Connections to Community: Blog Post #4

​Narrowing the Focus

Purpose of Unit:
This unit is focused on inspiring students to take action on being physically active when outside of their regularly scheduled PE time. 

Background into the unit:
The unit itself is quite unique in the sense that  we are providing opportunities to students for free play and exploration of  areas of interest in regards to being physically active.  However, this unit is carefully designed to get students thinking about what opportunities exist for them to be physically active within their immediate community, then create a unit that recognizes these choices and to offer students chances to explore these opportunities.  We are very fortunate here at KAUST to have amazing  facilities, resources, and spaces for young people in the community to take advantage of.

Our goal is to provide students with an open slate of possibilities that falls within the constraints of what they can do within their community.  We want to inspire them to take action  on being physically active in order to find the value it has on connecting them with their peers and   the  impact it has on their well-being. 

Major challenges of this unit
When designing a unit such as this,   it is necessary to be ultra-aware of the actual curricular outcomes that we are striving to address. In allowing lots of choice,  it is necessary to   be purposeful in our pursuit of providing meaningful, community-based  opportunities for physical activity. 

FLEXIBILITY:  A unit such as this is impossible to deliver if we are not flexible within our approach and how we interpret the curriculum.  

CONTROL:   We must be able to give up lots of control and to let students' genuine interests rise to the surface. We must honor these choices BUT ensure the students understand that the choices that they have are rooted in opportunities that exist outside the school and within the community. 

SUCCESS CRITERIA: Regardless of the physical endeavor itself,  we must  provide a solid structure in regards to making success criteria explicit to the students.  As this is not a traditional unit,  there are a number of physical activity themes embedded within the experience.   A teacher using this approach must  be ready to   draw on  a multitude of outcomes from various   areas of the curriculum. 

FEEDBACK:   It is critical to stay on top of the students' chosen paths of exploration and make them aware of the desired outcomes of their chosen areas. This can be done through a number of strategies, but  collecting data  on  their progress is pivotal to  creating opportunities for them to be successful. 

As you can see from the photo above, over a succession of classes, the students were able to explore different areas related to physical activity.  After a whole class exploration of these areas of physical activity, they could assess to what extent they enjoyed it (0-10 scale).

Once they had experienced all of the different possibilities (4 classes), they had to NARROW THE FOCUS.  I then asked them to chose their top two favorite activities. They filled out their answers on the cards shown in the photo below. 

I ​collected their responses in regards to these top 2 choices and now the rest of this unit (8 more classes) is devoted to honoring their choices and structuring all learning and opportunities around these choices. 

You can imagine what it's like getting ready for a unit such as this. It requires lots of preparation in regards to organizing equipment and space, but it's well worth it. 

As the students come to class,  there is no warm up  needed. No opening tag games, no sitting in a circle talking about what they are going to do, no  explanation of expectations or rules. They just get right down to business. I love it!

However, at this point in the unit,  as the main focus is still on free play and exploration within the boundaries of their two choices, the students must understand that there still needs to  be a focus that is rooted in   specific outcomes within the curriculum.   Ensuring the students understand these outcomes is critical to the success of the unit itself. 

As we work through this unit,  our goal is to inspire action. To get kids wanting to take action on being physically active  in their own time, outside of regularly scheduled PE time.  We want to get them reflecting on the action that they take on being active and to find joy in this  this endeavor. 

Traditional Assessment
If you are interested in teaching a unit such as this, you need to throw traditional assessment out the window as it will not work.  However, there are still possibilities to assess your students and offer timely feedback  to them in order to help them  improve on their skills but it depends on  making important learning outcomes explicit and visual.   The students must know that their free play and exploration must be rooted in a purpose that allows them to demonstrate important outcomes and skill development.  

Formative Assessment For Learning
In order to begin to gather data  related to their successes and to areas in need of growth, I had my students do a thinking routine that  allowed them to share their thoughts.   I made anchor charts that had important outcomes  described  in each area of their chosen physical activity.  I had the students record their successes and their areas in need of improvement. 

In recording their thoughts, I now how a visible anchor to  give them timely feedback while they free play and explore their areas of interest.    There is no doubt that I could step in and dictate what they need to get better at and provide them with   a number of drills  and different types of practice that they could do to get better  at areas that I think they need to improve on, but the aim of this unit is not about teacher directed  skill and drill.  Instead  it's about  meeting them  within their level of interest and choice and offering them insightful and critical feedback related to the areas they have identified as being important to improve. 

I'm not saying this is the best way to run a unit, but  I can say that I'm enjoying teaching it and the students seem to be enjoying the experience.   I'll seek feedback from them over the next few weeks in regards to whether or not they actually liked the unit.   More to come!

In the meantime, see examples of the thinking routines used to elicit important thoughts from the students in regards to their strengths and areas in need of improvement  within their chosen areas of pursuit.  Thanks for reading.