Thought of the Day: Feb. 17th, 2014

2/16/2014

Reflecting on our teacher talk time

If you didn't see the #physed article from the UK that I posted on Twitter yesterday, check it out here as it is worth the read. Despite disagreeing with the majority of the content in the article, it did get me thinking about teacher talk time in PE. I am very aware of the fact that we must keep our students active, but for those of you who read my blog from time to time, you know that I am big on slowing the class down to have important discussions related to big ideas and concepts in the units we teach in PE.

Although I try my best to keep teacher talk time to a minimum, I can easily justify the importance of having these critical discussions in class. The UK-based article claimed that research shows PE teacher talk time takes up on average 2/3s of class time!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I question this statistic but can only control what I do in my own classes.

Bearing this in mind, I thought that it was important to reflect on my own teacher talk time in PE. I am certainly not the first PE teacher nor the last to ever have had someone time their teacher talk in class, but it was well worth doing. I had a student who had to sit out due to injury use a stopwatch to time how much I talked during the lesson. Obviously I was aware of the fact that I was being timed, but tried to work as I normally do. I must admit that there was a sense of added pressure though.

The Result

Out of the 65-minute class, I talked for roughly 10min15sec. I had 4 whole class discussions lasting between 2-3 minutes each time. During this time we discussed important concepts in striking and fielding, rules, and player responsibilities in the mini-games we were playing. I loved the idea of being timed. It re-emphasized the importance of being succinct with what we want to say and planning our questions better. I'll certainly do it again, that's for sure!

4 Comments

Joey Feith link

2/23/2014 11:36:45 pm

Hey Andy,
I know we've talked about this before, but I wanted to say it again here:
We need to be careful, as physical educators, of the idea of "activity time". A lot of teachers put so much emphasis on hitting MVPA targets that they ignore how much deliberate practice is taking place in their PE lessons.
Any bum with a dodgeball could get kids to sweat for 60 minutes, but it takes a physical educator to help kids learn the skills and concepts they will need to adopt healthy, active lifestyles throughout their lifetime.
Personally, I would much rather have my students participate in 30-40 minutes of deliberate practice time (which I'm helping set up by asking them the right questions, getting them to reflect on their decisions, and keeping them focused on the learning objectives during teacher talk time) than 60 minutes of meaningless "sweat" time.
I do not believe that it is by getting them to sweat for 120 minutes per week for 30-something weeks in the year that will lead to them adopting healthy lifestyles. In my opinion, that's short-term thinking. We need to think of the big picture when it comes to our students, their health, and their learning.

Amanda Stanec link

2/24/2014 03:05:06 am

Love this! I love that you are looking at this! I don't disagree with anything Joey said, I just want to say that I think you can do both. Perhaps the MVPA is not sacrificed for "stop" but rather "stationary strength". I would use time to teach concepts, give instructions, etc. in a way that promoted strength, balance, coordination. For example, find a partner and creativity balance on a total of three body parts together while I give you the next instruction. Or, everyone into forearm plank (then, I proceed to ask reflective questions of my learners). Thus, the learning is never sacrificed but it's not an excuse to sit and talk. :) I also like the idea of these types of activities in classrooms and present a lot to classroom teachers about how to build strength and balance in ways that promote learning of classroom curriculum. Keep it up, Andy!

andy vasily link

2/24/2014 10:06:12 am

Thanks Joey and Amanda for your comments. Always appreciate hearing other teacher's thoughts. I'm with you Joey on the deliberate practice time in our classes. Although I did this timed teacher talk experiment, I am 100% comfortable with slowing my PE classes down to have important discussions. I will never be a teacher who just makes the kids sweat it out in order to meet MVPA targets. I am dead set against this.

I get lots of emails from teachers saying that they don't know how I can take the time to create visuals and have the discussions I do because it takes too much time away from the students being active. At least these teachers are reflecting on activity time, but it is so critical for them to understand that being physically educated means so much more than just running around.

Through continued blogging I will share how I find the best balance. I want to show teachers, and be a bit in their head space, when I say that we need major thought change in how we structure our PE classes. We NEED to ensure our students develop a sound conceptual understanding in our units and lessons. However, we also need to look at how we deliver our discussions and plan our questions. By doing so, we cut down on the waffling and pose more succinct questions and conversations. Timing our teacher talk makes us more aware of this and certainly helps in understanding how much time we actually do talk for the purpose of long term improvement in our instructional practice. Thanks again for posting your thoughts Joey and Amanda.

Mihai

3/7/2014 06:11:43 pm

"However, we also need to look at how we deliver our discussions and plan our questions"

It will be interesting to measure the amount of time spent on planning this discussions and questions. It is time consuming without doubt, but when made with passion, it flies out quickly.

From personal experience, in some lessons we talk more than we do in others - the reasons vary - and recording yourself once is just a snap shot in an continuously changing and challenging environment. Not very relevant when focusing on the objectives of the lesson or unit. On the other hand, I did some video recordings of my lessons, and found interesting things I wasn't aware off.

"being physically educated means so much more than just running around" - big one, here!

Very useful post, Andy!

LEADERSHIP, LEARNING, & PErsonal Growth

Thought of the Day: Feb. 17th, 2014

Reflecting on our teacher talk time

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