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I have begun my fall semester by adventuring outside the world
of physical education to instructional technology. I am working
as part of our Preparing Tomorrow's Teaching for Using Technology
(PT3) team. I work with preservice and in-service teachers
from all educational disciplines in an attempt to provide training
and technical support for the integration of technology.
I am learning a tremendous amount from our friendly neighbors in
the math and science department. I do believe that the feeling
is mutual. They introduced me to motion probes and mobile,
graphing heart monitors. In turn they have expanded their
perspective on the potential use of PDAs, streaming video, and the
use of Handy Sheets web site for student homework or assessment.
Next we are going to attempt to create some case studies of technology-rich
inquiry projects. I am eager to beginning work on this project
so I can make application to physical education.
Presently, the South Carolina Physical Education Assessment Program
has five multimedia CD-ROMs available. Two, cover assessment
at the high school level, two cover assessment on the elementary
level. A middle school assessment CD is expected to be released
in January. These CDs contain assessment rubrics and score
sheets for various sporting activities. The information is
set in an interactive format so audio and video can be displayed.
A fifth CD is called Awesome Volleyball. Former, Brazilian
Junior National Team Coach, Gylton DaMatta, is featured on the CD.
This an interactive instructional format, recommended for teachers
or coaches working with beginning volleyball players. Progression
for skills development and lead up games are included.
For information on any of these projects, please feel free to contact
me and I will forward you the information.
The school year is already one quarter finished. If we only
had time for all of the projects we want to do!
The writings in this issue are related to these projects and the
importance of physical activity in and out of physical education.
Darla
Castelli
Secondary Section Editor
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| Fitnessgram
Testing Accuracy |
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Fitnessgram testing is a valid, reliable why to attain
health-fitness information about our students. When students
are pre/post tested, this information can provide an accurate assessment
of your student's fitness level. The information can be used
to set goals and for instruction.
Despite all of the benefits, the results of fitness
testing can be very misleading if technical errors are not addressed.
When administering the test the protocols and directions must be
strictly adhered to. For example, when executing the curl
up a student's hands must remain in contact with the floor the entire
time.
If a student's hand lifts off of the floor (as pictured above) then
that is considered an error. On the second error the test
is completed. Often these types of errors go undetected and
thus scores are embellished.
It is impossible for us to see all the errors, so train your student
to help you identify those errors. Accuracy of test scores
is dependent upon it.
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Issues of Video Taping
in Physical Education
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| The benefits of using videotaping in physical education are unheralded.
The possible uses are limitless. For years we have known that
video analysis of human performance leads to refinement and increased
performance. Coaches looking for an edge spend hours analyzing
"tapes." Yet, in this day and age, we must use caution
when introducing a video or still camera to our classrooms.
Many school districts now have policies addressing the use of media
in classrooms. The purpose of this discussion is to make some
suggestions on how to introduce videotaping into your classroom.
- Find out what your school district policy is for videotaping.
Be sure to follow what ever guidelines that have been established.
Years ago, it required an appeal to the school board before we
could use videotape of students in an AAHPERD presentation.
The prevalence has increased but guidelines remain stringent.
- Obtain parental permission to videotape, as soon as, a student
joins your class. A "Release for Videotaping"
is fairly simple to make.
Construct the document then have it approved by the school administration.
The administration may want to show it to the school lawyer before
they agree to its use.
- Be specific about your intended use of the video. Videotaping
for the purpose of having students watch their own performance,
is justifiable and a reasonable request. Using student video
to create a multimedia CD for profit, takes on a new level of
justification. Additionally, anything intended to be published
to the World Wide Web should be clearly denoted. Parents
deserve to know where pictures of their children are going, for
what purpose, and how you are going to attempt to protect their
anonymity.
- Use the camera frequently. Making videotaping part of
your daily routine justifies its presences. Link the videotaping
to national and state standards. This demonstrates its essential
presence in the classroom.
Start by visiting these websites for comprehensive guidelines and
suggestions. Examples are included at these sites.
NCSA
website
BHAM
website
*We obtained permission to place this photo on this website.
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| Physical
Activity Contacts |
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In South Carolina there are four state mandated standards, or performance
indicators. The third is related to students participating
in regular physical activity outside of physical education.
Student contracts are a way to be encouraging student to participate
in regular physical activity outside of physical education.
Contracts are a written agreement requiring students to participate
in physical activity on a daily basis. Signatures from parents,
coaches, church group leaders, outing club leaders, etc. ensure
that students have participated in activity outside of school.
Introduction of this concept is not always initially received
positively, especially among high school students. The response
is usually, "this is so easy, all I have to do is write down
that I go to practice every day and have my coach sign it."
While still other students say, "this is not fair, I am not
a jock. You can not make me exercise when I am at home."
The contracts have received tremendous support from parents who
are looking for ways to send their adolescent children "out
to play." Some parents have gone so far as participating
with their children. Going to the school to play tennis, running
around the track, or walking the dog together has been a wonderful,
unexpected outcome.
Usually contracts last for a semester or a quarter; requiring six
to nine straight weeks of daily exercise. There are guidelines
for what is acceptable. A broad range of activities are accepted,
but the daily requirement is only flexible with confirmation from
parents. For example, if a student was sick and unable to
exercise, a parent would right a note. The number of excused
days coincides with the attendance policy of the school. So,
if you are only allowed to miss three days in a quarter, the same
holds true for the physical activity contract.
Community businesses have also caught on to the idea and offer
ways which students can meet their physical activity contracts.
For example, a local gym offered free passes or reduced rates to
those students with contracts. Such offerings motivated the
schools.
Starting with the next quarter, design a physical activity contract
for your students and treat its completion as homework, for part
of their grade. Be sure to request telephone numbers and signatures
so you can confirm the students participation in these physical
activities.
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In our last issue you read about the importance of physical activity
in the prevention of childhood obesity. The purpose of this
article is to entice you to take the SOFIT physical activity challenge.
For two years I have been working with preservice, undergraduate
physical education majors, at the University of South Carolina.
While teaching a class, entitled Teaching Health Related Fitness,
I stressed the importance of creating lessons that required students
to be physically active at least 50% of the time. The rise
in incidence of juvenile diabetes and childhood obesity, suggests
that we be more conscientious about how much physical activity actually
takes place within our own physical education classes. It
seems like such a simple task to plan for students to be moderate
to vigorously physically active (MVPA) for more than 50% of the
class period.
Undergraduates claim that it is easy, (much simpler than rocket
science), so I took the challenge to illustrate a point. I created
a model, integrated fitness lesson for sixth graders. The
objectives:
- To have students work in their target heart zone (moderate
to vigorously) for at least 50% of the time.
- To introduce the racket sport defensive tactic of returning
to "home base."
- To review the cues of the forehand and smash (which were taught
in previous lessons).
With the undergraduates acting as my students, I taught and videotaped
the lesson. After the cool down and closure, the students
still dripping with sweat, sat in front of a TV/VCR and coded the
lesson.
We assumed that our middle school did not have heart monitors available,
so we used the System for Observing Fitness Instruction Time (SOFIT)
(McKenzie, Sallis, & Nader, 1991) to identify how much time
was actually spent participating in physical activity. A modification
of the SOFIT
coding sheet was used. We each watched a student
for one minute, then circled the appropriate number under each of
the three columns (Student activity, Lesson context, Teacher behavior).
For the next minute we selected a different student to watch, and
so forth.
What were our conclusions? The lesson context had meet the
teacher objectives. The teacher behavior promoted fitness,
appropriately managed, and generally instructed racket sport tactics
and skills. Unfortunately, the lesson, which was designed
to exceed the 50% physical activity time, barely made met that criteria.
Our conclusions were that attaining the objective of students being
in MVPA for at least 50% of the physical education is not easy.
It took an extremely conscientious part on the teacher and the students
to attain that. It also required tremendous organization.
Minimizing the amount of time spent in transition and management
were critical.
Our suggestion, take the SOFIT teacher challenge. Plan your
best lesson, videotape it, and then have you and a friend code the
lesson using the SOFIT coding sheet. I hope your results exceed
your objectives. The concept is not a new one, but this "check
up" will help you identify if you are continuing to meet your
objectives.
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If you have ideas, comments, letters to share, or questions about
particular topics, please email one of the following Secondary PE
Section Editors: |
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