A Journey in Online Teaching: The Highs, The Lows and The Breakthroughs

• Extended holiday,
• One off resources,
• Pure panic,
• Action planning,
• Taking control,
• Getting back to normal,
• Hoping to see a few positives.

This is my roller coaster journey of teaching online. My name is Rachel Ford, I am a PE teacher based in China. As many of you are beginning or maybe getting to grips with your online teaching journey, I am a few months ahead. My students are back in school. It feels like the start of a new school year; students are excited and eager to get active. However, they are very out of touch with their regular routine and not used to structure.

My online teaching journey is filled with highs, lows, failures and the breakthroughs. Hopefully I can give you an idea of what to expect during your own journey as well as what you may experience when the students return to school.

The beginning takes us back to early February. I was expecting to start back at school after the Chinese New Year break when my school announced that the holiday would be extended by one week due to the outbreak of Covid – 19.

This was great, one more week in the sun so I jetted off to Bali! Unfortunately, my days were filled with worry rather than surfing. Message after message about online learning filled my inbox. As a PE department, we didn’t stress too much. A couple of weeks and we would be back in school we all thought, we planned to make the workload as manageable as possible. We did not plan for our original timetables; this was one of the best decisions we made! Grade 1 and 2, 3 and 4, 5 and 6, 7 and 8 were combined. Two teachers were assigned to each combined grade and tasked to plan alternatively. This eased the workload and continuity was ensured with good communication between colleagues. There was no real long-term planning, no real thoughts on progression and assessments. This was our first big mistake.

As the situation worsened and the time of school closure extended, we realised that we were going to be teaching online for a long time. Due to our prior mistakes, we played catch up. Teachers began to talk more and planning became long-term. We looked at using jigsaw learning and project-based learning. These models are what I would highly recommend to keep your workload manageable to ensure that learning is fun and engaging for your students. Here are a few ideas for how we used these models:

Jigsaw Learning in Dance – The teacher gave students a piece of music and the first 8 beats of a dance. Students were then organised in to pairs, they had their own online meeting room and they created their own 8 – 16 beats of a dance. When the class returned to school, they put together all the smaller sections of the dance to create a whole class dance. Students were assessed in their short choreography and whole dance.

Project based learning, primary:

Students were asked to create their own game. They were given a list of equipment they could choose from, alongside some rules and objectives. Students could then add more rules and ideas. Students submitted their game plan and some games have been played since returning back to school. Students were assessed on their game planning.

Project based learning, secondary:

Students focused on components of fitness. They first researched and then decided on one component they would like to improve. Students then planned an exercise programme which would work to improve their chosen component of fitness. Students could only plan for exercises which could be done at home. Students then shared their plans once they returned to school and taught each other the exercised they had created. Students were then taken to the fitness suite and asked to modify and follow their programme now that they had gym equipment available.

Once we had developed these longer-term plans, as a department we were a little more settled, knowing that we had done our best to ensure continuity and some form of progress and assessment. Although we were well aware that learning would not be maximised for each individual student. Some students would engage more than others. Some students may not complete our work at all. We still worry about what we will do when it is time to write reports; we have lost almost 3 months of school.

Despite these worries, I do hope that a few positive lessons may have been learned from this worrying and uncertain time. I hope that PE as a subject and physical activity as a whole is better appreciated by both students and parents. I hope that parents appreciate that PE offers learning time not play time. That being said, I know that parents were thankful for PE being the one subject which reduced screen time. I hope parents saw their children succeed in a physical challenge, witnessing the magic in that moment. Something I found really refreshing is that parents enjoyed joining in with the PE challenges and activities. I planned from day one for parents to be involved somehow and I would suggest you do the same.

During my time teaching online, I had set many activities which have required students to take responsibility for their own learning. Students have a choice of tasks which they must motivate themselves to complete to the best of their ability. They must then show honesty in their recording and recording, followed by critical thinking in their reflection. As PE teachers, our main job is to educate and motivate students to choose a healthy, active lifestyle and right now we are being tested so we must ensure that we do all we can to ensure students choose to complete their PE work.

As well as looking after our students, we must also look after ourselves. Being away from our students, workplace and colleagues for so long is difficult. We question our purpose. It was in my 4th week I really started to struggle. Missing my students, my colleagues, my friends and feeling completely useless. As a department we organised regular meetings on Microsoft Teams, not only to ensure collaboration but also to ensure we remained connected and supportive. A couple of meetings a week made all the difference and made our transition back to school much easier.

I had so many big ideas for my return, athletics modules with mini Olympics, cross curricular learning and sport education units. I spent my time planning each and every detail. Unfortunately, the students were not ready. In China, students have not attended school for three months. Returning to school has been like the start of a new school year. Students are not ready to dive straight back in to PE the way I wish they were. They need time to reconnect with their friends. They need to be reminded of the structure, routine and expectations from a lesson.

I have decided to take a step back, loosen the reins of control, be thankful for the fact that I am back in school teaching my students. I will save those plans I compiled during the online teaching period for next year and, for now, concentrate on team building and cooperation games. I’m also reminding myself daily that life has been tough for a long time, enjoyment and reconnection is just as important as education and progression right now. Give the students and yourself time to get back to ‘normal’.