Culturally Responsive Reflection

I chose to incorporate FNIM cultural Medicine Wheel volleyball activity into my lesson
plan. The activity I created is a culturally responsive lesson as students will learn about the
Medicine Wheel which is associated to the Indigenous culture. The activity allows students to be
guided into learning about the Medicine Wheel through a gymnasium simulation. A discussion at
the end of the lesson will include students teaching each other the seven aspects of the Medicine
Wheel within the 4 dimensions. This lesson also reflects my rubric (assessment OF learning
piece) as students will play a Medicine Wheel volleyball game which their underhand, overhand,
serving, gameplay, and teamwork will be assessed on the checklist made from the rubrics. My
dynamic warm up is an inclusive warm up where everyone is able to choose a stretch that they
would like to teach to the class. I have also made changes to my unit plan that allows for more of
a culturally responsive classroom dynamic. I have changed my BAL’s and CCC’s to incorporate
a learning environment where we learn about cultural diversity and ways of knowing so that my
students and I create an inclusive setting for everyone to learn. I have changed the
understandings, essential questions, what students should know, and skills of the unit to include
how students can modify the game of volleyball to make it an inclusive game. I have also
changed my lesson plan activities to include more culturally responsive instructional strategies
that will help meet the need of all learners.

I plan lessons and assessment based on provincial curriculum. I believe my plan effectively
integrates outcomes and indicators with instructional strategies and assessment. My lesson that I
have created is directly related to the grade 9 physical education outcome PE9.5 and PE9.6
(stated above). Students will engage in a Medicine Wheel volleyball game that will have students
work on their proficiency of their volleyball skills as well as apply tactics and strategies during
game play.

I make student learning goals for each lesson/task. I believe my goal is clear and my
instruction is focused on it throughout the lesson. My goal is for students to become proficient in
their volleyball skills as well as apply tactics and strategies. Another goal for this lesson would
be for students to become aware of the diverse cultures and how culture can play a role within a
sport. My instruction includes students engaging in a modified game of volleyball that
incorporates Indigenous culture into the activity.

I know which instructional strategies to pick at given times. I believe I have chosen
instructional and learning strategies that are best related to the outcomes and indicators. My
instructional and learning strategies include visualizing the task by demonstrations of
myself/teacher, verbal auditory cues, as well as kinesthetics. I have also included culturally
responsive instructional strategies that include student centered (picking their partners/groups
and stretch they would like to teach), collaborative teaching by grouping students into groups of
similar abilities during the Medicine Wheel simulation, and responsive feedback by giving direct
feedback during the volleyball activity.

My lessons are ready to be used. I believe that in addition to the lesson, the materials
(assessments, handouts etc.) are ready to be used. I made my lesson descriptive so if a sub was to
come in they would be able to teach my lesson. I have included all necessary checklists that the
students will be evaluated on as well as the Medicine Wheel handouts that go along with the
lesson. I included visuals where I felt were necessary to better explain the activity. I list the cues
that are essential to performing the task and the cues reflect what the task is focusing on.

I create formative assessments. I believe my formative assessments are focused on the most
crucial elements of my lessons. My formative assessments include checklists that are directly
related to my assessment OF learning piece (assignment 1) and observation with direct feedback.
The checklists will include the components that assess the students underhand passing, overhand
passing, and serving. I will also be walking around giving direct feedback on what students need
to improve, along with what they are doing well. My formative assessments will help me as a
teacher to assess the students learning throughout the lesson as well as help me assess the
learning at the end through the rubric I have.

I create summative assessment. I believe my assessments are easy for students to understand
and check if students achieved outcomes. Students will have been given the rubric that they will
be assessed on prior to any of the lessons. Students will have the chance to ask any questions and
apply to make changes if agreed upon. The students will also self-assess on the checklists on
certain points throughout the unit. This will allow students to have full knowledge of what is
being assessed and I will go through it thoroughly so that all students will understand. The
rubric/checklists will be given to EAL students in simple and concise language so it is easy to
understand and will also be allowed to transcribe the information for a better understanding.

I set and use goals for enhancing my professional development. I have set the goal of
incorporating FNIM content into a physical education lesson. I do not have a lot of background
knowledge of FNIM content, so I wanted to challenge myself to incorporate an Indigenous
perspective into my lesson. As I worked through developing this lesson, I strived to gain new
knowledge and resources on the Medicine Wheel. My next steps would be to find other
traditional activities/warm-up games that I could incorporate into different lessons.

I can demonstrate a culturally responsive instructional stance. I believe my lesson includes

planned instruction to address a range of cultural needs. I have incorporated culturally responsive
instructional strategies into my lesson plan and unit plan that will help meet the needs of a
culturally diverse classroom. To be a culturally responsive classroom, instructional strategies
including scaffolding (breaking down skills into steps), collaborative teaching (students working
in groups in similar learning abilities), modelling (demonstrations), student centered learning
(student choice), and responsive feedback (when students are performing skills) will be used to
meet the needs of all students within my classroom. EAL learners will also pair/group with
others of EAL that speak the same language to help them communicate better between each
other and help each other learn.

I can use all four types of questions. My lessons include the different types, and my questions
are often phrased well. I have tried an essential question. My lesson will include all types of
questions, but I am working towards becoming aware of each question and what each question
should be able to do. I did put in 2 essential questions to try at the beginning of my lesson.

I understand how to plan for differentiation and adaptation. I believe my plans reflect
preparation to meet common learning needs (disability, EAL, gifted etc.). I have thought out
ways to adapt my lesson to meet student needs but also challenge those who are advanced. For
struggling students: working from where the student is successful from, using a bigger and
lighter ball (more air time for students to get under ball), allowing once bounce before contact,
teach underhand serving to those of shoulder injuries or exceptionalities, and create two game
play court for those of lesser skilled and advanced skilled will be implemented. For students who
are EAL I will demonstrate all skills and use short cues for better understanding (google translate
will also be available if needed). A variety of visual, verbal, and kinesthetic instructional
strategies will be used for students who are EAL as well as using a microphone for students with
hearing impairments. For students who need a challenge: challenge student to work on target
practice (setter spot, push ball to certain spots on opposing courts serving on the court), serving
(teach an overhand spin serve/jump) will be implemented. Also allowing advanced student to
work with student of a lesser skill to guide them in better understanding of what could be
improved (recognizing what could be improved) and adding in additional balls to create a faster
pace game

I create engaging learning activities and tasks. I believe that my planned instruction and
activities in this lesson plan and unit plan will create interest and interaction between students.
Students will work in small groups/teams for the most part of my lesson and unit plan creating
that interaction between them and creating positive relationships. Through the Medicine Wheel
simulation, I create interest as I believe students will be more engaged by actually moving
around and learning instead of sitting down and reading an article on the Medicine Wheel for the
whole class.

My planned activities would improve the discipline specific literacy skills of my students. I am
describing key subject literacies to my students and the learning activities would help develop
those skills in students. This lesson will help develop the physical literacy of students so that
they become competent in a wide variety of physical activities and lead them to be active life-
long. Visual demonstrations, verbal instruction, peer interactions, and physical activities will be
incorporated into this lesson which will allow students to develop their literacy skills through the
six strands of communication.

I can create a unit that would achieve the outcomes and the indicators. I have tried to add a
variety of elements to make it more likely students would demonstrate the knowledge and skills.
This unit provides students with a variety of opportunities throughout the unit to demonstrate
their knowledge of the volleyball skills. Students will be provided class time during each lesson
to develop and perform all skills necessary to play the game of volleyball. Elements of practice
include individual work, partner work, and group work which will provide students with diverse
learning environments that will help students demonstrate their skills in an environment they are
comfortable in.

The final task in my unit elicits evidence of application in a new situation. My final assessment
will provide clear evidence of my students applying their learning in a performance task. The end
performance task includes students participating in a modified game of volleyball. Students will
have the opportunity to show their learning through two days of game play. During this time
students will be assessed for the final time on the checklists that are directly related to the rubric.

I can create a unit that would assess the outcomes and indicators. I have many ways to
determine if my instruction is working including a good variety of formative and summative
assessment. My formative assessments include checklists that break down the individual skill
into parts so that I know if my students are performing the skills using proper technique and their
level of proficiency with the skill. Students will also self-assess their skills on these checklists on
2 occasions of this unit so that I can understand where they think they are in level of proficiency
of skills. The summative assessment will include scoring their skill proficiency on a rubric,
taking into account the checklists from the formative assessment. Journal entries will also be
used to gain students understanding of the lessons taught. Also, direct observation and feedback
will be provided to students as they are performing their skills, this will include partner and
teacher feedback.

Improvements in my unit plan show my increased understanding. My unit plan had a number
of additions designed to refine the tasks, goals, or assessments. I have taken into consideration
the feedback that was given to me on my unit plan and have addressed them in this unit plan
(additions in red). I believe the improvements made in my unit have helped me incorporate more
student-assessment by having students assess themselves on the checklists as a formative
assessment. I have also made improvements to my unit by revising it to make it culturally
responsive and to promote an inclusive learning environment.