PHE America Repeats
10 previously published articles in 10 days that we think you will enjoy
Reprint 5 of 10
(Originally published – July 3, 2018)
I have decided to finally retire after a 37-year career teaching elementary physical education. There, I’ve said it! Wow, that feels good.
I have decided to finally retire after a 37-year career teaching elementary physical education. There, I’ve said it! Wow, that feels good.
I’ve seen more than my share of things come and go over that time. I’ve learned a lot about myself and my students as well. There will be plenty that I will miss, as well as some things that I won’t miss at all.
I can remember first playing music in my classes on actual 33rpm albums! I can remember the kids bringing in their favorite records to play for class. I can also remember thinking “Where can I put the record player so it is less likely to get hit by flying objects?” When cassette tapes came along, my problem was solved! Cueing up the tape between classes was a bit of a hassle, but hey, it is what it is. You do what you have to do, right? Who would have thought that later I’d have this thing called an iPod that could store and play any song with just a click from a remote that I can even use from the hallway?
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.
When you happen to meet a former student out in public, do you ever wonder what is going through their mind? What do they remember from you and your classes? Does what they now remember after having you as their teacher match what you wanted them to learn from you?
In short, what do you want your legacy to be? Here’s a hint: Don’t wait. Your legacy starts now! Whether you are a new teacher or not so new, and whether you want it to or not, your legacy is under construction! All of us should be asking ourselves, “What do we want our former students to take from their experiences in our classes?”
What I encourage you to think about is not whether you were “popular” with your former students or they viewed you as their “friend.” But rather, what’s the most important thing you want them to remember from their time with you? Is it a certain set of skills? A particular attitude? Knowledge? Or something completely different?
50 Million Strong by 2029 is SHAPE America’s commitment to empower all children to lead healthy and active lives through effective health and physical education programs (SHAPE America).
SHAPE America has a bold goal. But it’s one that all of us who teach physical education should be striving to achieve. If 50 million sounds like a huge number, it is! And it’s easy to suggest it’s an unrealistic goal. But in honesty, it’s not so impossible to imagine success if we think about this goal one student at a time.
As the school year winds down and we break for summer, it’s a good time to think about our programs and how we can improve. Where can we add things that give our kids the best chance to be a part of 50 Million Strong? All of us who teach physical education do our best to instill in our students the idea that physical activity is good for them and that they can have fun at the same time. So now, we need to ask ourselves “How can we make our programs even more effective?” The film I’ve shared below shows some of the things we are doing at Mott Road Elementary to help our kids join the “50 Million Strong” club.
Like many of you, we have students who get dropped off early before school begins. A few years ago, we had the idea of opening the gym for an activity we called “Exercise for Excellence.” We wanted the kids to see that this wasn’t just free time in the gym. Instead, we wanted students to make the connection between exercise and their brains and help them realize that having fun moving each day can help them learn better.
I have been teaching for 35 years now. I must say that the good has far outweighed the bad by a long shot! I have been very fortunate that I haven’t gone to a job every morning. I have lived a wonderful professional career! But after 35 years and counting, if I’m not careful there are things my students do that can quickly get under my skin. I was reminded of this the other day.
I am a sports public address announcer in my free time after school. Between my local district, section, state and Syracuse University, I call more than 120 games a year. These games are a lot of fun to announce and I look forward to each of them. This is my way to add a bit of a professional sounding touch to these games (at least I hope!).
I was announcing at a recent high school lacrosse game with our varsity football coach who was running the game clock. He is a National Board Certified high school social studies teacher. While he is a tremendous football coach, he is far from the stereotype. He will honestly tell you that he is more pleased with the outcome of a great lesson plan than a great game plan.
Like many coaches and teachers across the country, once in a while I come up with what turns out to be a new and effective teaching strategy. New ideas often come to me while at professional conferences, reading online, or simply talking with colleagues. I then take the idea and modify it to best fit my teaching environment. One such idea I’d like to share with you is a take-home activity journal.
When my girls were in school, I can remember them bringing home a classroom journal. They had to spend time writing about a topic that had been introduced on in class. In physical education, I once heard a teacher talk about giving their students small stuffed animals to play with at home, then encouraging them to write about the experience in a journal. In one instance, the kids were even given permission to take the animal on vacation with them and write about it.
My version of physical education journaling comes from this idea. I call it “Fun With Buddy.” “Buddy” is a stuffed animal. It’s one of those monkeys with really long arms and legs that have Velcro on them. I was able to get these donated to my program and have acquired 12 of them. This covers all of our grade 1-3 classrooms. Our principal was able to find book money to get us grade-level appropriate books that support being physically active. I put together a journal with blank pages. Each page has a space for the kids to write about what they did with Buddy over the weekend. The pages also have a place for the kids to either draw a picture of what they did, or to stick a photo of them in action with Buddy. And to keep all the items secure, our Home and School Association (H.S.A.) donated string bags.
