Gym+Rats

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Sara Lopriore - North Main PE //This is where your thoughts on Physical Education can be shared.//

What I do in my classroom may be very different than what you have experienced or may see in your own schools. Each class begins with an intense 8-10 minute warm-up. We then move onto the lesson(s) of the day. At North Main we give the kids many experiences with various games, activities, and sports.


 * What are your thoughts/misconceptions about physical education and or physical education teachers?**

All PE teachers are dumb jocks!!!!!!!!! HA HA Sara, you are a wonderful example of how this stereotype is SO NOT true. In the classes I have taken with you you have brilliant ideas and find so many ways to apply technology to your area of specialty. I always look to your answers to see if my answers to things are correct. In fact Stacey is going to be contacting you about a course he's taking and it's technology and PE. Renee

Oh, Renee, thanks so much for your comments! Really...Tech and PE?? Interesting. And thanks, I am not a dumb jock! (Sara)

Even though I was not a sports person, I only played soccer and ran track,. I always looked forward to PE class. It was a time to get things out, learn fun stuff, even if I wasn't good at it, and just enjoy being with my friends. Though striking out for the team during softball was a MAJOR embarassment. Renee I loved PE class! It was my favorite class of the day. It is my release AND I am super competive. The only thing I didn't like about it was that it was too short! I was happy that we had it everday, however, where I teach they have it every other day! I think it is an important part of the curriculum to help students learn about their body, how it functions and tie in circulation and heart rate. I think fittness and nutrition are so important to teach to our youth. I teach it in Bio so they hear it twice, PE/Health and with me. (heidi lappi)
 * What do or did you like or dislike about Physical Education?**

I also loved PE class but looking back on what I did in high school, I could have learned so much more if the teachers were willing to teach. When I was in high school all they did was hand out the balls and being an athlete I didn't complain because I loved to play. It is good to hear that now teachers are playing new games and taking the time to talk about being fit and how to get healthy using exercise in a productive and safe way.( Marcos Cabrera)

PE was one of my favorite subjects in elementary school. I love sports (soccer, softball, football, floor hockey, basketball, ect) and so PE was a great chance to learn and play those sports. I don't remember doing much health education though... it was all just "playing" outdoors. (Heather G)

I loved PE class all throughout school until I was in high school. I was an athlete and it bothered me that all studnets had to do was change into athletic clothing and walk around the track or gym for 5 - 10 minutes. I think they should have been required to do more then just change. I hope that they require more from the students now. (Jen K)

I have mixed experiences with PE. First off I consider myself athletically challenged. Thus, I need to be taught and shown by example how to play a sport. My feelings about PE depended on the teacher I had. During my first year of high school I had a great PE teacher who took the time to teach us the basics of a sport before getting into intense games. For example, during our unit on basketball he showed us how to hold and shoot a basketball properly. Even now my friends, especially male friends, are surprised that I can shoot a basketball using my left hand as support and following through with my right hand instead of simply thrusting both hands forward like many girls are believed to do. However, I hated my second year of PE. The teacher did more talking than demonstrating. Thus, I was told of what I should be doing but was never shown how to actually do it. This made me very nervous in class and I found myself trying to hide from embarrassment. (Judy Mui)

I always loved PE in school. I was always a tomboy, picked before all the boys to be on a team. I loved PE in middle school because I was always picked before all the boys to be on a team and I always remember playing dodgeball and kickball. I am a soccer player so I was great at kickball. My high school was all girlss and most of the girls weren't athletic so I didn't get too much competition. I liked PE though because we had to learn all the rules of the sport and played everything from football to badmitton to golf. It was great. (Patti McGibney)


 * How often should students have Physical Education? (ie, everyday, once a week, extended times)**

I think it would be great if students had PE everyday. When I taught in California I taught gym every single day for about 30 minutes. We didn't have gym teachers, so we took our own class out on our own time. I was very sporty, so my kids had it pretty good. I think the kids who had teachers that weren't into sports had daily "free time".... kinda feel bad for them.... (Heather G)

I think students should have some type of phyiscal activity everyday. The students in my school have PE twice a week for 45 minutes each. One activtiy that I do like is that with the morning announcements we have one of the PE teachers come on the loud speaker and do daily exercises with the staff and students. Each day there are about 5 exercises except the on Day 5 when they play the song the "Funky Monkey" and we all have to do the dance. The students learned the dance in PE class and the staff learned at a faculty meeting. I think it helps the children to get their blood flowing first thing in the morning and also helps the teachers by getting some of the wiggles out of the students. (Jen K)

The students in my school have PE five days a week for forty-five minutes each day. The only exception is the semester that students take health instead of PE. I believe PE is an important class for students to take on a daily basis. To expect students to sit in class and simply absorb information for seven straight hours is too much to ask. It is best for students' physical, mental, and emotional health to be allowed a break (besides lunch) to relax, move around, have fun, and relieve some stress. (Judy Mui)

Students need PE everyday. It’s important for their bodies as well as their minds. At the school I used to teach at the gym teacher would sometimes give the kids free time during gym because the kids loved it so much. However, he didn’t do it very often because he observed that only some of the kids would be active while others would just hangout. He usually organized two different games like volleyball on one side of the small gym and basketball on the other. This way more children would participate, boys and girls. (Jamahl Black)

Sara, you bring up a good point and one that I don't know how or what the real answer is. I can remember when I was in school and we had gym every other day for 30-40 minutes each day. (I can't exactly remember how long the periods were when I was in school.) On op of gym we were also allowed or had recess at lunch where you could with go out side and play basketball or go into the gym. But in the school that I am in now, the students have gym once a week for 84 minutes and on top of that they have no recess at all. I constantly hear in the news that this generation in the largest (fattest) every, so why are we doing away with gym and recess to have the students sit at their desks for an extra ten minutes? (Ian W)

When I was in middle school we had PE onve a week for about 40 minutes. In high school, I think we had PE either twice a week for 40 minutes each time or once a week for 60 minutes.(My high school had 18- 20 minutes periods in a day) I think that students should have PE at least 80 minutes a week. I actually assist the girls PE teacher in my building to fill a gap in my schedule and by the time students get changed in gym uniforms and then unchanged and attendance is taken, they are really down to about 25-30 minutes of gym time and that's not enough. (Patti McGibney)

Has anybody heard about "PE for Life"? I attended a conference in the fall on "brain-based learning"...fun, right? I went into it with the same attitude, however one of the presenters was the founder of this program called PE for Life. He presented data that showed how effective his program was. The majority of his data was taken from an inner-city school upstate (Rochester? Buffalo? I forget) But anyway, over a 10 year period, the obesity level of the students went down by something like 70%. In addition, their test scores increased by amazing percentages. To sum up the program, students have PE EVERY DAY for AT LEAST 45 minutes. How many schools out there devote that kind of time to PE? I know in my school our kids only have PE every other day for 38 minutes. (Ryan Speer)

[|www.pecentral.org] [|www.aahperd.org] [|www.pelinks4u.org]
 * Physical Education Websites:**