Preparing for the New School Year
written by Gerry
Cernicky
 The
title of this article is one that could be deceiving until
you understand what I mean, and how it should be food for
thought. Preparation (for the new school year) should have
started many years ago in the college years by acquiring pride
in physical education, and the planning it took to become
a teacher. As I regress, having retired in 2003, I can look
back over many successful years and why they were successful.
What made them so extraordinary?
I believe in the theory of prime
movers, and what that means is an act or thought has to
start, and all else follows because of that action. My action
was attending a qualified school with a program of excellence
with exemplary professors. Their guidance made success possible.
The strength of their physical education program was all the
instructors who taught the principles of successful teaching,
and who helped prepare me for all types of scenarios. A vital
part of that process was the love of teaching and wanting
to make a difference.
Even during the very first year of teaching, preparations
were in place and I had the confidence to make successful
teaching happen. Through the years it became evident, that
to be successful, there needed to be rules to follow, to find
new ways to make PE class enjoyable to students, and to know
that innovations were needed to keep PE as a vital asset to
the school.
My first order of business was to join associations, then
grow professionally by going to conventions, conferences,
in-services, and taking post-grad credits to keep abreast
of all new trends. An important need is to share with others.
There are two groups on Facebook, called PE1
and PE
Central, with hundreds of teachers sharing ideas and comments.
These websites developed when the pe-digest of the mid-1990’s
came to an abrupt end. Unfortunately, there's a horde of PE
teachers across the country who have no clue about the new
P.E., small sided games, technology, exergaming, or ways to
combat obesity. P.E. needs to take its rightful place in education,
so instead of just talking about this, how about sharing results
and success stories?
Stephan Jefferies stated it eloquently in his editorial,
"Physical
Education: Nothing Lasts Forever." What has brought
PE to this state of disruption? Yes, there are budget cuts
and the state of the economy. But, the disruption goes deeper
- in what PE teachers offer to the school, students, parents,
school board and community. Did (we) do our job?
There are amazing teachers who have trailblazed PE with
new trends and dedication. An important (missing?) piece of
the puzzle is public relations. Have we sold our programs
enough? Volunteered in the community? Used many facets of
technology? Kept the students involved in activities that
are "for a lifetime." Do we think about those students
who aren’t interested in fitness, health, or nutrition?
Maybe these are the students who ended up on school boards,
and have deplorable memories of P.E.
There are a host of why and why not’s, and blame to
go around, but they don't provide solutions; It is what we
do for our students, and the motivation to go to school each
day with enthusiasm, innovation, and imagination, and to choose
activities for students that will be forever etched in their
minds well beyond their school years.
Here are some ideas that make program preparation worthwhile
for both teacher and student:
- Summer is a time to retool and find out what worked,
what didn’t, and why it did/didn't work in the classes.
- Take some courses
for interest in the PE field.
- Find out what
makes the students "tick," or what their interests
are outside of school.
- Volunteer for
things.
- Speak to the
PTA.
- Technology
- Apps? Assessment? Heart rate monitors? Exergaming? Electronic
devices? Obesity?
- Visualization
- Relax before each class day and "see" all the
activities, what safety measures should be taken, and the
flow of the activities. Make a plan if things don't go right.
- Involve students
& teachers in everything. For example, here were some
of my ideas:
- Tele-Olympics
- skill test with students around the world.
- San
Antonio Relays - skill tests with other schools.
- Read
& Run Marathon - read 26 books, run 26 miles.
- Travel
Buddy - sharing with other schools.
- New
Zealand Collaboration - share tests and interaction
with another country
- Teach
teachers how to use the Smart Board.
- Invite
the Principal and parents into your classes.
- Annual
Gym Show - good public relations
- Junior
Olympics - good public relations
- School
Board - take students to a meeting and display PE.
- Fitness
calendar - use one throughout the school year and summer.
- It is imperative
to win over the support of the teachers and administration.
One of the most important details when preparing for each
school year is fostering and making a safe environment for
each student. They must feel comfortable and know you care
about them, and a person they can trust.
Each day, find a way to learn something new. Such as, learn
to use the newest app and how it could be used for your classes.
Integrating technology with core subjects may not be easy,
but it's great for PR when the Principal sees that something
special is happening in PE, and it's more than expected. We
must wear many hats and demonstrate versatility. It is important
to demonstrate that the old P.E. is not going on in our classes.
Even now, many administrators and school board members think
that what we teach isn't important.
Preparations go far beyond games and activities which aren’t
conducive to good teaching practices, or that meet standards.
Each year there are teachers and PE programs eliminated. A
question that should be asked is, "Are we our own worst
enemy?" Did the "throw-out the ballers" have
an impact on economical decisions? Through complacency?
Preparing for a new school year should be an exciting time
and one that is filled with new ideas. With these thoughts
in mind, what steps are conducive to getting the new year
started out successfully in regard to the technological end
of things? There are new apps and devices out all the time,
and the best way to start is to find web sites and programs
that are easy to learn, and then to try them out.
Depending on the school curriculum, and how many days a
week we meet with the students, we must have ways to keep
students active every day. There is a problem if we only meet
once a week for 40 minutes or so, so there should be a "carry
over" from the regular PE class. Apple
apps are highlighted, but Andriod
apps are comparable:
- Apps
Gone Free - Is a daily reminder of all free apps, and
includes health, fitness, technology and productivity. Get
it at the Itunes store.
- iMovie
- A great way to monitor your student's actions and skills.
Comes with a tutorial, and easy to use controls and functions.
Add photos or videos which are stored on a timeline to share
with others. Cost is 4.99, and well worth the price from
the Apple apps and Itunes.
- Capture
- Takes videos and it's sent to You Tube for sharing with
others. Get the app from Apple and Itunes and App store.
-
Fooducate- A nutrition app and health aid for making
proper food choices.
- Cardiograph
- Students can take their heartbeat by placing their index
finger over the camera lens. Results can be saved in the
history folder.
- May
My Run, iSmoothRun,
Strava,
Pedometer,
gps
pedometer - Log walking, running and biking results
Here are some other apps that are useful and interesting
in all aspects of teaching:
(back
to pelinks4u homepage) |
