes. Fitness isn't only for the low-skilled athlete either. Every high performance team in today's world has some sort of strength and conditioning program, unless they have some old arrogant coach. The high performance athlete needs to build strength, power, speed, agility, flexibility, and mobility outside of their chosen sport(s) in order to decrease likelihood of injury and increase performance. Fitness education has a place for everyone and has a big place in the Assumption School gymnasium.
Recently I have started to read more about Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) and I will be bringing this back into the gymnasium again as well. The TGfU method focuses on teaching games with a tactical approach rather than the traditional skill-based approach. In this approach, the students will start with a game, then asked tactical questions, then practice what they need in order to overcome the tactical problem, then play a game to reinforce what they've learned. For students whose ability prevents them from consistently executing motor skills successfully in game situations, greater knowledge of what to do in certain situations will be a positive first step toward improving performance. The high-skilled students will be pleased that they get to play a game right away and can be challenged with similar or more challenging tactical problems. This method is engaging for all students and brings the concept of critical thinking into the gymnasium since they are being asked about problems that arise in the game. This method also gives the students the ability to transfer skill sets from one sport to another with the classification of games. When the students learn about maintaining possession an invasion game like soccer, they can transfer all of those skills to other invasion games like hockey, basketball, handball, and lacrosse. I am also starting the Sport Education curriculum model in conjunction with the TGfU curriculum model in some of the older grades. The Sport Education model gives a holistic approach to Sports where students are able to participate as many of the people that make sports run, like referees, scorekeepers, statisticians, and photographers. I will be bringing this approach to teaching games back to the Assumption School gymnasium and combining it with my Fitness education program.
With the combination of building fundamental movement skills through fitness education, building internal motivation, critically thinking, and building tactical awareness in games, I believe students at Assumption School will be getting the best physical education in the amount of time that they are with me. I believe all students will be able to leave Assumption School with the ability to be active for life. Help me achieve my goal of having all of my students become active for life by continuing their physical education at home as well. Thanks for reading my frame of reference.
Dean Thorsell
This year I have began to focus more on fitness education. I have done this because it is more realistic for the whole class to be able to get involved with fitness activities as they don't require a high skill set, just a desire to be healthy. I try to start most classes with a bit of fitness education and then move onto some fun games to get everyone moving and having fun. I am trying to get all students involved with a fitness log so they can be held accountable for completing the daily physical activity requirement of 1 hour of moderate to vigorous activity per day. I am also trying to get students involved in setting personal records and making goals to improve these records. The best motivation is internal motivation because when there is nothing else pushing them like championships, parents, and society, they will always have themselves. If they build their internal motivation now, then they will have a good chance of keeping it for the remainder of their lives. I plan to build this internal motivation through goal setting and personal improvements. When students see that continuous push for activity elicits real results, they will have an appreciation for fitness. Fitness is the number one activity that keeps adults healthy throughout their entire lives. Sport participation decreases rapidly when people hit adulthood and if there is no desire to do anything else then the athlete will turn sedentary and unhealthy which could eventually lead to health issues like heart disease and diabetes. Fitness isn't only for the low-skilled athlete either. Every high performance team in today's world has some sort of strength and conditioning program, unless they have some old arrogant coach. The high performance athlete needs to build strength, power, speed, agility, flexibility, and mobility outside of their chosen sport(s) in order to decrease likelihood of injury and increase performance. Fitness education has a place for everyone and has a big place in the Assumption School gymnasium.
Recently I have started to read more about Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) and I will be bringing this back into the gymnasium again as well. The TGfU method focuses on teaching games with a tactical approach rather than the traditional skill-based approach. In this approach, the students will start with a game, then asked tactical questions, then practice what they need in order to overcome the tactical problem, then play a game to reinforce what they've learned. For students whose ability prevents them from consistently executing motor skills successfully in game situations, greater knowledge of what to do in certain situations will be a positive first step toward improving performance. The high-skilled students will be pleased that they get to play a game right away and can be challenged with similar or more challenging tactical problems. This method is engaging for all students and brings the concept of critical thinking into the gymnasium since they are being asked about problems that arise in the game. This method also gives the students the ability to transfer skill sets from one sport to another with the classification of games. When the students learn about maintaining possession an invasion game like soccer, they can transfer all of those skills to other invasion games like hockey, basketball, handball, and lacrosse. I am also starting the Sport Education curriculum model in conjunction with the TGfU curriculum model in some of the older grades. The Sport Education model gives a holistic approach to Sports where students are able to participate as many of the people that make sports run, like referees, scorekeepers, statisticians, and photographers. I will be bringing this approach to teaching games back to the Assumption School gymnasium and combining it with my Fitness education program.
With the combination of building fundamental movement skills through fitness education, building internal motivation, critically thinking, and building tactical awareness in games, I believe students at Assumption School will be getting the best physical education in the amount of time that they are with me. I believe all students will be able to leave Assumption School with the ability to be active for life. Help me achieve my goal of having all of my students become active for life by continuing their physical education at home as well. Thanks for reading my frame of reference.
Dean Thorsell