Ready or not, here it comes!  New teacher evaluations, high stakes student assessments, and common core standards have been implemented whether educators are ready or willing.  While most teachers out there are plenty able, the real question is whether or not we have the ability to find the time to figure out how to implement the new content, collect enough evidence, differentiate various artifacts, and decipher between SLOs, GLEs, EALRS, EOCs, CBAs, and any other acronym I may have missed!  These days it seems as though there is so much more to learn and do ourselves we may actually forget our true task at hand – teaching.  Honestly, when do you have the time to stop, collaborate, and listen? Wait, I mean to collaborate, collect, plan, assess, communicate, and analyze? What time is left for the actual teaching itself?

School districts across Washington State are now following evaluations provided by Danielson, Marzano, and the University of Washington.  I don’t know about your trainers for your chosen model, but ours have all made it clear that we are never going to be “Distinguished” teachers again.  Instead, we can all hope to be so lucky to be “Basic” and every now and again on good days “Proficient.”  While I do know I will continue to shoot for “Distinguished,” I must commit to being “Efficient” in order to keep up with the changing of the times.

I looked down at the black fitbit on my wrist yesterday around noon, reluctantly tapped the face twice, and waited impatiently for it to respond. Soon the monitor revealed one full bar and a second slowly blinking back at me. Sitting all day is tough. I must have had an unsatisfied look on my face as I did the math…less than 1500 steps. I was frustratingly short of my 10,000 step daily goal. Last week while escorting my students up Mt. Si, a 4-mile hike outside Seattle with 4000 feet of elevation gain I had hit 10,000 steps before 8am. Sitting all day is tough. I had good reason to be sitting but I function much better when I’m moving.

I spent the past three days representing SHAPE Washington in St. Louis at the Leadership Development Conference (LDC). Aside from the inevitable seat time there were some obvious highlights. I met some impressive educators in our field from all over the country and used the many meaningful conversations to refuel my professional energy (it had taken a big hit over the last couple of months of school this year). I listened intently as some of the most respected leaders in physical education shared their collective vision for SHAPE America our newly structured national organization. I had the opportunity to sit in on a session by Dr. John Ratey, from Harvard University, as he discussed the abundance of research connecting moderate to vigorous physical activity to an increase in brain function. What he calls “miracle grow for the brain” could go a long way to making physical education a priority in our schools. It was an inspirational message.

However, what continues to rattle around in my brain today, as I fly to meet my family in California for what I think is a well deserved visit to Disneyland, is what our current SHAPE America president, Dolly Lambdin, challenged us within the first hour of the conference. After a painfully slow period of change within our professional organization (from AAHPERD to SHAPE America) that’s been at times both confusing and promising, our leaders have emerged from the experience with a visionary perspective. With CEO Paul Roetert, past-president Gale Wiedow, and president-elect Steve Jefferies providing their support, Dolly challenged us to consider an audacious national goal: All students in the United States will be physically active and healthy by 2025.