Best Practices
Physical Education Best Practices & Demonstrations
Appropriate Practices for Physical Education
The ultimate purpose of any physical education program is to help students gain the skills and knowledge to be physically active for a lifetime. Physical education is a unique and important component of the total school program. Teachers design physical education experiences appropriate for the developmental level of their students and aligned with the curriculum. Physical activity and physical education are not the same. Physical education, intramurals, club and athletic programs are different.
| Correct | Incorrect |
| Teachers are held accountable for teaching content using effective teaching strategies. | Administrators do not pay attention to physical education classes and nobody reinforces good teaching practices. |
| A wide range of activities are provided including rhythm and dance, cooperative activities, fitness activities, team & individual sports, outdoor / adventure activities. | Students are not exposed to anything but the most common team sports that are based on teacher preference, facilities, or season. |
| Teacher is interacting with, monitoring, and giving feedback to students. | Teacher is sitting at a computer or in a chair in the gym and is only supervising play. |
| Warm-up is activity specific and dynamic. | A single warm-up routine is used regardless of activity. |
| Teachers are aware of the national standards, and they know and implement the curriculum on a daily basis. | Teachers are not aware of what the national standards say should be taught and have no structured curriculum. |
| Structured lead-up games, modified games, and appropriate challenges are used for each grade level. | Free play and unstructured game time are the focus of physical education classes. |
| Grades are based on continuous evaluation instead of single tests at end of unit. Portfolios and check lists aligned to the standards are used. | Students are graded on attendance only or on the basis of a score on a single fitness test, written test, or skill test. |
| Students are tested in a safe and supportive manner instead of one that puts undue pressure on the student. | Student assessments are given under the pressure of having to perform alone in front of the entire class. |
| Health and skill related fitness components are discussed in every class and tied to the activity for the day. | Health and skill related fitness is only discussed as a part of a special unit on fitness or not at all. |
| Fitness is a part of the daily curriculum. Teachers are knowledgeable of standardized fitness testing procedures. | Fitness is taught as a separate unit or not at all because it takes away from the FUN part of the class. |
| All students, regardless of ability, are challenged. There is sufficient equipment to allow maximum participation. | There is inadequate equipment for class size and /or the curriculum. Some students dominate skill positions while others are limited participants. |
| Students are given enough practice time to experience success. Teachers limit groups to low numbers to produce maximum participation. | Progression is based on schedule rather than student success. The unit is not organized, and skills tests are given too soon or not at all. |
| Teacher’s behavior promotes a positive climate. Students feel safe both physically and psychologically. | Atmosphere is unfriendly, apathetic, or punitive. Students receive indifference or ridicule from teacher and classmates. |
| Information is presented in a variety of ways for different learning styles. | Single mode presentation is used both in the classroom and the gym. |
| Technology use is evident; e.g., creation of websites, monitoring heart rates, use of video, pedometers, fitness tracking software. | The use of technology is not viewed as useful or beneficial in a physical education setting. Physical education teachers are not provided the same technology equipment or training opportunities as other subjects. |
| Teachers select activities that range from non-competitive to competitive to satisfy students’ interests. | Teachers focus on full scale competition with limited skill instruction. |
| Teachers regularly inform parents, administrators, and the community about the goals of physical education through newsletters, family nights, etc. | The physical education program is not a visible part of the school community. |
| Teachers consider the interests of the students within the curriculum when selecting activities. Teachers use various forms of pre-assessments to help plan lessons. | Pre-assessment does not occur. Activities are too difficult or too easy according to the student’s skill level. Games are the basis of the curriculum. |
| Teachers present knowledge of the disciplines of exercise science and physical education and emphasize acquiring critical thinking and problem-solving skills | Teachers emphasize only sport or physical activity participation. Teacher fail to link skills, knowledge and disciplines learned in physical education to real life. |
| Teachers collaborate with others in their field and are encouraged by administrators to participate in professional development opportunities. | Teachers “put in” time and do not seek professional growth. They do not attend in-services, workshops, or conferences/conventions. |
What Do You Want Your Students to Remember?
| 5 Years from Now | 10+ Years from Now |
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How PE Supports Literacy
- Active learning
- ABC’s of Movement (Resource)
- Alphabet letters – letter identification, thematic units (letter of the week)
- Assessments—self/peer/teacher
- Rubrics, written reflections, brief constructive response
- Body spelling—shaping letters with the body or manipulative i.e. jump rope
- Charts/Diagrams/Bulletin Boards—visualize how to complete a task (e.g., agility dots)
- Classroom library—magazines, sports books, health topics
- Crossing the midline of the brain w/cross-lateral activities—brain gym
- Demonstrating the correlation between the writing process and the PE process
- Direction, speed, vocabulary produces meaningful vocabulary
- Eye-hand coordination with tracking in reading
- Fitness goals—written
- Goal setting and analysis
- “How to” and Active Learning—build your own game, written rules, use of a template, publish, diagram, writing descriptive paragraphs
- Kinesthetic learning
- Life assessment project—Discovering me (health) timeline
- Log sheets – exercise, walking, weight room
- Magazine articles
- Movement helps to grow brain cells
- Nutrition and health
- Oral language development—saying and using meaningful vocabulary
- Playbooks—sport strategies developed by teams
- Problem solving—refining and editing skills
- Reading rules and following directions
- Reflection of work—quick writes
- Rules/Study guides
- Summarizing
- Task Cards—warm-ups, circuit training
- Reading and writing information on white board and lap boards—words of the day, relays, scoring
- Three-week written evaluation
- Tracking with Dance-Dance-Revolution®
- Eye-foot coordination, watching and moving with the arrows
- Verbal cues to organize thinking
- Word walls
- Literature-based field day
- Comprehensible input throughout the gym to support second language learners
- Cooperative learning structures
How PE Supports Math
- Addition and subtraction—yardage, weight, scoring
- Angles—yoga, push ups, racquet sports, weight lifting, throwing
- Conversions—laps into yards
- Counting by 2’s, 3’s, 4’s, scoring, music
- Estimating
- Calculating: body mass index, heart rate, height in feet and inches,
- pedometer measurements—high, low, average, range
- Fitnessgram® assessments
- Fractions: ½ , ¼
- Game scoring
- Game strategies
- Geometry: lines, shapes, patterns, angles
- Graphing Fitnessgram® data, record keeping
- Hypertrophy—increase strength, overload principle
- Measuring distances: lap length/yards/feet/meters, square feet, area
- Multiplication & division – grouping, patterns
- Nutrition - calories
- Orienteering
- Pacing – passing/failing – times, mile run
- Part to whole relationships – skills to game, - bigger, faster, stronger –
- Technique to movement mastery
- Pedometers – odd & even numbers, averaging, basic math facts, activity time
- Percentages - weights – reps/sets/max/%
- Power – phase of strength training – skill related fitness
- Proportions
- Problem solving – team building
- Ratios
- Sequencing movement
- Splits, prediction, rounding, data analysis, shapes, geometry (trajectory)
- Symmetry in weight training, dance, sport skills
- Time/timing
- Weight % for lifting
- Wilkes Coefficient – Equalizes all students for strength and conditioning percentages
Physical Education supports the whole child by using movement to integrate both sides of the brain and to increase brain cells and brain activity. Exercise grows brain cells. Healthy, active children make better learners.
Created on June 7th, 2010 | Last updated on June 7, 2010
