Professional Growth

As physical educators, we are faced with many rewards and challenges as we begin our profession. Without professional growth, these challenges can grow into significant stumbling blocks. Some of the most significant challenges we face include teacher burnout, lack of comprehensive subject knowledge, disconnection to other faculty members, student apathy, and feelings of isolation from other physical educators. Professional growth is vital in order for us to produce lifelong healthy and active young adults.

One of the best opportunities for professional growth is membership in a professional organization. The American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (AAHPERD) is the largest organization of professionals supporting and assisting those involved in physical education, leisure, fitness, dance, health promotion, and education and all specialties related to achieving a healthy lifestyle. AAHPERD provides members with a variety of resources, support, and programs designed to help practitioners improve their skills and knowledge. There are six national associations for specific areas: American Association for Health Education, National Dance Association, American Association for Active Lifestyles and Fitness, American Association for Leisure and Recreation, National Association for Girls and Women in Sport, National Association for Sport and Physical Education, and the Research Consortium.

In addition to the national associations, there are state associations as well. The national and state associations provide knowledge and support through activities such as workshops and state conferences. As a member of my state and national organization, I can assure you that membership in professional organizations can help your professional growth. Click on the link to find out more about AAHPERD .

Bart Cagle
Secondary Section Editor

This is an example of an excellent secondary school web site and program. Minerva DeLand is an all 9th grade school in Fairport, N.Y. This program includes an overall wellness program with a strong emphasis in fitness. Each student is required to take 2 sections of health and one section of swimming. In addition, students have the choice of other activities to select. Each student is required to keep a portfolio of their written work which includes fitness related homework, study guides, personal goals, dietary logs, and any activity related information.

The four physical educators at the school offer four different sections of activities for the students to choose. The fitness component is taught by each teacher during that unit, regardless of the activity.

In addition to the strong emphasis on fitness through activity, they also require all students to take 2 units of health. These units include chemical use prevention and human development.

Check out the web site for more details on a great program.

This summer the government launched a $190 million national campaign to promote physical activity for 9-to-13 year olds. The catch phrase for the new ad is "VERB: It's What You Do." Verbs are active parts of speech and kids should be active as well. Kids are encouraged to pick their favorite verb (run, kick, jump, swim, dance...) and then do it.

The advertising campaign includes TV commercials, ads on billboards, radio, and print. Popular adolescent magazines such as Teen People and Sports Illustrated for Kids will also feature the ads.

America Online has developed a Web site ( www.verbnow.com ) for the effort. The marketing group that worked on the project indicated that verb was a brand. "This is selling a product, but the product isn't something on the shelf in the grocery store, it's an invitation to kids to be social and try all kinds of positive activities and decide what they like."

Lets use this as another tool to help get all kids active and healthy.

Physical educators often run into the problem of variety when it comes to improving student's health related fitness. One method of increasing the variety (and fun) of strength and endurance activities is to use novel equipment or the same equipment in novel ways.

Perform Better is a web site that sells fitness related products. Although fitness equipment can be very expensive, physical educators can find new variations to the standard strength training exercises. For example, the ab dolly helps to focus on abdominal strength and endurance by using a small dolly. Most physical educators have access to scooters, which can be used in place of the ab dolly. Another variation is to the traditional push up. For students with superior upper arm strength, traditional push ups may be ineffective as a strength building activity. The power push ups listing uses resistance bands to increase the load during the exercise. The result is more gain in muscle strength rather than in muscle endurance. Use your creativity and to think of new ways to get fit.