Looking Back & Looking Forward

As the school year comes to close, the theme for this month's PELINKS4U pages is to re-examine the past year, and look forward to a summer of personal and professional activities and opportunities. I have a very personal interest in looking forward because my oldest son, Kenny, graduates from elementary school and will attend Blacksburg Middle School this fall. Candidly, his mother and I are not sure he is ready!

As our college year finished up in early May, here at Radford University, I have had the opportunity to spend a majority of the last three weeks teaching a couple periods a day at the local middle school here in Radford. Like many of you, I have found the middle school youngsters at times engaging and interested, and other times apathetic and challenging. I have to keep reminding myself, as both a parent and professional educator, that these middle school years are an amazing mix of maturation, adolescence, personal turbulence, and questioning of authority. Just like, I suppose, those developmental milestones I had to navigate back in the early 70's. One of my college students who came to visit today even noted, "they misbehave just like I did a few years ago"

As a "guest" in this school, one thing that continues to bother me is the harsh, mean, nasty, really disrespectful tone the youngsters use with each other. The tone that, as a parent, I find myself replying, "Let'’s try that again, asking a bit nicer, shall we?" In Virginia, one of our five state standards for physical education includes, "Demonstrates responsible personal and social behaviors in physical activity settings"… clearly this standard is a struggle.

I will share some thoughts from Don Hellison later in this page concerning promoting pro-social behavior. In the past, when my college students ask me which of the five standards is the most important I typically replied, "all of them" though after this summer I may change that reply to, "all of them, but make sure you really hit responsible and respectful behavior."

John Poole
Secondary Section Editor

I often joke with my college students when asked why I choose to not teach summer school, "Hey, I need a break from you, too!" And while they think I am sort of kidding (only sort of), what I share with them is that, just as students grow a bit weary toward the end of the school year, so do teachers.

My summer break is just starting, and while it is filled with several "g" words, such as golf and gardening, it is also filled with "f" words, such as family and fun, and "c" words catch-up and clean-up. One of my goals this summer is to clean out my office, and spend some time researching some new activities and exercises to share with my students next fall.

I plan to read a few books, that currently include "The Perfect Mile," about the breaking of the four-minute mile some 50+ years ago, "Your Active Child," a look a boosting the physical, emotional, and cognitive development of children through active play, and "Devils Teeth," detailing research with great white sharks (I plan to read this one AFTER the beach vacation).

I hope all of you find time to re-connect with your family, your school, your profession, and mostly importantly, yourself.

Many exciting opportunities are available this summer for professional and personal development. Here are a few examples that would be well worth the effort to attend. And, of course, many/most of these offer either graduate or continuing education credit to help with re-certification.

California Physical Education Workshop
July 9-17, San Luis Obispo, California
This workshop will motivate and provide you with new and innovative ideas, activities, and current practices. This workshop is for teachers, coaches, and anyone working with youth.

Health and Physical Activity Institute
July 25-28, Harrisonburg, Virginia
This institute provides an opportunity for teachers to share effective teaching and learning practices. The primary objective of the institute is to improve the health and educational performance of children through better nutrition and physical activity instruction.

Physical education's goal is to help students find at least one activity they really enjoy, help them develop adequate skill to participate joyfully at least at a recreational level, an understanding of rules and strategies, the ability to participate safely, and an understanding of how to get started, how to continue to learn, and how to stay involved and persist across their lives. - Dr. Leslie Lambert, Ferrum College

Teen Volunteers: 14-year-old author encourages volunteer work.

TeenCommunityService.com - Read stories of teens helping others in their communities and around the globe - everything from volunteering at soup kitchens to visiting nursing homes to building homes in needy communities. These essays can spark your own ideas for service opportunities, too! - source: site

The Do Something Kids Tsunami Relief Fund - Want to write letters to the kids who will attend the schools built with your help? Find out how! source:site

20 Ways for Teenagers to Help Other People by Volunteering. This page gives you a catalogue of 20 different ways to get started as a volunteer and to really make a difference in your community! Use them as a starting point, and then start calling around in your area to find a volunteer opportunity that is perfect for you.

Successful Summer Tips for Your Teen
This site offers tips for ways to stay active while receiving the benefit of personal enrichment.

Youth Volunteer Network: read the stories of kids who have done volunteer work. Chances for awards and scholarships for doing volunteer work. Get ideas, or even do a search for volunteer work within your local area.

Youth Development & Teaching Responsibility

"Helping my students to take more responsibility for their well-being, and helping them to be more sensitive and responsive to the well-being of others was perhaps the best contribution I could make"
- Don Hellison

Dr. Don Hellison has spent several decades at the forefront of physical education teachers desire to impact youngsters, not only physically but emotionally. We all know from working with youngsters that being physically skilled and fit is wonderful, but without appropriate personal and socially responsible behaviors those skills are useless. To put it simply, you can be the best player on the team, but if no one wants to play with you, your team's chances for success are pretty limited.

Level 2 behaviors are expected to fully participate and try new things (games, exercises, etc.) without complaining. Level 3 behaviors involve greater self-direction, and might include helping with equipment without being asked, leading a group during a cooperative challenge, etc. The highest level, Level 4, expects youngsters to willingly work with anyone in class without complaining. As we all know, the choosing of partners and teammates is probably only second to managing the locker room when it comes to behavior problems.

The Government of Saskatchewan provides some pretty impressive information for teachers and parents concerning Hellison’s Levels at the following link: Personal-Social-Cultural Perspective.

Special Note: Don Hellison visited the home of PELinks4U at Central Washington University during the 5th Annual Physical Education Activity Kaleidoscope Workshop.

Parent Involvement at the Middle School Level. Many parents who are actively involved in the education of their children at the elementary school level become less involved when their children reach middle school. However, parent involvement in a child's education during the middle school years (ages 10 to 14) is just as important in a child's success at school as it is in earlier grades. If the school doesn't have a formal participation plan for parents, it is important that parents take the initiative to continue their involvement and collaboration in their children's school.

DADSforKIDS - young people who feel connected to family are more likely to avoid risky behaviors in adolescence. As a parent, you are the primary educator of your children. This site is a wealth of information, and also includes a 'coaches corner.'