Physical Education
As the elementary classroom teacher, it is your responsibility to teach physical education curriculum to all of your students, including your braille-reading student. The benefits of physical fitness extend beyond health. The skills you teach in your physical education class provides students with opportunities to learn the importance of cooperation, teamwork, spatial awareness, body awareness, balance, coordination, agility and focus. Unfortunately this very important area of education tends to be one of the most neglected for many braille-reading students. Some feel that there is a real lack of opportunities for braille-reading students to participate in physical activities, due, in part, to barriers such as societal attitudes about the physical abilities of blind or visually impaired children, (Lieberman & Hand, 2006).
Interestingly enough, the negative implications of being ‘excused’ from participating in physical education activities are magnified for the visually impaired child. Vision allows you to safely and efficiently move through different environments. Naturally, your student’s visual impairment will cause him or her to extend additional energy to perform tasks that involve gross motor and even fine motor movements. If your braille-reading student is not provided with the opportunity to learn adequate biomechanics, such as balance and coordination,
even simple, daily living tasks will become an onerous and exhausting job for him or her to accomplish.
Fortunately, many classroom educators have had similar concerns arise from teaching a braille-reading student in the inclusive physical education class. As a result, several resources have been developed for classroom teachers like yourself. It is likely that you already have strategies that you have used with your braille-reading student in your PE lesson. Remember, you are not alone in this process. Your student’s TVI will help you develop strategies so that your braille-reading student can access the PE curriculum.
The following information will provide you with strategies to teach and include your braille-reading student in the inclusive PE setting.
Considerations in Planning for Instruction in Physical Education
When planning your PE lesson, it will be necessary for you to think about the unique learning process of your braille-reading student. Consider how easy it is for your class to learn from watching you demonstrate the technique of kicking a soccer ball. Visual demonstrations provide your students with immediate information about the how this action is carried out. In fact, the majority of students in your class will be provided with additional incidental learning opportunities from observing this technique while watching a soccer game. Your braille-reading student will not have the same quick and incidental learning experiences as the rest of your students. Instead, he or she will need to be taught specific movement skills in sequential chunks in order to understand the entire skill.
Physical Education Strategies for Learning
There are many ways in which you can help your braille-reading student participate in meaningful physical activities in your inclusive PE class. The following is a list of simple strategies.
Safety Strategies
- Ask your student’s TVI specific questions about the nature of your braille-reading student’s visual impairment. It will be good to know if there are any safety concerns with the potential of being hit on the head with a ball.
- Orient your braille-reading student to their gym space prior to your lesson. This will be especially important at times when significant changes are made to the gym floor plan, such as temporarily setting up gymnastics equipment.
Skill Teaching Strategies
- Teach movement skills in a sequential order. Instruct your braille-reading student in gross motor skills before teaching fine motor skills. For example, the simple action of throwing a ball starts with the gross motor skill of taking a step and preparing the muscles in your legs, back, shoulder and arm to throw the ball. The final movement of letting the ball roll from the tips of your fingers is a fine motor skill.
Spatial and Body Awareness Teaching Strategies
- Have your braille-reading student verbalize where his or her body is in relation to an object or person. Encourage him or her to use descriptive vocabulary, such as above, under, beside, to the left/right, on top, beneath, to help him or her verbalize where their body is in space.
- Use balance boards to teach body and special awareness. Balance board activities will also allow your student to practice their reaction skills.
- Teach games that allow your braille-reading student different ways his or her body can move in space. Games that require your braille-reading student to pretend that they are different animal will encourage him or her to explore different movements in a fun way and safe way.
- Spend time showing your braille-reading student how to perform a movement or skill. You could pair your braille-reading student with a peer to practice these skills.
Other Strategies
- Consider using high contrast or audible balls.
- Verbalize any demonstrations of skills that you are teaching
There are many other strategies and suggestions for teaching physical education to braille-reading students in the inclusive setting. Remember, you can always ask your TVI questions about where to get these resources. There are also several wonderful resource guides that are available to you on line.
Challenging PE Activities
There may be times in which your braille-reading student simply cannot participate in a physical activity. This is okay. For many braille-reading students, the idea of participating in activities that require good visual-motor coordination, such as Doctor Dodge Ball or volleyball, is a very frustrating or even scary thought. Realize, however, that this does not mean that your braille-reading student should be excused from learning about these types of sport. There are many social implications attached to simply knowing how a sport is played. Consider, for example, the amount of hockey dialogue that takes place during hockey season. If your braille-reading student is not familiar with this game, he or she will have a difficult time taking part in such typical social interactions among elementary school children.
If you feel that your braille-reading student cannot inclusively participate in an activity, consider providing the following adaptations for their learning:
• Teach your student the basic rules of the game.
• Show your student the basic movements used in the sport. Provide your braille-reading student with opportunities to practice these basic skills and movements individually, in pairs or small groups.
• Take your braille-reading student on a field trip to a sports game or encourage them to listen to the game on the radio or TV.
• Assign your student the task of researching the history of the sport that you are teaching in your class. Allow them to do a presentation about what they learned during one of your classes.
Student Volunteers or Peer Helpers in your PE Classroom
Some elementary schools encourage students from the local high schools to volunteer their time in the elementary PE class. While the idea of having a high school student volunteer who is excited about PE and willing to help is welcomed by most classroom teachers, it is important to remember that you are the one with the expertise in teaching. The following is a list of guidelines on how to use student volunteers who work with braille-reading students in the PE class.
- Provide training time to show your peer helper how to work with your braille-reading student.
- Give direct and specific directions to your peer helper so that he or she is not left to make decisions about how to adapt an activity for your braille-reading student.
- Pay attention to where your high school student volunteer works with your braille-reading student. Asking your student volunteer to work in a different room without your supervision can quickly become a question of liability. Remember, you are responsible for the safety of your students in the PE class.
- Provide opportunities for your high school student volunteer to work with a little group of two to three students rather than only working with your braille-reading student.
Games for the Visually Impaired
There are many highly competitive games and activities that are played by visually impaired athletes from around the world. The following links will provide your with information about paraolympic sports for the visually impaired.
Goal Ball
Running
Cycling
Skiing
Swimming