Module 1

As a teacher of Health and Physical Education at the secondary level, it is my passion to educate adolescents within a diverse, inclusive, and inviting environment. My goal is to inspire them to become the best that they can be, to understand the importance of living a healthy lifestyle and to teach them the value of being both mentally and physically fit as they evolved into contributing members of society.

This is something that I believe so powerfully that I have it listed at the top of my resume as my Career Objective. There are so many life lessons that transcend the traditional classroom that I firmly believe can only be taught through the world of athletics and health and wellness, that it is our job as health and physical education teachers to ensure we impart them on our students so they are ready once they enter into their lives outside of education.

I quoted in my post for the Professional Learning Framework, that the moment you think that you know everything is the moment that you know nothing. It is through the OCT standards that we as educators continue to grow ourselves through the professional development that we choose to do and it was a great reminder working through the various ministry and educational documents, that I need to continue to check in with myself and ensure that when I am planning my lessons that I need to consider what I am doing with the student in mind and remember that at the core of the world of education is the student and if we are not teaching to meet their needs, they are not going to get the education that they require to be successful.

I really found the article on the discussion about Exploring the Ethical Standards for the Teaching Professions Through Anishinaabe Art incredibly powerful. I found that the biggest concept that I connected with was the idea of ensuring that I continue to teach with INTEGRITY. Integrity has always been one of the most important values that I hold, and it is one that I make sure to hold on to. Even when faced with what could be a difficult situation, I do what I can to ensure that I maintain my integrity so that I can come away proud of what has been achieved. As I mentioned in my post, holding on to our integrity ensures that we can provide guidance and direction in our teaching, which is one of the concepts that the Indigenous hold in their belief systems That there is always a destination, but it is more about the journey that gets us to that destination that matters the most. 

Our discussion on the concept on ALL GENGER or SINGLE GENDER HPE classes was one that I found really helpful towards my future teachings. I recognize that it is an area of HPE that is going to be a bit of a difficult area to navigate over the next several years as society as a whole comes to an understanding of the changing construct of the word gender. I found these resources really helpful as I move forward in my career as a means of how I can ensure that I am making all of my students feel comfortable. The move to make HPE classes co-ed has caused a big shift in the comfort levels and the desirability of the classes, so I believe that by creating a welcoming environment, and by continuing to commit to my own athletic and personal fitness goals I can work to develop myself as a role model at the school showing the students what it means to be active for life. I will admit that working through these resources, I found that I was not too fond of the fact that the majority of the research was done towards female levels of comfort rather then the male side of things, as well as the idea that females should be directed more towards health and fitness rather then the sports specific model of teaching. This is something that has peaked my interest and is something that I would like to use as a means of personal inquiry once I have been able to find a permanent home.