All In: Active Participation and Your Activity Portfolio

Remember from Grade 9

In PPL1O you learned the five parts of active participation: come prepared, stay engaged, strive for your personal best, adapt to challenges, and monitor your progress and successes. You also sampled activities from three groups and kept a log of your activity and successes to build confidence.

In Grade 10 you take more ownership. You will plan a balanced activity portfolio, choose challenges in your stretch zone, and think about why you choose the activities you do.

Hook: you chose to be here

In Ontario, most students earn their one compulsory Health and Physical Education credit in Grade 9. PPL2O is usually an optional course. That means many people in a Grade 10 class are there because they want to be active. That changes the question from "Do I have to?" to "How do I get the most out of this?"

The answer is the same whether you are a varsity athlete or someone who only started moving regularly last year: show up ready, stay engaged, and choose a smart mix of activities.

What A1.1 asks of you in Grade 10

The curriculum expects you to actively participate in all aspects of the program. Its examples are:

• being prepared and bringing the appropriate equipment;
• being mentally and physically engaged;
• striving for your personal best;
• adapting to new challenges;
• monitoring your progress and successes, which builds confidence and makes you more willing to try new activities.

You should choose from a wide variety of activities: individual activities, small-group and large-group activities, sports and games, and outdoor and recreational pursuits.

Engagement: body and mind

Physical engagement is easy to see: you are moving. Mental engagement is just as important. You are engaged mentally when you:

• pick a focus for the session ("Today I'll keep my eyes up when I dribble");
• ask questions and try the feedback right away;
• notice what works and what doesn't;
• help a partner, by spotting, encouraging or giving a tip.

A student who runs hard but never thinks about technique improves slowly. A student who moves and thinks improves much faster.

Your activity portfolio

An investment portfolio spreads money across different kinds of investments so one bad day doesn't ruin everything. An activity portfolio spreads your activity across different kinds of movement:

• Individual or fitness activities: skipping, running, strength training, yoga, swimming lengths. You can do them any time, with no team needed.
• Small-group activities: badminton doubles, 2 v 2 volleyball, spikeball-style games, a walk with one friend.
• Large-group activities, sports and games: soccer, ultimate, ringette, basketball, capture the flag.
• Outdoor and recreational pursuits: hiking, cycling, paddling, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, skating on a maintained rink.

A balanced portfolio has several benefits. If your team season ends, you still have other activities. If you get a minor injury, you can often switch to another activity that is safe for you (with medical advice). And different activities build different fitness components and skills.

Adapting to challenges: find your stretch zone

When something new feels hard, you have three options: quit, push recklessly, or adjust the challenge. A useful model has three zones:

• Comfort zone: easy and familiar. Nice, but you stop improving.
• Stretch zone: hard but doable with effort and focus. This is where you grow.
• Too-far zone: so hard it is overwhelming or unsafe. You learn little and may get hurt.

To move from "too far" into "stretch", make the task smaller: slow it down, shorten it, use softer or bigger equipment, practise one part at a time, or get a partner to help.