New Year's Resolutions to Become the Teacher You've Always Wanted to Be!
For many of us, Jan. 1 comes with a list of resolutions to guide the new year. Often, these intentions are based on items that are personal: lose weight, save money, etc. However, the start of a new year can also provide the opportunity to hit the reset button on aspects of your teaching. Here are a few steps to help you develop resolutions to impact the students in your classes.
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Take a few minutes to identify two to three things that you'd like to be different about your classes.
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Write down the changes you would like to see.
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Determine the steps you need to take to implement the change.
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Do the prep work necessary to get started.
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Leave your plan and the materials you need on the top of your desk/clipboard so they are the first thing you see when you walk through the door in January.
These items don't need to be huge; they can be very simple. Examples might include:
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Incorporate a
word of the day
into each lesson.
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Cut
transition times
in half.
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Have students
run for time
instead of running for distance.
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Incorporate
daily fitness activities
to prep for FITNESSGRAM.
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Regularly
read professional journals or books.
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Create a
Twitter account
to follow other educators and post your best practices.
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Include at least one
formative assessment
in every lesson.
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Learn
Google classroom.
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Incorporate
technology
at least once a week.
How will you create a resolution to reinvent yourself? The possibilities are endless!
Paige Metz
Health and Physical Education Coordinator
San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE)
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3-Day Physical Literacy Institute
(Jan. 17, Feb. 8, March 7)
The goal of our work has changed. No longer are physical educators tasked with teaching sports. The focus of physical education is now to develop students'
physical literacy
:
the knowledge, skills, fitness, values, and motivation to attain and maintain a healthy lifestyle
. Physical literacy doesn't happen on accident. It requires a systemic approach to pedagogy that challenges many traditional practices. Join us as we identify learning outcomes, create assessment tools, and plan instruction to empower students with the confidence, competence, and passion for a lifetime of physical activity
. Join us for three days as we collaborate to:
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Better understand the concept of "physical literacy"
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Utilize the
California Physical Education Model Content Standards
in tandem with the
California state standards
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Integrate shifts in pedagogy to develop students' skills, knowledge, and desire to attain and maintain a physically active lifestyle
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Utilize formative and summative assessment to collect evidence of student learning and to inform instruction
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Create unit and lesson plans to systematically develop students' physical literacy
For more information, and to register, click here. Note: The 3-Day Physical Literacy Institute is one of the accepted pre-requisites for the Physical Education Leadership Academy.
2017-18 Professional Learning Opportunities
CAHPERD State Conference Registration is Open
The California Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (CAHPERD) State conference is scheduled to take place Feb. 22 to 24 at the Marriott City Center in Oakland. Come see keynotes by Move, Live Learn founder Amanda Stanec, and Common Core and equity expert Martha James-Hassan as well as breakout sessions by national and state leaders. Visit www.CAHPERD.org for more information and to register.
Positive Prevention Plus Comprehensive Sexual Health Education Training
(April 3 and 4)
The San Diego County will offer another round of Positive Prevention Plus Comprehensive Sexual Health Education training on April 3 and 4. This training will provide critical information about AB 329, the California Healthy Youth Act and will provide teachers with the curriculum and resources needed to meet the new Ed Code requirements. Click here for more information, including the link to register. Please register early! We must secure at least 20 attendees by Feb. 20 to offer the training.
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Most Valuable Person, Practi
ce or Program: Lynn Barnes-Wallace, San Diego Unified School District.
Lynn Barnes-Wallace, the physical education resource teacher in San Diego Unified School District, has been a leader among physical educators in San Diego for years. She has excelled as a teacher in the classroom, being named the California CAHPERD and the Southwest District Elementary Physical Education Teacher of the Year. She has created programs that impact thousands of students in her district, including the Increasing the Movement and Physical Activity in Class Time (IMPACT) Program and a swim program launched with the Junior Lifeguard Association and the City of San Diego. She co-founded the San Diego Physical Education Leadership Academy, and launched a CPR/AED program in conjunction with the American Heart Association to teach hands-only CPR. Recently, she was was featured on the TODAY show and was nominated as a "Life Changer of the Year" when a 3rd grade student performed CPR on his mom and saved her life.
App of the Month:
QR Stopwatch ($2.99)
Use this app to time multiple people, starting at multiple times, by scanning a QR code to start and stop the watch. Names are automatically generated and times/results can easily be emailed to participants. This can be a game changer for keeping track of lots of times for both physical educators and track coaches.
FITNESSGRAM Tip of the Month:
Create A Training Plan for the Winter Break
If the intended outcome for physical education is to develop students who are physically literate, then it is critical that we give students the opportunity to develop the skills, understanding, and motivation of someone who is committed to physical activity for life. For this to take place, students need to have the opportunity to apply what they know and can do in an authentic setting, outside of their physical education class. The upcoming winter break is a perfect opportunity for students to:
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Revisit their health and fitness goals
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Identify opportunities that are available in their community (or where they will be traveling) that may help them work toward these goals
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Develop a health and fitness plan for the break
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Evaluate their effectiveness of their plan at the end of the break
Literacy Strategy of the Month: Tell Me More!
For students to truly be physically literate, it is critical that their understanding of content goes well beneath the surface. Rather than giving one- or two-word responses, we want students to be able to produce well thought out responses that include detail. Next time you have students doing a think-pair-share, ask the listener to prompt the person who is talking with the phrase, "Tell me more!" This will give students the opportunity to include further detail, discuss their thought process, and make meaning of the contact. In fact, you can have them say "Tell me more!" two or three times, until time is out or until they feel that their partner has exhausted all possible responses.
Activity of the Month:
Squat Talk
Getting students to participate in Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity (MVPA) at least 50 percent of class time, while also meeting state standards, can be difficult. Activities that give students the opportunity to participate in physical activity while also engaging with content are invaluable. Next time you want your students to review material, while also being active, have them do a squat talk. It's easy! Students alternate going up and down into a squat position while sharing one thing/idea/thought/understanding that they know about a specific prompt. (It kind of looks like a teeter-totter when they alternate who is speaking.) If they run out of new things to say, they can repeat what items their partner shared until time is up.
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New Documents Help Define Quality Physical Education
The San Diego County Office of Education, in collaboration with San Diego Unified School District, has created two tools to help teachers and administrators define quality physical education. The Foundations for Quality Physical Education: Observation Guide
can be used by teachers as a self-evaluation tool or can help guide administrators' understanding of what quality physical education looks like in action. The
Physical Education Best Practice Brochure
describes shifts in practice that will improve students' physical literacy.
Check Out What's New on the Fit 2 Learn, Fit 4 Life Website!
The Fit 2 Learn, Fit 4 Life
website has been updated with new resources to support high-quality physical education to develop students' physical literacy. Resources include unit plans, lesson plans, video examples, assessments, lesson observation checklists, physical education program evaluation tools, and much more!
Saucony Run for Good Foundation
: Approximately 10 to 12 $10,000 grants will be awarded to promote running and healthy lifestyle programs. For more information, click here.
Applications are due Dec. 15.
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Health Framework Update
Draft chapters of the California Health Education Framework are posted
by the Health Education Curriculum Framework and Evaluation committee.
To view draft chapters, click on the folder of the most recent meeting date.
Email questions and comments to
healtheducationfamework@cde.ca.gov
.
UCSD to Study Impact of Heat on Physical Activity; Looking for Schools to Participate
Heat has a significant impact on students' physical activity levels in many parts of San Diego County. Jenni Vanos, an associate professor at UCSD, is interested in collecting data on students ages 8 to 12 in order to design school facilities that minimizes heat and radiation exposure to encourage physical activity. The project will likely collect heart rate, GPS location, and radiation exposure from each student while surveying their thermal perception. Please contact Paige Metz atif you are interested in having one of your classes participate in this study.
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If you have any questions or comments about Health and Physical Education Monthly Update, please contact Paige Metz.
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