Have you every observed a great activity or lesson and thought, “Wow, what a great idea! My students would LOVE that!”? Then, shortly after, you hear that annoying inner voice in your head whisper “Too bad I’m not creative.” Well, it is time to challenge that inner voice to stop thinking so negatively and work with you here! Seriously, if that inner voice was one of my friends we would not be spending a whole lot of quality time together!

What makes a “creative person”? Is it a gift from God? Are you born that way? Is it a learned behavior? Is it a sign of genius or a sign of madness!?

Creativity is a phenomenon whereby something new and somehow valuable is formed.That being said, everyone can be creative! We teach our students that belief in themselves is the first step to achieving any goal. Let’s take our own advice and believe we can be just as creative as that teacher or speaker who amazed us! By changing our mindset, we can foster creativity!

Here are fifteen ways that I find help me to get my creative juices flowing. Try one (or all) and see where your creativity takes you.

Engaging all of the nation’s youth in physical activity and guiding them toward lives in which they are enthusiastically committed to choosing healthy lifestyles is no small feat. SHAPE America’s 50 Million Strong by 2029 commitment seeks to accomplish this through the work of America’s many thousands of health and physical educators. However, the state of health and physical education in US schools remains challenging (SHAPE America, 2016). Many States are cutting or providing waivers for time required for quality health and physical education. Additionally, many have not established policy for children to be active before, during, and after school (SHAPE America, 2016).

In the 2016 Shape of the Nation it was reported that, “although effective physical education and physical activity programs are essential in the formative growth of children, there is a large disparity in state requirements and implementation, affecting children’s abilities to engage in and benefit from these programs” (Shape of the Nation, 2016, p. 4). Given the current status of physical education in America’s schools, for SHAPE America’s ambitious 50 Million Strong commitment to succeed, effective advocacy for quality physical and health education and increased physical activity time in schools is vital.

To create quality and effective health and physical education programs across all schools throughout the nation in the 21st century is clearly going to be a monumental task. And it’s going to be especially difficult in schools where principals and teachers feel pressured to provide as much core content time as possible so that students pass standardized tests. However, it may be possible for physical and health educators and promotors of physical activity to help schools advance their academic mission while simultaneously implementing their own quality programs. But to do this, teachers will need to be equipped with the appropriate information and data in order to craft the right “pitch” to stakeholders.

A major concern in education today is the negative impact of stereotype thinking. The physical education classroom has its own social dynamic. But unlike in other academic settings, physical education settings can, from the outset, be especially intimidating for some students. These students, who I’m going to refer to as the “Outgroup,” share many common characteristics that experienced teachers will immediately recognize.

Outgroup members sometimes appear slow, weak, overweight or obese, awkward or uncoordinated. These students often lack confidence and don’t have many class friends.  Students who shy away from the ball or who stay on the periphery when games are being played fit this picture.  If our profession hopes to succeed with 50 Million Strong by 2029 (50MS), these students or more appropriately this Outgroup is a group that our profession must intentionally target. If we fail to engage this group a significant proportion of our student population will never realize the health benefits of physical activity envisioned in 50MS.

According to SHAPE America’s website 50MS embraces “A commitment to put all children on the path to health and physical literacy through effective health and physical education programs.” (2016). To succeed there are at least three key components students clearly need: skills, knowledge and disposition.  Without these, the goal of 50MS will not be reached.  Unfortunately, absent effective interventions to help them feel comfortable in our physical education settings, the Outgroup students identified above are unlikely to possess the skills, knowledge or dispositions to lead healthy and physically active lives.

To get 50 million school-aged students actively participating in physical education and physical activity by 2029, it’s vital we engage America’s youth in the planning of physical education programs. Designing challenging, relevant, and exciting learning experiences to promote student learning and interest is the key to getting young people to embrace our content. We must seek student input on activities that interest and excite them, then develop motivating experiences and teaching strategies that best facilitate their learning. Then based on this knowledge, we can choose appropriate assessments that allow teachers to effectively provide evidence of learning.

Investigating how to successfully do all these things is critical for us to move forward keeping the needs of young people at the center of our work. As teachers must do more than seek student voice into program design and activity choices; we need to seek, listen to, act upon, and then engage our students in the design process.

Young people are social, independent, have a desire to belong, feel competent, and be part of a group. Our physical and health education programs must engage them in ways that empower them to participate in and influence the direction of their own learning, gain self-confidence, self-reliance, resilience and a greater capacity to make lifelong choices. When asking young people what they have gained from actively participating in physical education and influencing their own program decisions it would be positive for them to say, “I felt my voice was heard”, “It became our program and one we want to engage in”, or “I enjoyed giving my opinion and working with my teachers to design a program that meets my needs.”