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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Risk Taking in Physical Education

Each day as physical education teachers we ask our students to take risks. We ask them to move in front of their peers, join group activities, and publically answer questions. Depending on their physical skill levels, students either see moving in physical education as an opportunity or as a huge threat. As children become older and move through middle and high school they are often even asked to take the risk of undressing in public in gymnasium locker rooms. Rarely do we as educators acknowledge these risks.

At a recent physical education conference I noticed most conference attendees were willing to take the risk of joining in physical activities. However, at a conference last winter it was a different scene. The only activity movers were a few brave participants plus some college students who were required to participate. This situation got me thinking, “What was the difference? And how does this apply to other PE teaching situations?”

 

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Be a 50 Million Strong by 2029 Champion – Part 3

(Editor’s Note: This is part three of a three-part series in which Angela shares the strategies that she has used to get her students physically active and healthy. Be sure to check the other issues of pelinks4u to learn about additional strategies.)

A Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program (CSPAP) is a multi-component approach used to provide students with opportunities to be physically active, achieve the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity each day, and to encourage lifelong physical activity (CDC, 2015). The five components of a CSPAP include: quality physical education, physical activity before, during, and after school, staff involvement, and family and community engagement.

Although all components of a CSPAP are important, staff involvement and family and community engagement are often the least implemented. In my experience as a physical educator, these two components were the most challenging to implement, but worth the time and effort. The support of family, staff, and community is imperative in promoting physical activity. I challenge you to implement these two components. You will be amazed by the amount of support you receive from parents, community, and staff!

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50 Million Strong by 2029 Targets ALL of America’s Children

“Just because I’m blind doesn’t mean I don’t know how to throw and catch,” – Anneka (aged 7)

7 year old Anneka playing catch

In last month’s editorial, “The End of Physical Education as We Know It” I suggested that health education and physical education teaching was about to undergo a revolution. SHAPE America’s intent to get all of America’s school-aged students physically active and healthy within 14 years – 50 Million Strong by 2029(50MS) – marks the end of business as usual. It’s also a beginning.

Starting this year, all of us need to accept that “doing our best” when teaching isn’t good enough. If we want to get respected in our public schools we need to get onboard with not just “doing” but rather “achieving.” Math teachers whose students don’t develop math competencies aren’t highly regarded. Similarly, if our students can’t demonstrate something worthwhile they’ve learned from us, why should health and physical educators deserve respect?

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PE + HE + PA = 50MS

(This essay was originally published on SHAPE America’s member Exchange [October, 2015] and is reprinted with permission.)

Heard about the new math? Well here it is: PE + HE + PA = 50MS, specifically designed for public school health education and physical education teachers. SHAPE America recently announced its intent to get all of America’s students physically active and healthy within the next 14 years. The shorthand for this is “50 Million Strong by 2029” or even shorter “50 Million Strong (50MS).”

50MS modified image1

We launched 50MS nationally in the Miami-Dade County School District last month. Superintendent of the Year Alberto Carvalho endorsed the goal and proudly spoke about the success of his own district’s physical education program – the fourth largest in the nation. You can read more about this event here.  Beyond the attendance of various dignitaries, the event was highlighted by the presence of a small group of smiling preschoolers wearing 50 Million Strong shirts. It’s this group of students who will be graduating high school in 2029, and these are the ones we have to make sure have the skills, knowledge and desire to stay physically active and make healthy lifestyle choices.

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Back to the Future and Beyond

Writing this essay took me back in time. It involved a jump-around process blending my thoughts on past events and imagining physical education’s future. It all began with a comment from my wife who at the time was an elementary and high school principal. It was the best of both worlds. While I was teaching I was hearing an administrator’s perspective as each year progressed. But one day she commented that PE was on the wrong track. This got my attention. What did she mean? She explained, “I want to know the numbers!” In other words, what were my measurements of success? Where was the evidence? How did I know that what I was doing was having any impact on the well-being of my students after graduating from high school? It’s these questions that continue to haunt our profession today.

In recent years, the value and quality of physical education has advanced as a result of the brain research findings and technological advances. Many of our colleagues are using this information and equipment to support their teaching. But as we all know, there are still far too many physical educators who either don’t care or are uninformed. Not surprisingly, the result is that physical education too frequently gets a bad rap from outsiders. Something is clearly missing. What can be done? To me, one key solution is to improve advocacy and to increase the sharing of information.

It all starts with professional preparation and the college experience of future teachers. I can remember that one of the classes I was required to take explained how to integrate PE with the so-called core subjects. At that time this was an idea bordering on heresy! But to make a long story short, it ended up saving my job and started a new era of respect for PE in my school that continued for the 36 years of my public school teaching career.

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The Fall and Rise of Physical Education

pelinks4u is delighted to share a perspective on the state of today’s physical education by George Graham. As one the profession’s most innovative thinkers, George categorizes the different teaching approaches of our teaching colleagues and tells us what he thinks of them. Shared with you courtesy of PE Central

Click this link to download a PDF file. Be patient, it might take a minute or so!

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Be a 50 Million Strong by 2029 Champion – Part 2

(Editor’s Note: This is the second of a three-part series in which Angela shares the strategies that she has used to get her students physically active and healthy. Be sure to check the other issues of pelinks4u to learn about additional strategies.)

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends that children and adolescents aged 6-17 participate in 60 minutes or more of physical activity each day (CDC, 2015). In recent years schools have been called upon to expand their efforts to increase physical activity opportunities. In the last issue, I shared some of the ways that I helped my school reach these goals. I gave details about events that took place in my physical education program, which helped motivate my students to be more physically active. Although I found success in my physical education program in getting kids more active, I realized to help the children I taught reach the goal of 60 minutes a day, they would need more time to be physically active outside of my physical education class. Here are some examples of the ways I achieved this before, during, and after school.

Physical Activity During School

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