PYP PE Job-a-Like at Nanjing International School

PYP job-a-likes are a great opportunity to get together with other good practitioners in order to share best teaching practice. I was fortunate to be able to host a PYP PE job-a-like today at my school, Nanjing International School. Although there were only 3 other PE teachers attending, the day was a great success and we all felt as though we walked away having learned something new about our practice. As there is no real formula for job-a-likes, I am going to blog, in detail, about the day to show what we did. 

A Bit of Background.....

 The first PYP PE job-a-like in our region this school year was hosted by Ryan Matopodzi from Taihu International School in Wuxi. It was great to sit down at a table with a number of different PYP PE teachers and discuss our thoughts, ideas, and general teaching practice. We all did a mini-presentation on practices that we feel work well for us professionally. One of the teachers attending this session, Doron Gringorton (Suzhou Singapore School), opened up discussion about the potential of changing up the job a-like next time around. What he suggested was that we actually teach mini-lessons to students that can be observed by the other PYP PE teachers. Although sitting at a table discussing good teaching practice is valuable, we all agreed that actual observations would be much more beneficial to us professionally. With this in mind, I volunteered to host a job-a-like of this nature at my school and am happy to have done so. 

The Day at a Glimpse.....

The teachers who attended: Andy Vasily, Doron Gringorton, Annmaree Butler, and Ryan Metopodzi

Team Teaching Lesson Plan Breakdown


Main Concepts: Cooperation, Teamwork, Strategy
Essential Skills: Passing, Catching, Skipping

Resources Needed: floor hockey sticks, puck, soccer ball, handball, skipping ropes, cones, numbered dots, whiteboard, bibs



1) Class divided into 2 equal teams

2) Each team member given a number that would be theirs for entire game.

3) Each team had its own set of ten numbered dots (1-10). The numbered dots were placed on the floor along the side of the gym and each team member had to sit on their respective numbered dot. 

4) The 5 Activities to be played: Soccer, Handball, Floor Hockey, Skipping, and a Shape Creation Cooperative Challenge

5) Hockey sticks and enough skipping ropes for each student were on far side of gym. The lead teacher was in possession of a soccer ball, handball, skipping rope, and puck

6) At this point, the teacher would shout out 3 numbers (for example, 9, 4 and 2)

7) The students whose numbers were 9,4 and 2 from each team had to immediately jump up and run into playing area. At this point, the teacher would place down one of the balls  or puck. If it was the puck, the students would race across, get a floor hockey stick, and then play a very quick 3 vs 3 floor hockey game. The game was played until a goal was scored or time ran out (about 2 minutes)

8) If a goal was scored, both teams raced back to their dot and sat down. If a goal wasn’t scored and 2 minutes had expired, a whistle was blown and they raced back to sit down(returning sticks of course!!)

9) A point was awarded for scoring a goal and a point awarded to the team that could sit down the fastest. 

10) For floor hockey, handball, and soccer this format was followed. However, if a skipping rope was shown, the students would have to race across the gym and get their own skipping rope and skip as enthusiastically as possible for about 1 minute. The most enthusiastic team was given a point. A point also to the team who sat the fastest.

11) In the shape creation cooperative activity, the students were shown a shape, letter, or object on the whiteboard. At this point, they had to run into the playing area and form the shape, as a group, using their bodies. Again, a point was awarded to the team that completed the task the fastest, as well as a point for the team who sat the fastest after the task. 

---

Ready for action!

Lesson Format:

A) Play numbers game first time for about 10 minutes
B) Allow students to have a break and discuss a team strategy to be used in the next session (ideas generated: better communication, more defense, spreading out)
C) Play numbers game a second time using newly created strategy (10 minutes)
D) Allow another opportunity for a group discussion in order to evaluate the effectiveness of their team strategy and to make any necessary changes to the strategy.
E) Play game a last time ensuring that the students use their latest strategy
F) Whole class discussion on what types of strategies the teams used and whether or not they were effective
G) Students complete an assessment task

---

Examples of Student Assessment

PYP PE Job-a-Like Final Reflection

All four of us felt as though the day was an excellent experience professionally. We learned new things from one another and engaged in meaningful discussion about the role of PE in the PYP, how to make more genuine and authentic connections to key transdisciplinary skills in our lessons, how to embed more inquiry within our lessons, and finally opportunities to better highlight the Learner Profile in PE. I am grateful for the  chance to have been a part of such a great day. Thanks Doron, Annmaree, and Ryan!!!