Virtual P.E.? NO SWEAT!..???

Variety can be a good thing. In education, it can sometimes be a great thing too. I recently read this article on thejournal.com about successful online PE classes in: Minneapolis Public Schools Online.

http://thejournal.com/articles/2010/01/08/virtual-pe-no-sweat.aspx?sc_lang=en

The district was trying to find a way to deal with the effect of increasing course loads, which resulted in as many as 1,200 students a year being allowed to opt out of their P.E. course if they met a minimum activity requirement. Its becoming more common for athletes to opt out of their traditionally structures PE classes as well. My cousin is a catcher on his varsity baseball team and has "baseball PE" daily.

Now, I am an aspiring PE instructor, so when I say that online physical education can be a good alternative for some students... I'm really sticking my neck out there. But the deal is that sometimes different setups work great for students individual needs.

“Education is clearly changing,” says Frank Goodrich, another of MPS’ online P.E. teachers, who developed the online PE course over the past five years. “There continues to be more demand from students in terms of getting more out of the same length of the school day.”

In my personal observation, I have noticed that most PE programs dont allow enough actual time for physical activity to see significant health benefits. There needs to be supplemental PA at home or in the form of after school activities if we want our kids to get enough exercise. This type of non-traditional format could be used as that "booster" for students who dont play sports, have special exercise needs or just need a change of pace. It could be an enrichment tool for a PE program as well.

My point is that various modes can be good options for the specific learning needs of the student, whatever their circumstance might be. We need to be open minded! A good reminder for me.

Another topic of discussion has to do with using video games in PE classes. With the right equipment, teachers can project a Wii game onto a wall and have students playing these games for part of their activities. There are a number of issues that can arise here, such as the motor learning during traditional activities that is essential, but generally something like this might work out as a different option for doing physical activities in PE classrooms. Maybe even as part of a rewards system.

See this article for examples:

http://drilly.wordpress.com/2007/07/07/exergaming-fad-or-fit-for-purpouse/

Use of technology for fitness in Physical Education

I just came across this video on a great website, pecentral.org. It gives great examples of students using fitness equipment that I believe really encourages physical activity in a very engaging way. Not many schools are devoted to budgeting in the way these schools do in the video. Thay have exercise bikes for example, that display a screen showing you in a race with other classmates on a stationary bike next to you. I recently observed a PE class in San Marcos that has this technology in their classroom. They have a principle who was a kinesiology major and tought PE for many years.

Dance-Dance revolution, rock climbing walls, and other interactive applications highlighted the classrooms in this Miami-based PE program.

I think this is great for the young people and worth the investment if grants can be obtained. It should improve the quality of their education and make students excited about not only PE but being part of a school that takes such interest in their well-being. I believe that parents also will appreciate this kind of effort from administration, and take notice more than other academic areas of spending that are hard to monitor. If you watched the video, you can see how PE is so easy to monitor and gain appreciation for. Children are being physically active and learning how to be healthier individuals.

Do you think this kind of technology is worth investing in? Will it inspire children to be engaged in lifelong physical activity?

http://www.pecentral.org/mediacenter/video_hitechpe.html

Link

Great topic in this article:

http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=152525

How much physical education should be required for K-12 students?

This is a pivotal issue for schools to address. The problem is that children need physical activity significant enough to receive benefits for fitness, and this really should be more than 30 minutes daily. Even schools that designate that much time for physical education class are up against a barrage of challenges. I was recently doing observations at a middle school. Everything about the PE program seemed more than adequate; they even had invested in a lot of extra equipment for fitness and have specialized programs for students that need extra fitness time. Even in this better-than-the-norm atmosphere, the problem there was that it takes students too much time transitioning to and from class and this cuts out at least 20 minutes of there physical education each day. So the bell would ring- students have to get into their uniforms- then they would slowly start appearing onto the large blacktop/basketball courts area- they take 5 minutes for role (the smart teachers are incorporate stretching with their role time)- the lesson gets introduced, like a short lecture basically... there a range of things that can cause the actual activity time to be decreased!! It is so, so challenging for physical educators to maximize their time to engage students. This causes students at the middle school to engage in a significantly reduced time.

Elementary schools usually have even less time devoted to physical education. A shame because this age of child really needs the motor, social, and cognitive learning that takes place in physical education! But typically they do not have PE every day, let alone enough time in-class. I believe recesses might be reduced and replaced with more structured playing time with a PE instructor.

Allow me to mention one of the reasons that increased time is needed. The origin of my point lies in the true nature of physical education. What is it? Physical activity? To have fun and practice social learning such as in team building? To get a break from the indoor classroom and do kinesthetic learning? I believe it is ALL of these... but most importantly it is for LEARNING. Many tend to forget that PE is a learning atmosphere just like when students sit at their desks to learn mathematics or english or social studies. The acquisition of motor skills, cognitive skills, affective skills, and fitness skills through games and sport is really irreplaceable for any individual. But how do we learn these skills? It takes TIME. Time for practice. If it takes me 10 minutes to cover basics of throwing & catching for 5th graders, get them organized, and we then begin to practice, the amount of time practicing the how to do the skill CORRECTLY is vital to students success. I will have to observe the performance of each of the 30 plus students and give meaningful corrective and positive reinforcing feedback if we intend to claim that we have taught students the expected learning objectives.

For anyone who has read this far so far: (= Good job.

Let me ask what you think:

What is PE all about?

How much time is needed?

Should students have PE everyday?

Its fine to agree to disagree... many, many people in education do. It is a controversial issue.

A high school in MI that recently removed PE from its schedule:

http://theeastvision.info/wordpress/?p=453

And another likely in Portland OR:

http://www.kgw.com/news/local/Battle-brewing-over-cutting-PE-at-Portland-schools-97441719.html

K-8 Physical Education... are teachers prepared?

Intro for EDUC 422, Technology Tools for Teachers

Allow me to say a bit concerning technology and my experiences with it, as well as my humble road towards my own classroom. The world we live in is increasing rapidly in technology. In fact, computers are quickly becoming a necessity rather than a convenient option for work, education, and pleasure in our society. Being a young man in my twenties, this transition has been easier than for those even ten years my senior because of the computers and tools that were a part of my life from a young age. There are always new things to learn though. I often find myself doing new tasks on the computer and the WWW that I’ve never tried before. The nature of the Internet however, allows me to research and experiment until I can satisfy my need for help with new applications and programs.

I am an undergrad student and will graduate in the spring of 2011. I hope to begin the credential program here at CSUSM in the Fall of next year. I have enjoyed coaching and tutoring students of the junior high and high school age, and am currently an assistant coach at the community college level. I began coaching young children in soccer and baseball when I was in Junior High myself, and really enjoying working with these people. I love being a physical education major, and also plan to be credentialed in science and perhaps mathematics. I’m an employee of the San Marcos Unified school district as an AVID tutor for Woodland Park Middle School, which has been a very rewarding and fun experience for me.

I hope that this class serves as a refresher in applications that I already know, and gives me some ideas on how to use technology in my future classrooms. I believe that computers and the Internet are a great way to ENRICH the normal curriculum and activities in just about any school classroom (including physical education!)