Today we did a test Skype run with United Nations International School in Hanoi in preparation of next week's flat classroom peer assessment project. As our grade 3 classes will be linking up on Skype to peer assess each other's routines next Friday, Cam McHale's students from UNIS and my students from NIS met each other on Skype today. Not only was it great that our students had a chance to meet on Skype, we were also able to work out logistical issues related to video conferencing matters. We are all set for next week's peer assessment project. Looking very forward to it. Please view slide show of my students practicing for their routines this afternoon. Lots of elements, lots of enthusiasm, and lots of fun to watch!
The elementary PE departments at Nanjing International School in China and United Nations International School in Hanoi are continuing to collaborate and make improvements to the flat classroom peer assessment project that we started a few weeks back. For background information, please see the following links from previous blogs (http://www.pyppewithandy.com/2/post/2012/02/flat-classroom-collaborative-peer-assessment-project-in-pyp-pe.html and http://www.pyppewithandy.com/2/post/2012/02/flat-classroom-peer-assessment-project-update-nanjing-international-school-and-united-nations-international-school.html) Cam McHale and myself had another collaborative planning session on Skype yesterday afternoon and determined that we are mostly on track with the project. There are certain logistical issues that we are still trying to overcome such as time zone difference and a consistent Skype connection, but neither of these two issues have held us back from seeing this project through. Our grade 2 classes will meet next Wednesday morning as it is our turn(NIS) to assess the UNIS students doing their ‘Wind’ routines. We both agree that the most valuable part of the Skype peer assessment is verbal feedback given by students as it is immediate and the students find this most useful. Our grade 3 classes will meet on Skype on Friday, March 9th and perform their movement composition routines using the same assessment criteria that Cam and I created yesterday. Please see picture below of the assessment criteria. The assessment task is to use the color code provided to assess three criteria: combining elements, different levels, and body expression. I will continue to document how this project unfolds. 
I am happy to say that we (NIS and UNIS) completed the first chapter of our flat classroom peer assessment project yesterday afternoon with grade 2. For background information on this project, please visit earlier blog (http://www.pyppewithandy.com/2/post/2012/02/flat-classroom-collaborative-peer-assessment-project-in-pyp-pe.html) to see the specifics. Despite experiencing some logistical issues related to scheduling and IT concerns regarding our Skype connection, we were able to stick to our original timeframe and completed the first peer assessment via Skype yesterday afternoon from 1-2pm Nanjing time. Although things seemed to go quite well, we recognize that there are some areas that could be improved upon. Cameron McHale, the PE teacher from United Nations International School in Vietnam, did a great job at organizing things from his end to ensure all went smoothly. Both Cam and I decided to change the format in which his students were going to assess my students. We needed to ensure maximum efficiency when peer assessing as timing was critical, especially considering the fact that 50 students (three grade 2 classes) were participating at NIS and 20 grade 2 students were viewing our performances via Skype at UNIS. A very special thanks to NIS drama teacher, Sam Brown and NIS music teacher, Bonnie Tsung for their help in making this happen as well! Cam’s students watched 4 consecutive movement composition routines and were given a couple of minutes between each group’s performance to peer assess. The best thing about the entire process was that at the end of the 4 routines, aside from the pencil and paper assessment, some of Cam’s students gave verbal feedback to my students that was extremely useful. His students commented on how cool it was to see cartwheels, scarves, and other elements in the routine. They even mentioned that seeing our routines was great because it gave them ideas for their routines. It was clear to see that they were completely focused and following along on Skype. My students will be observing Cam’s students do their routines in two weeks time. That will conclude the grade 2 part of this project. We have also scheduled peer assessment projects via Skype with our grade 3 classes on March 9th. Please view slide show below of the flat classroom peer assessment process continuing to unfold. It has been a great professional experience so far. Cam and I look forward to refining the process in an effort to make the learning experience more valuable for the students and to provide as much feedback as possible to any other teachers around the world wanting to try this sort of thing out. | AuthorAndy Vasily- PYP PE teacher currently working Nanjing International School (www.nanjing-school.com) in China.  ArchivesMay 2013 
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