InTASC Standard:  

Standard #5: The teacher understands how to connect concepts and use differing perspectives to engage learners in critical thinking, creativity, and collaborative problem-solving related to authentic local and global issues (InTASC, 2013).

 

Brief Description of Evidence:

In the spring semester of 2023, in my EDUC 240 Introduction to Physical and Health Education for Elementary Teachers, we created a healthy snacks and physical activities calendar. In groups of 2, we created 15 days each of healthy snacks and physical activities that students could do at home with their parents. We also made a letter to go home along with the calendar explaining what the calendar was, how to use the calendar, and a reward that if at least 15 days were completed with a combination of physical activities and healthy snacks.  

 

Analysis of What I Learned:

Through my time in the EDUC 240 class, I learned many ways to make physical activity fun and how important it is for students to eat healthily. I have learned that students who eat healthier and are physically active have a better chance of focusing better in school. Parents play a huge role in deciding what food and physical activity students get, so I learned how to get parents involved through a challenge to complete while at home. I realized it was essential to apply exact measurements when completing a recipe for parents. I learned how important it is to ensure each exercise you put on a calendar includes FITT (Frequency, Intensity, Time, and Type). 

 

How This Artifact Demonstrates my Competence on the InTASC Standard:

This demonstrates my competence in InTASC Standard #5 by connecting the concepts of physical activity and healthy snacks. I also used differing perspectives while using critical thinking, creativity, and collaborative problem-solving. Students had to use critical thinking to determine which activities they wanted to complete. I used my imagination to create a fun, engaging calendar to grab the student’s attention. Students had the opportunity to use creativity by creating fun artwork with their healthy snacks encouraging them to want to eat their snacks. Students had to use collaborative problem-solving by working with a parent to determine which activities to do and how to make their snacks. I also had to problem-solve when creating the letter home to ensure that our letter was thorough and appropriate to send home to parents. David Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory states, “the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience. Knowledge results from the combinations of grasping and transforming the experience” (The David Kolb Theory of How Experience Influences Learning, 2022). I used this theory by creating the calendar, making it a challenge for the students with a reward if they could complete it. This transformed their learning experience by allowing them to realize that exercising and eating healthy can be fun. This is a local and global issue because “Children and adolescents ages 6 through 17 years should do 60 minutes (1 hour) or more of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily” (Youth Physical Activity Guidelines | Physical Activity | Healthy Schools | CDC, 2022). By creating a calendar for every other day’s physical exercises, we encouraged students to get a portion of their needed physical activity.