PE 10... Fitness Portfolios for Lifelong Learning

In PE 10, Ms Arcenas' class is taking the learning outside of the classroom and also outside of the "Unit" by recording fitness workout every week along the entire school year. Students will reflect on their own fitness plan and also on how it should be adjusted to provide the desired results and support other activities like basketball or soccer practice.

In order to make this record viable, students will enter the weekly workout on a Google Form that feeds a spreadsheet where they will collect all the information to be used as a basis for reflection and review.

The images below show how the Form looks like on a cellphone, and how the filled out spreadsheet looks like.

Such use of cellphones to enter fitness data is interpreted at the Augmentation stage of the SAMR model. This is because the cellphone offers clear advantages to paper record. It allows better organization and more importantly, it allows easy record on the spot, avoiding imprecise recording at a later time.

SAMR Augmentation

Cellphone Form

Spreadsheet View

  

Challenges on this Stage

There are several challenges in this activity, which already start at the Augmentation stage they are in. so to move to Modification we need to make sure the following is guaranteed:

Paradigm Shift for Students - Fitness for Life
Students will have to keep a record of fitness workout outside class and outside the Unit timeframe to learn fitness for life. Usually students tend to think that when a Unit is over, all activities related to it are over as well. Reflection will also focus on challenges in the process.

Recording Habits
The habit of recording on the place they do the workout will be a challenge, because students are not used to recording workout (which includes heart rates). The use of the cellphone in the gym is supposed to help record on the spot , so it will have to become a habit.

SAMR Modification

The chart below shows what moving up the SMAR model would look like for this activity.  The SAMR model has been developed by Rueben R. Puentedura and its image is being used to support the analysis of the PE Fitness Unit associated with our ICT Standards, An initial level in Modification would be having students share their reflection on the portfolio through a blog. A next level to complete Modification would be to have students comment on each other's posts, in this way learning together.

SAMR Model Image developed by Rueben R. Puentedura - adapated to analyze PE Fitness

Challenges on this Stage

Continuous reflection on a blog as an extra step
Students will have to show their reflection along the way, and not just as an after thought at the end of the year. Then they will need to look at some of their peer reflections to learn from them and offer suggestions.

Teacher Check Points
Another important strategy will be to check student worksheets through Teacher Dashboard from time to time to avoid students filling out a "fake" worksheet only at the end of the school year. Those checkpoints can help with student reflections and connection to other Units like Basketball, for example, so students can analyze their fitness log to see if the workout plan is effective for that sport , what needs to change.

SAMR Redefinition

Redefinition would then happen when students make connections with experts and other students around the world to open up their learning and reflection about fitness.