Embedded Files
Myself and a colleague of mine at school have been searching for the last couple of months for alternative ways of marking and giving students feedback that they will actually interact with an use. In one of our many discussions on the matter I asked him:
“Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could give audio feedback as a QR code and then stick it into their books”.
Thankfully for myself my colleague saw this as a challenge and went about trying to find different platforms and websites that could potentially make my dream a reality.
That is when he came across AUDIOBOOM!
AUDIOBOOM is a voice recording platform that allows you to literally do anything with the audio files you create. You can send your file via Facebook, Twitter, E-mail, and yes even turn it into a QR code!
Upon discovery my colleague and I are now giving it a trial with two KS4 classes. Although early in our experiment it is clear to see already that students desire to improve their work is greater. The feedback I can give is a lot more detailed, accurate, and it seems the personal touch of using our voices is a real positive.
I am not saying I won’t go through my books with a green pen and mark for spelling and punctuation etc but the actual detail I can give regarding feedback on their work has far greater capacity with audioboom. At the end of the day two sentences of written feedback can’t really be compared to two minutes of verbal.
We will keep you posted of the progress but I seriously recommend giving audioboom a go … Oh, and I forgot the best part … it cut my marking time down by HALF now thats got to be worth looking into!
Since taking over as Head of PE in September I have been looking for ways to increase our school participation in extra curricular sport. So often now a days I feel we are loosing the battle of engaging students in playing sport. A lot would rather sit and watch it or have the ultimate thumb workout while playing on the latest games console.
The biggest hurdle to being successful in GCSE PE in its current format is you need to have three or four outstanding sports that you can play and compete at a decent standard. I found after doing a little digging into some data analysis that 89% of our students who attended extra curricular clubs regularly achieved an A*-C grade at GCSE PE. Some would say that this is not rocket science … far from it but it is important.
I took this perceived hurdle to my PE Development team, a group of 6 outstanding PE students who live for everything PE. The main question we had was: How do we get more students participating in extra curricular sport at our school? The answer came in the form of sport specific rewards system. Games4Games was born. Students collect stamps for every after school sports club they attend (similar to every time you have a latte from your local coffee shop).
There are 3 tiers of prizes: Gold, Silver, and Bronze and basically the more stamps you collect the better the prize you will receive. There are 5 top “Gold Prizes” which include:
A Membership to the local Leisure Centre
A personalised pair of Adidas Predator Boots
A pair of tickets to Aviva Premiership Rugby Final
A personalised sports shirt of your favourite team (Including name and number)
A bundle of school sport branded sportswear
Some people may see this as bribing students into engaging in school sport. But I think we can all appreciate that if you catch students early in their lives at our schools that they remain committed. Our whole motto of this initiative is: “Rewarding commitment, with commitment”. Students show commitment by turning up by improving themselves in school sport and becoming healthier. We show our commitment by acknowledging this and rewarding them appropriately.
We need to become aware of what we are competing with here. Games Consoles are in the warmth of their homes they can eat some snacks while playing, they can interact and play with others in their friendship groups and around the world. The graphics are cutting edge the game play dare I say it is addictive. Suddenly when asking students to turn up to rugby on a Thursday when it is blowing a gale and raining doesn’t seem so appealing. Collecting their Games4Games stamp may just be that incentive. The vision of themselves with one of the star prizes at the end may just keep them coming.
Some will give up some won’t collect a single stamp but if this engages even just a few additional students that I believe it to be worthwhile.
The plan regarding costs of this project is to approach local partnerships, local businesses and sell the concept.
It is early days, the initiative launches next week at school. I am excited by its potential and hopefully we will see the school field and teams full again everyday after school. I am hoping it will create a buzz again and get students working hard to hit those Bronze, Silver, and Gold prizes.
After months of planning and detailed thought I finally feel I have come up with an assessment process for PE that will work in our school. I would like to emphasise that I think one of the nicest features of this new found freedom for assessment is that to be effective there really needs to be a personalised approach to how you choose to assess pupils in your own learning environments thinking about your facilities, resources and students.
To create our assessment grid (found below) I really delved into what feeds into an “outstanding” PE student at our school. Our new criteria I believe to credit students who may not be as practically able in a way our previous KS3 system of levels didn’t. Students will be given a score out of 10 for 10 different headings which will give a percentage of readiness for examination PE at KS4. The 10 areas of focus for our school are:
1. Leadership
2. Coaching
3. Performance
4. Decision Making
5. Mind Set
6. Character
7. Fitness
8. Extra Curricular
9. Knowledge
10. Organisation
As a set of words I feel we could all agree they feed into what we would see as an “outstanding” PE student. We must remember our key aims and ambition as a physical educator is to prepare our students to lead healthy active lifestyles once they leave our weekly supervision. A student knowing they were a level 7B in basketball at age 15 isn’t going to achieve this, or even worse a student who may have always struggled to get beyond a level 4 in any sport. Where would their engagement for PE come from?
I believe the 10 statements above will credit students for things we may sometimes be guilty of taking for granted.
Organisation – Remembering their PE kit on a weekly basis, ensuring they have suitable footwear and equipment.
Extra Curricular – Both in and out of school credit for pushing themselves in different sports.
Character – How they play and compete in sport. Do they display sportsmanship or is their a horrible undercurrent of gamesmanship in their play?
Knowledge – Do students understand their bodies and how to exercise them? Do they understand about heart rates, diet, training thresholds, methods of training etc? (Regardless of if they go on to do examination PE)!
I am going to be analysing over the next couple of months students engagement with our new assessment policy. I will hopefully evaluate it and share my findings in future post. For schools and PE & departments still struggling to finalise ideas I recommend starting with this statement …
What would an outstanding student in PE look like at ?
I found it really opened my eyes to good work our students already do … and also allowed me to pick areas that will challenge them into the future.
I got this idea from a course I was on a couple of weeks ago in Manchester. The concept is easy but the possibilities I am finding are somewhat endless!
All you need is some Nylon Ripstop Fabric (Available for anywhere between £3-£5 a metre.) Then the magic part … a can of spray adhesive (£12 – £15).
Once you have sprayed your fabric you will be able to mount normal paper, worksheets etc directly onto the fabric wherever you hang it. Sports Hall Wall, Classrooms, Displays, Offices etc. The beauty of it is that the items you place onto the wall can easily be peeled off and rearranged, ordered, overlapped etc.
It is fantastic for brain storming in groups as you can visually see your thoughts start to materialise. It is also a great way to display your lesson success criteria and allow students to move themselves throughout the lesson.
Any worksheets students may have filled in during the lesson can also be easily displayed and used as discussions points for your plenaries.
@RedcarAcademyPE for the start of next year we are going to create a “sticky wall” in our PE classroom in replacement of one of the displays. I am hoping it will inspire some new ideas and creativity beyond our normal whiteboards!
The general feeling I have been getting over the past couple of months from colleagues in the profession both locally and nationally is a nervous excitement with regards to our new national curriculum starting in September. I have been spending the month moderating the @PEGeeks twitter account and have asked various questions around assessment and the impression I have been getting is people are worried their system may not be the same as other departments. In this blog I am going to layout some of the notes I have taken recently at some CPD I have attended labeled “Assessment without Levels” and “The New National Curriculum 2014”.
What we know:
- 16-20 age groups are the largest for drop out in team games. (Hence major drives from NGB’s to retain these age groups e.g RFU)
- Extra Curricular Sport has flat lined same numbers for the past 30 years!
- The current system of levels have been removed and will not be replaced – for all subjects.
- One size will not fit all … and it shouldn’t!
The main purpose of the new national curriculum is to get our students engaged with healthy active lifestyles both in and out of school. There is a significant shift away from worrying about
Has my student made 3 levels of progress?
to
How much has our student developed physically this year what are his strengths his weaknesses. How effective is he at analysing performance, solving problems?
Our new role is to identify and also help students identify strengths and weaknesses in their performance. I believe the easiest way to do this will be through both a log of video analysis, as well as providing students with relevant curriculum booklets/ documents/ portfolios which monitor this.
How these are designed will be down to individual departments taking into account staffing, costs and facilities which will always impact the curriculums we try to deliver. My 3 Key points when planning your new curriculum will be:
- Backward Planning – What is your main goal? What do you want to achieve? What is your department mission statement? Then work backwards from those key answers.
- Develop curriculum activities which meet your learners needs. (Cornwall & London PE options would probably look very different)!
- Try and monitor progress at key moments in your curriculum. Get students involved in the process so they are continually engaged with their strengths and weaknesses in team sports, athletics & fitness scores etc.
The final element will be trying to fight back the ability to baseline test new students in year 7. I know a lot of schools in recent years have moved away from this but it is essential that we have strong PE related assessment at the start to hang the rest of our curriculum on. Gone hopefully are the KS2 maths and english data impacting PE targets!
In conclusion, each department around the country may indeed look very different come September in terms of PE curriculum and assessment. Its a great idea to continue to collaborate with this theme but ensure you are linking with schools who are relevant to your area, facilities, school size etc. Play to your strengths, develop something you as a department are proud of and see how it goes!
Over the past year since joining twitter I have read many different blogs and posts related to top 10 apps for PE. I have found them extremely useful to experiment with and try new ideas. So I thought it was about time I had a go!
1.) Numbers – £6.99
Although considered expensive now a days … compared to an Office subscription for the iPad I think numbers is a great option as a PE teacher. I use it regularly for athletics scores, assessment levels, and various other spreadsheets that I need. We have Griffin Survivor cases in our department so gone are the days of trying to write down levels on paper in the pouring rain!
2.) Explain Everything – £1.99
I have only really started using this recently as part of my “flipped” learning experiments. I am now a convert! This app allows you to create screen casts and then turn them into videos. This can be used to create revision resources, highlight videos, performance analysis etc. It takes a while to get used to but once you have cracked it the possibilities are endless!
3.) Dartfish EasyTag – £1.99
A performance analysis app that lets you create a personalised grid. Using key words students can then tap the screen when they see certain skills or stimulus. This allows for live data within the class when giving feedback and plenaries to either the class or an individual.
4.) SportsTables – £1.49
A basic app that allows for a live table in your lesson. Saves me a lot of time as you can set them up before the lesson. Has had a huge impact on students engagement as they are continually trying to “top the table” and work out how many points they need etc. We also use it for our house games which has saved a vast amount of time.
5.) Coach’s Eye – £2.99
Having used different video analysis apps in my lessons I personally find this one the most user friendly. Coach’s Eye allows you to video a sporting performance and give instant feedback. You are able to slow it down, zoom in, draw on it and look at fine details of performance. This kind of technology a few years ago cost huge amounts of money … you can now do it for a mere £2.99!
6.) Qrafter – Free
QR codes are a fantastic way of creating differentiated resources for your classes. The app “Qrafter” allows you to scan and also create QR codes. As a department we use QR codes regularly both in practical and theory lessons.
7.) Comic Life – £2.99
Comic Life allows students to create their very own personalised comic strip. Students can use supplied templates or create their own by adding photographs, speech bubbles, and text. We use this a lot with non participants to keep them focused on the key points of the lesson, and we also use it as teachers to create worksheets for both theory and practical lessons.
8.) Scoreboard – Free
A free app that you can project live scores, time the game, and have a shot clock if playing basketball.
9.) Team Shake – £0.69
I have recently been on some CPD looking at “No hands up” questioning and ensuring that all students are prepared and ready to answer any questions. This app allows for random selection of both individuals and also teams. It has features where you can differentiate your teams behind the scenes so that you end up with fair teams and hopefully not too many arguments!
10.) Pages – £6.99
My final app is apple’s version of Microsoft word. As much as I would love to avoid it we all need to sit in meetings and make notes and I find pages extremely simple to use and organise different notes that I make both in and out of school.
Albert Einstein once wrote “The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education”. I read this quote recently and it got me reflecting on where we are nationally with education. The Department for Education believe their new policies are having an impact on teachers “freedom” within the classroom. Cutting down red tape, less bureaucracy, less paperwork! Yet somehow on the ground when reading union debates, newspaper articles, other blogs from hardworking teachers it appears we are currently going through a season in teaching where we feel like constricted conformists.
My fear with such restrictions and moulds is the impact on our students. Pupils will go from lesson to lesson and receive the same thing … taught in the same way … with the same tone …! I am lucky enough to be part of a forward thinking PE department who are extremely passionate about our subject. However, we are all very different in our day to day teaching, and it has taken me a while to understand that this is ok! Provided our core principles and objectives are the same how we go about achieving them is surely up to our individual strengths and choice? What we deliver within our PE curriculum is surely the same? Nearly every school within the country have different sporting facilities available to them … to create the best possible curriculum and opportunities for our children can we not be trusted to look at our spaces available and the sports we could offer? As I mentioned in my previous post we could even try and share resources, teaching expertise and facilities in our council areas.
What is stopping the new “freedom” policies in education from filtering down to us at the grassroots? (Literally for PE)! … one word … TRUST. In all of my years of visiting doctors I have never once questioned their ability to prescribe me medicine. They look at my symptoms, look at my medical records and then make a judgement on what to do. This is the very definition of what professionals do!
We as PE teachers look at a students physical literacy, their potential, their strengths, their weaknesses and we plan how we can help “Jimmy” become a lifelong participator in sport. How we can help him live an active healthy lifestyle? Help him develop his core life skills; communication, teamwork, respect. But is our opinion on “Jimmy” trusted? How many times do we have to justify our plan for “Jimmy”? How many times do we have to be observed helping “Jimmy”? How many documents do we have to submit to show “Jimmy’s progress”?
Freedom in the classroom would give us the power to determine action without constraint. With that level of freedom there would become an increase in responsibility. However, would you rather defend your own choices or government policies?
Would “Jimmy” benefit from my full attention? Finally free of me writing copious amounts of information on the board that he won’t even read? Would he benefit from being active from the moment he enters my classroom to the moment he leaves? Even since qualifying I feel students are becoming more and more like products with barcodes. The reason I trust my doctor is because I have a relationship with him. We talk about things other than just my symptoms!
I really hope the current policies trying to offer more “freedom” on the way we educate in the UK start to be felt. I really want to start seeing my students as humans again, and not as products I have to develop.
With the introduction of the new PE national curriculum last year in the UK the debate between Competition vs Participation in school sport is heating up. Michael Gove’s continued drive to “privatise” the “state” school curriculum and go back to competitive school sport as the main emphasis is perhaps well intentioned, however, is it really relevant to 21st Century Britain?
I have been reflecting a lot recently on the main purposes and role I hold as a PE teacher. I am certain many people hold different views and opinions on our mission statement. One of the first things I learnt about when I choose to become a teacher was the huge difference between sports “coaching” and “teaching”. Having undertaken various coaching awards and playing competitive sport throughout my life I have always been under the opinion that coaching is very goal orientated. We must win the next game, we must perfect this skill by the end of the training session etc. Participation on the other hand has an air of freedom about it. I spent three years of my childhood growing up in Washington, DC in the USA and I always remember how much I used to love taking my basketball down to the local park where there was a court and I spent hours shooting. This seemed an extremely natural thing to do while in America whether it was basketball, swimming, or playing tennis. However, on my return home is all felt a little different. I remember struggling to find the facilities. I remember once playing tennis on a court and being asked to “pay” or leave.
I firmly believe in doing away with a PE national curriculum all together. Allow a culture of participation to develop which then in turn would allow for competition. By allowing schools to develop their own PE curriculums which are linked with their access to facilities and equipment it should allow students to get the very best experiences we can offer them. The ability to collaborate with other local leisure centres and schools. The ability to take students to experience a 4G pitch at a local college, a running track, a swimming pool.
I am becoming increasingly concerned by our countries choice of investment within sport. We are starting to get into familiar four year olympic cycles (excuse the pun) of funding. Investment in gold medals is obviously fantastic for our countries reputation in world sport. However, what is the real cost? How many schools can offer rowing and cycling as part of their curriculum? I can, however, stick some tape on the wall and create a handball goal. A student asked me the other day “Are there any local handball clubs?” after a successful first lesson introducing the sport. “Umm I will get back to you on that” was my reply!
There are a lot of other contributing factors to this debate. I am not naive enough to think there isn’t. When a student is falling asleep in my class in the morning because of the latest release of COD I understand there is a lot more going on than meets the eye! However, something has to change. Perhaps allowing the local independent school to continue with high level competitive sport because they have multi million pound facilities is the right move. Perhaps allowing me to “tape” various emerging sports onto my gym floor to allow students who couldn’t care less about traditional sports the chance to find something fun that they would like to do is the right move.
In conclusion, I will always remember my days playing basketball in America. My choice to play and compete for a team came from the freedom of being able to participate. On a sunny day with just my basketball and an empty court I would shoot for hours pretending one day I would be Michael Jordan. I guess the final question is … How do we get our country participating again?
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