EDITORIAL:

DIY: PRESENT YOUR OWN PE2020 EVENT
written by Steve Jefferies, publisher, pelinks4u

I'm delighted this month to be able to tell you where you can find and download copies of the materials both shared and collected at the PE2020 Forum. All of the documents, PowerPoints, and links to movies have been posted on the NASPE Forum. Here's the direct link: http://pelinks4u.jasonbuckboyer.com/naspeforum/discus/messages/4842/4842.html?1305141678.

One of the many excellent suggestions made at the PE2020 Forum in San Diego was a request that we share the presentation materials for others to read and use. What a great idea! The Forum itself was a wonderful experience with about 250 attendees. The room was full in the morning, and stayed packed the entire day. People arriving that day in San Diego came directly to the Forum and joined in the conversation.

Excitement in the room was palpable. Discussion was intense. Opinions varied and alternative views encouraged. The entire NASPE Board attended. Teachers, students, and university faculty sat together around the same tables and shared thoughts. Notes were collected on index cards and on posters. We watched videos, heard from guest presenters, and listened to summaries of table discussion. And later that week a physical education major enthused about her first convention experience, volunteered that her day at the PE2020 Forum was best of all. It was more than a great day. It was a day of inspiration. And it's one that we'd like YOU to consider repeating where you live.

Planning for the future is not something you should let other people do for you. The NASPE Board has told us that it's interested in considering some national futuristic initiatives. But that's not going to be enough to get things really moving. Most of us know that real change typically begins at the local level and filters upwards rather than the reverse. Those of us who teach in higher education get most of our new ideas from those of you who work day in and out with kids. We need people nationwide in our school districts, universities, and state and district AHPERDS to initiate and lead discussion about the future of physical education.

Those of us who were involved in the PE2020 Forum planning want to help you. The San Diego Forum took quite a bit of planning and material preparation. We want to share it and encourage you to consider planning a "PE2020" event at your next state or district AHPERD conference, or with your school district colleagues. Make it the theme of the meeting. All the materials you need are online. Take them. Modify them. Make them your own. Get your teaching colleagues or college students involved in creating a vision for the future. As those of you who attended the San Diego Forum heard, changes to public school education are occurring faster than most of us imagined. It's unwise to ignore the trends. Bill Gates used the term "blazing speed" when referring to the pace of school change. Physical educators have to get serious and focused. We need to take control over our future, rather than passively waiting and then belatedly and often desperately reacting.

That's it. We need PE2020 thinking to become "viral" nationwide: To spread everywhere and to stimulate new and creative ideas. Continuing to do what we currently do and ignoring the changing world around us is a disastrous course. It's a train wreck waiting to happen. We owe it to future generations of physical educators, and more importantly to children nationwide to make sure that movement is a core feature of tomorrow's public school learning environment: For the many valid reasons that are familiar to all of us.

I recently commented to new AAHPERD CEO Paul Roetert that it was vital for physical educators to make sure they had a seat at the table when education reform was being discussed. He astutely responded that if we weren't at the table then we would probably be on the menu! Let's avoid that fate. Please use the PE2020 Forum materials, then share with all of us what you and your colleagues are thinking about regarding physical education's future.

ARTICLE INTRODUCTIONS:

LET'S GO TUBING - YOUTUBING THAT IS!
One of the positive ways that the Internet can impact physical education is through the use of visual instructional aids. Most of us are familiar with YouTube, but perhaps don't realize that it is much more than a site for video entertainment. In fact, YouTube is full of clips illustrating almost every skill you might like to teach your students. In this article, pelinks4u contributing editor Martha Beagle explains how to safely use YouTube, and introduces us to many more free online sources for physical education instructional materials.

CELEBRATING THE PERFECT PE STORM!
According to authors Clive Hickson and Brent Bradford, "When the perfect PE storm occurs, teaching and learning is happening." Presented in this article are some of the key components of a quality physical education program, including: being a positive role model, planning quality programs, producing developmentally appropriate lessons, using a variety of approaches to reach all students, being developers of the whole child, providing activities for all students, and finally implementing daily physical education experiences. It's a great reminder for all teachers of what we need to do to ensure we are teaching effectively.

MOLDED IN THE IMAGE OF SPORT
May 1-7 is of course National Sport and Physical Education week. Author John Strong encourages readers to think about what sport and physical education has meant to their lives. John shares his own beginnings in sports, and how they allowed him to fit in with his peers and make new friends. He describes how sports taught him many life lessons, and how now today he emphasizes to others "the importance of the process versus the product, the growth versus the goal." He concludes with the thought that "the greatest gifts I received from sport came not in the form of medals or trophies, but in the memories of the friends I've played with, places I've gone, and character that I derived." Great advice we should share with today's young students and athletes.

THE ROLE OF THE ASSISTANT COACH
Author, and assistant track coach Tiffany Quilter, writes this month about four core values that make for a great coach: integrity, honesty, trust, and loyalty. As a former athlete Tiffany shares how assistant coaches were great role models of the kinds of behaviors she now strives to develop in her athletes. If you coach or have assistant coaches, this article would be wonderful resource to share. As a bonus, Tiffany includes a short video clip highlighting legendary basketball coach John Wooden's exemplary role modeling.

ENHANCING SELF-EFFICACY IN THE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY DOMAIN
You are probably aware of the expression that "success breeds success, and failure breeds failure." Well, according to "self-efficacy theory" we are more likely to engage in behaviors that we believe we can successfully perform, and avoid behaviors that we feel will be unsuccessful. In this article, sport psychologist Ashley Samson suggests ways to use what we have learned from self-efficacy research to give people the confidence and motivation to get moving and to enjoy the many benefits of regular physical activity. Ashley includes a great explanatory video clip, and a link to many other informational resources.

CREATIVE P.E. ACTIVITIES
Physical educator Kim Nygaard uses National Physical Education and Sport Week (May 1-7) as a time to "gear up for fitness testing." Kim involves the entire school teaching staff and student families to emphasize the importance of regular physical activity. In this article Kim shares details of the "Fun & Fit" breaks she gives the classroom teachers. She also describes some of the activities and workouts that she does leading up to physical fitness testing. In March she has her students complete an "Iditarod Dog Sled Race" and has them follow the actual race in Alaska. Now she is on to a "Survivor" unit. If you are looking for some new and creative activities for your physical education program this article is for YOU!

MENTAL TRAINING SKILLS AND TOOLS FOR ATHLETES
Coaches want their athletes to be mentally tough but what's the best way to do it? This month Christine Lottes presents the first of several pelinks4u articles designed to give coaches practical steps for helping their athletes to be mentally prepared for competition. Traditionally coaches spent most of their time focused on the physical side of sports preparation. And yet, most of us know (and research shows) that proper mental preparation is vital. Sadly, mental training is commonly ignored other than through pleas to athletes to "get tougher" or to "focus." Christine shares practical examples illustrating ways in which coaches can develop mental training strategies and integrate them into the overall sport training program. If you've been wondering how to approach mental training here's a great beginning.