I wasn’t at the SHAPE America Convention in 2015 when the 50 Million Strong initiative was announced.  I didn’t get the emotional convention hall moment that the other physical education teachers received.  In my mind, I envisioned it was like a political convention where a group of like-minded people cheer on a passionate speaker introducing a new life-changing idea.  Instead, I heard about it after the event.  A friend of mine conveyed the sentiment to me and while I wanted to feel the energy, my first impressions contained adjectives like unattainable, improbable, idealistic, and vague.  It wasn’t that I didn’t share the vision that SHAPE leaders were aspiring to, it was that I didn’t see how the change could happen.  I thought to myself, so many great teachers are working hard every day, how is this slogan going to make a difference.
None the less, while I still wasn’t really certain what my role was in the initiative, I decided to use the slogan to promote my 1st Annual Family Fitness Night.  At the beginning of the night, I did my best to explain the SHAPE America program and our personal program of creating 380 Southdown Strong.  The night was considered a success.  Students, parents and the administration were happy but I was ecstatic. I had seen the light!
For the last 27 years, I have been happy to walk the walk and talk the talk with my students within my four walls.  I have never been one to preach to the masses about what goes on in my classroom.  I am embarrassed to say that there are times I am reluctant to talk about my profession at all because of the negative stereotype that is perpetuated by the media, and sadly, by some of our colleagues.
SHAPE America and the 50 Million Strong initiative has given me a conversation starter! This simple slogan has made it okay for me to talk with pride about what happens in the gymnasium.  It has also made me realize that educating my K-4th graders will not be enough to create 50 Million Strong.  I will need to begin changing the way our community views physical education’s role in the educational system.
It will take a village to get “all of the nation’s children physically active, enthusiastic and committed to making healthy lifestyle choices.” (http://50million.shapeamerica.org/about-us/) It will take all of our passionate Health and PE teachers going beyond their classrooms and out of their comfort zones to educate the adults of our 50 million student’s to achieve 50 Million Strong.  We have to realize that our student’s lives don’t take place in the periods of a school day.  Physical Education and Health should not begin and end when the bell rings.  We need to be the leaders in our schools for change.  We need to create opportunities for students to understand what a healthy choice is and give them opportunities to experience the benefits of healthy choices in all of their daily settings.
Here’s my action plan:
Share the 50 Million Strong commitment with colleagues:

• PE Educators
• Principal
• Teachers
• Superintendent
• Board Members

Develop family events to share the initiative:

• Family Fitness Night
• Jump Rope for Heart
• Family Walks
• Halftime Shows

Create before, during, and after school physical activity choices:

• Fuel Up to Play 60
• Mile Clubs- Mileage Club
• Activity equipment bags for recess
• Find indoor recess activity alternatives

Join Let’s Move Active Schools
Read the Kinesthetic Classroom

• Apply for grants for Kinesthetic Classroom furniture
• Provide PD’s for classroom teachers on brain boosts

Preach to the Choir

• Share a Tip on Shape America
• Conference Presentations at Zone, State, District and National Conventions

Find ways to reach others

• #hashtags for parent groups on Twitter

By educating my village and empowering others to educate their village:
Unattainable becomes attainable
Improbable becomes likely
Idealistic becomes realistic
I would love to hear how others plan to achieve 50 million.  Please share your action plan with me @lynnhefele #50millionStrong. 

​I would like to share an incident that occurred while I was teaching the other day.  At the time, I found the actions of one of my students to be unconscionable.  Now, as I look back, I consider the incident both comical and pivotal.
It was a beautiful fall day, 65 degrees, clear, with no wind, so we decided to bring our classes outdoors.  While I love being outdoors, teaching outside at my school does not provide for the best learning environment.  The outdoor space consists of a grassy area the size of a soccer field, a small blacktop, and a playground.  Therefore, during the lunch periods, we are competing with the myriad of distractions that come with seventy-five children at play.
We were working on kicking a stationary ball, so we chose to kick a football off a tee. We used dynamic football warm-ups to begin the class.  These warm-ups consisted of agility courses in which the students had to jump small cones, run through hoops, and zigzag through larger cones.  Between the kicking stations and the warm-up, we set up 72 cones and 40 hoops.  It took nearly a half hour to precisely line up all the cones and arrange all the colorful hoops.
The time spent was worth it, the day was going really well until the 4th class came to an end.  We had just finished our lesson and had begun walking toward the school in our two straight lines when I stopped dead in my tracks.
I have been teaching for 27 years.  As a result, there is rarely an occasion that causes my blood pressure to rise.  Furthermore, if something does transpire to make my insides grow hot with emotion, I have learned to gain control and respond in an educationally appropriate manner.
However, on this day, I had an out of body experience as I watched a 3rd grade student proceed to kick, with reckless abandon, all my beautiful cones!  One after the next, he launched each cone into the air with what would have gotten him a level 4 on my stationary kicking rubric.  Left, right, left, kick!  Left, right, left, kick!
While his actions were surprising, my response was as equally bizarre.  After shouting his name and running to him, I said something I have never said in all my years of teaching!  “You are losing recess tomorrow!” 
My brain immediately reset into teacher mode but it was already too late.  I don’t believe in taking away recess as a consequence for behavior and especially not for students that need to move as much as this one; but I had said it, and I wasn’t taking it back.
That night, while surfing Facebook, I came across this post shared by the Mankind Project via my friend Carol Ayres.

​I thought of my “cone punter.”  I am sure it is not the first time he was losing recess and I didn’t think it would be his last either.  I wasn’t going to give him back recess but maybe I could make his time away from it meaningful.
He met me in my office after lunch and we put on pedometers.  We each made an estimate as to how far it was around the perimeter of the school grounds and we set off on our “walkabout.”  I asked him about the punting incident and got no response.  My guess is that there was no real reason rooted in logic.  He was caught up in the glorious feeling that one gets when an object goes flying into the air after coming in contact with the foot!  We continued our walk and talked about his family make-up and other no threatening topics.  We discussed why although we had walked the same distance, I had fewer steps.  We walked past the playground where all of his friends were playing.  For one third of a mile we made a connection that I would never have made in the gymnasium during P.E.
Now, I don’t want to imply that I somehow changed this child’s life with a “walkabout” but I did change our relationship and that has made a difference in how we treat each other, both in and out of P.E.
So, what did I learn in recess today? Well, there is an old adage that states: Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.  I believe in consequences for inappropriate actions but too often I rely on the same consequences even though they make no changes in student behavior.  I learned that if I take something away from a child, I should be replacing it with something that will make a difference.  I learned that children need more than a good curriculum, authentic assessments and precise feedback on their performance.  They need sincere individual person to person interactions and relationships.
I’d love to hear from other teachers.  When you have a “cone punter” in your class, what do you do? How do you build relationships with your students?  How do you make meaningful changes in behavior?  And “What did you learn during recess today?”   

We just returned from a successful weekend road trip.  I say successful because of the 5 hours that I personally drove; I only missed one exit, resulting in a short 10 minute detour from our destination.  For those of you that know me, this is a huge accomplishment.  In recent years, I rarely make it to a destination without multiple U-turns.  The worst was when my husband woke from a nap in the passenger’s seat to find that I had traveled three quarters of the way around the Washington D.C. loop and was heading back north on our trip from New York  to North Carolina!  I emphatically insist that if the co-pilot were to stay awake during the entire trip, these things wouldn’t happen, however, the truth is that once I get on the highway and point my tires between the dotted white lines, the driver in me goes on auto-pilot and my mind travels inward toward solving the problems of the world.

Okay, maybe I am exaggerating.  Truthfully, I could be thinking about grocery shopping, my next bulletin board, or our new puppy, but over the last 2 years I have also had a recurring philosophical debate with myself- “What geometric shape best represents physical education in today’s society?”

This internal discussion began after reading Knowledge/Skills and Physical Activity: Two Different Coins, or Two Sides of the Same Coin? ( Blankenship,2013). The article discusses the direction of physical education.  It referred to physical education and physical activity as being two sides of the same coin.  The image of physical education as a coin with two sides got me thinking about my beloved Springfield College Triangle and the Humanics Philosophy.

“It starts with Humanics, the age-old Greek ideal of the balanced individual. We believe, as did the ancient Greeks, that a person’s emotional, intellectual and physical lives are interconnected. The Humanics philosophy calls for the education of the whole person—in spirit, mind, and body—for leadership in service to humanity.”

This quote was taken from the Springfield College website. It is the institution from which I received both my masters and my bachelor degree. With the philosophy comes Dr. Luther Hasley Gulick’s inverted equilateral triangle, the symbol that represents the ideal. Dr. Mimi Murray, Professor of Exercise Science and Sport Studies, recently interpreted the triangle for me as follows: The sides of the equilateral triangle represent the emotional, intellectual and physical aspects of a person; the spirit, mind and body.  “Gulick also believed that through the equal and harmonious development of the body and mind, which lead up to and support the Spirit across the top of the triangle, one would also develop spiritually.  The circle around the triangle is probably as important if not more because it symbolizes the whole person ... a circle is complete with no beginning or ending ... consequently one cannot separate mind and body, as we have vainly tried to do for centuries in education!”

I have used this triangle as a model for teaching physical education for my entire career.  While our educational system has created a category in which we are teaching to the physical domain, I have always attempted to do so by educating the whole child; their spirit, mind, and body.

When the new NASPE standards (Couturier et al, 2014) were launched last summer, I began to contemplate how they fit into the triangle.

Standard 1 - The physically literate individual demonstrates competency in a variety of motor skills and movement patterns.

Standard 2 - The physically literate individual applies knowledge of concepts, principles, strategies and tactics related to movement and performance.

Standard 3 - The physically literate individual demonstrates the knowledge and skills to achieve and maintain a health-enhancing level of physical activity and fitness.

Standard 4 - The physically literate individual exhibits responsible personal and social behavior that respects self and others.

Standard 5 - The physically literate individual recognizes the value of physical activity for health, enjoyment, challenge, self-expression and/or social interaction.

The first standard belongs to the physical domain (body). The second standard would fit in the cognitive domain (mind). The third asks for knowledge and application of skills which would suggest both cognition and physical movement.  While the fourth and fifth domain would be classified as social/emotional domain (spirit).  As I grow as an educator, and not just a physical education teacher, I appreciate the concept of balance more and more. As an educator I embrace the inverted triangle as it is, however, because our educational system demands that we departmentalize, I feel the need to create a physical education specific depiction of Gulick’s philosophy.  First, I would expand his two dimensional triangle representation into a three dimensional inverted pyramid.  This pyramid would depict the balancing of our physical education standards in an attempt to support the development of a health conscious physically literate active adult.

I contend that if our goal is to develop lifelong healthy physically literate active adults.  We must educate them in the principles of health and fitness, teach team the skills needed to move in variety of activities, provide them with the social rules and guidelines to participate effectively, and create situations that result in positive emotional experiences.  If we fail to provide this balanced approach then the chance of our students continuing to move past their required years of education is surely diminished.

Likewise, I would  change the two dimensional circle that represents the whole child into a three dimensional animated sphere representing how physical education teachers roll, spin, and bounce from one domain to the next in order to educate the whole student.  The sphere may come to a rest periodically for a cognitive activity, and then bounce into a physical challenge.  The teacher may roll out a social situation and then slow things down to assess student emotional response.   Teaching to the whole child is never a static, rote application of a written lesson plan but a constant assessment of student needs and reassessment of what domain needs to be focused on to address those needs.

While there is certainly no need for a geometric shape to represent physical education, the intellectual journey I took to make one has helped me come to terms with where I stand in the evolving field of physical education.  While we as a society may not be following in the ancient Greek philosophy of Humanics exactly the way they intended it to be implemented, I hope they would appreciate my attempt to adhere to the overlying principle of balance.

Now, maybe, I can focus on the exit signs!


Blankenship, Bonnie. “Knowledge/Skills and Physical Activity: Two Different Coins, or Two Sides of the Same Coin?” Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, Volume 84, (Issue 6), 2013.

Couturier, Lynn, Stevie Chepko, and Shirley Holt/Hale. National Standards & Grade-Level Outcomes for k-12 Physical Education. Illinios: Human Kinetics, 2014. Print.

“Humanics Philosophy.” Retrieved from http://www.springfieldcollege.edu/welcome/humanics-philosophy/index#.VKnQCyvF-So)

I am writing this blog in response to Mel Hamanda’s blog Sharing Our Failures and @Sportacus’s response Sharing Our Failures #1.  First, I must say that I find it ironic that the rest of the world is criticizing social media for the abundance of negative comments and we in the PE world are concerned about being too positive!  What a great problem to have!

Honestly…. I love the positive vibe I get from the dedicated professionals that I have connected with on Twitter.  Before Twitter, I felt like I was alone on an island.  I was passionate about what PE should look like and only knew a handful of educators in real life who shared my passion. 

The truth be told, in my own district, I don’t share very much with my colleagues out of fear of what they will think of me.  Twitter and Voxer has saved me professionally.  I suppose I am a lot like my students, say something positive to me and I’ll work harder.  Had my initial foray into cyber socializing been filled with criticism, I would not have continued to participate in the forum; never mind aspire to create new platforms for professional development.   The back slapping “favorites” and “retweets” make me and others like me feel safe to share.

However, just like in teaching, when a valued friend gives me constructive criticism, delivered in a professional manner I am similarly motivated.  In Sharing Our Failures , Mel asks the question, “How do we go about critiquing work or offering suggestions when we don’t know the person that is sharing?” My answer: I believe we need to be very careful with the written word.  It is very difficult to understand what a person is saying when you can’t hear their intonation or see their body language.  Personally, I don’t think I would give negative feedback to a social networking colleague until they became part of my PLN.  Even then, I would probably Direct Message or Side Vox to do so.

With that said, I have been a Tweeter for over three years now and feel like Social Media is my oasis.  A place that I feel happy to have visited and rejuvenated once I have left.  I also feel that the people I connect with can help me with my failings.  So here goes….

While I am sure that I have failings in the classroom, my biggest failing is outside the gym.  At conferences, staff developments, on social media and in my own building, I am confident and prepared to advocate for my profession, but outside of my school and my program when confronted by a parent, an acquaintance, and even with other colleagues, I become insecure and rambling when standing up for my profession.  Here are some of the statements I have come up against and wish I had done a better job answering:

1.  My son is a football player; he should get a 100 in PE.  He only got a 90 because he doesn’t put any effort in. (Not my student)

2.  High school students shouldn’t have to take PE.

3. Students that play sports shouldn’t have to take PE.

4.  If my child is trying their best, they should get good grade.

Please, help me by posting answers to these questions and any other similar experiences you may have had.

Finally, thank you all for your support and virtual friendship.

Sincerely,

@lynnhefele

Three years ago, I received a grant from the Suffolk Zone NYS AHPERD for the purchase of accelerometers.  For the last two years, I have been experimenting with ways to incorporate them into my classes in a meaningful yet efficient manner.  There is no doubt that the use of the accelerometers increases the Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity (MVPA) of students. However, I felt there was much more that could be done with the data than simply looking at daily individual progress.  Realistically, though, the keeping of individual data on each student for multiple classes over an extended period of time seemed too overwhelming for me.  I decided to start small and begin with a single class. The initial idea was to have one third-grade class record their individual mileage each period and then have them calculate the miles the whole class traveled at the end of that session.  We would then add together multiple class sessions to travel virtually across the country to some meaningful place.  I approached, Mrs. Kenny, the classroom teacher, to share the purpose of our project and to determine if the math involved would be appropriate.  Thankfully, not only did she think it was appropriate, she also offered to facilitate the calculations and record keeping in her classroom!

The PE Institute and Twitter

Choosing our destinations happened over a period of time.  I had gone to the National PE Institute in North Carolina in the summer and met an amazing group of physical education professionals.  Likewise, through the urging of Artie Kamiya and other leaders in the profession, I became motivated to join the community of teachers sharing their knowledge on Twitter.  Originally, the plan was to take the students to some place fun like Disney; educational like the Grand Canyon; or sport related like football stadiums, but after meeting and connecting with such dedicated elementary teachers across the country, I realized that a visit to other elementary schools would be both educational and fun.  Here’s our final itinerary: start with a visit to Austin, Texas and Jim DeLine, then to Frasier Valley, Colorado and Lynn Burrows, next to Farmington, Minnesota and Joe McCarthy, then to Crytsal Gorwitz in Hortonville, Wisconsin and finally to Geneva, Illinois and Mike Graham.

Brain Breaks

The mileage for this trip would total over 5000 miles.  There are 23 students in the class and we meet 3 times a week for 40 minutes.  While I pride myself on having every student moving as much as possible, it became apparent after only one week, that we would need more time to move. Mrs. Kenny asked if the students could wear them all day long.  I was thrilled, not only did this take the physical maintenance of the equipment out of the gym, but more importantly it motivated the classroom teacher and students to include more physical activity into their school day.  Mrs. Kenny introduced brain breaks into her daily routine and began using skip-counting exercises to help reinforce multiplication tables.

Cross Curriculum and Cross Country

Very quickly, this PE project became a true exercise in interdisciplinary teaching.  Our students were moving in PE, calculating their miles on their accelerometers (math and technology) and traveling across the country (geography).  Mrs. Kenny has been teaching about the transcontinental railroad and the Pueblo Indians on our way to Texas to incorporate Social Studies.  We will reach Highland Park Elementary School sometime this week.  When we get there we will have a video conference with one of Jim DeLine’s 3rd grade classes.  The students will ask each other questions about their state, school, and interests.  After our visit, the children will write postcards to their parents as though they were actually in Texas using the information they garnered in the virtual visit.  Then we are off to Colorado and Frasier Valley Elementary where we will meet our new pen pals from Lynn Burrows’ school.

 

Public Speaking and PE Marketing

The Board of Education has asked each school in the district to attend a board meeting and present what makes their school special.  The principal has asked our students to represent Southdown Primary.  The students will have the opportunity to stand up in front of adults and explain what and how they are learning.  I can’t tell you how proud I am of these students.  They have embraced every aspect of the learning involved in this process and will represent Southdown, their teacher, and the physical education program admirably.

Board of Education Slide Show

 

The Future

By any measure, this program has been a success. We have increased MVPA throughout the students’ day and contributed to meeting the Common Core Standards and academic goals of the school.  Other students are asking if they will be able to use the accelerometers and we are looking into how to make this program a grade level initiative for next year.  We will need some new schools to visit!  Anyone interested?

Personally, I like kale, though I haven’t always enjoyed it.  Likewise, while I could eat kale plain, I prefer it sautéed in garlic and olive oil or better yet, blended with bananas and strawberries in a smoothie!  Exercise is the same to me.  I have always loved to move but I definitely needed competition, imagination or socialization to make it palatable for me in my younger years.  

I just returned from the National PE Institute in Asheville, NC.  At the conference and over the past year, a recurring theme has emerged: the role of games in physical education.  Here is my take on the topic.

Literature Enhanced Physical Education

I believe in meeting children where they are physically, socially, emotionally, and intellectually.  My passion has been to motivate and education children through their imagination by developing fictional stories to introduce physical education units.  I find that Kindergarten through 3rd grade students will move with purpose when they are entertained and enthralled with imaginary characters.  They don’t have fear of failure when they are pretending to be a dinosaur or cowboy.  They don’t think of it as exercise until the health benefits are pointed out through the pounding of their heart or throbbing of their pulse.

Teaching Games for Learning

The problem is not with games as much as it is with the reason and implementation of the game.  At the PE Institute, Joey Feith presented a session on Developing Games for Learning.  In this session, Joey made it clear that a game is developed with an educational purpose that links directly to a standard.  Too often I talk to teachers that are interested in finding new games to play instead of asking something like, “What strategies do you use to teach moving to open space?” 

Joey took the group through his progression toward learning to play handball.  By breaking the game of handball down into its smallest components and introducing it to students in layers, Joey was able to teach moving to open spaces, goal tending, passing and throwing with accuracy.  In addition, every single person was engaged in moderate to vigorous physical activity. 

These lead up activities revolved around an imaginary scenario of protecting your prairie dog. Protecting your prairie dog meant shuffling around a hoop with a bowling pin in it and knocking away thrown balls.  After each round of play a new primary rule was added.  A primary rule is a rule that if modified, changes the nature of the game. For example, if your prairie dog gets knocked over, you must pick up your pin/hoop and join the player that knocked over your prairie dog.  By adding this rule, the game changed from an individual activity to a game of teamwork and strategy.

The game itself was quite impressive but the development of the secondary rules is what I found most enlightening.  Secondary rules are rules that can be changed without changing the nature of the game.  They may apply specifically to an individual in order to serve a predetermined purpose.  For example, a secondary rule might be that Suzy Shy Girl can take seven steps, while Sally Superstar can only take 3 steps. Students are prepped in advanced that secondary rules will be given out in private so that no one questions the students. I love this idea because it allows for differentiation for all students and teaches children that fair doesn't always mean equal.


Games or Educational Scenarios

Games are fun and fun is motivating, but, if we continue to describe what we are doing as games, we will not remain a part of the educational process.  In a previous blog, “What are We Learning in P.E. Today,” I discussed conditioning children to ask, “What are we learning in P.E. today,” instead of “What are we playing in gym today.”  I think the same should go for how we introduce our activities.  Instead of saying “We are playing Clean Up Your Backyard today?”  The answer should be framed as a statement of practice toward our objectives.  “Our goal today is to practice overhand throwing for accuracy.” 

However, when parents, teachers, and administrators pass by the gym, what they will see are students playing games.  That’s why it is so important to have rubrics with observable objectives for each lesson and cues for skill develop displayed in the gym (see Hall of Fame).  Likewise, any opportunity to address the school community about the value of physical education should be taken. (see Marketing PE 101)

In a Nutshell

Games can be used as a meaningful tool in developing active and healthy citizens if they are developed and implemented with purpose.

1.  Decide on the unit standards and benchmarks.

2.  Break these goals down into the smallest skills.

3.  Develop activities that allow for deliberate practice of these skills.

4.  Create a game that will foster moderate to vigorous activity in order for these practice sessions to take place.

5.  Add an imaginary theme, competitive element or social situation that will motive the students to move.

6.  Teach the game in layers that have primary rules and focus on deliberate practice of skill objectives.

7.  Begin assessing immediately to identify students with needs.

8.  Create secondary rules, game and equipment modifications to meet the needs of all students.

9.  Give students frequent quality feedback on a continual basis.

Let the games begin!

I grew up in a time when you answered the phone in the kitchen and had to pull the cord into the other room for privacy.  It was a time when you never would have thought to change the channel on the TV during a commercial because it meant getting up off the couch.  I played follow the leader and connect the dots.

Now, I can talk on the phone walking down the street.  I can use it to watch TV with or without commercials.  And, I use it to connect and follow hundreds of friends and colleagues at the same time!  Boy, have things changed!

Over the past year, I finally decided to jump into the Physical Education social networking world.  It is a vast world of hashtags and links, videos and podcasts.  I am overwhelmed and inspired at the same time.  After hours, days and months of friending, pinning, posting, commenting and tweeting I still have not come close to scratching the surface of the physical education network on the World Wide Web.

So, for those of you that are contemplating joining the frenzy, I would like to introduce you to Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook so you can join in the fun.

Linkedin.com

Linkedin is a social networking site for professionals.  When joining Linkedin you will be asked to set up a profile.  This profile is essentially a resume of you as a professional.  You will be asked to input your background including work experience, education, volunteer experiences, causes, publications, skills, honors, awards, and organizations.  People will be able to search for you and you can search for others.  You will be notified when people view your profile. However, to see a full list of who views your profile you need to upgrade to Linkedin Premium.  I recently contacted an individual about speaking at our AHPERD conference and instead of a resume he directed me to his Linkedin page.  This made viewing his credentials simple and instantaneous.

Next you will start developing a network by making connections.  You can add connections from lists of people you already know by uploading your email accounts.  You can also search for connections through alumni.  When you make a connection, Linkedin will post a page of people with similar profiles that you might be interested in connecting with.  From this page you can invite people to connect.  They may or may not accept your invitation.

If you are searching for a job, there is a tab for Jobs.  In this section, a list of jobs that are available in your network will appear.  You can reach out to your connections for help in landing positions.

The most useful attribute of Linkedin for me has been the Interests/Groups tab.  In the groups tab, you will be able to join networks that interest you specifically.  There are several groups that relate specifically to physical education. Some of my favorites are Physical Education Professionals, The PhysicalEducator.com, The PE Scholar, Sports Medias Best Practice P.E. Videos, Physical and Health Education Specialists, Elementary PE+, Health and Physical Educators, and National PE Institute.  Someone in the group will start a discussion and anyone in the group can respond.  Whenever a new discussion or comment is posted, you will receive a notification in your e-mail.  People you should connect with on Linkedin are Artie Kamiya and Guy Van Damme (and me!)

Twitter

While I am still learning how to maneuver around the Twitter world, I am certain that it is a very powerful tool for connecting with other professionals and developing professionally.  Unlike Linkedin, Twitter is not strictly for professionals. If you choose to use Twitter professionally I suggest you use a different site for personal social networking. 

Your profile for Twitter is whatever you would like it to be.  If you have a website, I suggest putting it in your profile.  This gives people that are thinking of following you something to base their decision on. 

The whole concept of the site is to post tweets.  A tweet is whatever you want to say in 140 characters or less.  Personally, I find this to be very difficult.  Throw all of the English language grammar you learned throughout your life out the window and narrow what you have to say down to as few characters as you can and then end with a hashtag.  Including a link in your tweet is the best way to get the most twitter in your tweet.

This is a hashtag #.  A hashtag is used to identify a group that you want your tweet to be associated with.  For example, I might say, SHAPE 4/1/14 St. Louis www.AAHPERD.com  #physed.  By hashtagging with the physed suffix, anyone that searches for physed would see this tweet.  #Physed is very popular and specific to the physical education community.  If you are looking for technology in PE then use #pegeeks.  Also, on every other Monday night there is a group called #pechat that talks about issues relevant to PE.  The topics, time, and dates can be found at http://www.thephysicaleducator.com/pechat/. 

On your homepage you will see how many people you have following you, how many people you follow and how many tweets you have made.  There will also be an unending scroll of tweets for you to peruse.  If you like a particular tweet, you can favorite it or retweet it so that everyone who follows you will know about it.  You can also reply to a tweet or tweet at someone specifically. Twitter will notify you via email or a message on your phone when you have a new follower and will suggest new people for you to follow.  People you might want to follow on Twitter include Joey Feith, Nathan Horne, Adam Howell, Kelly Ann Parry, Jo Bailey, Matthew Pomeroy, Patty Kestell,and  Lynn Burrows.  These people will connect you with specific websites, podcasts, apps, and curriculum ideas that are trending.

Facebook

Of course, let’s not forget about friending!  In Facebook, you search for friends and send out friend requests.  You will have a wall on which to post things.  Think of a wall as your personal TV show.  You are creating your own sitcom for anyone to see- sentences, photos, videos, links, etc.  Notice I said anyone!  Make sure that you set your account privacy settings the way you would like them- public, friends only, etc.  What goes on in Facebook doesn’t necessarily stay in Facebook!  Many professionals have gotten in a lot of trouble for posts about work that eventually got back to administration!  If don’t have something nice to say- don’t say it!  You may also want to consider having more than one page.  I have a page as me, Lynn Hefele, which I use for friends and family, and a page for my business, LEPE, Inc.  This allows me to separate my social life from my business life.  Facebook also allows you to create groups within your social network.  For example, if I want all of my school related people to know that we have a faculty meeting in the morning; I can send out a message to my Southdown group.  Anyone in the group can post to anyone else as well.  You may also wonder what happens when you “like” a business on Facebook.  Simply put, once you like something, you will receive their notices (i.e. events, advertisements, articles of interest, etc.)  Aside from your wall, you also have a home page.  Your homepage is like a running newspaper of what is happening in your friend’s lives.  Don’t ask me what the formula is for how Facebook determines what storylines to send you.  I think it’s magic!  My favorite thing about Facebook is that they remind me when it’s a friend’s birthday!

 Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook are the more popular social networking sites out there.  All in all, I think that people that like to say more than 140 characters prefer Linkedin and/or Facebook and people that are comfortable with technology are on Twitter.  There are other social networking sites that the physical education community engages in including Edmodo, Pinterest, and Google Hangouts. Eventually, I may be qualified to write about them.  Visit http://www.lepeinc.com/pe-websites.html for a more comprehensive list that also includes websites, apps, Youtube videos, podcasts and more.  Like anything else in life, it takes time to learn and master something new.  I encourage you to take the 14 day Twitter Challenge for PE Teachers, http://thepegeek.com/2013/04/09/the-20-day-twitter-challenge/.   It will help you get started.  I look forward to connecting and following with you!

What are we learning in PE today?

The first question asked every day with every class in every gymnasium across the country and possibly around the world is most likely, “What are we playing in gym today?”  It may be an overly simplistic answer to our educational reputation dilemma, but conditioning students to ask, “What are we learning in PE today?” instead of “What are we playing in gym today?” is a small step toward educating the next generation about the merits of physical education.

However, it then becomes incumbent upon us to be able to provide an answer to this new and improved question, each and every time a student enters our classroom.  Our classroom, the gymnasium, while different in size and equipment, needs to look and feel and operate like an environment for learning.  Allowing the educational hierarchy to view us as different,  and more often than not, as less, guarantees that we will remain educationally second class despite the rising need for PE.

So how is it that we operate like a typical academic classroom, yet still remain true to the physicality of our domain? 

I am reminded of my final interview with the Assistant Superintendent prior to receiving my teaching position.  His question was, “Your master’s degree is in Biomechanics, why are you applying for a physical education teaching position?”  My response was immediate, I said, “Because physical education should be taught as a science.” The next question was “Your degree is in secondary education, why are you applying for an elementary position?”  To which I answered, “Because the change needs to start at the beginning.”  After the interview, I thought about those answers that came without thought and realized that in fact, I believed in them.  Not only do I believe that physical education should be taught as a science, I also believe it should be taught through the English Language Arts and Mathematical disciplines as well.  And I believe we need to start in the earliest years.

The answer to teaching physical education as an academic discipline is to teach it the way we were taught physical education.  Not the way that we were taught in elementary school or even in high school but the way we were taught in our post graduate institutions.  While the majority of physical education teachers probably entered the profession as an alternative to following their unattainable childhood goal of becoming a professional athlete, most exited their college years understanding the physics of movement; the physiology of exercise; the philosophy, psychology, and sociology of sport.  The mathematical word problems that we answered revolved around activity.  The chemistry, biology, anatomy and physiology tests we completed dealt with human movement and exercise.  Yet, we go back into the schools and don’t understand how we can meet the Common Core Standards or why we should even be required to try.

We mustn’t confuse the old concepts of interdisciplinary education with teaching to the Common Core Standards.  We are not being asked to teach English! We are being asked to teach Physical Education with English. We need to teach using academic concepts not because the Department of Education wants us to, but because it is how Physical Education should be taught in order for the next generation to become truly physically literate.  We need children to learn how and why it is important to move by giving them literature that teaches and supports healthy lifestyles.  We need to teach anatomy and physiology so that they can identify specifically why the exercises and games are being played.  We need to highlight the scientific data behind the benefits of exercise on every aspect of life.  Then, ironically, by teaching physical education we will assist in reaching the Common Core Standards.

We need to start developing a cognitive curriculum that mirrors the scope and sequence of your physical curriculum. We have two national standards that specifically require cognition. 

Standard 2- The physically literate individual applies knowledge of concepts, principles, strategies and tactics related to movement and performance. 

Standard 3- The physically literate individual demonstrates the knowledge and skills to achieve and maintain a health-enhancing level of physical activity and fitness.

In order to truly attain these standards, instruction and assessment through academic means is warranted and beneficial.   Additionally, the development and implementation of academic instruction and assessment needs to begin early so that students grow up seeing physical education as a class and not as play time.

Please, don’t misunderstand me, I believe in maximum movement and 100% enjoyment.  Academic instruction has to be given creatively and concisely but effectively. 

Some tools for implementing academic instruction include:

·         Alternating intense physical activity with short periods of cognitive instruction

·         Using exit tickets for assessment

·         Using concept, principle, strategy and tactical flash cards with students while they are waiting in line

·         Assigning outside of class assignments

·         Giving incentives for optional reading and writing assignment  

I truly believe that as an educational discipline, we will not survive in this new age of education if we cannot demonstrate that learning is happening in our classrooms physically, cognitively and emotionally.  I also believe that as a culture, we will not thrive if our children continue to become more and more sedentary.  Knowledge, physical activity and enjoyment in equal parts are the answer to creating a physically literate active adult.

by Lynn Hefele on November 26, 2013

    Think about your favorite restaurant.  What is it about that particular restaurant that makes it your favorite?  Chances are it is the combination of a quality product, good service, and the ambiance that keeps you coming back for more.  If any one of these three areas were below standard, you might not return and probably wouldn’t recommend the restaurant to your friends.

Now think about your physical education program.  While your students don’t have a choice whether or not to frequent your establishment, if you are trying to promote your program, then a satisfied customer is your first order of business. 

First, take a look at your product.  Do you have a quality physical education program that has a variety of skills on the menu?  While students will say they always want to play a certain game, they only know what they have experienced.  Continually changing and using a variety of techniques, technology and differentiating the instruction will keep students from getting bored and keep them moving with purpose.  Furthermore, a student that finds your class intellectually, as well as, physically challenging, will be more likely to talk about, “what they did in gym, today,” to their parents.

Next, how is the service in your gymnasium?  Teachers have a variety of classroom management techniques, and while safety and order should be taken into consideration when developing a routine, the focus of the class needs to be about meeting your student’s social, emotional, physical and cognitive needs.  Take a moment to virtually step into your own classroom as a student.  Now, ask yourself if you would want to be taught or disciplined with the language and tone of voice you use.  A student that feels safe from verbal and physical harm in your classroom will sing your praises for the rest of their life.

How about the ambiance?  While this may sound silly, students, parents, other teachers, and administrators will think that you are a fabulous teacher simply because when they walk by the gym the decor is visually pleasing.  Posters, word walls, colorful equipment and a fun variety of music, create a welcoming setting for your fabulous cuisine.

Realistically, there are very few restaurants that become successful by just opening their doors for breakfast and closing them after dinner.  Getting patrons through the door takes many different types of marketing.  If you are trying to promote your program to parents and administrators, then you are going to have to go the extra mile.  Not to mention the fact that just because your students are not in your classroom, doesn’t mean that you can’t continue to provide them with learning opportunities they can access at other times of their day.

For example, do you have a website?  If so, what’s on it?  Any successful business in today’s market has a website to advertise their product.  Your website should have your students’ schedules and the class expectations so that parents know when they need to be prepared for class.  Likewise, if your curriculum and grading policies are clearly defined and available, parents can support your lessons at home while you are teaching a unit in class.  Provide a web page for students with enrichment links and activities and provide a page for parents with links to supporting leagues, programs and educational information that they can explore.  Also, continually posting photos and videos will keep them coming back to your site.

Old school advertising can be as effective as new technology.  Take ownership of a bulletin board in a hallway and/or the cafeteria.  Anywhere that students, parents, and administrators will see it.  Make sure to change your bulletin board at least bi-monthly.  A bulletin board that is faded with torn pictures is worse than no bulletin board at all.  Display pictures of students in action and have educational information in large age appropriate text. 

Does your school put out a newsletter or any regularly scheduled communication to parents?  In your newsletter article, you can focus on a different grade level, class, lesson, educational topic, or event.  Have it proof read for spelling and grammar.  One spelling mistake takes the focus off your program and onto your credibility as a teacher.

Specials!!!  Every restaurant will have specials that give their menu some added punch.  It’s never a meatloaf or a pot roast but a Bouillabaisse or Crème Brule.  What is your specialty?  Advertise it!  Whether the event takes place during or after the school day, inviting parents to your class to see what you’re teaching and how much their children are learning is invaluable.  Use all the bells and whistles: decorations, music, and student ambassadors to seat or serve the parents are just a few ways to make the event special.  Don’t feel like you have to do this on your own.  Partner with a school, community, or charity organization to increase your exposure.  High school clubs like the National Honor Society and Key Clubs are required to do community service.  Join with other teachers to do cross curriculum events or the PTA to do family events.  Jump Rope for Heart and other charities are always eager to sponsor events in the schools.

Finally, networking is the single most important way to promote your program.  Most people will walk by your gym and see children having fun (at best) or organized chaos (at worst).  Without you speaking out about what to expect from a quality PE program, your program will be viewed as little more than an extension of recess.  Take every opportunity to speak about what’s new in your program.  Ask to speak at back-to-school night, PTA, and faculty meetings.  Get to know the parents of your students by being available and visible at parent/teacher conferences and attend other special events.  For the truly advanced tech savvy teacher, you might want to check out www.Edmodo.com.  It is a social networking site for teachers, students, and parents.  You can connect with your students online as though they were in your classroom.  Parents can view their students work through a parent portal.  You can also connect with other physical education teacher groups.  Also for the techie, the Coach’s Eye is a videotaping app that allows you to send video clips of student performance to parents.  For the not so tech friendly, send home positive notes and certificates and make “Sunshine Calls” to highlight exceptional skills and behaviors.

Marketing your program is work but if you are passionate about what you do and truly believe that you make a difference in a child’s life, it is well worth the effort.  So next time you are at your favorite, restaurant/clothing store/sports club/social event,  take a closer look at how the advertise and figure out if it will work for you!  

by Lynn Hefele on September 5, 20131 

Physical Education or Recreation
 
My mom is a leopard, the kind that can't change her spots.  She lives in the moment, says what comes to her mind, and doesn't look back.  It’s history, over and done with.  I am my father’s daughter, every sentence measured and every action reflected upon.  My reflections often border on rumination, obsessing over the smallest misstatement for hours, days, or even years.  
So this article is my latest rumination, more a sharing of questions than an article for information.  
Recently, a colleague made a statement to the effect that the majority of physical education teachers are no more than recreation directors.  My immediate, uncharacteristically, defensive response was, “I am not a recreation director.”  Of course, later, I reflected on the moment and analyzed the statement.  
Here are the definitions, as simply stated as I could find, without  minimizing either profession.
A recreation director, as defined by ehow.com, is a person who plans, organizes and schedules activities for organizations and groups. Recreation directors work at places such as recreational facilities, camps, nursing homes, playgrounds and schools. The primary responsibility of a Recreation Director is to keep the group entertained, enthusiastic and, most of all, active. Most promote healthy living and exercise through their programs.
A physical education teacher as defined by Resume-Resource.com must:
Develop effective lesson plans to teach physical education appropriate to the age or grade level
Teach cognitive concepts about motor skills and fitness
Observe and inform students of corrective measures necessary for skill and improvement
Instruct students on importance of regular amounts of appropriate physical activity now and throughout life
Assess the skill level of students and provide differentiated instruction for various ability groupings
Offer alternatives during classes to accommodate different levels of fitness
Explain and enforce safety rules governing sports, recreational activities, and the use of sports and exercise equipment
Maintain order among students
Document attendance, grades and other records
Confer with parents or guardians, teacher and administrators to report on students’ progress
So there you have it, physical educator and recreation director, two professions that are concerned with providing physical activity to groups of people.  Yet, they are fundamentally different in their purpose.  One is primarily concerned with the entertainment of a group and the other focused on the physical, cognitive and emotional education of the individual.  
So here are the questions I asked myself:
Am I developing lessons or am I simply choosing games?  
Are my lessons age appropriate or am I playing the same game with all of the students without modifying it to meet grade level expectations?
Do I actually teach the cognitive concepts related to motor skill acquisition and fitness components or do I simply state the rules of the game?
Am I observing and informing students about their individual skill development and fitness needs or am I refereeing and keeping score of a game.
Do I educate students on the importance of regular, livelong health and fitness concepts? 
Am I assessing student learning and then modifying how and what I am teaching to meet the needs of my students? Or am I simply exposing students to different games to provide physical activity?
Am I differentiating instruction to meet the needs of individuals within each class or am I using the one size fits all method because set up and take down is easier?
Do I make accommodations for students with special needs or do I expect all children to “keep up?”
Do I explain the safety rules?
Do I maintain order, teach sportsmanship, character and conflict resolution?
Do I conference with parents?
Do I confer with other teachers and administrators about student progress?
My conclusion, I am a physical education teacher.  Not a perfect one, yet!  However, as long as I don't become the old dog that can't learn new tricks, I will keep reflecting and changing like a chameleon to meet the educational needs of my students.  How about you?