Upper Canada College Presentation

Always a Wonderful Opportunity to Share

I would like to thank Upper Canada College in Ontario for giving me the opportunity to share my teaching practice with the PYP PE teachers in the Toronto region on December 17th. When it comes to quality educational institutions, Upper Canada College is among the very best in the nation and it was a privilege to present there. The school is very lucky to have Dr. Mark Baxter leading its elementary PE program. Mark is also one of North America’s finest IB PYP PE workshop presenters. 

A group of very dedicated teachers braved the cold and snow to come and listen to my presentation. I was given 2 hours to present and I admitted to participants that I found it quite challenging to narrow the message that I had in such a short time. Delivering the message required careful planning. Everyone has busy schedules, so I am grateful to have had at least 2 hours to talk about the passion that I have for teaching and learning and to share successful instructional strategies that I have used in my own program. I certainly wanted to leave teachers with ideas that resonated with them in order to help them improve their already good teaching practice. 

The first part of my presentation revolved around the theme that our personal journeys play a significant role in shaping who we are as educators. It’s something that I firmly believe in and I try my best to assist educators in understanding the powerful role that reflection plays in deepening our teaching practice. Many teachers (myself included) are constantly looking for those very practical ideas that can be immediately applied in our programs, the take away, but I believe that there is great pedagogical value in looking at the bigger picture first. Once we look at the bigger picture and identify successful teaching strategies that transcend subject specific boundary lines, we are better preparing ourselves to deliver more quality lessons in PE. 

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We then went down to the gym for some practical hands on activities. I also demonstrated some quick and easy assessment strategies that I have used in my program. In addition I was able to take some time to talk about the Physical Education Professional Learning Community PEPLC) and show teachers how they can get involved. 

It was great to meet such a dedicated group of PYP PE teachers and I wish them the very best in the remainder of this school year.