[0:02] Character education is important. How do we add bits of character education into our days without compromising activity time? [0:41] I recently taught a lesson in perseverance or grit and honesty using physical challenge. We began the class by defining perseverance or grit and honesty. Students had a discussion with me about what they thought it meant and how they thought we would see it in our lesson for the day. [1:00] Then we connected the traits to our activity. Our challenges included climbing the rope, jump rope, pogo stick, ball transfer, and the noodle flipping catch. For more ..read more

[0:02] You never have a second chance to make a first impression. I think that’s true of every lesson in physical education, and I think you never have a second chance to start a lesson actively. The Magic of Introductory Activities [0:38] As you’re well aware our time and PE is short and efficiency is critical. I wasn’t always the best at time management, and then I discovered the magic of introductory activities. Some call these introductory activities, instant activities or warm-ups or ASAPs, and every lesson in the dynamicpeasap.com curriculum has an introductory activity and they serve s ..read more

[0:02] The other day I saw a poster and it said leave yourself behind join the team. That might be something we want to think about telling our students as we start to pull them together on the team of their PE class. [0:38] One of the things that bring great joy to people is working together in a team effort and becoming a part of something bigger than themselves, and I think physical education has a great opportunity to show kids that they can learn to work together and create an environment that is so much better for them and so much more enjoyable and something they’ll be proud of. Teach ..read more

[0:02] I’m always looking for new ways to actively review content knowledge with my students and I’ll share with you today A favorite one of mine that I learned from another teacher of the year friend of mine at a PE conference. [0:33] In years past, I have been using a tic tac toe style grid to review content knowledge with students. This is a three by three grid and in each box I had a review question at or an activity that the student needed to complete. Bingo is a great way to actively review content material [0:48] What I learned while attending a PE conference is how a teacher had been ..read more

Listen to the episode below! A Q&A with OMNIKIN® U.S. Coordinator, Scott Williams: [0:23] Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got introduced to OMNIKIN®? [0:27] I taught elementary physical education for 15 years before leaving in 2019 to run my own summer camp business. I also taught high school physical education in summer school for five years and I was introduced to OMNIKIN® probably the first year I moved down here to Charlottesville, Virginia. We had a rotating 48-inch OMNIKIN® pink ball that just rotated around the various schools and we have to sign up for it. And I r ..read more

[0:02] An effective in quality physical education program’s origin story starts in part with a well-thought-out and planned curriculum based upon student needs and desires. It is critical to provide our students with the best possible learning environment. [0:47] Welcome back to school everyone. I’m Collin Brooks and I’m an assistant professor at the University of West Georgia. As a former physical educator and someone that mentors future physical educators, I know how challenging it can be to create effective learning experiences for our students. [1:02] It all has to start with our curricul ..read more

“Search for the good in our students and rescue those who need help.” [0:02] Join the PE search and rescue team. At the end of this Huddle, you’ll know why I want you to join! [0:28] Recently, I drove by a Planet Fitness Gym and Fitness Club, and it had a large 20 ft sign on the front of the building that said, “Welcome to the Judgement Free Zone”. I immediately thought of physical education classes opening the school year on a positive note. If adults want to belong to a club that is a judgment free zone, why wouldn’t kids want the same sort of respect and atmosphere? Our c ..read more

[0:03] Hello everybody and welcome back to school, I am so excited to get back at it again, and I don’t know about you but I am super excited to get these kids back in the gym laughing and connecting with their friends and most importantly, moving again. Students need to learn to have fun again [0:39] So I’ve been back to school now for two weeks and one thing I’ve noticed with the return of all of our students back on campus is their apprehension of connecting and talking with each other and kind of the ability to have fun again. It’s been really interesting to watch. [0:59] I think one of t ..read more

[0:02] I just want to take a few minutes and talk about how to create a learning environment, and I’m not talking about classroom management. I’ve done other blogs and other podcasts that you can find on Gopher’s website, but I just want to make two quick points. The points I want to talk about is getting to know your students and how to do that, and establishing your rules and class values, and how to do that. [0:41] To get to know your students, make relationships a priority. You get to know students and they get to know you and they want to know you as a teacher. So don’t assume that the c ..read more

[0:02] Let’s start by asking a basic question today, what is physical education? Is it just about keeping kids busy, happy, and good? More in a minute. [0:33] I’m gonna start you thinking by reading a quote to you and this quote is from a paper written by George Graham, one of my favorite educators who wrote this back in 2015, “Physical education teachers have the task of turning kids onto physical activity for a lifetime. Unfortunately, it appears that only a minority of physical educators have chosen to accept this responsibility. In my view, far too many have chosen to ignore this goal and ..read more