Celebrating
PE and Sports
Physical Education has morphed over the
centuries from training for combative sports, to ethereal performances
of "pleasing" movements often associated with music, to
body movements designed to enhance muscular strength, speed, and
endurance, to movement skill development and fitness.
It seems that in each school, or school
district, the role of Physical Education (PE) is somewhat unique.
That is, one school district may view PE as a diversion from the
rigors of "academic" pursuits. Another school district
perceives PE as a means to enhance physical fitness, yet another
district may 'see' PE as a means to enhance sport skills such as
basketball, track, softball, volleyball, et.al.
Regrettably, some schools use PE as practice
time for student athletes. It is, however, encouraging that many
schools see PE as a means to enhance basic movement skills such
as running, jumping, skipping, hopping, throwing, et.al.
Research has demonstrated that PE can
be used as a modality to enhance self-efficacy, decrease depression,
and reduce tension. However, these positive affects are usually
not the focus of Physical Education, but are secondary outcomes.
It seems important, however, that PE teachers are aware of factors
that may lead to positive or negative affective outcomes.
Typically, PE classes in secondary schools
focus on sport skill development by "playing" traditional
sports. This focus has its drawbacks in that physically gifted athletes
usually dominate the activity and results in a negative experience
for the developing, or less-than-gifted individual.
It may behoove PE teachers to focus on
games and physically challenging tasks wherein individuals are competing
against themselves, or a self-set standard, keeping in mind that
incremental improvements for physically gifted individuals may be
smaller. I am not endorsing "new games" as a preferred
modality. I do, however, believe that all individuals should be
equally challenged to improve skills.
Most baby-boomers (born from 1946-53)
view PE through "glasses" which have been tinted by their
experiences in PE classes as a secondary school student. Baby-boomers
have experienced old-school PE where dodge-ball, running laps, calisthenics,
and team sport play were typical. I am amazed at the number of adults
of my generation who have had to run laps because their performance
in PE was less than expected/demanded. For me it wasn’t a
problem as I loved to run. In fact it was a challenge to see how
often I could get punished for hyperactivity and "forced"
to run laps.
However, most students hated to run laps.
It was usually the obese or weak students who were running laps.
I could safely say that they hated PE. Guess what, those obese and
weak students of the 1960 are now business leaders, on the school
board, members of the city council, or a mom or dad (or grand parents)
of our students in secondary school.
So, here is the question, '"Why
don’t 'baby-boomers' support PE? Why don’t they "get
it"?' PE has changed. Dodge-ball is not endorsed, laps for
punishment are no longer endorsed, and PE teachers are not necessarily
coaches.
The new PE focuses on skill development
and fitness activities for all. Gone are the days of 'coach' sitting
on a chair reading the newspaper, or drawing up plays while the
class is playing soccer or basketball. Gone are the days of 'sports'
PE. There are numerous outlets for sports participation in the private
or public sector such as gymnastics schools; softball, soccer, football,
and baseball leagues; track and field clubs, or swimming programs.
PE should not be viewed as a miniature sports camp. Now are the
days of personal fitness training, basic and lifelong skill development.
Get it?
It seems that the new PE should be spotlighted
in the papers, online web sites for schools, and weekend events
where the public can 'see' the new PE in action. Take some initiative
to increase the visibility of your PE curriculum. Remember that
those in power had to run laps and be denigrated in front of their
classmates. Would you support that type of PE? Neither do they.
Robert
W. McGowan, Ph.D.
Professor and Department Chair
Central Washington University
Coaching & Sports Section Editor
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Sindy
and Simon's Top Ten Excuses for Getting Out of P.E.
- Do you hate going to P.E. class? Do you loathe tyrannical
gym teachers and pushups
'til you puke? Well, you're not alone. Many of you peeps out there
hate P.E. so Sindy and I have come up with a few
sweet excuses for getting out of gym class - Check 'em out!
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If it's raining
outside, tell your teacher the Ritalin you've been taking has
given you Ombrophobia - the fear of rain. This excuse only works
if it's raining outside, but it's a good one. |
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Pull the fire alarm just
before P.E. starts. By the time, the school realizes it's a
false alarm, P.E. class will be half over. Even if you get caught,
you'll likely be spending the afternoon in the principal's office
and will have missed P.E. class (you or your parents may also
get a hefty bill from the fire department so be prepared to
tell a convincing story about the
fire you're certain you saw). |
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Tell your teacher you
were abducted
by aliens over the weekend and the experience has
left you with sinus headaches, severe
stress and nightmares, which would only be made worse
by going to P.E. class. |
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Tell your P.E. teacher
that you don't know how to read or write yet, and think that
you should be learning those important skills before learning
how to long jump or play
dodge ball. Don't be surprised if you get stuck reading
in the library all afternoon though. |
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Speak in a foreign language
and pretend you don't understand anything your teacher or classmates
are saying. Walk out of the classroom crying and looking very
confused, like you're just going through the trauma of adjusting
to a new homeland. |
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This is a good one that
will definitely get you out of class at least once. Buy a piece
of fake plastic puke at your local mall. Start pretending to
heave
just before P.E. class starts and then head straight for the
nurse's office. |
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If you're a science nut,
take some time after class to talk to your biology
teacher and find out how you can clone
yourself. It'll make a great science
fair project and you can send your clone to P.E.
class for you (which means you'll have more time to play video
games, practice
your ollie, etc.). |
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Make a fake cast around
your arm out of paper
mache and tell you gym teacher that you've broken
your arm. If your teacher asks for a doctor's note or a letter
from your parents, you could be busted
but it should get you out of class at least once. |
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Tell your teach that you've
forgotten your gymstrip. This excuse doesn't work that often
because your teacher will often just make you participate in
the clothes
you are wearing, or worse yet, throw you some gymstrip
they've found in the lost and found. You never know whose strip
you'll be handed, so make sure you actually have yours on hand
in case this comes up. |
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Okay girls, this one is
just for you. While it might suck to have to deal with your
period once a month, it actually supplies you with
a great excuse to get out of running
laps! Just tell your teacher that you're not feeling
well because of "female issues". They'll most likely
tell you to sit out for the day. Just don't use this more than
once a month or you'll definitely get caught in your lie! |
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| If you have
ideas, comments, letters to share, or questions about particular
topics, please email one of the following Coaching Section Editors:
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| Is
a five hour practice better than a 2 and half hour practice?
Is a 2 and half hour practice better than a 3 hour practice?
Please read all comments, and post your suggestions on the
forum.
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Family
Fitness; Resolve to Get Your Kids Moving - by
Ann Douglas
Telling your kids that fitness is important is not enough - you
need to show them. Not the type to work out? Don't throw in the
towel just yet! Ann Douglas, author of 'The Unofficial Guide to
Having A Baby' and 'The Unofficial Guide to Childcare,' shares fun
ways to get your family moving.
Get active
You've bought your kids toboggans, hockey sticks, and cross-country
skis. You've signed them up for indoor soccer, swimming lessons,
and gymnastics classes. You've told them all about the benefits
of physical fitness. In fact, you've done everything possible to
encourage your kids to put down the TV remote and get physically
active. Or have you?
Most fitness experts agree that there's a world of difference between
telling kids about the benefits of being physically active and showing
them that fitness is a priority in your own life. If you're not
physically active yourself, your words are likely to lose their
impact. Bottom line? You have to be prepared to walk the talk.
Getting started
You don't have to sign your kids up for boot camp in order to do
your parental duty, however. In fact, that's one sure way to doom
your family fitness program to failure! A far better approach is
to come up with a list of different fitness activities that your
family could enjoy together and to find ways to work fitness into
your schedules on a regular basis. (The experts agree that you should
be exercising for a minimum of 20 minutes at a time at least three
times each week.)
Here are some tips on becoming a more active family:
Make it fun.
As with anything else in life, variety is the key to making your
family fitness program enjoyable. Exercising to the same Tae Bo
tape day after day isn't likely to hold an eight year old's attention,
but weekly trips to the local swimming pool, Rollerblading®
arena, and indoor baseball diamond likely will.
Head for the park.
What do you get when you combine a park and a van full of people?
A terrific workout, that's what! Who says fitness has to be boring
or super-serious? Throw around a frisbee (Yes, even in January!)
Play a game of tag. As long as you're moving your bodies vigorously
enough to get your hearts beating faster, you're exercising.
Join a club.
Think about joining a volkssport club. Volkssport clubs are walking
clubs designed to be enjoyed by people of all ages, explains Liz
Neporent, co-author of Fitness for Dummies. "They are a great
way to meet other families -- something that adds to the fun
of being active."
Go for a walk indoors.
Don't skip your walk just because the weather's bad outside. Take
your family fitness program indoors! You can either walk around
your local mall or head for some spot that's a little more inspiring:
Even strolling through a museum can be a fitness activity, according
to Neporent. It doesn't matter what you're doing while you're walking,
as long as you're moving quickly enough to get some benefits out
of your workout.
Hit the pool.
Few exercises will give you as good a workout as swimming -- and
you don't just have to swim lengths. Jyl Steinback--author of The
Fat Free Cookbook From Around the World and the mother of two children,
ages 13 and 5, says that water adds a dimension of fun to a workout
that can't be found on dry land: "We play water volleyball,
underwater tag, basketball, and we have swimming races."
While you may find it difficult to schedule time for family fitness
initially, it won't be long before that Saturday morning trip to
the swimming pool or that Tuesday evening walk around the block
becomes second nature. And that, according to the experts, is when
you'll really begin to reap the benefits of your family's commitment
to healthier living, both body and soul.
What makes for an ideal family fitness activity?
Wondering what makes for a great family fitness activity? Here are
a few things to look for:
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An activity that will appeal
to both children and adults: Swimming, cross-country
skiing, walking, biking, and Rollerblading® are activities
that appeal to both young and old. They're a better bet than
activities that are more suited to members of one age group,
but not the other. Remember, the name of the game is to choose
an activity that each member of the family can enjoy together,
regardless of age, fitness level, or ability. |
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An activity that's
convenient to do: The easier you make it for everyone
to exercise, the more likely you are to make the effort. It's
one thing to get a family membership at the swimming pool down
the street; it's quite another to purchase one at the pool across
town. Be honest with yourself: how often are you going to want
to pile everyone into the van to make that trek to the pool?
Probably not often enough to make that pool membership worthwhile. |
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An
activity that's budget-friendly: There are already
enough demands on your pay check. Why put more pressure on your
budget when there are so many inexpensive -- Even free! --ways
to stay fit? That's not to say that you shouldn't be prepared
to invest some money in your family's fitness activities. Just
don't make the mistake of assuming that you have to spend a
fortune in order to reap the benefits of physical fitness. |
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An
activity that can be enjoyed in a family-friendly environment:
There's no point purchasing a family membership at
your local gym if children aren't particularly welcome there.
Remember: There can be a world of difference between what the
fitness facility's brochure says and how the staff members and
other clients actually feel about having children at the gym. |
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Article:
Cutting physical education programs poses health risk, scholar
says
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Photo by
Bill Wiegand
Kim Graber, professor of kinesiology, says what "is saved
by starving health promotion activities in the schools will
be lost a thousand-fold by spiraling health care costs down
the line." |
CHAMPAIGN, Ill.- Recent reports citing childhood obesity
as one of the nation's latest health epidemics are generating calls
for action by physical education experts, among them, Kim Graber,
a kinesiology professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Graber said it's no coincidence that children have become increasingly
more sedentary and
obese - and are suffering from chronic illnesses such as diabetes
and cardiovascular disease - as public schools have eliminated
or made severe cutbacks in physical education programs. The trend,
she said, is an unintended consequence of past educational reforms
aimed at boosting children's academic achievement.
"In nearly every state, and certainly in a majority of school
districts, time assigned for physical education is being eroded,
requirements are being dropped, and economic measures such as
increasing class size are so commonplace as to no longer attract
attention," Graber told an audience recently at the Healthy
Schools Summit in Washington, D.C.
"What is saved by starving health promotion activities in
the schools will be lost a thousand-fold by spiraling health-care
costs down the line," she said. And while common practices
such as assigning elementary classroom teachers to teach P.E.
classes - despite a lack of professional training – may
in the past have been viewed as a viable means of stretching school-district
budgets, "it may today represent a classic case of being
penny-wise and pound-foolish," she said.
Besides "an entrenched pattern of inadequate personnel assignments,"
Graber said other problems that must be addressed include "limited
time, lack of accountability, and little recognition that to reliably
achieve both short-term and long-term benefits will demand a major
input of new resources." All represent significant - yet
surmountable - obstacles to overhauling public-school physical
education programs, said Graber, the president of the National
Association for Sport and Physical Education.
In order for physical education to be viewed as more than just
an "appendage" and be regarded as a priority program
by school districts, she said, various constituencies - policymakers,
educators, parents, principals and school board members - must
come together to rally toward that goal.
"Either we make more time by extending the school day, week
or year - something the policymakers have been reluctant to do
- and then devote some of that expanded resource to physical education,
or we make better and more creative divisions of the time available."
Finding the time is just part of the solution. Additional financial
resources also must be directed toward hiring professionals, whom
Graber said are better trained and more knowledgeable than ever
before regarding "the nature of what constitutes a sound
physical education program."
"As for the money to properly staff physical education instruction,"
she said, "we must keep up a steady drumbeat of persuasion
by hammering on the simple economic facts of the matter. Left
unchecked, the current trends in mortality and morbidity will
be devastating to our nation’s economy." |
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Article:
A law passed in 2003 envisioned growing funds for fine arts for
schools until 2006, but the Legislature could freeze or cut funding
this year.
By Susie Gran, Tribune Reporter, February
21, 2005
No snapping. No wrapping. No human slingshots.
Not exactly the rules physical education teachers thought they'd
get out of a dance lesson.
But this was no ordinary lesson. They had to dance in a circle,
all holding the same bungee cord, and mimic the moves of their
instructor.
"I'm having so much fun," said Chaparral Elementary
School teacher Pita Hopkins. "This is all stuff we can use."
It's also stuff they fear losing if the Legislature freezes or
cuts elementary arts funding, arts advocates say.
A law passed in 2003 envisioned arts funding growing each year
until 2006. But legislators and educators fear the money simply
won't be there this year.
Read the rest of this article...
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| Resource Sites for Coaches |
Positive
Coach
This site is a must for anyone thinking about diving head first
into coaching on the youth level. It provides information about
the principles of the Positive Coaching Alliance, and lists information
about upcoming workshops that may help develop the ideas of potential
coaches.
Coach
Jerry
This site is a must for coaches, athletes, and parents. Loaded
with stories, features, and links to other youth coaching sites,
you cannot pass this by.
Basketball
Coaching Methods
Give new ideas for basketball coaching. Very useful for beginners
and veterans.
Soccer
Skills, Coaching Methods and Drills
You can see several sites about soccer. You can learn about soccer
skills and coaching methods and drills.
Coaching
and Physical Education
This Track offers five Web sites that Physical Education Teachers,
and Coaches might find very useful.
Softball
Training and Drills
Includes off season conditioning and training as well as drills
for catching, throwing, pitching, coaching, and hitting.
Coaching
Volleyball
This Track provides information on skills and drills that can
be used to build a successful volleyball program on the high school
level.
Coaching
High School Football
Students will use the information from TRACK to provide a better
understanding of offensive and defensive formations. Through analyzing
the TRACK information students will acquire the knowledge needed
to understand all positions on offense and defense. The TRACK
information will also provide additional links to accommodate
a more indepth research of coaching high school football.
Football
2
General knowledge of the game.
Coaching
A brief summary of coaching techniques for coaching high school
and college baseball.
Basketball
Coaching for the Volunteer
This Track is intended to provide the volunteer basketball coach
with lesson plans to teach the fundamentals of youth basketball.
Basketball
Coaching Legends
This track will highlight some of the greatest basketball coaches
and their philosophies. A few of the legends presented are John
Wooden, Mike Krzyzewski, Pat Summitt, plus many more. In addition,
included are some drills and practice strategies that even the
best coaches use! |
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