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Promoting Your Program
One of the most overlooked areas of most
secondary Physical Education programs is Advocacy and Program Promotion.
Most of our time and energy is usually spent in other areas such
as curriculum, planning, budgeting, grading, and the list goes on
and on. I believe there are three important reasons why physical
educators need to make program promotion one of the top priorities.
- Program promotion forces us to
evaluate our programs. Before we begin promoting our programs,
we must determine if our program is worth promoting. Physical
educators should take time every year to reflect and the overall
goals and objectives for the program.
- Program promotion provides accountability.
In many states and school districts, physical education is on the
"cutting block." Even if we have quality programs, they may
be cut out if the administration, parents and other people are not
aware of it. Parents are often the most influential force
behind programs that are kept and those that are lost. Make
sure that your student's parents are up to speed on the quality
program that you provide.
- Physical activity and fitness
of our youth is at dangerously low levels. National health
organizations have used current research and statistics to raise
the nation's awareness for the need of physical activity for young
people. This is an excellent time for physical educators to
sell our program to the community.
The bottom line is that physical educators need to create quality
programs and sell those programs to the public. This is a win/win
situation for all involved.
Bart Cagle
Secondary Section
Editor
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One of the advantages of promoting a physical education program
is that it forces us to reflect and evaluate our program.
GYM TEACHER
is a website that contains lesson plans for elementary PE, but it
also contains information to determine if teachers and programs
are effective or ineffective.
There are two links that describe the difference between a "gym
teacher" and a "physical educator." Both articles describe
what the students may be doing and what the teacher may be doing
that would produce effective or ineffective programs.
The following is a short list of a physical educator and a quality
physical education class:
- A physical educator makes contact with every student at
least one time each class period.
- Praise correct performance levels by giving specific feedback...while
students are performing.
- Closure is always a part of the lesson.
Check out the rest of the list (both good and bad) to help determine
the quality of your program.
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Speaking of program promotion, PE4LIFE
is a website that offers physical educators the tools needed to
promote their programs to parents, administration, and to the community.
PE4LIFE is a non-profit organization which is designed to promote
and expand quality physical education programs for America's youth.
The community action kit was developed by P.E.4LIFE and Human Kinetics
and contains educational materials in the form of a videotape,
Powerpoint
slides, transparency slides, handouts, and template letters which
can be used to educate the public regarding quality physical education.
The action kit contains a video which uses the latest research data
to educate and motivate listeners to take action to ensure that
quality physical education is available for their students. The
CD-ROM contains Powerpoint slides regarding quality physical education.
The slides can be transformed into overhead transparencies or handouts.
The template letters allow parents or community members to write
to officials regarding student waivers from PE and the need for more
time in PE.
One of the greatest advantages of the community action kit is that
it is FREE. The entire kit will be sent to you without cost.
The recipient is only responsible for shipping and handling costs
(around $5). Some of the information is also available on-line.
The power point slides, the press release, and the template letters
can all be downloaded from the website. There are also tips
which describe which set of topics are best to use in different
situations. And finally, there are tips for giving a public
presentation including how to answer questions appropriately, how
to handle difficult audience members, and how to maximize audience
enthusiasm.
So check out this website. It provides a wonderful resource
for physical educators who want to promote their programs.
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Many physical educators use jump ropes as a part of the curriculum,
and the following website can help us to get the most out of jump ropes.
USA JUMP ROPE is an organization
dedicated to promoting the sport of jump rope.
The website has information dealing with: starting a jump rope team,
local camps, tournaments, software, media, and more. There
are national tournaments that are televised on ESPN.
A good way to motivate students to jump rope is to visit a link
that calculates jump rope speed. Students of all ages would
be interested in seeing how fast their jump rope turns. This
activity also incorporates mathematical concepts and computations.
Advanced students can turn the jump rope at 50-60 mph (or even faster)!
Check out the website for more information on jump ropes.
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If you are looking for an informative, up-to-date website that
offers high school students to chance to learn about fitness concepts
using interactive techniques then check at SHAPE
UP AMERICA . This is one of the best websites I've seen
that focuses on fitness and does it in a fun, interactive way.
The website contains 8 links dealing with different fitness and
wellness dimensions. They are: body fat lab, library, professionals,
CYBERkitchen, about SUA, fitness center, support, and media center.
In this article, we will explore the fitness center link.
The fitness center link contains 7 areas: assessment, information,
improvement, barriers, nutrition, feedback, and FAQs. The
assessment link contains tools for students to assess activity and
fitness levels. The information link discusses the benefits
of being active, a physical activity IQ test, and definitions to
basic physical activity buzzwords. The improvement link contains
information about the different ways to add physical activity to
one's lifestyle and ways to chart progress. The nutrition
link discusses the role of healthy eating and physical fitness.
The barriers links presents common excuses people use not to exercise
and ways to overcome them. The FAQ (frequently asked questions)
answers some basic questions concerning exercise and physical activity.
The feedback link allows students to email the organization with
questions or comments about the website.
This would be a great website to use for cognitive assignments pertaining
to physical education. Look over the information and see if
it will work for you.
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For those of you who want to learn (or are having trouble teaching)
aerobic dance steps, then you will want to look at TURNSTEP.COM
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This website illustrates some common moves in step aerobics with
great animations and text. It contains about 11,000 step
patterns from 73 countries.
Turnstep also contains information about aerobic music, video
reviews, and FAQs. Students will enjoy the variety of movements
and may be able to create step patterns of their own. This
is a great way to allow individuals to express their creativity.
Check out the website for more information.
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questions about particular topics, please email one of the following
Adapted PE Section Editors: |
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Questions to Ask, or
Thoughts to Share?
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