CONFERENCE/WORKSHOP CALENDAR

It is that time of year when we are not sure how to keep our students attention and motivation. Summer dreaming has begun, and students are thinking about what the summer will bring; jobs, romance, vacations, and fun. This issue of "Secondary PE" at PELINKS4U will try to focus on practical ideas for the end of the school year. Over my ten years of teaching secondary physical education, I have tried, both successfully and unsuccessfully, to address this issue. The suggestions here were the successes. I hope you can make them work for you. Darla Castelli Section Editor

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Making Connections

Making Connections by Liz Giles-Brown, South Bristol Elementary School, South Bristol, Maine Making connections is a way to advocate for your program and to demonstrate accountability. As physical education teachers, we are continually looking for ways to communicate what students are learning in physical education classes with our parents. There is a lot of talk about advocacy at different levels, and there is evidence of good work done on behalf of physical education teachers. However, the most important work we can do is to make connections with parents on a regular basis. This can be done through several mechanisms. I send home a Newsletter every two weeks to update parents on skills and concepts students have been working on in class. That newsletter is posted on our Physical Education Web Page along with a curriculum map that lets parents know what the year holds for their child in physical education. Homework assignments given to students require a parent signature before being handed in. The hope is that the parents will sit down with their child and discuss what is being learned in physical education class. Support is gained by making those connections with parents on a regular basis. Years ago I was the PEPI (Physical Education Public Information) Representative for our state organization. I attended a session at the Eastern District Convention (EDA), and the speaker kept repeating the same message over and over again. I guess it worked because I still remember it. She said, "You have to do a good job, do a good job, do a good job, and then tell somebody about it." That message has stayed with me over the years and I am constantly thinking of ways to communicate with others about my passion: helping children develop the skills and knowledge necessary to lead a healthy and active lifestyle, and helping children find love for movement. Over the past few years the use of the Internet has become a wonderful way in which we can communicate with the public about what we do. At first I was a little apprehensive, but once I got started I found an easily accessible tool that can be used in my communication efforts. I recently became aware of a Web Site www.quia.com that allows teachers who may not have experience designing web pages to easily design a message board, and create games or quizzes for students to play or take online. By logging on and creating an account that can be updated at any time, a teacher has another way to communicate upcoming events, what is going on in classes for the next week, and assignment reminders. Students and parents can e-mail the teacher with questions directly from the site. My immediate thought was, "What a great way for me to create cognitive reinforcement activities for students to access at home or at school". My next thought was that it would also help me continue to make that connection with parents. What a motivating way to assist students in continued learning outside of our gymnasiums and to advocate for our profession. I think we need to do a good job and tell somebody about it, but we also need to do a good job and tell people exactly what it is we are doing a good job at. This is just another tool that will help us get that job done. So, get online and check it out, and continue to make those connections in any way you can.

Evidence of Competency: End of the Semester Projects Student projects are a form of authentic assessment that can provide evidence of student competency. This time of year can be challenging to find teaching space, and to keep students motivated. Projects incorporating presentations about physical activity, are one way to address these "end of the semester" issues. At Kennebunk High School, in Kennebunk Maine, there are two physical education teachers, and a total student enrollment of 800, with approximately 250 students participating in physical education. The State of Maine has a one credit requirement for secondary physical education. Kennebunk High School, using a block scheduling format, organized the one credit into two semesters: one of basic physical education, and one in elective physical education. At the end of each semester there is an exam schedule. This means students have between 80 and 270 minutes of physical education per week, and potentially more with exams. In the spring there are constant interruptions in scheduling with blood drives, graduation marching practice, standardized testing, etc. This schedule was the impetus for our project ideas. We had huge blocks of time in which it was impossible to effectively teach and keep students physically active, yet it was important to us that learning continue. We asked students to select an activity in which they participated in outside of physical education (Their activity had to be approved by their teacher prior to completing the project). The students had to research that activity as homework. The requirement was a ten minute presentation and a two page paper about the activity. They were required to find a web site, teach others how to get started, identify costs to participate, and estimate the amount of time commitment required to learn the activity. Students selected activities like; snowboarding, sailing, equestrian, skateboarding, rock climbing, hiking, officiating youth sports, water-skiing, fishing, and many other activities. About any topic was fair game, as long as we did not have it in the physical education curriculum. Among the great success stories was a shy, seemingly uncoordinated student who revealed during his presentation that his summer job was as a clown performing at children's birthday parties. First he showed us a brief video of himself at a birthday party. Then he showed us how he got started juggling with scarf's, balls, pins, and spinning plates. He brought enough stuff for all of us to try juggling something. He taught step by step, with his presentation lasting almost the entire class period as students kept asking questions, or for help. It was amazing! I would have never known this student had these talents unless we had given this assignment. Another memorable occasion was a student who's parents were farmers, that brought in her horse. She was a barrel rider. We set up a course behind the school and she told us how she learned to barrel ride, how much work it was to take care of her horse, and how she actually won her horse through competition. These students are making healthy choices and leading physically active lives. It was wonderful to have them share what they do every day to stay healthy. Student presentations were better "sales pitches" then ones sometimes given by teachers. At this age, students listen to each other more easily than they listen to us. Everything was not all roses during our first attempt. Half of the projects were completed, while the other half of the students were busy complaining that "gym" should not be allowed to give homework. A little better planning the next time around resulted in some tremendous projects that all teachers, guests, and study hall students learned from. Here are a few suggests for you to get started: Make the project worth 10% of the final grade. Treat it like a final or exit exam. We started having student presentations as a scheduled final exam. Videotape the presentations. Require the students to bring in visual aids (horse not required, but riding equipment, a video tape, etc.). After your first attempt at having students present physical activity projects, invite guests such as the principal, other teachers, parents, or study hall students. I thought this validated our efforts and upped the ante for the students. Start simple. Have the students create poems, comic strips, or dances to be presented in class. Then, next semester make the project more demanding. Also, start with first year students. They will be less resistant, because they do not know what to expect anyway. In this day and age of accountability, these projects are evidence that students are physically active outside of class and are knowledgeable in the content. Give it a try.

Jon Cahill is the director of the Gym Dandies Children's Circus. He began several years ago using scarfs to teach juggling in his physical education classes. Today his idea has evolved to a full blown traveling circus. Children perform advanced juggling, ride 6-foot unicycles, balance on rolling globes, and walk on Chinese stilts. Jon Cahill was the 1999 Maine Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance Teacher of the Year. His students are routinely featured on the evening news as evidence of their success. If you are interested in more information, or want to know how you can get started, contact Jon Cahill. (207) 883-6660 (School) jonecahill@aol.com

Tips from the Trenches

Play Ultimate Frisbee using a sport education model. Create teams, and take turns assigning a student to be coach, a trainer (they are responsible for warming up their team), and a referee. Then play a tournament. Bring a cookie jar full of fitness activities to class, and have a student pull one out for the day. Have a blindfold scavenger hunt. One sighted person leads five others to different places on the school grounds. Using a time limit makes it more fitness oriented. Use peer coaching for softball hitting practice. One person tosses a tennis ball while the batter hits them into a net. The peer coach gives feedback on the batters swing.

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Contribute YOUR Ideas

If you have ideas, comments, letters to share, or questions about particular topics, please email one of the following Secondary PE Section Editors:

	Jon Poole
	Bane McCracken
	Darla Castelli
	Isobel Kleinman