Once Upon a PE Lesson

Storytelling, Cognitive Biases & PE Life After Lockdown | Podcast with The PE Umbrella

 

 

I was thrilled to join Ryan Underwood again for my second appearance on the show. My first appearance was back in episode 137, where we explored all things Primary PE, including my favorite warm-up activities, top tips, and more.

In this episode, I had the chance to catch up with Ryan about everything I’ve been working on since our last chat. One of the most exciting developments has been the launch of my website and blog, Once Upon a PE Lesson. I’m a strong advocate for using storytelling and themes as powerful tools in teaching PE, especially in KS1 and EYFS. We kick off the episode by diving into some of my favorite themes and games, and why these approaches have been so successful in my teaching methods.

We also discussed how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted PE teaching. After returning to face-to-face teaching following a 3-month lockdown, I shared insights on how PE has evolved with social distancing rules in place, what has changed, what surprised me, and what I recommend as ideal units to start with upon returning to school.

Ryan also asked me:

– What excites me the most about PE right now? – Which misconceptions of Primary PE would I eliminate if I could?

As always, we ventured into many interesting tangents, including discussions on cognitive biases, so there are plenty of valuable takeaways for everyone!


If you’re looking for fresh ideas, check out my resources page to add some fun and engagement to your lessons!

 

GCSE PE isn’t popular in Malaysia because of a priority placed on academic subjects – and students are suffering for it

An Instant Activity (IA) is an activity that helps to get “…classes off to a quick, dynamic, and fun start” (Markross, 1998). IAs can be activities from past lessons, free play

If you’ve already started storytelling, please get in touch and let me know how it is going. Here are some steps you may like to take to help you prepare if you’ve not had a chance to implement it yet.