|
|
FITNESS TESTING
Fitness testing is very common throughout secondary PE classes in
the U.S. When physical educators give fitness tests there
are several important questions that need to be answered.
The following questions can serve as guidelines for using fitness
testing appropriately. 
- How much time will it take to administer the test to every student
in every class. Baumgartner and Jackson(1999) suggest that
no more than 10% of course time should be devoted to testing.
The amount of time can be reduced by having competent assistants
to help administer tests, choosing test items where several students
can be tested simultaneously.
- How accurate are the test results. What measures
are being taken to ensure that the students know the test protocol
and only receive credit for proper form.
- What measures are taken to ensure privacy when students are
taking the test. Validity of tests can easily be compromised
when students feel embarrassed or threatened.
- How will the test results be used? Some educators
use fitness test scores to assign PE grades, others just report
the scores to their administration, and some use the results to
give personal feedback to students regarding their current level
of fitness.
Careful consideration of these questions can help physical educators
to use fitness testing in the most appropriate way.
Bart Cagle
Baumgartner T. and Jackson A. (1999). Measurement for evaluation
in PE. 6th ed. McGraw-Hill.
Bart
Cagle
Secondary Section Editor
|
|
How many times have we said," I would love to use that, but I don't
have the money to buy that type of equipment." Well, this
article explains how to make homemade medicine balls using inexpensive
playground balls.
The process involves taking the plug out of the ball's valve, deflating
the ball, and refilling the ball with water. The entire process
takes about 10 minutes, and the ball's weight can be customized
by you.
The author tested his homemade balls on his teenage children and
said the balls passed with flying colors. The advantages of
these medicine balls are that the balls are generally a little smaller
and more pliable than regular medicine balls. Check out the
entire article for more information.
|
| |
- What percentage of your total class time do you spend in giving
physical fitness tests? What are some methods you use to reduce
the amount of time?
- Do you have someone with you to ensure that you record the
scores accurately? What are some possible areas where inaccurate
scores may occur?
- What do you do to provide some privacy for students taking
fitness tests?
- What type of feedback do you give your students about the
results of the fitness test?
Think about these questions, or pose one of your own, then sound
off at the PE Forum. This is a wonderful resource to get connected
with others in our profession.
|
"If you have always done it that
way it is probably wrong."
Charles Kettering |
|
This web site offers a whole series of informative articles, suitable
for students, in four topics: fitness fundamentals, get active,
the injurenet, and fuel for fitness.
The Pick-a-sport section gives information about 16 types of activities,
ranging from aerobics to in-line skating to tennis. Each activity
section has short articles explaining the equipment needed for that
activity, advice to help decide if it is the right activity for
you, and tips to maximize safety during the activity. This
section also offers a calorie burner calculator, which will determine
the number of calories expended by any sport depending upon the
amount of time involved in that activity.
Check out the web site for more information.
PROJECT FIT AMERICA
This web site explains the nature of Project Fit America (PFA).
This is a national non-profit public charity dedicated to getting
kids fit. The PFA donates to schools, K-12, fully funded cardiovascular
health and lifetime fitness educational programs. All of PFA
sponsors so far have been hospitals. PFA has currently generated
over $4 million to 340 schools in 227 cities in 39 states.
The PFA addresses the following areas:
self-esteem, fitness as fun, smoking prevention, and understanding
your body. PFA donates the following resources: permanent
fitness equipment, supplemental support curriculum, teacher and
staff training, and community outreach events.
This is a promising resource for educators
who need equipment and further training to help those who are physically
unfit.
RE-USING
DEAD VOLLEYBALLS
If you have old volleyballs that cannot be used anymore, consider
transforming them into usable equipment. This website explains
how to make dead volleyballs "come alive."
The process involves removing the outer skin and inflating the rubber
bladder several sizes larger than a regulation ball. The result
is an oversized training volleyball that is softer and easier to
track and hit.
Check out this website for more information.
|
|
|
|
This article talks about how digital pedometers can help motivate
people to move. The advantages are that it can fit in your
pocket, only costs around $20-30, and is easy enough for a child
to use.
People love them because they get immediate feedback on how active,
or inactive they are. Most researchers (and physical educators)
use questionnaires or observation to estimate the physical activity
levels of their patients or students. The digital pedometer
can accurately and easily assess activity levels with objective
data.
The goal is for people to increase their activity levels by taking
more steps per day. Most sedentary people take around 3,000
steps per day. The objective is to increase steps per day
until they reach a healthy minimum, which most researchers say is
10,000 steps per day.
These devices offer significant benefits for physical educators.
Not only can we increase motivation of secondary students, but we
can objectively measure their activity (participation) levels.
We can also use them to assess our lessons, to evaluate the amount
of activity that students should expect within any of our lessons.
Check out this article for more information on the benefits of digital
pedometers..
|
|
"If your plan is for 1 year, plant
rice;
if your plan is for 10 years, plant trees;
if your plan is for 100 years, educate children."
Confucius
"One test of the correctness of educational
procedure is the happiness of the child."
Maria Montessori
|
|
If you have ideas, comments, letters to share, or questions about
particular topics, please email one of the following Secondary PE
Section Editors: |
| Help to support quality physical education and health education
by contributing to this site. |
|
Please let your colleagues know about PELINKS4U, and remember you
can catch up on a year's worth of news in our PE
Archives. |
| |
|
