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:

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

Building Team Culture: “Mind Candy” for Coaches

Introduction
Coaches are responsible for creating environments that are safe, challenging, and provide rewarding experiences for all of their athletes. These environments are often referred to as team culture. Developing a successful team culture is a key characteristic of an effective coach and essential for long-term athletic achievement.  Three-time national championship and current Ohio State University football coach, Urban Meyer emphasized the importance of the coach in creating a team culture that leads to desired results: “…leaders create culture, culture drives behavior, and behavior produces results” (Meyer, 2015, p. 65).

There are many techniques coaches can use to build team culture.  A quick Google search of, “building team culture in sport,” reveals over 88 million results.  If you narrow it down by sport, for example, “building team culture in basketball,” over 33 million options appear.  While latching on to an idea following a random internet search may yield results, it’s more effective to examine what master coaches do.  Mastery in coaching occurs when a coach exhibits effectiveness and expertise in teaching sport (Gilbert & Trudel, 2012). In other words, a master coach demonstrates the ability to improve athlete performance while also finding success on the scoreboard.

Don Showalter, Head Coach and Director of Coach Development for USA Basketball’s Youth Division exemplifies what a master coach looks like.  Throughout his 42-year hall of fame high school coaching career and his work with USA basketball, Don has demonstrated effectiveness and expertise in teaching sport.  As a high school coach, Coach Showalter won over 600 games and in 2009, was named the National High School Athletic Coaches Association National Coach of the Year.  During his tenure as the head coach of USA Men’s Basketball U16 and U17 National Teams, he amassed a 55-0 record and won nine-straight gold medals (USA Basketball, 2017).

Read More

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.

Read More

Principles and Axioms for a Productive Off-season Conditioning Program—Organization and Planning

This is the first of a three-part series on planning, developing and implementing a successful and productive off-season conditioning program for interscholastic sports programs.  A previous article, “Principles and Axioms for Effective Coaching of Fitness and Conditioning” shared some basic principles of fitness training that you may want to look at as a prerequisite.

The purpose of this series of articles is to give coaches the specific tools to develop a sound, scientifically-based conditioning program that will encourage high participation and yield quality results. Each article in the series will focus on three essentials for a highly productive conditioning program.  These three essentials are 1) Organization and Planning, 2) Efficiency, and 3) Effectiveness.  After each article you will have specific tools that can be used to implement and measure each of the essentials. This first installment will be on the essential trait of Organization and Planning.

“The better your organization and planning, the greater will be your results.”

Read More

How to Fine-Tune an Adapted Aquatics Program

In this article, I share the results of an assessment study designed to provide an adapted aquatics and rehabilitation class, feedback on successful areas of instruction and areas that may need improvement. Although several adapted aquatic swimming assessments exist (e.g. Special Olympics, DePaepe Checklist, Sherrill Model) only the Conatser Adapted Aquatics Swimming Screening Test is norm-based and allows statistical analysis.

This assessment has 44 total test items consisting of (a) psychological/physical adjustment skills, (b) entering and exiting the pool skills, (c) acceptance towards passive range of motion, (d) breath control and respiratory skills, (e) balance and flotation skills, and (f) swimming movement skills through the water. Pre- and post-aquatics skills of children with disabilities were assessed by trained university students. These students also conducted the instructional intervention.

A screening test was used to establish a baseline of essential swimming skills to be taught in the adapted aquatics programs. Before testing and instruction, the university students were trained for one week on how to conduct the assessment and learned techniques for teaching swimming to children with disabilities.   Children with disabilities received instruction for 3 weeks, Monday through Friday, with each session lasting 1 hour. Pretest assessment guided instruction and the acquisition of new skills.  Instructors used a variety of motivating  incentives (e.g. equipment, encouragement, musical, games etc.) to improve swimming performance. An emphasis of instruction for children with disabilities was to ensure they learned how to be safe in and around the water environment.

Read More