Lessons Learned: A ‘Critical Hours’ Physical Activity Program

1. Lessons Learned: A ‘Critical Hours’ Physical Activity Program January 15, 2010 Lisa Tink Bethan Kingsley

2. Overview • Purpose: • Provide an overview of school-based ‘critical hours’ programs and the successes and challenges associated with delivering them. • Plan: • What are ‘critical hours’ programs? • Your opinion. • My program. • Interactive activities. • Challenges and lessons learned.

3. WHAT ARE CRITICAL HOURS? • Critical hours are the “time period after school when children and youth are most vulnerable to be facing critical choices on their own” (City of Calgary, 2008, p. 5). • The hours, between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., when children are not in school and without supervision by parents who are still at work.

4. WHAT DO CRITICAL HOURS PROGRAMS LOOK LIKE? • Structured and supervised environments, that promote the constructive use of ‘critical hours’. Q: “What would you be doing if you weren’t at program….what do you do after school?” A: “Play video games.” -Andrew, 9

5. WHY ARE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY CRITICAL HOURS PROGRAMS IMPORTANT? • Almost 90% of Canadian children do not meet national guidelines for physical activity (Active Healthy Kids Canada, 2009). • Physical activity and sport participation is lowest among children and youth from disadvantaged populations (e.g., immigrants) and children from low-income families (Clark, 2008).

6. WHERE DO SCHOOLS FIT? • Due to the insufficient infrastructure and lack of resources, in many communities, the ability to provide safe and accessible places for physical activity programs is often limited to the school (Gordon-Larsen, McMurray, & Popkin, 2000). • Schools serve nearly all children and are equipped with facilities specifically designed to promote physical activity (McKenzie, 1999).

7. Discussion What do you think? Are these programs feasible at your school? Who could run them? What do you see as the pros/cons of such programs? Do the challenges out weigh the benefits? SOURCE: http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~markhill/conference-talk.html

8. CONS BARRIERS PROS CHALLENGES SOURCE: http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~markhill/conference-talk.html

9. The Program • Where? - Princeton Elementary and Sifton Elementary • When? - 2 days a week for 3 months - 2 hours after-school • Who? - 15 grades 2 and 3 students from each school - Partners: EPSB, KidSport, Provincial Sport Organizations

10. The Program • What? - Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) model. PHASE 1 - FUNdamentals (FUN)  Objective: TO LEARN FUNDAMENTAL MOVEMENT SKILLS  Content: Overall development, focusing on the ABC's (Agility, Balance, Coordination) to underpin the basic skills used in many sports:  Running, jumping and throwing.

11. Pedagogy How? COGNITIVE EVALUATION THEORY Autonomy supportive Perceived competence Informational feedback Task orientation

12. (SOURCE: Mandigo & Holt, 2000)

13. Bucketball I RULES Stand 7m away from target Partner will return balls Underhand throw Score as many points in given time Your score will be compared to your partners

14. Bucketball II RULES You can choose your target You can chose the distance to throw from Underhand throw How many can you score in given time? Can you improve on your own score?

16. Spaceball Teams of 5 (4 players and 1 teacher per team) Teachers will have cards and deliver the feedback on the cards to their players during the activity RULES Not allowed to move with the ball Must throw underhand Not allowed in the crease Points scored when knocking the ball off the pylon Each team wants to improve their score

17. INFORMATIONAL VS. CONTROLLING FEEDBACK Informational- Provide students with the necessary information encouraging them to solve the problem in their own way. Controlling- Pressure students to behave in particular ways

18. CONTROLLING FEEDBACK

19. INFORMATIONAL FEEDBACK

20. Invent-a-Game TRANSFORMING YOUR GAME INTO THEIR GAME Spaceball How can it be modified?

21. Provide the boundaries but allow for these Q: “Can you tell me which games you like the best that we play” A: “The one we made up” - Sara, 7

22. ChallengesIt’s good in theory but…? When to be autonomy supportive and when to use control. Sustainability.

23. Autonomy vs. ControlWhat is a good balance? Autonomy as a new concept. Provide boundaries. Allow choice within these boundaries. Behaviour, physical ability, and effort are separate. Provide feedback accordingly.

24. SustainabilityNow what? What happens when we leave the school? How do we provide sustainable programs? How long is long is long enough to make a difference?

25. Lessons Learned Funding is available Partnerships are possible. Don’t have to be an expert.

26. Funding Funding is available at the school level. ALBERTA HEALTHY SCHOOL COMMUNITY WELLNESS FUND Supports projects that promote healthy school communities and aim to improve the health and wellness of school-aged children and youth. RBC AFTER SCHOOL GRANTS PROJECT Supports a range of structured, supervised activities that encourage social skills and self-esteem. S’COOL LIFE FUND DREAMS- Drama, Recreation, Extra-Curricular, Arts, Music or Sports.

27. Partnerships

28. FUNdamentals You don’t have to be an expert! They are there to have FUN. With traditional games come a lot of rules. Basic movement skills can be taught in non-traditional games by the average person. “(We) have to have some people coming here sometimes.” “You don’t like that?” “I wish we could just play in the gym.” -Jimmy, 8

29. Resources Fundamentals Movement Skills: Active Start & FUNdamentals stage- PHE Canada Developing Fundamental Movement Skills: Manual- Sport and Recreation New Zealand www.playsport.net Putting Theory into Practice: How Cognitive Evaluation Theory Can Help Us Motivate Children in Physical Activity Environments. – Journal of Physical Education, Recration, and Dance Vol. 71. No. 1

30. “I like ….that we do lots of sports ‘cause we don’t, I, my parents they don’t have enough money for a lot of sports things.” - Julie, 8

31. CHOICE AND CONTROL (SOURCE: Mandigo & Holt, 2000) Learner-centered teaching styles where children are involved in the decision making. Use brainstorming sessions to generate ideas. Ask students to add/change rules in games to make them more enjoyable. Ask students to create a game using pre-determined skills and strategies.

32. MINIMIZE CONTROL (SOURCE: Mandigo & Holt, 2000) Use informative comments about competencies and suggestions for improvement. Provide informative feedback in addition to praise. What they did correctly and what they can improve on. Have them help develop boundaries and guidelines.

33. PERCEIVED COMPETENCE (SOURCE: Mandigo & Holt, 2000) Have students set personal goals using self-competitive activities. Use a Teaching Games for Understanding Approach (TGFU) whereby students learn skills, game appreciation, and tactics using game-like scenarios.

34. OPTIMAL CHALLENGE (SOURCE: Mandigo & Holt, 2000) Use various difficulties of the same task where students choose their own entry level. Have them think of one way to make the game more challenging for them. Use small-sided games where students are matched according to their ability levels. Gradually introduce rules, tactics, and strategies.