Post-pandemic PE Workshop
Date: Online videos will be available in April. Live Q&A will take place Wednesday, May 5th, 2021 at 4-5pm (UK)
Cost: £50 per coach
Registration: Apply on the Excelsior Club webpage
Agenda: 2 x 60 minute modules, plus an additional 60 minute Q&A session.
Learning Goals: Online learning has meant that children have been sitting indoors or in one classroom more than ever. P.E. teachers will have seen a decline in both physical fitness and motor skills since March 2020. If the schools try to return to a pre-pandemic curriculum without preparation then the pupils are likely to struggle with a lack of fitness and lack of skill. This workshop will give teachers practical ideas on how to include micro-dosing of physical competence and fitness into their normal p.e. lessons. This will enable pupils to build resilience and confidence concurrently.
Faculty: James Marshall and Andy Stone. Learn more about them below.
Faculty
Module 1: Assessment and teaching
Measuring is not something that a teacher does to a student but a process they undertake together.
In this tutorial, James Marshall will show why the standard format of testing, introduce the programme, and then retesting is problematic and potentially demotivating.
If children are unfit: we know that, so just testing them doesn’t help them improve. Reducing the skill from movements reduces the interest: sitting in a wall-sit or doing the plank for endless minutes doesn’t tell you ‘how’ the pupil moves, not does it help them ‘learn.’
James will show how you can do a format of peer-reviewed pupil continuous assessment that improves the students capacity in every lesson and avoids the ‘big test’ fear.
Module Content:
- Qualitative assessment of quantitative movements: how to coach the movements involved in common tests and fixes to the common faults.
- Assessment and coaching cues for skipping patterns.
- Alternatives to the low-skill, low-interest tests such as the plank or wall-sit.
- ‘How-to’ videos on exercise progressions/regressions that link to the tests shown.
An example of three tests are shown in this video:
Module 2: Mini-workouts
Once you have assessed the pupils you need to know how to improve their fitness and skill without simply repeating the test. Long exhausting workouts are a sure way to make students miserable, but the consistent effort is necessary to reach any long term physical goal.
How is it possible to improve movement skills and fitness while keeping the students engaged and motivated? An effective solution is a micro workout.
The structure is simple; they are workouts that take between 7 and 12 minutes. They use a small number of exercises, usually four, that are related in a functional way. The workouts have enough repetition to help improve movement, strength, and cardiovascular conditioning but allow for enough variety to maintain student focus. Finally, they are flexible, allowing a teacher to tailor the micro workout to focus on the needs of the class, the space available, and can be done with little to no equipment.
Module Content:
- Basic 4 exercise structure
- 3 basic example workouts (movement, strength/structure, and cardiovascular conditioning)
- Small space workouts
- Large spaces workouts
- Track workouts
- Weight room workouts
An example can be seen in this video: