Resources for Teaching Gymnastic Movements

Hello HPEC nation! In the spirit of the mantra "teamwork makes the dream work" this is a short blog to share resources with fellow Health and Physical Education champions.

In delivering the Gymnastics dimension of the Physical Education Program of Studies, I have been a member of HPE teams that have taken a variety of approaches. I would like to share one of these approaches that has been successful, engaging and purposeful.

To specifically target and ensure all students covered gymnastics based movements a Physical Education Module was designed in which all units offered were gymnastic movement based. This provided students with choice, while also ensuring every student received gymnastics based movement instruction. In creating the units offered in this module the guiding question asked was, "What type of activities would engage our diverse student population in a meaningful way while targeting gymnastics movement skill and knowledge acquisition?" This team brainstorm resulted in the creation of a Tough Mudder Obstacle Course unit and a Stuntnastics unit.

Here are resources that were created to support these Modules:

• Gymnastics Grade 4-9 Scope and Sequence & Basic Concepts Resource
• Movement Education Visuals
• Stuntnastics Unit
• Stuntnastics Routine Creation & Presentation
• Tough Mudder Unit
• Tough Mudder Station Signs

Visuals are a great way to provide students with accessible information and aid in the consistency in instruction as a team. Here are examples created from content in the Unit resources.

A closing unit activity that is engaging and highlights the student's awareness (body awareness, space awareness, effort, and relationships) while executing locomotor skills for assessment is a Pirates Pursuit Game. This high energy activity is one of the few times that elimination is a part of Physical Education class activity. In my experience, the benefits outweigh the elimination because:

• The level of intensity that is put forth by students in this game, they need regular breaks.
• A student who has had more rest has an advantage in the next round.
• The games are quick and there are many opportunities to try again.
• In the time when not playing the students are asked to reflect on what could be done differently next time, and make a plan to increase their success.

Some helpful hints in delivering this activity:

• When setting up the equipment pathways for pirates differentiation is kept in mind to ensure all students have an opportunity to find success (variety of potential pathways with varying levels of difficulty).
• When Pirate teams are created during the activity, teacher facilitation of teams can promote inclusion and student success.

Thank you for all that you do to create quality Health and Physical Education programs.

Submitted by: Elisha O'Lain, HPEC Past President

Student Led Conferences for the Health and Physical Education Teacher

Student Led Conferences for Health and Physical Education

Submitted by: Collin Dillon

HPEC Website/Social Media Executive

Student led conferences (Or Parent Teacher Conferences) is something that can have a variety of reactions to teachers. For a first year teacher, it can be the first face to face interaction with a parent about their child's progress. To seasoned teachers who have built a strong rapport with their parents and students, it can be a time to really dig deeper into how they can work together in ensuring their child is on their way to their potential. 

These experiences are more common to classroom teachers who are responsible for a homeroom or specific grade, but for Health and Physical Education teachers, these evenings can result in a lot of twiddling thumbs and wondering why the parents are not coming to see you. Health and Physical Education historically can struggle with a perception that parents want to see their child's (air quotes) "Core Subject Teachers" and see how they are doing in the classroom and simply will not have time visiting with their Health and Physical Education teacher. I have spent years experiencing this and with my recent move to a new High School, St. John Paul II - Faculte Jean-Paul II Catholic School (JP2), I decided to take a different approach to my Student Led Conferences.

This experience started with some reading I came across from a former HPEC Keynote Speaker, Dr. Amanda Stanec, who had blogged about questions to ask a PE teacher during Student Led Conference - LINK - and it reminded me of the work that Andy Vasily has blogged about PE Student Led Conferences - LINK - So I had decided to implement my own version of our St. John Paul II \ Faculte Jean-Paul II Catholic School Health and Physical Education Student Led Conference.

Our school has endorsed a theme that we will take care of our students' Mind, Body, and Soul and with the support of my administration, they allowed me to use the gymnasium during the Student Led Conferences to highlight the true happenings that occur in Health and Physical Education at JP2. I essentially created 5 stations with each station having a variety of questions that ranged from health topics, alternative environments, and some fundamental movement skills. Each question prompted the student to respond and explain to their parents what the question meant and what they have learned thus far in the course. It also gave students the opportunity to demonstrate some of their skills and to "teach" their parents about the skill. The stations I created can be found HERE. 

What happened with this style of Student Led Conference allowed students to be proud of the work they have done so far, they demonstrated a sense of accomplishment because they were able to be the teachers and share specific cues, details and key understandings we have done so far. I could also have multiple families in the stations so it limited the waiting times for parents to visit me and quickly chat about their child.  It also gave me the opportunity to essentially hand the learning over to the students and really get to highlight the relationship their child has with health and physical activity. A lot of the parents were not expecting this type of conference but the amount of parents that were actively participating in the station made me think that this method is something I will continue with moving forward throughout the year. My hope is that for the next Student Led Conferences I will actually send out the stations prior in a newsletter formally inviting them to visit me.

If you would like to know more about my Student Led Conferences and have some feedback I would love to collaborate with you. It is a format that, if you can get support from your administration, can be a very effective way to highlight the importance of Health and Physical Education in your school as well as the impact your programming has had on their child. Be sure to email me at collindillon@gpcsd.ca 

Gymnastics for All

"I often hear that gymnastics is one of the most difficult units to teach in Physical Education, especially if you are not a Physical Education specialist, or maybe even if you are, but have no formal gymnastics training. I thought people would appreciate the following overview of a gymnastics unit that I have used in the past to guide my lessons. I hope it can be as valuable for you as it has been for me. Of course, I modify it greatly from year to year, and class to class depending on my students' needs and abilities. Please feel free to use it as you see fit, and modify any areas to best suit your students' learning needs."

Submitted by:

Dustin Turner

HPEC Secretary

Gymnastics Station Safety

Grades: K-6

SLO: A-1, A-2, A-3, A-4, A-5, A-6, A-8, A-9, A-10, A-11, A-12, C-1, C-3, C-4, C-5, C-6, D-1, D-2, D-3, D-4, D-5, D-7, D-9.

Materials:

• 9 pieces of white paper, with each station number listed.
• All gymnastics equipment available.

Objective: To acquire and improve upon skills through a variety of developmentally appropriate movement activities.

Success Criteria:

-          I will set a goal and work towards meeting that goal.

-          I will demonstrate safe play, while maintaining a challenging environment.

-          I will create a movement sequence that include the class-created success criteria.

Methods:

Station Examples

• Station #1 and #2 (Climbing Structure):

• Can only go up to the noted height, no higher.
• Should always maintain three points of contact (e.g. Two feet, one hand).
• Have to stay underneath bars that are higher than shoulder height, and can go on top of bars that are lower than shoulder height.
• Only one person at a time on any given piece of equipment.
• Keep your body as long as you can while using ladder (hold highest bar reachable).
• If climbing please go all the way down. Don’t jump off when almost down.
• Station #3 (horse and crash mat):
• Only one person on horse and crash mat at a time.
• No flips or aerials.
• Twists are okay.
• Land on buttocks.
• No pushing.
• Station #4 (Trestles and ladders):
• Climb up and down ladders (not from side).
• You have to stay under equipment that is higher than shoulder height, and can go over equipment that is lower than the child’s shoulders.
• Station #5 (Ropes):
• Two ropes under crash mat are for climbing or trying to hold yourself up.
• Please go up, and then go down slowly, don’t let yourself drop.
• Two ropes in between benches are for swinging.
• Station #6 (Floor mats)
• Use ribbons and hula hoops safely.
• Be aware of body space required (so that you do not hit people with the equipment)
• Create a routine\sequence with your group.
• If group does not want to use hula hoops and ribbons, then push equipment off mats.
• While rest of group is watching, one person may go on the mat and perform somersaults, handstands, cartwheels, or log rolls.
• Station #7 (Balance beams):
• Only one person on the beam at a time.
• Try to perform a balance routine that includes three levels (high, medium, low).
• Walk on balance beam (no running)

Introduction

·         Explain gymnastics success criteria to students.

o   I will set a goal and work towards meeting that goal.

o   I will demonstrate safe play, while maintaining a challenging environment.

o   I will create a movement sequence that include the class-created success criteria.

• On the walls of the gym, post 7 pieces of paper, each containing a different station number.
• Have students create their own groups of 4-5 students (or create functional groupings if required).
• Stations are setup in the gym. Students will work in groups answering the following questions for their station (writing the answers on a piece of chart paper).
1. What safety reminders do you have for your station?
2. What challenges would you suggest to others for this station?
• Teacher writes down the student instructions for each station, guiding a conversation around student-created safety suggestions, and age-appropriate movement challenges.
1. These notes will be typed up and posted at each station for future classes and modified slightly to be age-appropriate and within safety guidelines.
2. As students move from station to station, they will read the instructions as a group before beginning their play.
• Have students work through stations (only changing stations as a whole class when whistle blows).
1. *Please note that for when changing stations, students spend one minute before starting the station, reviewing the station-related posted rules as a group.
• Each day will have the following focus for students as a whole.

Day 1:             - Rule generating sessions and a few stations.

Day 2-5           - General Review of a few key safety guidelines.

- Reminder to review student-generated station rules before starting any station.

- Introduce various challenges for certain stations.

Day 6-10         - General Review of a few key safety guidelines.

- Reminder to review student-generated station rules before starting any station.

- Introduce gymnastic routine expectations.

Day 11-14       - General Review of a few key safety guidelines.

- Reminder to review student-generated station rules before starting any station.

- Gymnastics routine practice and performances (1-2 at the end of each class as groups are ready).

Day 15, 16      - Missions Impossible (setup an obstacle course for students to work through using the various gymnastics skills that they have acquired throughout the unit.

Modifications:

• Ensure stations are activities that are appropriate to grade level.
• Lower or heighten equipment for various grade levels, according to Canadian Climber course.
• Add or remove stations dependent on your gym’s equipment.

HPEC Annual Conference, An Excellent Professional Development Opportunity!


Conference Registration for HPEC 2019 is open!


The HPEC Annual Conference is a “must do” for health and physical education teachers in Alberta. This annual professional development event is held in early May each year. It is an exceptional learning opportunity put on by Alberta teachers for Alberta teachers. Some words used to describe last year’s HPEC conference include: informative, engaging, collegial, inspiring, active, fun, social, exciting, refreshing, connecting, learning, laughing, awesome, useful, relevant, motivating, energetic, captivating, enlightening, uplifting, worthwhile, professional, exceptional, enjoyable, interesting, wonderful, rewarding, applicable, insightful, fulfilling, educational, invigorating, amazing, outstanding and practical. With teachers describing the annual HPEC Conference with words like these, who wouldn’t want to attend?


The 2019 HPEC Conference will be held in Red Deer on May 9, 10 and 11. Here is the HPEC 2019 Top Ten Reasons to ensure your attendance at this year’s conference.

1. The Conference Theme: Life’s A Journey, Let it be ACTIVE! 
2. The Conference Keynote Speakers: Hal Johnson and JoAnne MacLeod. These are iconic Canadian figures promoting physical activity for all. 
3. The Conference Venue: New facilities will be used for the conference at Red Deer College. These facilities have been specifically built for the 2019 Canada Winter Games. 
4. The Conference Program: Countless sessions sharing information and best practices related to Health and Physical Education. 
5. The Conference Friday Night Social at Canyon Ski Hill: Canadian themed and there might even be snow to play in and cardboard tobogganing races at the Friday Night Social in May. Let’s Play Eh?! 
6. The Alberta Teachers recognized with HPEC Awards: Celebrate the exceptional teaching and contributions to Health and Physical Education in our province with the HPEC Awards of Distinguished Service, PHE Canada Young Professional Award and the HPEC Certificate of Commendations. 
7. The Conference Exhibitors: Check out the latest and greatest resources and equipment on display to enhance your health and physical education program. 
8. The Conference Nutrition Breaks: Get re-energized during the day with healthy snacks to keep you going throughout the sessions you attend. 
9. The HPEC Executive: Meet the HPEC President and fellow executive members throughout the conference. The HPEC Executive members volunteer to serve Alberta teachers and promote health and physical education throughout the province. 
10. The Pre-Conference Session put on by Ever Active Schools. Learn about the resource, “Ski, Skate and Slide”. Using an alternative environment of ice and snow. 

All HPEC 2019 Conference information can be found on the HPEC website conference link:


http://www.hpec.ab.ca/hpec-2019-life-s-a-journey-let-it-be-active


I hope to see you in Red Deer on May 9, 10 and 11, 2019! Conference registration is now open on the HPEC website.

https://event-wizard.com/HPEC2019RedDeer/0/register/



Blog post submitted by:
Sonia Sheehan
HPEC Vice President Communication

Health, Wellness, Well-being: What’s in a Word?

                Health, wellness, wellbeing: Alberta teachers are moving closer to implementing the new K-4 Wellness curriculum. As Physical Educators, we need to come to a mutual understanding of some common words used in our practice. Some terms, like health and wellness, have a long socio-linguistic history, while others, like well-being, are a more recent addition to the health education lexicon. What do these terms mean, and why does it matter?

                According to the World Health Organization, health is “a state of complete physical, mental, and social wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (WHO, 2018). This definition was adopted in 1946, and it signalled reformed understanding of health. Rather than seeing health as individuals not being sick, this definition emphasized seeking knowledge about all the complex factors (social, mental, environmental, occupational, financial, intellectual, and spiritual) that influence a person who is living with, or without, illness. The adopters of this definition recognized that health was a social contract between people – not merely the outcome of individual choices.

Wellness has been defined as “a multidimensional state of being describing the existence of positive health in an individual as exemplified by quality of life and sense of well-being” (Corbin & Pangrazi, 2001, p.1).  The term came into common practice because of the work of Florence Nightingale, although it has been used since the time of Socrates (Johnson & Click, 2017).  Several theoretical models exist, and many of them place self-responsibility as central to developing wellness (Roscoe, 2009; Williams, 2009).  In these models, wellness is seen as a positive outcome of health, and an individual attains this state through balancing multiple dimensions such as nutrition, physical activity, stress, context, and spirituality.

                Where does well-being come into play? Well-being, a derivative of “be well”, refers generally to a person being in a positive state. Difficult to measure and used interchangeably with both health and wellness, wellbeing/well-being/well being does not have a settled definition (Marjanen, Ornellas & Mantynen, 2016) or even a common spelling.  Rather than measuring well-being, researchers look for evidence, or indicators, of well-being.  These indicators generally aim to measure people living satisfying lives and is a growing area of research worth keeping an eye on over the next few years.

                So why does it matter what term we use? Health – wellness- wellbeing – isn’t it all the same? Definitions matter because if we look to the origins of the words, wellness places emphasis on individual responsibility and health emphasizes collective responsibility. The word we choose changes how we teach the curriculum. If we see wellness as a state of being and a component of health, then we understand that society influences individual wellbeing: that the social and physical environment of individuals can influence their ability to sleep and eat well, drink clean water, and feel safe.

Arguably, if we see health as a component of wellness, then we place personal decision-making above society’s responsibility to the individual. Absence of positive wellbeing could be judged as the fault of an individual who makes bad choices by eating junk food, drinking too much wine, or not sleeping enough. Instead of considering all the factors that might influence a lack of sleep, like a railroad track built through the centre of a town, individual choices, like drinking coffee too late in the afternoon, can be blamed.  Keeping the focus on health is a reminder that being well results from a variety of factors, some of which are beyond our personal control.

So, the question for discussion becomes: are we teaching a Wellness curriculum or Health and Physical Education? I look forward to discussing this idea further.

Submitted by: Astrid Kendrick, Ed.D

Editor, The Runner, the annual publication of the Health and Physical Education Council

References

Corbin, C.B. & Pantrazi, R.P. (2001). Toward a uniform definition of wellness: A commentary. President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sport Research, 3(15), 3-6. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED470691.pdf

Harper, D. (2018). Well. Online etymology dictionary. Retrieved from https://www.etymonline.com/word/well

Johnston, J., & Click, E. R. (2017). Wellness. In J. Fitzpatrick (Ed.), Encyclopedia of nursing research (4th ed.). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/spennurres/wellness/0?institutionId=261

Marjanen, P., Ornellas, A. & Mantynen, L. (2016). Determining holistic child well-being: Critical reflections on theory and dominant models. Child Indicators Research, 10(3), 633-647. doi: https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/10.1007/s12187-016-9399-6

Nicola, R. M. (2004). Health. In M. J. Stahl (Ed.), Encyclopedia of health care management, sage. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/sageeohcm/health/0?institutionId=261

Roscoe, L. J. (2009). Wellness: A review of theory and measurement for counselors. Journal of Counseling and Development : JCD, 87(2), 216-226. doi: 10.1002/j.1556-6678.2009.tb00570.x Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/10.1002/j.1556-6678.2009.tb00570.x      

Williams, A. (2009). The wellness culture: Self-Responsibility at Last. IDEA Fitness Journal, 6(9), 28–35. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=44455878&site=ehost-live

World Health Organization. (2018). Constitution of WHO: Principles. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/about/mission/en/

Conference Grant Blog Submission: Let’s Make a Deal – Fitness Edition

Looking for ideas to make fitness fun and engaging for your students? Here’s a game a colleague and I came up with that our students absolutely loved. They didn’t want to stop playing at the end of class and asked to play it again the next day.

Let’s Make a Deal – Fitness Edition

This takes the popular television game show into the physical education classroom. 

Preparation:

Decide on a series of exercises you want your students to perform. You will need 2 choices for each round: Option A and Option B. We chose to make a slideshow to project onto our gym wall. Alternately, you could write the exercises on cue cards or make posters. We made about 15 sets of Option A and Option B which lasted a 30-minute physical education class.

How to Play:

Choose a student to be the first player. Present them with Option A. They then choose to perform Option A or Option B which is unknown to them. Say, “You can choose Option A: 20 Jumping Jacks, or Option B which is unknown”. Whichever activity they choose, the whole class performs. Students love that they get to “choose” which fitness activities they are going to perform that day. The element of chance and surprise often gets the best of them and they can’t help but choose Option B just to see what it is!

Tips:

·         Alternate the more challenging activity between option A and option B.

·         Alternate activities so that students are working different muscle groups each round.

·         Choose a mix of cardio, strength, balance and flexibility exercises.

·         Add a picture for younger students and/or demonstrate the activity for them.

·         Look for students demonstrating excellent effort, or modelling great form, and let them choose the exercise for the next round.

·         Add in an option for a minute of rest in the middle of the game.

·         Add in an option for a minute of free dance or another activity the students really enjoy.

Conference Grant Blog Submission: Kabaddi Tag

Kabaddi Tag is a modified version of the popular contact team sport called Kabaddi, played primarily in Southeast Asia. Kabaddi is a game played between two teams of seven players where the object of the game is for one player on offence to run into the other team’s court, tag out as many of their defenders as possible and return to their side without being tackled. Kabaddi Tag maintains the same elements however the objective is pursued individually and instead of tackling, flag football belts are used.

This is a great game to be played as a warm up or cool down. Here’s what you will need and a detailed explanation of the game.

Equipment
• Pylons
• Flag football belts
• Tennis ball (optional) -placed on top of the cone

Set up:

Multiple playing areas can be set up in the gym at once
- Use half a badminton court (one side of the court) as the playing area, set up a cone roughly 10 full steps away. (This can be adjusted based on the age group)
- Split the class up into groups of 5 or 6

How to play
-In order to score a point, the offensive player (raider) must enter the playing area and tag one of the defenders (can be on the legs or the upper body)
-Once the raider tags one of the defenders, he or she has to make it back to the cone and knock the tennis ball off before any of the defenders pulls one of their flags off. If the raider makes it back successfully, with all flags on their belt still intact, they score a point.
-If they are caught and don’t make it back, they switch out with one of the defenders.
-All players should have a couple chances at being the raider.

Conference Membership Grant Blog: Capture the Footballs

CAPTURE THE FOOTBALLS

Grades: 1-2(lesson) 3-6 (warm-up)  Unit: Target Games           Date:                Anytime

General Outcomes

Activities

Benefits Health

Cooperation

Do It Daily…For Life

Specific Outcomes

Basic Skills

Application of Basic Skills

Functional Fitness

Body Image

Well-being

Communi-cation

Fair Play

Leadership

Teamwork

Effort

Safety

Goal Setting/ Personal Challenge

Active Living In the Community

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Equipment: Belts and flags, Footballs in buckets, pylons around the bucket of footballs, pylons to separate the field in two, hula hoop for jail Explanation of Game: Capture the Footballs.  All players must wear belts with 2 flags.  Like Capture the Flag, if your flag is stolen while in your opponents’ territory, you go to jail.  One of your teammates must grab a hold of your hand in jail to free you.  (In this game, your teammate may free 2 people out of jail, one for each arm).  Each team starts with roughly 10 footballs in their treasure to start the game.  Object of the game is to steal as many or all of the footballs from the other team.  Once you have a football, you may run with the football.  However, you may not run the football past the dividing or center line.  The ball must be thrown over the line and successfully caught by one of your teammates.  If the ball is not caught, you must return the football to its rightful owner.  The opponent may not defend or intercept a pass, they may only steal flags.   *I add a circle of pylons around the treasure (bucket of footballs) to prevent “puppy guarding.” Safety: Discuss an appropriate distance that students should be throwing from.
Variations: Change the object being rolled to make it more challenging.  Change the distance student roll from.  A variation of the game is that students in the treasure area are the quarterbacks and must successfully complete a pass to someone on their team and then their teammate attempts to run back to their side without a flag being stolen. Learning Activities/Teaching Strategies:                                                                        Bending knees, stepping with opposite foot, full extension with rolling/throwing arm