EDITORIAL

2013 New Year Greetings from pelinks4u

Thanks to those of you who contributed to the PE fundraiser we publicized last month to support professional colleagues in New York and New Jersey who suffered as a result of Hurricane Sandy. It's not too late if you haven't contributed. Any sized donation would be appreciated. pelinks4u has contributed $250.00 to each state fundraiser. You can find the details either by clicking on the logo below, or visiting the December edition of pelinks4u in our Archives.

I also hope that you made time to enjoy the holidays with your families and friends. Sadly, the anticipation all of us shared for a joyful and peaceful Christmas was shattered by the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings. As educators, an event like this was especially traumatic because it could have happened to any one of us who spend much of our time in our nation's schools and colleges.

Since the shootings I've once again tried to comprehend America's addiction to guns. Although originally from England, I've now lived in the US for more than 30 years. It's been my home for more years than many native-born ardent gun supporters. I've listened to, and read the views of gun advocates. I wish I could dismiss them as a tiny crazy minority, but of course most of them are quite sane and their views are widely held. They just hold beliefs that I've found pretty much anyone who has lived outside the USA finds incomprehensible. I certainly do.

It's not surprising then that the recent proposal by the CEO of the National Rifle Association to place armed guards in every school alarmed me. I wondered how much time he'd spent in and around our public schools.

Was the CEO aware that millions of schoolchildren are packed tightly into the confined spaces of school buses twice daily? Hasn't he noticed that before school, and during recess and lunch breaks, elementary-aged children swarm around on outdoor school playgrounds and older students stand socializing in groups? Did his physical education teachers never take him for lessons outside the school building onto playgrounds and fields? Just what sort of schools were in his imagination when proposing to protect schools with armed guards?

If more guns were the solution to school violence there would obviously need to be an armed guard on every school bus, a whole team of pistol-packing officers patrolling our buildings, playgrounds, and fields, and guard towers surrounding the school perimeter. But even then, how would that stop a determined killer positioned outside the school from wreaking havoc in just a few seconds using an automatic weapon and 30-bullet clip? Where does it stop? How many guns and guards will be enough to make our schools safe?

I don't claim to know the answer to school shootings, but I'm fearful of the consequences of transforming our educational environments into armed camps. It would certainly alter what we teach, and how we teach physical education and coach interscholastic sports.

On behalf of all of us involved in the publication of pelinks4u, I wish you the very best for 2013. Enjoy the 7 new articles included with this publication. Look over the "News" column at the bottom of the page for the latest developments related to PE, health, sports, physical activity, nutrition, and grant opportunities.

Finally, for 2013 in addition to eating healthy and staying physically active, if there is one New Year's resolution to make and keep please do this: Regularly hug the ones you love and at every opportunity tell them that you love them.

Steve Jefferies, publisher pelinks4u

The Softer, Squashy American
More than a half century ago, President John Kennedy lamented the health of American youth in a Sports Illustrated article entitled, "The Soft American." This month, John Kilbourne informs us that in the past 44 years, physical activity in the United States has declined 32%.

Today, the US Military is routinely rejecting applicants because they are physically unfit to serve. In this article, John introduces us to physical activity promoting initiatives proposed by an organization called "Designed To Move."

Read more about the ways that physical educators can contribute to these initiatives. (read)

Let's Not Just Say It This Year! Let's Do It! School-Wide!
If New Year health-promoting initiatives are worth doing, they are even better when shared! Authors Ashleigh Evaniew, Brent Bradford, and Clive Hickson combine this month to describe a New Year’s school-wide approach to enhancing physical activity levels and making healthy choices.

Instead of making "resolutions," they suggest that physical educators identify realistic and achievable goals. And they encourage us to involve not only our students but also teachers and school staff.

Read the suggestions and ways in which physical educators can adopt a school "community" approach to supporting 2013's well-intentioned efforts to become and stay healthy. (read)

Double Dutch in First Grade? Why Not! Here's How
How many of us have been impressed watching other teachers' students jump rope, but felt nervous about teaching these skills to our own students? This is how elementary physical education teacher Michael Usilton felt until an experienced colleague taught him the "ropes."

A decade ago, aged 38, Michael "double dutched" for the first time. Beginning with fifth graders, in succeeding years he started teaching the younger grades. Today, he's worked out a series of progressions that allow many first-graders to successfully double dutch.

In this article, Michael not only describes the progressions, but also has links to YouTube videos of these students jumping rope. (read)

Healthy New Year's Resolutions
Another New Year and another new you! How many of us kickoff every January with high hopes of changing-for-the-better something about our lives? Author Amy Sue Hesselgesser who not only teaches physical education, but is also a personal trainer, suggests starting out simple. Well at least restricting ourselves initially to focusing on only one change at a time.

Not surprisingly, following the Christmas tendency of over indulgency, Amy focuses her attention on ways to improve our eating habits and creating an exercise routine we can keep up. Check out Amy's advice. (read)

SMART Goals = Positive Habits
In his contribution to the pelinks4u New Year edition, writer John Strong focuses on the attributes of effective goal setting. In addition to describing the characteristics of goals that have a better-than-average chance of being achieved, John reminds us that teaching our students how to set goals is an essential part of meeting our NASPE National Standards.

Goal-setting skills not only need to be taught but also regularly reinforced. As students age, making and sustaining healthy lifestyle choices is not always easy or obvious. Physical educators are ideally positioned to advise and counsel their students on the challenges they face. Learn more. (read)

Diamond Canyon Motor Speedway Warm-Ups
Looking for some new warm-up activities? Jeff Tiedemann not only describes two different activities that motivate his students, but also shares PowerPoint presentations that he projects while his students are moving.

The first warm-up called "Cars" is based on the movies of the same name. Jeff challenges his students to perform different locomotor movements while listening to the song "Life is a Highway." The second warm-up, called "Olympics Warm-up" features selected images from the 2012 Olympics.

Don't miss the opportunity to download Jeff's slides and try these warm-ups with your own students. (read)

Music Therapy as a Treatment Modality for Individuals with Autism
Author Jennifer Salah, writes that music therapy, a form of art therapy, is gaining popularity as an effective treatment for various diseases and disorders. In this article she dates the use of music in medicine back to ancient times.

As a form of therapy, music has been shown to improve memory and motor skill functioning in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Jennifer explains that the expressive nature of music therapy can help those with autism to communicate thoughts and feelings they otherwise may find difficult to convey. (read)