PELINKS4U - Promoting Active & Healthy Lifestyles

From the Publisher…

WHAT LIES AHEAD FOR PHYSICAL EDUCATION? PE 2020

"Eliminate high school physical education and sign students up at a local health club instead. They’d get more exercise and it would save schools money."

"PE should be completely personalized so that students can choose what they want to do."

"…improving kids' physical fitness is the main thing in PE. Why learn skills you will never use as an adult?"

The NASPE sponsored "PE2020" initiative is underway with close to 300 visions published. Last month, I encouraged you to submit your vision for our professional future. Here are excerpts from a few of the visions already posted at www.pe2020.org:

Build a Shared Vision for Physical Education in the Year 2020 and Beyond

SHARE YOUR PE VISION HERE

In August, celebrity fitness advocate Richard Simmons - (California) who has been hugely supportive of school physical education - posted his vision. In describing what he would like to see, Simmons emphasized daily physical activity in school beginning early in life. His comments also added support to "comprehensive school physical activity programs" that are getting more and more national attention. (See NASPEs Let’s Move in School initiative.)

Chuck Corbin - (Arizona) posted a positive perspective for "physical activity education" in tomorrow’s high schools. He wrote:

"Graduates of Tomorrow High School look back on physical activity education as a pleasurable experience because of the use of appropriate practices in physical activity education. Physical activity education classes and teachers are no longer characterized as insensitive, uncaring, taskmasters as was the case in earlier times."

Judy Rink - (South Carolina) expressed both hope and concern for our professional future. She believes that promoting physically active lifestyles will be the focus for school physical education for the next decade. Within our profession Rink noted that our knowledge of how to best motivate students is improving. But, she cautions, PE will not change if we don’t become more accountable for learning outcomes. Presently, Rink suggests there is a mismatch between what we know, and what we do, that urgently needs to be resolved.

Students who leave 4th grade overweight or obese are highly likely to remain so throughout their lifespan, writes Daryl Siedentop (Ohio). Prior to 4th grade, he believes physical education should focus on skill themes through which students learn skills that will provide the foundation for learning games, sports, and dance as they move through the K-12 physical education program. Siedentop advocates for creating "comprehensive school physical education programs" that also partner with out-of-school agencies.

Cyrus - (Washington) makes the radical suggestion that the entire school district curriculum should be reorganized under a "Health and Physically Fit" framework. Movement she argues should be integral to all disciplines and physical education fits at the core of our students' daily lives.

And Karin - (Washington) makes the radical suggestion that the entire school district curriculum should be reorganized under a "Health and Physically Fit" framework. Movement she argues should be integral to all disciplines and physical education fits at the core of our students' daily lives.

What do you think? If you haven’t submitted please set aside some time to write a vision. You don’t have to be a great writer. Don’t hesitate because of your writing skills. This isn’t a literary competition! If you teach physical education or are in a PETE program you have a vision of what you would like physical education to be. Write down these thoughts. Don’t keep them to yourself. Be as radical or conservative as you want. For PETE and K-12 programs to improve we need to read and reflect upon each other’s ideas and then plan the road ahead.

Finally, do involve your students, colleagues, friends, and family. If every pelinks4u reader submitted a vision and recruited a few extra contributors we'd have thousands on the www.pe2020.org web site. And I invite you to copy me your vision. I plan to continue highlighting visions each month leading up the special one-day PE2020 symposium on Tuesday, March 29th at the AAHPERD national convention in San Diego. I look forward to reading yours.

Steve Jefferies, publisher
pelinks4u

1.	PROMOTING YOUR PHYSICAL EDUCATION PROGRAM
2.	DESIGNING INTERNET ASSIGNMENTS
3.	AN OVERVIEW OF AUTISM WITH RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES AND EXERCISE
4.	USING TECHNOLOGY TO PROMOTE YOUR PROGRAM
5.	ADAPTED AQUATICS FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES: FOCUS ON AUTISM AND CEREBRAL PALSY
6.	PROMOTING YOUR PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND SPORTS PROGRAMS THROUGH RELIANCE ON KEY CORE VALUES, PRINCIPLES, AND BELIEFS


	PROMOTING YOUR PHYSICAL EDUCATION PROGRAM Tom Winiecki writes this month for those of us who believe we are doing a great job, but who don’t feel we get the respect we deserve from those around us. Whose fault is this? Too often we are quick to criticize others when in reality we need to do more to coordinate with other school district goals. Based on many years of K-12 teaching experience, Tom describes a strategy to help physical educators fit in better within their schools and as a result boost respect for school physical education.
	DESIGNING INTERNET ASSIGNMENTS Despite increasingly easy access to the internet, creating interesting and worthwhile online assignments is challenging. It’s not that our students find the technology difficult. Technologically, they’re often far more skilled than us. But simply locating information and pasting it into a paper does little to enhance learning. In "Designing Internet Assignments" Martha Beagle highlights specific standards teachers should follow. She describes different types of internet assignments and provides a series of tips to maximize student learning. Web sites with examples of internet assignments are also linked.
	AN OVERVIEW OF AUTISM WITH RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES AND EXERCISE Autism affects the functioning of the brain and is estimated to affect one in 150 births. Diagnosis typically occurs in ages 3-4 (although it can be sooner) and reveals itself in the developmental areas of social interaction, language, and behavior. In this article, Rachael Heilman describes the known causes of autism, its symptoms and its treatments. Exercise and physical activity have both been found to be beneficial experiences for children with autism.
	USING TECHNOLOGY TO PROMOTE YOUR PROGRAM Longtime pelinks4u editor Scott Tomassetti reports this month on the ways in which technology is helping to ease the challenges of his recent move to a new school in a new school district. Already quite familiar with using a school web site, Scott decided he wanted something that offered more interaction with visitors. This month he explains the concept of a "dynamic" web site. If you've visited Twitter or Facebook you are already familiar with this concept. Scott describes how these new types of web sites can support instruction and provides links to examples.
	ADAPTED AQUATICS FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES: FOCUS ON AUTISM AND CEREBRAL PALSY According to Alceste Laurenti, adapted aquatics provide an environment in which students with autism or cerebral palsy can thrive. Alceste describes her experiences as an aquatic instructor with children in a program named "Noah's Endeavor." She discovered that water proved to be an environment in which students with disabilities could have fun and learn new skills that also transferred to their lives outside of the pool.
	PROMOTING YOUR PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND SPORTS PROGRAMS THROUGH RELIANCE ON KEY CORE VALUES, PRINCIPLES, AND BELIEFS After 40 years of teaching physical education and coaching sports, Greenville County Schools Athletic Director Bill Utsey shares insights into what he has learned, and how this learning has molded his core values and beliefs. He emphasizes that your daily interactions with students will regularly be discussed in student homes and in your community. How you behave and what you say is the most important part of your public relations efforts. Bill continues to share his 8 core values and gives examples of their impact on students. Above all, Bill stresses the importance of all of us who work with students to reflect upon and then act consistently on a core set of values.


		October 2010 Vol. 12 No. 8