Archive
The Collaborated Dropbox
Back in June I blogged about the collaboration between Physical Education educators world wide in the #PEBible and #GCSEPE Dropbox folders (#PEBible to #GCSEPE). In essence, teachers, researchers and coaches are sharing hundred of resources and lesson plans to share good practice and pedagogy with like minded individuals.
Since that post, a number of other shared Dropbox folders have been created that I am finding invaluable to support my teaching.
SOLO Taxonomy Network
Created by David Fawcett (@davidfawcett27) to share all things SOLO taxonomy related. It is organised into subject specific folders, from PSHE to Maths so that the user can easily find resources related to their specific subject. However do not be single minded and only use resources from your subject specific folder, you will find that all the good practice and resources are highly adaptable.
TGfUEducation
Created by @TGfUEducation, this folder shares resources and academic research to support the teaching of TGfU.
A Level PE Bible
Created by Kevin Jones and the staff at Etone College (@EtonePEProfDev) to share A Level PE resources from all exam boards.
Literacy in PE
Created by David Fawcett (@davidfawcett27); this folder has been created in conjunction with a Google Document to share ideas and good practice of developing literacy in PE.
#PEGeeks
Set up by @MrBpeteacher for PE teachers around the world to share resources. Similar to the PEBible in that it is a must have for any PE teacher/coach.
This will not be the ‘be all to end all’ list of the shared Dropbox folders out there, they are the folders that I regularly contribute to and use. However, hopefully it will inspire you to collaborate with other educators through Dropbox to share all our good practice on show every day around the world.
I would encourage you to contribute to these folders as well as use resources. No matter how small, someone will be inspired by your work/ideas.
Top Blogs for CPD in Education
Since joining Twitter (almost exactly) a year ago, I have come across so many outstanding blogs to read my Pocket ‘queue’ is overloaded with great articles to catch up on all the time. As I type, I have 7 blogs to read in my ‘queue’, and that is after already reading 6 this evening.
The purpose of this post is to share with you some of the blogs I regularly check and receive email notifications on new posts to expand on the ‘Recommended Blogs‘ section of my website (I have previously blogged about other blogs here and here). It is these colleagues that regularly share their own good practice and research that allows me to grow as a teacher and I thank you all for that.
I have tried to group blogs into categories to help you as the reader; however this proved to be much harder than anticipated. So although I have ‘tried’ to group the blogs, please go into each link with an open mind about the range of content available.
Do you have any blogs you read on a regular basis? Should they be included in this list? Obviously this is not a definitive list, and I am sure I have missed some out that I regularly read myself. Please comment below, tweet (@MrWickensPE) or email me with any other suggestions you may have – even just so I can personally expand my reading list.
General Education/Innovative Education
Edutait – http://www.woodham.org.uk/edutait/
Mcintosh8′s – http://mcintosh8.wordpress.com/
Mishmashlearning – http://mishmashlearning.wordpress.com/
My Learning Journey – http://reflectionsofmyteaching.blogspot.co.uk/
Technology in Education (iPads, Apps and innovative ideas)
Apps in Education – http://appsineducation.blogspot.co.uk/
APPitic – http://appitic.com/
EdTechTeacher – http://www.edtechteacher.org/
Hand Held Learning in PE – www.handheldlearninginpe.com
Handheld Learning in Sport – http://mat6453.blogspot.co.uk/
iClevedon – http://www.iclevedon.co.uk/
iPads in Primary Education – http://mrandrewsonline.blogspot.co.uk/
iPads in Education – http://www.ipadineducation.co.uk/iPad_in_Education/Welcome.html
iPad in Schools – http://www.ipadinschools.com/
Mark Anderson (ICTEvangelist) – http://ictevangelist.com/
Syded – www.syded.wordpress.com/
The PE Geek – www.thepegeek.com
Outstanding Teaching and Good Practice
Dylan Wiliams – http://www.dylanwiliam.net/
EV Teaching and Learning (SOLO) – http://evteachingandlearning.blogspot.co.uk/?spref=tw
From Good to Outstanding – http://www.fromgoodtooutstanding.com/
Innovate my School – http://www.innovatemyschool.com/
UKEdChat – http://ukedchat.com/
Models of Teaching (SOLO, Cooperative Learning, TGfU etc)
EV Teaching and Learning (SOLO) – http://evteachingandlearning.blogspot.co.uk/?spref=tw
Reflections of a Learning Geek – http://lisajaneashes.edublogs.org/
Sharing Pedagogical Purposes – http://pedagogicalpurposes.blogspot.co.uk/
Taitcoles – http://taitcoles.wordpress.com/
The Learning Spy – http://learningspy.co.uk/
PEPRN (PE) – http://www.peprn.com/
Physical Education
Achieving Excellence Through PE – http://excellencethroughpe.blogspot.co.uk/
AfPE – http://www.afpe.org.uk/
APEQ – http://www.apeqonline.net/
Billy Merchant’s PE Blog – http://www.billymerchant.com/
Education is Physical – www.educationisphysical.com
EVSport – http://evsport.wordpress.com/
Hand Held Learning in PE – www.handheldlearninginpe.com
Innovative Physical Education – www.innovativephysicaleducation.wordpress.com
Inquiry & Technology in PE – http://iphys-ed.com/
MrBpeteacher – http://www.mrbpeteacher.co.uk/index.html
OPEP – http://www.opep.co.uk/
PEPRN – http://www.peprn.com/
PE Scholar – http://www.pescholar.com/
PhysEd Games – http://physedgames.com/
PhysEd Source – http://physedsource.com/home
Teach PE – http://www.teachpe.com/
The Physical Educator - www.thephysicaleducator.com/blog
The Journey of Teaching and Healing Children – http://teachingandhealing.blogspot.co.uk/
Was I Better Today Than Yesterday = www.wasibettertodaythanyesterday.wordpress.com
My First SOLO Inspired Lesson
I jumped on the bangwagon, the SOLO taxonomy bandwagon.
There has been a lot of chat recently on the use of SOLO in education and many teachers on Twitter are using it to shape their students learning. The excitement generated captivated me and I spent some of my weekend sat in the sun researching on the use of SOLO in the classroom and in practical PE. I found a lot of help and advice published by some great blogger’s (see below) on the use of SOLO in the classroom, but a lack of evidence of it’s use in PE. Therefore, I decided that today I will try out SOLO with my Year 8 Geography class as we come to the end of the Coasts unit.
Here are some of the blog’s that provided me with a great insight into the use of SOLO.
- @LearningSpy‘s blog.
- @aknill‘s blog.
- @totallywired77‘s blog.
On Monday evening I also came across some great blog’s on the use of SOLO in practical PE. Although this lesson was a Geography lesson there is some great ideas published through these blogs.
- @DVPLearning‘s blog.
- @EV_Sport‘s blog.
So, back to the lesson. I introduced students to SOLO and explained what each stage meant to THEM! I felt that this was important, especially being a Year 8 group, I did not want them to be treading out of their depth ‘just because I wanted to’ try out SOLO.’
I explained that they will be using the hexagons (below) to share ‘several ideas about’ and to develop a ‘link’ between each idea. They were tasked to review their exercise books, textbooks and class displays to develop their ideas and knowledge of coasts.
The hexagons above were photocopied on A3 that provided students with enough space to extend their answers into long sentences. To ensure students weren’t just ‘working from a canvas’ they cut the sheet into individual hexagon and developed their SOLO learning. Below are some examples of their work during the lesson.
As an extension task, students would travel around the room to question other students on why they have linked two or more ideas together. This encouraged students to justify their choices and provided others to challenge them on their choices.
On reflection, I would be using this lesson structure/activity again, but with a few tweaks. Encouraging peer evaluation and feedback throughout the lesson (not just at the end) would raise the level of attainment across the class. I highlight this as I noticed a gap in the quality of work in pockets around the room, with some students (although with the ability to) failed to challenge themselves to the best of their ability. I feel that this could be rectified through peer accountability to share ideas.
My next challenge, SOLO in practical PE!
