February 2018 - Physical Education - Embracing All Forms of Movement

By Doug Kollman, Physical Education Teacher, Fort Meigs Elementary School

As a Physical Education teacher, my challenge is to cultivate lifelong movers. My strategy is to ensure every student has the opportunity to find something that they are passionate about that they want continue on their own. Sometimes a student may already know that she or he is passionate about particular activity. I may announce that we are doing a section on basketball or jump rope and a group of students will cheer. But we also provide a chance for students to try something that they might not have thought to try or maybe they have not had the opportunity yet. By the time their elementary career is finished, they will have already begun to focus in on their interests, so it is important to embrace and demonstrate an overview of the range of movement available to them and to help them find out which activity sparks the greatest joy in them.

It is important to find different ways to present activities – some may be taught step-by-step but others require independent discovery. My challenge is to create a situation for discovery in those instances, such as having students learn strategy in a soccer match through trial and error, or creating a dance unit so they have to figure out how many beats they have to perform a certain movement.

Of course, my classes provide a physical outlet in what is otherwise typically a more sedentary day. The research is clear that the more physical activity students receive throughout the day, the better they perform in core subjects. In addition to that, I collaborate with the students’ classroom teachers to develop cross-curricular activities. In a fourth grade dance lesson, we may dance around the perimeter of a shape, reinforcing a geometry lesson. In second grade, they were reading a book about snakes, so we incorporated a snake theme into our lesson. Kindergartners learn to make letter shapes with their bodies. We even have fitness relay where students collect cards to put together a mathematical equation and the team works together to solve the problem. We find creative ways to work together to connect our classrooms, and this also gives us additional ways to reach each student as we may hit upon an area where a student has a special interest, like snakes!

I remember years ago, when we had an after school soccer intramural, really seeing that spark in a student out on the field. I remember thinking: “Soccer is her thing now!” It has been amazing to watch Maddy Williams ’13 as her soccer career has progressed to the Purdue Women’s Soccer Team. She recently earned 1st Team All-Region Honors and was invited to the U.S. Soccer U-23 National Team Camp! It is awesome to see students find the thing that they love that makes them lifelong movers, whether that means an athletic career or simply adults who have a love for dance or football that helps them stay healthy throughout their life.

Our school district has very high standards in all areas, from chemistry and mathematics to physical education. Keeping creative is crucial in my field, with the range of activities available and more being developed all the time. At the annual OAHPERD (Ohio Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance) conference, I love to learn about what my colleagues are doing across the state. There are always so many wonderful presentations demonstrating the current trends in physical education, including the newest research. This is an excellent conference that teaches the teachers to bring new skills into our classrooms, which is essential to inspire students to discover their passion as well as to challenge our students and ourselves.

Each student has a different range of abilities and it is important to be sensitive to that in physical education. I have many of the same students from kindergarten through fourth grade, so not only do I get to watch them progress, but I also have an understanding of their background, skills and comfort level. We sometimes make adjustments, like using a volleyball instead of a basketball, which is lighter so that all students are able to try to shoot a basket, or if we are working on cartwheels with some students, others may be working on forward rolls. If I have a high-level soccer player, I may restrict her or him to use his or her non-dominant foot, which helps that student feel challenged while simultaneously leveling the playing field for others.

One of the rewarding aspects in my career has been over the last 13 years hosting an annual American Heart Association Jump Rope for Heart and Hoops for Heart fundraiser. Last year we placed third in the state among hundreds of participating schools. There are all of these facets to making an impression on students and, the more I am able to bring in charitable activities, the more it helps students build positive memories from physical education and of the movement itself that helped them feel proud about supporting an organization like the American Heart Association.