What I Learned Today!

You can always teach an old dog new tricks and I for one, (sigh,… Am I really becoming an old dog?), love to continuously learn both personally and professionally. “Life is a great school” is one of my mantras and just the other day while teaching, I had one of those “ah-ha” moments and it has changed how I plan to move forward with my teaching.

Now, for many of you this might be obvious, but for some reason I had never asked my students the simple question, “What did you learn today?” Now, I always ask some basic questions at the closure of my lessons, such as, “Who can tell me what strategy you used in the game today?” or “What was this activity really about?” or “Who do you think was a good leader in your group and why?”

Although I always get a few raised hands and hear some great responses, the other day I had a class that kept looking at me kind of quizzically as I fired off my questions until I finally asked, “What did you learn about today?” So many hands shot up and answers came flying out of their mouths! “I learned how to work with my group,” “I learned how to help solve a problem,” “I learned how to balance my (pool) noodle.” I was thrilled! This simple yet very specific question personalized the answer from each student.

I have to continuously remind my students that Physical Education (aka: “Gym” – don’t get me started!) is a class. Upon my request, my principal purchased and had installed for me a huge bulletin board in the hallway outside one of the entrances to the gym. I decided to make my own borders and the top one states: “Physical Education (P.E.) is the CLASS that TEACHES you how to move, learn and work with others.” The bottom part says, “GYM (aka: Gymnasium) is the PLACE where you move, learn and work with others.”

After putting the board up and receiving many compliments from the staff, a third grader came into class shortly thereafter and said, “I know what P.E. means!” I was so excited and asked, “What?” He answered, “Pocket Edition!” I was devastated yet also amused. Apparently, there is still much work to do!

On the other hand, several other incidents have taught me that my efforts to become a valued member of the educational process are forever ongoing. While dismissing a fifth grade class recently, the classroom teacher was bantering with one of his students and all I heard was, “She’s not a teacher.” I immediately pointed out to the student (while feeling like a wild animal pouncing on its prey), that I went through the same number of years in college as his classroom teacher and that my education prepared me differently. I then asked the random question, “Do you know where the lattisimus dorsi is and what it does?” followed by “…..and what about the effects of oxygen intake on aerobic capacity?” The classroom teacher and I enjoyed a little chuckle and I think I made my point to a very shocked looking 10 year old.

I’ve heard it time and again that I am not a teacher. When I hear this I explain that although we do have fun and play games in our class in the gym, it’s a class where many lessons are being taught. Some learning is interdisciplinary while other lessons are more about social and emotional responsibility and good character education. We learn how to move safely and how to work with others, and we learn how to enjoy all different types of movement to keep us healthy for life. As a teacher, I am learning how to more effectively teach my students how to be physically literate.

Moving forward, I am going to continue to put up literature about our profession and what our goals are (e.g. SHAPE America’s 50 Million Strong by 2029 commitment, Speak Out Day, Let’s Move, etc.), as well as continually strive to get my students to understand what physical education is all about. It’s a never-ending endeavor but one that as a physical educator I will gladly continue to do.