Working on my blog at the Street Beach in Southbank, Brisbane Australia

                                     I work and the boys swim.







Chapel Hill School:
HPE:  Health and Physical Education:

• PE is  30 minutes once weekly up to Year 3.  PE is 30 minutes twice weekly Year 4 to 6.
• Kids get "Swim Days" once a week where they are transported to another school that has a pool for the swim program.  I am not sure if this is all Years or just Year 4 to 6.  I did not think to ask until after I had left the school.
• Health education is in the curriculum, but is not really happening because it is taught in the classroom by the teacher's and many teachers are not really comfortable teaching it or have trouble finding the time to teach it (so the HPE teacher says).
• ADEP (Athlete Development Excellence Program) - this was a little confusing to me, but from what I understand, students who want to explore an actual sport beyond what they learn in physical education class, can do that through this program.  It sounds competitive and that they might need to try out to make a team for the sport of interest.

Things I saw or heard that caught my attention during physical education classes:

• He was very clear about using an "Action Word".  His word was "Go", but the students clearly knew that you do not start an activity until you hear the word "Go".  The teacher was very good at using the word in a way that student's were very responsive to.  Usually when I use "action words", I am sometimes forgetful to say the action word when I actually want them to start the activity or I am a little too forgiving of those students who start the activity before I say the word.  I could see how proper and consistent use of an action word to start activities can benefit the classroom.  
• Observation was the primary form of assessment and evaluation of student's skills during the physical education classroom.  That is common practice for physical education in the United States as well. 
• This teacher offered corrective feedback on skills to the whole class rather than going around to individual students during an activity to correct their skill.  He would stop the whole class and give the feedback and ask them all to try the task based on the feedback.  He was consistent with this approach to feedback.  I have mixed feelings about it.  I like that everyone is asked to practice the skills with the correct technique and that no one student feels singled out and they all know and are clear of the expectation.  However, some student's did not need the specific feedback that was given, so they could have been continuing to practice while individual feedback is given to those who need it.  Also, the one-one interaction and positive praise does not happen for the student who might be struggling with the skill.  I can see the benefits and the down falls of whole class feedback.  I am interested in it enough though, that I might consider this whole class approach if there are several students in the class struggling with the skill, but continue the one-one interactions for those times when it is only a few student's struggling with the skill.
• The physical education teacher was great at specifically saying what he wanted to see before having students perform the skill.  Example:  "I want to see two things:  1............  and 2........  He did this consistently every time.  I do this, but not consistently.  I like how clear it is and how it tells the kids exactly what the teacher is looking for each time before starting a task.  

When I spoke with the physical education teacher about assessment in physical education, he said he does not like that students receive a grade for physical education class.  He feels it discourages those students who might be trying new skills for the first time and having a hard time with the skill.  He feels he does not see them enough to be assessing their abilities or even improving their abilities enough to show increased skill development.  He enjoys formative observational or check list type assessments to know what parts of a skill the kids need to improve and help give them feedback for improvement.  Basically to guide his instruction.

Politics:  I am finding that politics comes up frequently in some conversations around education that I have been having.  Remember Toby, he spoke of the political influences on education because of there  only being a house and not senate (no checks and balance system).  

The physical education teacher said swimming has always been a push for physical education because of the availability of water in Australia, specifically in Queensland.  However, over the years as academic subjects have become the priority for teaching time because of national testing (NAPLAN Test), swimming time had decreased in schools.  There has been a lot of publicity around swimming lately in Queensland (he did not say what kid of publicity), but since this has happened, the Governor is all over schools to account for the amount of time swimming is being taught in schools.  Since this has happened, he is seeing an increase in swimming starting to rise up in school again.  It was a different aspect of political influence than with my "Toby talk" and interesting to me to see the political drive to education in Australia again in a conversation that I thought it worth mentioning.

I found a lot of similarities between physical education in the United States and Australia.  My big take away is:  

1. If the majority of your students need corrective feedback on a skill, stop the whole class and it do it as whole class feedback and instruction.  
2. Be specific and clear about the one - three things you expect to see for a task before having student's start the task.  Be consistent with this, it makes a difference.
3. Physical education teacher's in both countries feel they need more time with their student's.  It is difficult to make big changes in student's physical fitness and physical skills in the short amount of time we see them.