This presentation was given by Collin Brooks, an award-winning professor, and presenter from the University of West Georgia. His presentation began with supporting information on the importance of physical education and where you could find supporting statistics and info including supportrealteachers.org, physedagogy, and Shape America. He also talked about the NBCT organization and how it can be beneficial to go through the process of being board-certified due to a good amount of self-evaluation. Collin mentioned that some teachers post classroom activities on Twitter and other social media platforms that can provide new innovative ideas for your teaching practice. I am interested in looking into PE posts from time to time to see if there are any innovative ideas I could implement into our program.

He did mention a few technology tools that could be used to enhance your program.

QR code monkey is a website that allows you to create your own QR codes. These can be used to receive feedback from students on lessons, check for understanding of info, and provide information to students on lessons. In that realm, Collin also talked about Plickers, a tool that is used by students to respond to questions when the teacher is checking for understanding. This can provide instant feedback to the instructor and can help guide future instruction by understanding what the students have learned and/or enjoyed.

Collin also covered apps available which can enhance your physical education program. Team shake is an app that organizes teams randomly for you in a few seconds. I could see this being a good way to create a variance of teams in a short amount of time. This would ensure students are given the opportunity to participate in games and activities with a variety of students. I could see this being a useful tool for classroom teachers as well when creating project groups, activity teams, etc. BaM video delay is a video recording and replay system which can provide instant feedback on form and technique by providing video replay in a preset delayed amount of time. Interval timers also are available which can help provide countdown timing during PE activities. All of the mentioned can be valuable tools in enhancing your PE program.

Another topic covered was called gamification. This is a technique used in physical education programs to give incentives for performance and feedback to students that can be used to encourage growth. Essentially it is rewarding students for completing a given task or level and providing incentives to achieve the next level of performance. There are programs that can provide virtual tokens, stickers, and rewards to students acknowledging their achievements and creating incentives to reach new levels. They can be programmed to differentiate students' goals and challenges depending on their ability and experience level. We have implemented gamification in the way of patches for Miler's Choice, and am interested in the idea of providing virtual badges as an incentive during other activities.

I found this PD opportunity very informative and interesting. Collin did provide a few game ideas as well including Superperson fitness tag and Mario tag which I am interested in implementing into the program. In particular, I found some of the team-building ideas such as "crossing the river" and partner relays good ways to encourage positive student interactions. I also am interested in trying the QR codes, team shake, and a variety of gamification as ways to enhance PE lessons and learning in the classroom. I would recommend this PD to PE teachers or anyone interested in technology tools for the classroom.

Summary by-

David Hay

Burke's LSPE