A new Building Outside the Blocks project can come from a variety of places. It can stem from something I’ve read, a place that I’ve been, a flash of imagination or, as it turned out , the brain of a Grade 1 student. I took on an half time LTO in January and, for the first time ever, I would be teaching Physical Education to students in a Grade 1/2 split. There was so much to learn in order to do a good job at the various prep coverage classes I had taken on, which made it all the more exciting when I was casually standing in the office at the end of a school day a few weeks in. This Grade 1 student showed me the instructions for a game that she had created called Police. She had every detail written out procedurally, and the lightning bolt hit. Could Grade 1 and 2 students lead each other in a game of their choice of creation?
I quickly processed what I knew of the age group as a mother and what I was learning as a teacher. I was curious how the students would respond to having a rubric to reflect their leadership of a game in gym class at this age. I wondered if this was something most students could do. I wondered how I could accommodate those who were challenged by it. I wondered how the parents would respond. Best of all, I wondered what was possible.
Next, I checked the Ontario Curriculum. In the Health and Physical Education document, it reads: In Grades 1–3, students are also occupied with developing personal skills (e.g., understanding that success in an activity leads to increased self-esteem….)" BOBs build opportunities for students to experience success, and if this was an overall expectations, a BOB project may actually work. That got me even more excited! This BOB help students plan and lead a game that would provide them with next steps but also help them feel accomplished and capable. I scrolled through a few outcomes that popped:
1. demonstrate personal and interpersonal skills and the use of critical and creative thinking processes as they acquire knowledge and skills in connection with the expectations in the Active Living, Movement Competence, and Healthy Living strands for this grade.
A1.2 demonstrate an understanding of factors that contribute to their personal enjoyment of being active (e.g., having the opportunity to participate fully in all aspects of an activity, having a comfortable environment for activities, being able to explore different ways of being active, having the opportunity to take part in activities that relate to their cultural background) as they participate in a wide variety of individual and small-group activities [PS]
1.4 apply relationship and social skills as they participate in physical activities
1.5 use a range of critical and creative thinking skills and processes to assist them in making connections, planning and setting goals, analysing and solving problems, making decisions, and evaluating their choices in connection with learning in health and physical education.
Those expectations sent me to the drawing board. Game on, I thought, and then I realized, Game On! Now that it had a title, I developed a few versions of the rubric thinking of the expectations while incorporating learning skills. I came up with:
Then, I thought something was missing to make it user friendly and accessible, so I added:
Then, I reflected that there needed to be a place to provide students with personalized feedback and communicate with parents. I then added:
Now that I was ready to share the outline with the class, I wondered how the students would take to signing up for their dates to present. This aspect fo the BOB Approach creates wonderful chaos because students are excited to self determine a date within the teacher-provided options. This grade level, though, as unchartered waters for me, so everything felt like I was proceeding with caution. Their homeroom teacher partnered with me to help set everyone up for success. She sent the schedule home to parents, and I shared pictures from the students leading for her to post on their class See Saw account. Some students had to find out about trips and appointments before being sure about their dates. I enjoyed seeing their commitment and responsibility.
Some students, even after getting a one week and two day reminder still weren't prepared. That is the beauty of offering the Take 2. I am a firm believer that we need to provide opportunities for guided failure in schools. Of course, our goal should always be to set students up for success, but failure is an outcome, sometimes. We often move on from failure, leaving students to have to work through the stumbling block on their own. As often as possible, I try to give students the chance to grow from the experience, own the next steps and demonstrate growth. More of the time, with a simple reminder and home-partnership students came prepared to lead on their selected date.
This is where the Take 2 comes in. Among the class of 21 students, 4 students did not meet with success. It was about more than not achieving grade level expectations; it was about them not doing their best. One student over-thought and under-planned. He had such grand detailed ideas, but there was too big a divide between his imagination and what he could prepare and communicate. Another student one was too busy playing the game that he was supposed to be leading, the third had the idea but was completely unplanned and unprepared to explain it to the class. Finally, one student stood there on the day he was to lead, after being reminded and asked if he needed help preparing as he had chosen the last possible date. He said nothing from the walk in from recess to the preparing for going to gym, to readying the circle of students for him to lead. Only when he was asked did he freeze. Finally, he whispered, "I just couldn't think of a game."
The Take 2 is an option for anyone in my classes with a BOB and often other assignment. They don't aways get a chance to present to the class audience in the second effort, but in this case, it was essential. After giving them feedback quietly and face to face, these children asked for the chance to grow from the experience, so I spoke to their parents and supported them in getting another chance to lead a game or activity for their class. 3 out of 4 of them showed improvement and were responsive to the next steps that were shared. One student didn't learn from his failure, which was an important growth point to share with his parents. His Homeroom teacher, parents and I all agreed that planning is a challenge for him, but now that we have articulated this, it is a horizon for him going forward. With guided failure, students have the chance to learn from experience and respond to feedback to be responsive to enacting the next steps and demonstrate learning.
In the end, like with all my BOB Projects, students got to feel successful. They got to apply relationship and social skills as they participated in physical activities. They had the opportunity to fully participate in all aspects of an activity and were able to explore different ways of being active. This gave them the invitation to bring activities that relate to their cultural background, and they had a chance to experience success in an activity[which] leads to increased self-esteem. My Grade 1/2 students got to get messy, make mistakes and learn from each other.
This project became a celebration of many things, expected and unexpected. Like with all other BOBs, the students would ask, “Whose Game On is it today?” because they were genuinely engaged. Students were given responsibility and accountability. They listened to and learned from each other, and I witnessed their sense of community develop. They gave each other feedback and next steps, guided to ensure positivity. The imaginative girl who started it all once commented to a boy who ran an obstacle course, "I like that your Game On encouraged people to try something new." I had to stop and record it verbatim because it said so much about the value of empowering students to coach each other and share feedback.
There were even more unpredictable results. It was surprising that a student who is learning English created and communicated an original game called Robots and Humans. While it was like tag, she prepared hand drawn hearts for each participant. They wore the hearts on their shirt attached by paper clips. The hearts were for the humans, and she brought gloves for the robots. She explained that when all three of their hearts were taken by the designated robots, they, too, became robots. She was the most preparation I could have possibly expected from a Grade 2 student, all her own work. Her smile, reflecting her pride and deep sense of accomplishment, was indescribable. I will remember it for the rest of my life.
It was also unexpected that a student taught the rules of soccer in such incredible detail from the handout he had prepared himself. It amazed me that so many of the students could be so well planned for a task they sign up for in advance at such a young age. It was cool to listen to student feedback for learning. It was also unexpected that those 3 students who did a Take 2 expressed how they learned and grew for their mistakes. I love how BOBs help facilitate deep learning and refection for students.
When I present on the Building Outside the Blocks Approach, I usually say that they are personalizing projects for Grade 3 and up. I would never have considered a BOB for this grade level. I’m not sure if my incredible class of students that I see two periods a week is the exception, but I am looking forward to trying, making mistakes and failing forward from there. I now know, regardless of age, it’s Game On!
