This article is the second part of a two part series. The first segment was published in the December 2014 issue of pelinks4u.
Active Classrooms
I encourage all physical educators to look for ways to add movement into the classrooms. Today, there are hundreds of brain break ideas on line. A simple Google search of “brain breaks” will get you quite a list. Depending on the level you teach, there are simple animated videos that the kids can follow along to at their desks. Or alternatively you can find ideas on brain breaks for older students, both that directly relate to a particular subject or not. Here is one great resources to get you started: Brain Breaks, Recess, & Classroom Based Activities. I’ve also linked below some ideas here from a few grade level classroom teachers in my building:
Both of these ideas are used in these grade level classrooms to use movement to help teach content!
Here are some more from a former college classmate of mine, Matt Mahar, who is doing great things at East Carolina University for grades K-2 and grades 3-5.
We, as physical educators shouldn’t think of ourselves as a separate entity in our schools. Rather we are another vital part of our students’ education. We provide youth with the opportunity to increase their fitness and skill, together with ways to increase their appreciation for and love of physical activity. Our mission is to help our students understand that fitness is personal. We must continue emphasizing that health and fitness are uniquely individual. Kids who buy into this (and don’t worry, if you keep at this approach, they will love it!) will be the ones that serve as a direct extension of your public relations efforts. They will speak positively about what you do in classes each day. This kind of positive messaging from students will go a long way in presenting your program as a vital, positive influence in your school.
Through using heart rate monitors physical educators can show their students that target heart rate range (beats/minute) not speed of movement, is the key to developing fitness. And as noted earlier, students learn that by reaching this level of exertion they may improve academically. Districts are always looking for ways to integrate technology into instruction, especially if one of their missions is to prepare learners for the 21st century. Where else other than in PE can your students possibly get such a positive learning package?!
Fit Into the Bigger Picture
Even with all the points made above related directly to our everyday instruction, we need to seek collaborative opportunities. We mustn’t see ourselves solely as professionals who teach each of our daily classes to the best of our ability then forget about them and just start preparing for the next class in our daily schedule. I’m convinced that if we choose this path, we are doomed to spin our wheels saying that no one understands what we do and how important we are. We will only end up terribly frustrated at everyone in the education system and forever saying, “Why don’t they see how important we are?” “Why do they look first at us to make their cuts?” Isolating ourselves is no way to excel at anything let alone teaching.
For PE to thrive it’s time to promote beyond our students and to those who make the decisions affecting our programs. With the understanding that PE is an integral part of any building’s or district’s overall success, it’s important that we take the steps necessary to show our connection to what our building or district wants to accomplish. The first step is to closely examine your district’s “mission statement.” My guess is that you could easily find this on the district’s web site, in the district office, or in your own building’s main office. This, simply stated, will tell you where your district wants to go and how it plans on getting there. Now all you have to do in plug in what you do to match up with and reinforce the district’s goals.
Many districts have mission statements that relate to “21st century learners.” They identify the knowledge and skills they want their students to be able to do to meet the demands of the 21st century. My thinking is that the more that we can match our physical education program’s goals and objectives to those of our district, the better chance we have in successfully promoting our programs. Doing this helps us become better-accepted contributors to the success of our students. For us, it means showing how fitter students will be better learners in the 21st Century.
Make it a daily goal to be the topic of conversation at the dinner table somewhere in your district EVERY NIGHT! You want students so excited about your classes that they can’t wait to share with others about what they did. Physical educators don’t have to settle for just being a break or providing planning time for classroom teachers. I’m guessing that if you have children of your own the greatest wish you had for your unborn child wasn’t an Ivy League education or a well-paying career. I suspect it was simply to have them be healthy. Anything else was a distant second. I know this because it was exactly what I wished for my own children.
Promote Beyond the Walls of Your Classroom
I encourage you to find ways to promote beyond the traditional Open House. First, take stock of what you do. What activity is a huge hit with your kids? What can’t your kids get enough of? What are they really excited to learn? No matter what the grade level, I’m sure that there are activities that fit this bill. Now, make a night of it. Set up a night where you only bring in one grade level. But don’t just send home a flier advertising it. Phrase it in a way to make it more exciting. Say something like: “You are invited to our special night. But, you will need a ticket to get into the gym. That ticket is your parents who will get to participate with you!” This sets the tone, showing it won’t be a night where the kids run free and the parents stand on the side and talk to each other.
The theme of these nights is secondary. What is really important is that you create time to tell parents what physical education is all about. They may arrive with the mindset of wanting to “play” with their kids. Or they may anticipate standing on the side and just watching because it is only “gym.’ Here’s your chance to change some minds. Make the point of telling your audience about the physical activity and skills their children are learning and how it will help them (both physically and academically!). Or better yet, create situations where the kids do the talking for you. It always means more when the kids sing your praise.
Your district’s support for your program is important. And your students’ parents’ support is equally important. So you may ask, “Why bother with anyone else?” Here’s why.
If the community in general does not fully understand how you benefit kids it limits how your program can grow. Student parents are a small part of this larger community. They are your spokespersons when conversations happen “over the backyard fence.” But although word of mouth is a powerful thing why stop there? My guess is your building and district has its own newsletters. Make it a personal priority to insert something in that newsletter every issue! Don’t forget the pictures too. Parents love seeing their kids featured so take every advantage of these opportunities. Don’t stop there either. If your town has a local newspaper, submit something at least once a month. Again, making the point of how your program is important on its own, as well as how it contributes to the academic success of your students will make your articles more acceptable to the paper.
Part of our mission is teaching our kids what they can do outside of school to reinforce what they learn in our lessons. But telling them the possibilities is not the hard part. The hard part is following up to make sure they really do it. And there are ways to accomplish both, at least on a limited basis, while simultaneously promoting your program.
Most areas around the country have organizations that sponsor road races. Some of these events also include “fun runs.” If you are fortunate enough to have these events in your community, get involved! Put fliers in the school’s newsletter and send fliers home with the kids. Talk about the event almost every day. Once at the event, take tons of pictures and put them in your newsletter, on your web site, and send them to the local paper. An event like this can soon become a bit of a tradition in your program. Make sure that you participate as well. You don’t need to be a big time runner for your kids to appreciate your participation. What they will see is an adult they admire taking the time to do something they value. Basically you are saying to “do as I say AND as I do!” Your role modeling will extend outside the walls of your gym. If there isn’t such an event where you are, find out what you can do to get one started. Maybe your local running club or high school cross-country team would want to help. It may not even be running if that’s not for you. There is a national Walk to School Day in the spring. Give it a try and remember, don’t be easily discouraged.
As the saying goes, “everyone loves a good story.” What you have going on in your classroom (gym, pool, weight room, field, trail…) is certainly worth sharing. Use as many media outlets as you can think of. This is your chance to tell your story, the way you want to tell it. Look to move beyond the caption of the picture that just states the kids’ names and what they are doing. Take this chance to really tell people what you are teaching and more importantly what the students are learning! Make sure to explain what learning standards these featured students are working toward as well as what performance benchmarks they are attaining. Make sure to tie in any and all fitness concepts and skills that your students are featured doing. Mention the current research that shows how improved fitness scores will improve student concentration and academic test scores. This can really hit home if you make this point before a big grade level test in your building. You are now showing how your curriculum is helping your students excel not only with you but with their other “academic” subjects as well.
And don’t stop at print. Don’t overlook television. I’ll bet you can get a local TV station to your school at least once a year! We have been on TV many times so I know it can be done. A few of our local stations run health-related segments daily. I call them to find out if what we are doing might apply to their broadcasts. With all of the press childhood obesity is getting, anything that you do to combat obesity and promote health is welcome information for them. You’ll love it when someone comes up to you and says, “It certainly wasn’t like this when I was in school!” Remember, without your tireless efforts all year, your students’ health is at risk. How much more important could you possibly be? Hopefully, some of the ideas I’ve shared will help you promote your PE program in a way that gets your contribution noticed as vital to your school’s success. Have a great school year!
(Part I of this article appeared in the December 2014 edition of pelinks4u)
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