Category: Elementary School

Within this category, essays and articles focus on effectively teaching children in the pre-school and elementary grades. It’s a great place to find teaching tips and get advice from experienced practitioners.

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The #PhysEd Chopped Challenge

I love watching cooking competitions. My favorite show is Top Chef, which features chefs competing in a variety of pressure-filled and unpredictable culinary challenges. At the end of each episode, one of the contestants is eliminated from the competition. The chef who creates the best meal during the final episode is named “Top Chef.” I also enjoy watching Chopped. In this fast-paced show, four chefs compete in a three-round contest. During each round (Appetizer, Entrée, and Dessert), the chefs are given a basket of unusual mystery ingredients that are not commonly prepared together. They are expected to use each ingredient and also have access to state-of-the-art cooking equipment and a fully-stocked pantry. A chef is “chopped” from the competition at the end of each round until the judges choose the “Chopped Champion.”

I recently contacted my dear friend, Betsey Caldwell, who teaches physical education at Graham Hill Elementary School in Seattle, WA. I told her that for the past few years I’ve wondered and imagined what a reality-based physical education television game show would look like. Our hilarious conversation took off and we quickly decided to organize and host The #PhysEd Chopped Challenge during the SHAPE America 2018 National Convention in Nashville!

Here is our plan:

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Winter Physical Activities: C O L D E R can be better

It’s too cold outside! It’s snowing outside! There’s too much snow!

Have you heard these statements before in or near your schoolyard? If so, you’re not alone! The temperature seems to be a growing concern among children and youth. For some, the outside during winter months is “off limits!” Well, we disagree. We strongly believe that it is essential for children and youth to become regular physical activity participants outside. And right now, during the winter months, is the perfect time to help our students understand the possibilities and benefits of outside physical activity. So, as we journey through the last bit of winter, let’s get at it!

Before we share ideas of how to support students becoming active outside, we’d first like to point to some of the benefits of engaging in outside physical activity in colder temperatures. Benefits, which are further explained in a following section, include exposure to Vitamin D, fresh air, and the use of different muscle groups. Additionally, being active outside and engaging in a variety of movement experiences gives students opportunities to problem-solve and develop socially, as well as discover the fun of outdoor physical activity even in the cold.

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Technology is a Tool NOT a Toy

My recent Christmas experience got me thinking.  After both giving and receiving presents I started wondering: Were the presents I gave others close to what they really wanted? Were the gifts I received what I wanted or at least useful?

“Usefulness “struck me as an interesting way of thinking about gift giving. Some gifts are genuinely useful while others are momentarily amusing, but soon get put aside, remain unused, and are eventually discarded or given to others. This soon had me thinking about the items physical educators seek out or are given by others to support our teaching.  Specifically, I started to think about the usefulness of “technology”?  How genuinely useful is technology?  Is it a useful tool, or an entertaining toy?

Today, there’s so much out there for teachers to choose from. It can quickly become really mind-boggling. For me, it all comes down to how you plan to use it. I think it’s time for all teachers to get past the use of technology as a toy: to simply use it so that we can say that we use technology in our teaching.

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A Letter to the Part of Me that Wants to Quit Teaching

Dear Quitting Self:

Excuse my blatant disregard for pleasantries, but let’s clear something up right away. The only reason you – my quitting self – even exist is because I love not only what I do, but the profession that allows me to do it. My passion for the profession and the kids I teach created the space in which you live.

I’ve learned that when you love something, when you have an intense emotional investment in something, when you truly care, there will always be ups and downs, great days and not-so-great days, moments of extreme joy and moments of pure frustration. The downs, the not-so-great days, and the frustrations are times that wake you up like the loudest, most annoying alarm clock ever invented. They make me question what I’m doing and whether it’s worth it. They create doubts. And although these doubts will probably always exist, I’m ok with that. When I started my teaching career I knew it would be hard, really hard. What I did not know was some of the places those difficulties would grow from.

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Are Physical Educators TRULY Including All Students?

Several years ago, I was in my school hallway on the way to my mailbox, and noticed a young elementary child walk past a new student.  This new student had Autism and was engaging in self-stimulatory behavior as he moved along the hallway. The younger child appeared confused, worried and concerned for the student with Autism .

My school had just created a self-contained class for students with disabilities.  Because this was early October, it was early enough in the school year that for many of our students, this type of behavior was their first exposure to students with Autism and other disabilities.

My perplexed student watched as the stimming continued. She later approached me and asked, “What’s wrong with the boy who was screaming in the hallway? Is he okay?” Her question was so enlightening to me in many different ways. For starters, the child was genuinely concerned about the student and didn’t seem to have any idea what Autism was.

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Don Hellison: Celebrating A Life Well Lived

(Update: Don passed way peacefully on June 6th, 2018. Please see the personal comments many people have already added below this essay. If you knew Don, listened to him present, or used his materials and ideas, you are invited to share your own thoughts. His innovative thinking, passion, and friendship will be missed.)

~

Many people know Don Hellison a heck of a lot better than me. But over the years our paths did cross a few times. And so, when I recently heard that Don, now aged 79, had suffered a stroke with some serious complications it got me thinking about him and the way he changed how physical education is taught today.

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Student Learning in Physical Education: The Minimum Six

Overview

My grandkids have learned to read. They enjoy trying to solve math problems. But when I ask them what they have learned in physical education their answers are opaque. Mostly they tell me what they are doing in P.E.

In this short piece, I am suggesting that physical education teachers, and programs, should be able to describe at least some of what their students have actually learned in their classes. And the kids they are teaching should be able to show you what they have learned.

Physical education programs have a wide variability in the time allotted for classes, from a few days a year, to daily. Classes are also taught by specialists who have majored in physical education, and also by coaches and fitness specialists and classroom teachers.

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