Archive for August, 2009

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Online Physical Education

Saturday, August 29th, 2009

By Matthew Bassett

A new trend has started to creep into education–online classes. Some schools have tried to save some money and increase enrollment by opening online classes. We are in an age where teachers have to compete with the entertainment of the internet. Maybe online classes are a way to reach out to students who rather learn at their own pace and use their computer to learn. But, how does it stack up for online physical education?

One estimate suggests Minnesota is one of just 12 states of offer online gym, but many in the physical education world expect that number will keep increase, and probably has already. –Minnesota Public Radio, August 26, 2009 Read the rest of the article here.

I think that students who do not like traditional physical activities would benefit from being able to work out on their own. The future of physical education really needs to be in helping students to develop their own fitness skills. This is one way that our country can handle the obesity epidemic. Students who take online courses are required to purchase expensive equipment like heart rate monitors. The expense on this type of equipment makes it difficult to purchase enough equipment for an entire class or even a small portion of a class.

I’m not sure an online physical education program would be all that beneficial. Looking at the state content standards for physical education shows a list of motor skills that every student would have to learn. Online classes focus on individual activities and thus cannot help a student master a skill that is team based. This online learning program would cut a large percentage for the grade specific standards from the learning environment. Social skills are another area in the content standards for California physical education. It is the only subject that teaches social skills in K-12 education. Online courses will not help a student learn how to take turns, share, cooperate or learn to work with another person.

I don’t think online physical education classes are the answer. Schools are always looking for ways to save money. Physical education seems to be one of those subjects that is not valued. Part of this issue comes from hiring teachers who are not qualified or do not care about teaching. The key is to hire physical education teachers who are qualified to teach and who are motivated to work hard and actually teach physical education. We can learn some helpful ways to motivate our students from the online courses but it is our responsibility to teach.

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Using Microsoft Word to Make Handouts

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

By Matthew Bassett

Developing Microsoft Word Handouts

Handouts are things that have become very important in my class. My goal is to eventually have at least one handout for every standard that I teach. This is a very slow process but the quality of my teaching increases with each standard that I focus on. Here are some tips for making those handouts a little more stylish.

#1: Make a Title
There are two ways to make a title for your handout. First, change the font size and the font style. Word comes with a variety of choices but you can also purchase font programs that give you extra fonts. The second way to make a title is through word art. From the insert menu, click on picture, and then click on word art. Here a box will open that shows the word art gallery. Find one of the word art styles that you like.  Just click on it and then click OK. Type in the text for the title. At this location, you can change the font style and also the font size. When you’re done you click OK.  This is when the word art box opens in the word document. You can click on the corner of the box and drag to resize the box.

Wordartgallery

#2: Insert a picture
Placing a picture into your handout makes it more visually appealing. What better way to talk about a motor skill than to have a picture of those motor skills? You can get a picture into the text from a digital picture you’ve taken on your camera, a scanned picture, or from the internet (by downloading the picture). All of these can be created by going to the insert menu and clicking on picture. If you have a picture on your computer already (digital picture of internet download) you can click on find file.  Then you will be asked to locate the file you are looking for. If you want to look for a piece of clip art you would simply click on clip art from the picture menu.

insertingpictures

After you insert the picture you can make lots of changes to the pictures. First, double click on the picture to highlight the picture. I find that the layout is one of the most important menu items. This is where I can tell the document how I want the picture to be used. Do I want the picture in front of the text? Do I want it in line with the text? Personally, I usually pick the tight function and it allows me to move the picture wherever I want. The picture menu allows me to change the color content of the picture. Since I typically print my handouts in black and white I change the color of the picture to either black and white or grayscale. I always check to see which way looks a little nicer.

After moving the picture to its intended location I can resize the picture. By clicking on the picture one time I will see little circles around the picture. I can click on any circle and resize the picture. The circles in the corner allow me to resize both height and width in proportion to each other. This is usually my top option. The green circle at the top allows me to rotate the picture on the page so that it isn’t vertical or horizontal but diagonal.

resizepictureIf you right click on the picture and click on the show picture toolbar you will find a lot of new tools to work on your pictures. Here you will find buttons to change the colors, change the contrast, change the brightness of the picturepicturetoolbar, crop the picture, rotate the picture and place lines around the picture. The key is to keep making changes until the picture looks like you want it to.

#3: Create a table
inserttablemenuCreating a table can be a great way to organize a lot of information for your students. Instead of writing in a paragraph format, you can divide the information into cells. From the table menu, click insert, and then click table. The table menu pops up for you to develop the table. Change the number of columns that you need by typing in the new number of columns. Remember, columns are the part of the table that goes up and down. Then change the number or rows, the part of the table that goes side to side. Click OK when you have finished inserting the correct number of rows and columns. The new table should appear in your word document.

To change the column (up and down) width, click on one of the vertical lines in the document. When your cursor changes from the arrow to a line with two different arrows (pointing away from each other), then you can click and drag the line to the desired location. You can make the table bigger or smaller or make one column bigger or smaller. If you have two columns that you want to make the same size, just highlight the columns by clicking your mouse and dragging the mouse across the affected columns. Then right click on the highlighted area before clicking on distribute columns evenly. If you find that you’ve forgotten a column or need to add a row, you can highlight either a row or column and right click. You will find the add column or add row button in the menu.

With a little work and practice you can be making some wonderful handouts for your students. I’ve used handouts for general information about motor skills, fitness skills, fitness concepts and peer evaluation forms. Adding in some style can help take a boring handout into a visually appealing handout. Be creative while working with your handouts. You can always sketch one out on a blank piece of paper before starting your word version. Remember, when you get into trouble and you’re not sure what you just did, control-V (undelete) is your friend! Until next time!

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Obesity and the Brain

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

The latest research indicates that obesity can lead to brain degeneration. This means that, “brain degeneration” can be added to the already long list obesity’s side effects.

A new study finds obese people have 8 percent less brain tissue than normal-weight individuals. Their brains look 16 years older than the brains of lean individuals, researchers said today.

This adds credence to the importance of exercise and mental health that was so eloquently detailed in the book Spark by Dr. John Ratey.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

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Part Two: Teaching Class Expectations

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

By Matthew Bassett

Part 2 of a 2 part series.

scavenger hunt mapm Option #2 (Movement Oriented Activity)
A second way to cover your expectations has a movement focus.  Students are given the expectations handout at the start of class (with lots of blank lines on the handout) and told that they will be completing a scavenger hunt for class. I divide the students into groups of two or three students.  Each group is given a scavenger hunt map before starting.  My biggest rule for the scavenger hunt is to stay together.  Students can run, walk or jog but they have to stay with their partner/group. I also have listed a well defined boundary for the activity since I cannot allow the students to wander across the whole campus.  I typically keep them on our athletic field for this activity. I make sure to tell the students where I am going to stand (in the middle of the activity area) so they can come to ask questions if they need help.  It is important to also make sure you cover how you are going to stop the class at the end of the period before you dismiss the students since they have not learned dismissal procedures this early in the year.

This method of presenting the expectations has been enjoyable to watch. Students would rather learn the information while moving.  The students also enjoy the social aspect of the activity.  The competitive students run the whole time and the non-competitive students walk.  My students do not have to change for PE so this works well even if your kids are not required to dress out already.

Closure
Both of these methods have proven effective for teaching my students about my expectations.  The greatest part of getting students moving is that after a long summer my voice doesn’t take a beating the first week of school. Students are able to learn the materials just as effectively as through lecture and they enjoy the method of learning way more than if I was lecturing. Maybe it’s time I try and develop more lessons from information I thought could only be learned by lecturing.

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A New Approach to Teaching Class Expectations

Monday, August 24th, 2009

By Matthew Bassett

Part 1 of a 2 part series.

The start of the year is right around the corner or has already started for some of us.  Its the yearly trek down expectation lane for every teacher.  In the first week of class we always cover our rules/expectations, grading, absence procedures, dress code, non-participation rules and a host of other important things.  This information takes time to get across and the most common way to present this information is by lecture.Expectation #1 poster

I’ve always felt that specific types of content are more effectively taught through lecture, while the students are sitting at a desk.  The first week of school is a very boring week for students.  Every teacher tells their students all about their expectations.  I have some students who have fallen asleep during the first week because everyone is lecturing about expectations.  A few years ago I decided to try a change based on a professional challenge to find ways to get kids moving.  This was a very difficult proposition for me because I was worried that students wouldn’t understand the information as well if I didn’t give them a lecture.  As a result, I created two different types of activities for my students to cover expectations.

Option #1: (Team Building Focus)
I take my expectations and create small (paper sized) posters.  Each poster lists one of the expectations for class and I also create one poster for each of my grading criteria.  Lastly, I count the number of students in my class and cut all of the posters up to match the class size.  For myself, I have 34 students in my fifth and sixth grade classes.  I take my 8 posters and divide up the posters to have 34 pieces.  I make sure that I place the poster pieces in a plastic bag to keep them all in the same location.

Upon entering class and introducing myself on the first day, I give a little story for my students.  I tell them that I have made these great looking posters about my expectations, but during the weekend someone came into school and decided to cut the posters up into little pieces.  I need help from my students to put them back together.  I promptly hand out the puzzle pieces–one for each student.  Students then use a classroom to walk around and find where their puzzle piece belong. When all of the puzzles are assembled we stop the activity.

Expectation #4 posterThere is another way to use the posters, as well.  Students can use them to write down the expectations on a worksheet.  They can continue to walk around the room and find the information needed on each puzzle.  This option makes the activity an individual activity for each student.  To continue to work on the team building/group focus, you can also have students become experts in their “field” (or experts on their poster). You can perform a jigsaw teaching program by having one person at each poster match up with someone from all the other posters.  The students use their expertise to teach their new teams their piece of the information.  Students learn from each other.  The key is that students are learning the materials, but you don’t have to lecture them about the process.

I’ve done this activity with first graders through seventh graders.  I’ve modified the activity for the younger students by printing each poster on a different color of paper.  This allows them to find their poster quickly and not walk around aimlessly for the whole period.  For the older students, I have printed the posters on the same color paper.  This makes the activity a lot harder and more complicated.  They really have to focus on the poster and match up words and pictures.  I typically try to use a different cutting pattern for each poster.  One poster I will make round cuts while another poster will be straight.  I might also use more square pieces in one poster and diamonds in another, the difference being the direction of the text and pictures compared to the cuts.  I usually spend a little time before letting students start by asking the students how they could tell the differences in the posters. This gives some clues on how to find your poster among the numerous pieces.

Check back tomorrow for Part 2 of the series.

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Book Review–Bonnie Mohnsen’s Teaching Middle School Physical Education

Sunday, August 23rd, 2009

By John Kruse

Using state content standards to teach physical education can be a daunting task. As a middle school physical education teacher, I often see teachers of sixth, seventh and eighth grade teach the same lesson all day long. They teach the same lesson regardless of the students’ needs, skills or developmental level. I’m not sure if this is due to laziness or if its because these teachers haven’t looked at the standards closely enough to realize there is a developmental progression that builds on previous years.

Bonnie Mohnsen’s third edition of Teaching Middle School Physical Education, A Standards Based Approach for Grades 5-8 presents an excellent model of how these grades should differ in their curriculum. This book presents sample units for grades five through eight and the reader will clearly see how these grades should differ in both content and focus.

Mohnsen is probably best know in physical education circles for technology. She is the CEO and president of Bonnie’s Fitware. Her previous experience as a middle school physical education teacher shows in her writing. In other words, this text provides practicle applications that are not coming form an “ivory tower” approach. The book is very well researched and uses these professional resources as support for the suggested practices found in each chapter. Mohnsen presents a good foundation up front on such issues as grading, assessment, teaching environment, choosing equipment and teaching styles. The book is particulary useful for someone who is new to the profession or someone who is looking for some new ideas.

Teaching Middle School Physical Education uses national physical education standards as a guide. As a result, a teacher needs to realize that the book is only an example and is not meant to be a cookie cutter approach to teaching. Teachers will need to use the examples to creat their own lessons based on their own states physical education content standards.

Teaching Middle School Physical Education is 584 pages in length. The book is comes in a soft cover and the third addition also includes a CD-ROM with examples of task cards and detailed lesson plans that can be purchased to accompany the text. The ISBN# is 13:987-0-7360-6849-9.

Click here for Bonnie Mohnsen’s blog.

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Summer Preparation

Saturday, August 22nd, 2009

By Matthew Bassett

For every teacher the summer is a time to relax and get away from the daily rigors of teaching and spend some extra time with families. Many professionals use the time to head out of town for family vacations, spend time working on their house or just sit in front of the TV and get caught up on all those shows they’ve missed over the year. Many teachers use the summer to avoid school work all together but those teachers who are truly committed to their profession use some of their down time to prepare for the upcoming school year. Here is a list of six things that quality teachers can do over the summer to help them be better teachers.

1) Professional development. Find some professional development to attend. The summer is a great time to find one of the higher quality professional development series. In California, we have three subject matter projects for physical education and health. These projects take participants on a week long journey through specific topics based on our state standards. These projects are some of the most intense professional development series I’ve ever taken. California also has elementary workshops at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and a middle school workshop at Cal State Fullerton. These professional development series offer an intensive submersion into your subject area and is broken up by the grade levels. Week long professional development series gets your brain working and you learn some very creative ways to teach content in your subject matter.
2) Review materials. We should always spend time reviewing and reflecting on the effectiveness of our units and lessons. The summer is a time to go back and make changes to those worksheets, lessons and units if you have not had a chance to do so already. You can pull up those power point presentations and refine the content that you are teaching. Maybe you have thought of a completely different way to teach your basketball unit. By spending a little time to reflect and make the appropriate changes will only benefit your school year. Any changes that you make during the summer will relieve the stress of making the changes in the middle of the school year.
3) Standards. Dive into your standards! Do you ever feel that your content knowledge is lacking in one (or more) of your standards? The summer is the best time to do your research and to develop your content knowledge. Go to the local library and check out a book on biomechanics. Try and find information about exercise science on the Internet. Even if you only spend 15 minutes a week on refreshing or developing your content knowledge, you will have spent two hours researching content by the end of the summer. Spending any time to develop your content knowledge will only help you be more effective in your own teaching.
4) Professional goals. Set some professional goals for the upcoming school year. Jennifer Mettler, a FitMet contributor, says,
“To prepare for the next school year I always pick two professional goals to accomplish. One of the goals is for the summer and the other is for the school year. For the last 2 years my goals have been about organizing curriculum. Due to these goals I how have every lesson plan typed from the fist day of school to the last day from the previous year.”

These professional goals help to drive us as teachers. If we never set any goals it allows us to feel complacent in our jobs. This is a time when teachers start to feel bored and stop enjoying their teaching experiences. With goals, you are always challenged to keep evolving as a teacher. You spend time learning new content and you spend time trying to improve what you already have learned. Professional goals help us to stay focused on what is important, student learning. Every teacher should pick between one and three professional goals for every school year.
5) Colleagues. Call up a colleague. You can you spend time relaxing together on a bike ride or the golf links. This is also a time that you can talk about work. Personally, I feel that many of my “best” ideas for teaching have come from other teachers. I’ve always been good at taking an idea, lesson or topic that I found from another physical education teacher and tweaking it to meet my needs. By spending time with other physical education teachers it will help me to develop my own teaching habits.
6) Rejuvenate. Most importantly, spend time to rejuvenate. The school year is a long year and by the time June rolls around its time to take care of yourself. Spend some extra time sleeping, get out of the sun, go on a trip, or spend some extra time exercising. The bulk of the summer needs to be about you and your needs. A new school year is just around the corner and if you take care of yourself over the summer you will be ready for another long and productive school year!

Some other ideas for the summer can be found at: Edutopia, Making Planning Fun

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Dressing for Physical Education

Friday, August 21st, 2009

By John Kruse

September is almost here. This means that teachers will be working on class descriptions, class rules and communicating expectations to students. So it only seems fitting to discuss the subject of dressing for physical education.

Dressing for physical education seems to be a real pet peeve with our profession. I’m amazed at how often we find ourselves speaking about dressing any time you get a group of physical educators together. In addition, the amount of non-suits in a class seems to be used as a measure of teacher effectiveness when “sizing up” a colleague. To follow, are a few issues and and tips as they relate to dressing for physical education.

Grading

Giving students points for dressing or taking them away for not dressing seems to be common. I can’t say that I approve of this practice. In fact, I’m pretty certain there isn’t a state or national content standard that addresses dressing for physical education. As one colleague of mine puts it, “Did you or their parents teach them to dress? If there parents taught them to dress, then why give them a grade for it?”

“A friend of mine (who is a college professor) and I were discussing the issue of universities not including the grade from high school physical education in the grade point average used for admissions. As we talked, a number of high school physical educators were sitting nearby and were engaged in their own conversation about grading. As I challenged my colleague about why she didn’t approach her dean on this matter, the high school teachers were discussing the number of “non-suits” that should result in an F in physical education. My colleague turned to me and said, ‘That’s why!’” — Mohnsen, “Teaching Middle School Physical Education”

Work habits/Cooperation

Unlike academic grading, using dressing for class seems to help determine a work habits and/or cooperation grade does seem appropriate. If a student chooses not to dress for class, they are telling you something about a lack of work habits or effort. Also, as educators, we have put out the expectation that students are expected to dress for class. Not doing so is certainly a form of defiance and a sign of uncooperative behavior.

Participation

I have also witnessed teachers who don’t allow non-suits to participate in class as a consequence. I’m amazed at the ineffectiveness of this strategy. Does this teacher realize that perhaps this is exactly what the student wants? In this type of class, students know that by not dressing, they get a free pass out of participation on any day they choose. A better approach is to have students participate anyway. After-all, they need the exercise. I’ve found that this is a better strategy since students eventually get the message that they participate regardless. Most students figure out that if they are going to participate anyway, they might as well dress for class instead of getting their regular clothes dirty and sweaty.

Be Creative

Derek Mena shares an excellent strategy. Derek, is physical education department chair at A.C. Stelle Middle School in California. A.C. Stelle is home of an award winning physical education program. Derek’s team has created a right of passage for the eighth grade students. Eighth graders wear different colors than the sixth and seventh graders. This allows eighth graders to stand out from the lower grades in the school–kind of like seniors in high school and has proven effective in getting the eighth grade students, who are often apathetic, to dress for class.

Conclusion

I’ve discussed the major points that I find to be at the heart of this issue. Hopefully, I given you some food for thought. Dressing for physical education can be a hot topic in our profession and I invite you to keep the discussion going by posting a comment on this blog post. Feel free to share your own philosophy on this topic. Have a great school year!

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More on Health-Care Reform & Obesity–How Do We Reduce Costs?

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

By John Kruse

My last post on health-care reform and obesity discussed the overwhelming costs of obesity. No matter what we do in terms of health-care reform, the cost of obesity is going to hurt this country.

This interview on Fox News brings up some interesting points about how we can reduce the costs of health-care instead of trying to pay for everything. I’d like to add that perhaps we can reduce the cost of obesity in the long run by investing in physical education now.

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Posted in Body Composition, Miscellaneous | 1 Comment »

President’s Challenge is Now on Facebook

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009

The President’s Challenge is now on Facebook.

The Physical Activity and Fitness Awards Program of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (PCPFS). Most well-known for the physical fitness test in K-12 schools, we also offer programs for all ages to keep track of their fitness activities and earn awards endorsed by the President of the United States.

To find the group, simply type in the word’s “President’s Challenge” in the Facebook search box and click on the group with the President’s Challenge logo.

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