For the EDUC 490, I had a dream practicum of Gr. 10 Active Living (Physical Health Education) and Gr. 11/12 Active Living. If there were ever two polar opposite configurations of humans to form classes, I had the pleasure of experiencing and teaching them. From the first week impression of an energetic, excited, polite, silly humored, playful and willing Gr. 10 class to a stand off, low energy, partial attendance, complaining, verbally abusive, “too-cool-for-school” Gr. 11/12 class, it was a blast getting to know every single individual, and find the clues that led to the “key” to open the door to successful learning for both classes.
Building relationships was absolutely the single-hand most important part of my job for this practicum, followed by knowing/ learning my boundaries as a teacher. Finding balance in classroom management tools as an educator between these two stark classes gave me whiplash at first, as I couldn’t understand how Gr. 10’s, who had no choice but to be in P.E. in order to graduate, were so hyped and how Gr. 11/12’s who CHOSE to be there, had no interest in learning, participating or even being there. I quickly learned that my pedagogy that strongly believes in student advocated learning was able to be implemented with the Gr. 10’s, because they could safely advocate for their own body needs by week 3 & 4 based on our learnings, but the Gr. 11/12’s if given an inch- they’d take a mile. I had to keep things very structured and fast paced with the senior class as opposed to giving more time on certain drills/ activities for Gr. 10’s who really wanted to master certain skills. I had to adapt my teaching style to two vastly different dynamics- and you know what? It turned out just fine. 🙂
To set myself up for successful relationship building, I become the the full classroom teacher from Monday- Thursday (because of the major teaching differences between my coaching teacher and myself, I believed this to be a more consistent platform for the students.) I made sure to lay out the land before we began anything with either class making learning intentions, expectations and criteria very clear, introduced myself/ my background and opened the floor for any questions. I felt this gave students in both classes an idea of who I was as a person before we started any sort of learning, and made myself more relatable as a human being to students.
The main goal for the practicum was to introduce various types of active living that students could carry throughout their lifetime. We learned how to properly warm up/ cool down our muscles in a variety of ways and related this to injury prevention/ anatomy. We were able to explore different types of physical activity that was not just “sports” (ex: Boxing for Cardio, HIIT circuits, Pilates, Yoga, Zumba, Weight Room and more) to make it more relatable for every BODY, and for those who love sports, show how these activities can enhance performance through developing strength, balance, flexibility and endurance.
When I had feedback from an introverted Gr. 10 female in a private conversation say “Miss T, I’ve hated P.E. my whole life until you showed me there are so many different options for me to be active. I love the HIIT circuits and yoga that we do and I cannot wait to join classes in the community once COVID is over.” That. Is. The. Whole. Point. All. The. Yes!!!!!! Collectively from the Gr. 10’s they were impressed with themselves as we focused a lot on reflection and self: Where are you at today, where do you want to be tomorrow and what are your long term goals for the end of the four weeks? Students began to realize they had: Gained strength, endurance, confidence, lost healthy weight, improved in physical skills and found coping mechanisms to improve their mental health; all of which were goals at the beginning of the practicum- yay!
I was unsure if that same reflection was as deep with the 11/12’s, but in their own words, on the last day, they were able to provide feedback. After weeks of me giving formative feedback, and noticing some improvement in skills, I was unsure if the connections were happening because when I asked; I was met with resistance, complaining and suggestions to switch activities. However; I was pleasantly surprised at the end, when I individually went to each student to say “goodbye” and provide one last comment on the course, each student openly gave feedback on their learning. Whether it was “thank you for taking the time to teach me how to properly throw a ball” to “thank you for creating a safe space for us to be” to “thank you for teaching us the rules” every single comment was positive and students showed they were grateful for one learning outcome or another. The highlight; was from one particular student that gave me a lot of verbal abuse at the beginning, grief, pushed buttons and tested the limits daily, was able to at the end of practicum muster up to tell me “Miss T, you’re f*cking legit’, thanks for being here.” Now, I know this doesn’t seem like much and it seems profane, but to see the efforts that went into relationship building not go to waste and to see this particular student felt seen, heard and cherished meant the world and with so little words, gave so much feedback.
My fondest memory for the Gr. 10’s was our last week when we began our Zumba warmup unit (followed by weightroom and minor games.) The students had such a great relationship with each other, and the dynamic of safe space was set- so our class had no problems having fun and being vulnerable in learning something new together. Our first Zumba song was “Waka Waka” by Shakira, and it just so happened that the Spanish teacher walked by as we were doing our Zumba and was so impressed, she asked we collaborate with her class to show how it was done. Now, unsure if you’ve ever taught 40 students a Zumba dance while exercising your rusty Spanish, but it sure was a heck of a lot of fun! Students also enjoyed seeing their peers in a learning environment, and were empathetic to those learning the moves for the first time. What a great experience!
For my Seniors, I think the highlight was most definitely our softball unit, where the most improvement happened with specific skills. Students seemed interested in developing their abilities in throwing, catching and learning game strategy and the evidence was obvious when their abilities began to thrive. By the third day of softball, students began their warmup by themselves, on their own, with no complaints and without being asked or prompted. I was also informed by my Coaching Teacher on this day, that he had 3 separate gentlemen come up to him to let him know their areas of improvement. It was also in this unit where the 3 women of our class asked to work on their hitting technique during break, and felt enormous amounts of joy and confidence when they began crushing the ball in games. It was in this unit, where some students began realizing learning was rewarding and “fun” and was the beginning of the majority of positive turn- around for this class.
Needless to say, EDUC 490 practicum entailed steep learning curves in boundary setting, adapting teaching style to learning style and overall full of amazing memories and lessons to reflect on for next time. Who am I as a teacher? I teach who I am: I care, I teach to the individual, I value relationships and embrace change and dynamics, but mostly, I love what I do because there’s nothing else more worthwhile or magical than seeing learner’s faces when they succeed, meet a goal or exceed their own expectations.
Video Attached: Gr. 10 class: Promoting Females in Sport
This video was taken on the last day of practicum where my Coaching Teacher and I were “phasing in and phasing out.” Once he took over, I was able to take video of the learning we had done in our Football unit that was all finally coming together in a scrimmage.
You will see we have one of our female students who, up until this class, had never thrown a ball of any kind before and avoided it. It is in this video (after our softball unit) that this student was able to take her throwing abilities and adapt them to football. Not only did she gain confidence in her skills, but she decided to be the Quarterback in the scrimmage where she conducted her teammates to run learned plays (slants/ posts, in/outs/ button hooks etc…) this was definitely a proud moment as a teacher to see how far this individual has come in 4 weeks.
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