Reforming Physical Education: What's Next

As I've become more active on Twitter, I'm learning that there are a lot of people out there asking the right questions, but not a ton of people wither have the answer or are willing to provide it. What sparked my interest most recently was a shared tweet from Adam Lleva {@MrAdamPE} regarding an article titled School PE is Part of the Childhood Obesity Problem by Niall Moyna. Naturally from the title of the article, I was immediately defensive. Here's another "expert" who knows nothing about what physical education actually is, how we teach it, or why what we do matters. Against my better judgment, and mainly because Adam shared it, I decided to give it a read anyway. I'm glad I did because it raised some very important questions that I think have realistic and attainable answers.

Did you read the article? It starts off identifying what those of us in the physical education realm already know - our students are not meeting minimum requirements of physical activity to maintain health. We can relate this to a few factors, but one that the author names directly seems to have had the greatest impact - increased screen time. He cites a study from Irish Life Health indicating that 98 percent of parents admitted to their children having daily screen time of some kind. While this is the only direct link Moyna discusses, there are many other contributing factors to the rise in childhood obesity, most directly their nutritional intake. Processed foods and fast food are dominating the menu of busy working families. Combine this downward trend in food quality to increased sedentary time and we've got a caloric balance issue that is impact millions of children every day.

So what is the authors call for change? Start with the schools and how we're educating our students on healthy habits. Where do these changes happen? Health and physical education. He makes an argument I can support fully, "If our children were leaving school unable to perform basic mathematics, we would examine the mathematics curriculum without delay. Why, when too many of our children are leaving school overweight, unfit, and destined for a life of ill-health, are we not challenging what they are being taught in PE?"

Niall, I've got a few of those answers to that question. First, it's a great question and the answers are going to be frustrating to read for those of us who know why reform needs to happen (and why it hasn't happened yet).

1. Education and training for professionals in the field. Colleges and universities across the US are cutting their teacher training programs for health and physical education. Departments are closing and often being forced to move to smaller schools and communities. In Richmond, VA - Virginia Commonwealth closed their health and physical education training program simply because the department chair was retiring and they could find no one to fill it. Two years later, that same program is now up and running again thanks to some very passionate advisers and educators. Additionally, many professionals are trained to teach using the sports-based model. We love team sports, great! The switch, however, needs to be made to a skills-based model of teaching. Simply put, instead of teaching football for two weeks and limiting our students to one sport, one ball, and one version of a throwing mechanic, we should transition to a throwing unit where students can experience multiple games, sports, and activities using throwing technique. I'll be writing another blog post down the road about the benefits of the skill-based model so stay tuned! This is very simply put as the benefits of the skills-based model are enormous, but for the sake of this post, I'll leave it at that.
2. School districts across the US are cutting physical education time or cutting programs all together. Most elementary students receive PE once a week and one 15-20 minute recess a day. Secondary students are mostly receiving physical education every other day, but wait... they also take health. Some schools function on a semester style system that has students in physical education for the one semester and health for another. Other schools function on a rotation schedule between health one week and physical education the next or a two week switching pattern. In my current school, sixth and seventh grade students have HPE every other day for 90 minutes, but every two weeks they are in health for those 90 minute class periods. We know that our health curriculum is just as important as our physical education curriculum... do you see the conundrum yet? Many teachers, especially at the elementary level, have adapted to teaching health concepts with physical education concepts in the gym. I have seen brilliant methods designed by educators who smoothly convince third graders that their soccer balls are red blood cells moving through their veins and arteries, while the playground balls are white blood cells that defend the body from diseases, while the taggers are viruses trying to infiltrate the body. Brilliant, right? Sadly, not all educators are this creative. More educators need to invest in professional development opportunities, but that's easier said than done given how expensive conferences can be, especially if you have children of your own. Reforming the curriculum is a great idea, but what good does it do if programs are continuing to be cut?
3. Programs are being cut for many reasons and I believe that people don't know exactly what we do as physical educators. The most important question I have is this... How can we convince districts to invest the man power and money needed to have proper curriculum reform when we can't get them to respect what we teach? Secondly, once we've convinced our districts to change, how can we then move reform up to the state level? These are the tough questions and the only answer I have is advocacy. We have to be advocates for what we teach every single day, in every single class, outside of school, when communicating with parents, when interacting with other educators, when interacting with peers... I could make this list go on endlessly. We have to advocate our purpose and why our subject is valuable 24/7. We have to stop tying in why we're valuable to other subjects while we're at it. Do you think math teachers justify their importance by how their subject helps English? No! So why are we!? Yes, increased physical activity improves academic performance, but that one fact does not define our purpose or what we do! Physical education and health education are important subjects on their own. We don't need to justify what we do by how it impacts other subjects. I bought into the idea for the longest time that the impact physical activity has on academic performance was the game changer in justifying physical education in schools. I listened to a life changing speech at the Virginia Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance in November 2016 by the keynote speaker, Dr. John Almarode, from James Madison University. My favorite quote from the amazing keynote was something to the effect of, "Why are you saying that your class benefits students in math? What if they have a bad math teacher? Do you want to be responsible for that outcome?" MIND BLOWN. Of course I don't want to be responsible for that. He then talked to us about how to appropriately advocate for what we do because what we do is valuable. We have some of the biggest impact on students life outcomes. Health and wellness is knowledge they will need for the rest of their lives. What we do matters and we can get people to listen to us and invest in us by advocating appropriately.
4. We have little to no control over what our students do outside of school. This is the primary factor as to why physical education, no matter how amazing, simply will never be enough to end childhood obesity. We can't control what our students parents allow them to do outside of school. We can teach them to be competent in every activity known to man, we can teach them how to eat well, we can teach them life skills, we can teach them until we are blue in the face... But until parents and families decide to make changes in their lifestyles, habits won't change. I can get a kid moving for 90 minutes every other day. I can't change the fact that when the same child goes home, he's allowed to eat whatever junk food he wants while he sits and plays video games all night. We've all heard the colloquial phrase, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." If mom and dad are still feeding them pizza every night or stopping at McDonald's four times a week, I can't fix that. I had a student once who brought 24 chicken wings for lunch every single day. When it came time for PE, he wanted to move, he wanted to play! He was a great kid and the type of student who was willing to try anything, but he could not overcome his diet and his lifestyle at home. Nothing I did could possible change that. It's an issue with the way society and culture have changed. Despite this inhibiting factor, you can bet that I will keep teaching until I'm blue in the face because hopefully one day, enough of these students will have learned the right way to be active and the right way to eat and there will be a cultural shift. That is the ultimate goal!

I am very fortunate to teach in Virginia. We have some of the best schools in the country and our learning standards (known as SOLs) are better than most. I'm also fortunate to be part of the curriculum team for my county. Is our curriculum perfect? Of course not, but it's definitely better than it was two years ago! Even if the curriculum wasn't perfect, there are always going to be educators (in any subject area) who intentionally or unintentionally don't follow the curriculum. Some of our own are perpetuating the "old PE" methodology in class and it hurts those of us attempting to move the profession forward.

Many counties throughout the country struggle with change. Prior to teaching in my home state, I taught in North Carolina for two years where the standards were very different. Thankfully, due to working for a charter school, I was able to have some flexibility in what I was teaching. Being a first year teacher, I had the opportunity to create my own curriculum for both health and physical education. I had an executive director who went to school for health and physical education and was incredibly supportive of my program. Small town politics got in the way and when he left, the new director did not hold the same value for health and PE. Our program suffered and I began hitting a constant wall of "No's" for things as simple as consistently teaching a health curriculum that had been previously approved.

While I agree with what the author, Niall, is saying, I don't think curriculum reform is the only piece to the puzzle. In fact, I think there are many other obstacles that need to be tackled in order to make solid, attainable curriculum reform possible. As physical educators, we can be the vehicles of the change we wish to see. The road won't be easy and it won't be pretty, but think of the change we could make if we try? In order to see these goals come to fruition, we have to start giving our all to our programs.

What to hear more? Join the discussion on Twitter @jessbaylissPE

Brain Breaks Breakdown!

It is that time of year again! Whether you’re in elementary, middle, or high school, students are spending more time inside and less time moving. In elementary school, a lot of students are missing outdoor recess due to cold temperatures or bad weather. Middle and high school students often feel sluggish or tried from lack of sleep and less movement throughout their day. We as educators can do something about this by incorporating brain breaks into our classrooms!

     Brain breaks are kind of my thing. I have worked as a summer camp counselor or director for seven summers after attending camps as a child for 10 years. I teach physical education and I coach… I HAVE A TON OF BRAIN BREAK MATERIAL.

     Before we dive in I have what I believe is an important question… WHY do teachers think brain breaks will only benefit elementary students?! Do not get me wrong, brain breaks are perfect for elementary students, but they are just as beneficial for middle and high school students! I am a middle school educator myself and when I’m in a 90 minute health class, I try to incorporate at least three five minute brain breaks. My students tell me all the time how much they enjoy them and how their other teachers don’t perform them. Middle school teachers listen up, YOUR STUDENTS WANT BRAIN BREAKS.

Let’s get started with some of my favorite web-based brain breaks! Some of these are pretty standard, especially at the elementary level, but you can incorporate them into middle school too.

1. Go Noodle – My adapted PE students LOVE using this website. They have so much variety! This is also a huge hit with many of my elementary teacher friends. It offers guided dance, sing-a-long, fitness, sport skills review, silly random videos, and so much more!
   
2. Brain Pop – When limited on space due to larger class sizes or being crammed into a space that doesn't allow for a ton of movement, Brain Pop is a great review tool and helps kids have fun while learning. While not a true brain break, it does still offer many tools that make students feel like they're taking a breather.
   
3. Just Dance YouTube Chanel – I was surprised to learn that middle school students can still love Just Dance! They love requesting songs, getting up and moving, while singing along. I have had this work really well in sixth grade, while seventh is hit or miss, and eighth graders are typically past it.

Let's get into the fun part... Brain Break ideas to implement in your classroom! Below is a detailed list of brain breaks I use (and my students love) on a regular basis {in middle school}:

1. Yoga – What I love about yoga as a brain break is the calming effect it has on students, while challenging them to build strength in different poses. While this isn't a huge movement activity, it helps students refocus to improve classroom work and effectiveness. Being a Pinterest queen, there is an excellent resource here on yoga poses for younger students. Middle and high schools students can easily perform more advanced yoga poses which can be found here.
   
2. Meet Me in the Middle  – Have students pair up with a partner and stand on opposite sides of the room. Call out an activity to do (i.e. meet in the middle and give your partner a high five with your right hand). Students walk to the center and meet their partner to do the activity. After completing the activity, students turn and walk back to their original places. Add one activity each round. {For example: 1st time – meet partner in the middle and do a right-handed high five. 2nd time – right-handed high five, add left-handed high five. 3rd time – right-handed high five, left-handed high five, call out favorite physical activity}. Adjust this activity to fit your needs and what your students enjoy. I will often add things like, "meet in the middle and perform five body squats" to make the activity more challenging.
   
3. 10 Second Fitness  –  Students pair up with a partner and perform the teacher-designated fitness activity (see examples below) for 10 seconds. As one student performs the activity, the other partner counts the number of repetitions. The students switch, and partner two does the activity. Ask students to do the activity as quickly as they can. Exercise examples include:
   
             Forward straddle jump
             Side straddle jump
             Side jumps
             Front and back jumps
             Right foot jump
             Left foot jump
             Scissor jump
             Alternating Lunges
             Body Squats
   
4. Group Juggle  –  Students should group up in table groups of 4-5 members and each group should have a small ball or object to throw and catch. On the signal, groups must work together to pass the ball to every member of their group without repeating. Once they complete the task, they should jump up and say "finished." Alternate this activity by having groups throw in the same pattern backwards, repeat the forward pattern for time, add a second object to throw, etc.
   
5. Trainwreck  –  Have the entire class sit in a circle with one student in the middle. The student in the middle can either say a fun fact about themselves or a fun fact they learned in class. Students who agree or like the same thing will stand up and find a new place to sit. They cannot move directly next to their current seat or return to the same seat. The last student left is the new middle man. Repeat rounds as needed.
   
6. Hot Tamale  –  One student exits the classroom. The rest of the class watches the teacher hide the “hot tamale” (can be any object) somewhere in the classroom. The student who exited the classroom re-enters. The rest of the class tries to guide him or her to the hidden tamale by performing various physical activities {listed below}, with each activity corresponding to a different direction. Students are not allowed to talk. Once the student locates the hidden “hot tamale,” another student is selected to exit the classroom, and the “hot tamale” is hidden in another location so that the game can be repeated.
   
   Write the following motions on the board for all students to see:
             Move backwards - back stroke (swimming motion)
             Move forward - march in place
             Move to either side - side stretch in the direction of the hot tamale
             Up higher - climbing ladder motion
             Down lower - squats
             Within 1 foot of the tamale - students pretend they are stepping on hot coals (in place) 

These examples are just a few of the brain breaks I have done with middle school students and they are also some of their favorites as well! Brain breaks don't have to be limited to elementary students. Many middle schools and most high schools operate on block schedules that keep kids in one class for a longer period of time. Taking five to 10 minutes out of our class period to get them moving and refocused will help us as educators in the long run with behavior management and it will help students be more focused and attentive. 

Do you have any go-to brain breaks that you use in your classroom!? Share your ideas in the comment section below!

New Years Resolutions: How Do We Get Students to Buy In?

Christmas is over and most people are setting their sights on the future and that means New Year's Resolutions! We all know how hard it can be to stick to a resolution as adults so how on earth are we supposed to get our students to buy into goal setting and a fresh start!? Let's start with what we know and then come with a solution to the problem.

Keep in mind I am approaching this from a health and phys. ed perspective, but there ideas and guidelines can apply to many aspect of the educational experience.

 According to Forbes, it's estimated that more than 40 percent of Americans make some sort of New Year's Resolution annually. Of those resolutions, the top ten include three major health goals; losing weight (1), staying fit and healthy (5), and quitting smoking (7). In reality, it's estimated that only eight percent of individuals actually succeed in meeting their resolutions. We as educators may fall into this conundrum ourselves! So how do we set a good example for our students?


Keep It Simple. Too often, our resolutions involve a complete makeover of some aspect of our lives and too much change at one time is difficult to maintain. This is even more important for our students! When we talk to them about New Year's Resolutions and setting appropriate fitness goals, we also have to talk about what makes goals appropriate and attainable. Starting off with a goal of going to the gym for an hour everyday to improve muscular strength and endurance will not be attainable and sets the student up to fail. Instead, break the goal down and determine how often a student can realistically get to gym, how much time they can spend there, and what knowledge they have of weight training to successfully complete a workout. Ensure they take their goals home to discuss with a parent! Parental involvement is key for our students to succeed in any classroom, but especially when we look at impacting their lives outside of the classroom.

The Bottom Line... Keep goals simple to start and add on to them later once the simple goals have been met.

Develop a Plan Generic goals often fail because there is no specific criteria to hold us accountable. "I want to lose weight" or "I want to improve my cardiovascular endurance" are not sufficient resolutions because it provides no details in how to obtain them. It is critical to talk to students about SMART Goals (specific, measureable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound). Developing a plan to match your goal will help you stay motivated and hold you accountable. Help students develop plans in class to help obtain their goals. Provide feedback and suggestions before sending it home to show parents.

The Bottom Line... S.M.A.R.T guidelines for goal setting will help students develop a plan to increase their likelihood of success.

Check In Often. When students know that you have a vested interest in their goals and what they are trying to accomplish, they're more motivated to succeed. Schedule weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly check-ins to see how students are doing. This is an excellent opportunity to provide feedback, support, advice, modify goals, and to celebrate their accomplishments! You can even make up your own classroom achievement award to give to students who meet their resolutions.

The Bottom Line... Be there as a support for your students and celebrate their accomplishments!

Be a Role Model.The best way to motivate students is to show them how you're working on accomplishing your own resolutions. So long as you feel comfortable, share what your resolutions are with your students, check-in with them, and ask them to help reach your goals. I am only in my fourth year of teaching, but I have found that being honest and appropriately open with my students helps them feel safer in my classroom and more willing to share their own experiences. Goal setting and New Year's Resolutions provide the perfect opportunity to collaborate with students to reach common goals.

The Bottom Line... Be the example for your students.

No matter what resolutions you and your students may be embarking on for 2017, remember to follow this simple advice. Resolutions don't have to be overwhelming if they're thought out, organized, and attainable. Remember to go over SMART Goals with your students and check-in often. Many blessings to each of you as we enter 2017!

Teachers Pay Teachers Holiday Linky Party!

To quote one of my favorite holiday films, "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear!" Clearly Buddy the Elf wasn't a Teachers Pay Teachers seller because we all know the best way to spread Christmas cheer is by sharing resources for all to hear (er, see).

With that being said, let's get right to the main event. I am launching my first {ever} Linky Party! I have participated in many amazing Linky's in the past and I'm thrilled to be able to host my first one with you all.

For this linky I am asking all participants to post one FREE holiday themed resource and one PAID holiday themed resource. They can be Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or general winter themed. Once you have posted your two links, I humbly ask you to share this post with friends, fellow teachers, and other Teacher Pay Teachers sellers! A special thank you to Ashley Hughes for the border frame and clip art used for the graphic on this post.

If you would like to make this Link Up extra special, I ask you to choose one of the following causes {or a cause of your own} to donate to when you download a free resource. Each of these causes has a special place in my heart!

Alzheimer's Association | St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital | Heifer International 

Let's get this Linky Started!

An InLinkz Link-up

Giving Thanks & Tips to my {100} Followers!

Wow! I am blown away by how dramatically Teachers Pay Teachers has impacted my life in such a short amount of time. I began this journey in January 2016 and have loved every minute of it since!

As a way to say thank you to everyone who has supported me throughout this process, I have a new, free product available in my store! I'll give a little more detail on this later on.

Teachers Pay Teachers has been such a wonderful outlet for me over the past year. I've always thought I wasn't a creative person or that artistic things weren't for me and TpT has showed me how wrong I was! This journey hasn't just been about selling products, although that has certainly been an added benefit. Becoming a TpT seller has made me a better teacher in my classroom! If I'm teaching a lesson I think to myself, if I made this lesson would someone want to buy it? If the answer is yes, woo hoo! If the answer is no, then why am I teaching this way? Is it benefiting my students? Is is keeping them engaged? How can I make this better for them? It truly makes me think about how I am delivering content and to challenge the status quo!

My department has noticed these changes, as has my administration! My co-workers will even come to me with ideas they've done in their own classrooms and say, "You should make this for your store!" I'll go to them and say I've made a new resource and I want to try it out with our classes before posting it for sale and they always say yes. I could not be more blessed to have so much support for what I'm doing.

With all of this being said, I wanted to share some tips and tricks I've learned from so many amazing sellers along the way for any educators who are interested in becoming a TpT seller or who are just getting started.

1. Become a Premium Seller - Immediately: I read this everywhere and thankfully listened! I purchased my membership on January 16, 2016 and it was scary. I hadn't sold a single product, but everyone was advising that it would pay for itself in the first month. They were right! In my first real month of sales (February 2016) I sold $122 worth of products and took home $103.39 in earned income. If I had still been a basic seller, I would have earned $61. Going premium is worth every penny!


2. Get on the Forums: The TpT Forums are without a doubt the best thing that ever happened to me as a new seller! There is so much information here to read up on. You can ask your own questions, introduce yourself, connect with other sellers, and so much more! Be sure to read through before asking a question though, there is a very good chance the information is already there!


3. Invest in Versatile Clip Art: Another tip I received was to pay for quality clip art. There is a lot of clip art that you can get for free, but having the improved quality for a small selection when you first get started is incredibly helpful! I invested in sports themed clip art and have used it in so many of my resources since then. Find what clip art you think you'll use the most and make the purchase. I have many sellers who I revisit because I love their work so much!
   
   
   
   
   
   Sonya DeHart Designs | Ashley Hughes | Away with the Pixels | The Clipart Factory


4. Invest in Font Options: There are a tone of sellers who makes fonts, but let me save you some time and money. Kimberly Geswein is the only font store you will ever need. She was everything. When you see a font other sellers are using an you think to yourself, where did they get that!? I will bet you 9.9 out of 10 times, it's from Kimberly Geswein. You can download all of her fonts for free for personal use only. She then offers font licenses to purchase for $5 which allows you to use her font in your TpT products. Now, this is the good part. She offers a lifetime all fonts license for $299. Don't have $299 sitting around? If you purchase 60 single font license for $5, contact her so she can verify your purchases, and she will give you her all fonts license. Basically, she's offering you a payment plan!  She offers a free font pairing guide to help show you how to pair fonts for a good visual aesthetic. She is awesome!
   
   Note: I'm working on my payment plan as we speak {slowly, but surely}... I can't wait to have unlimited use of her fonts! In order to use this method effectively (or if you've already purchased single font licenses) you'll need to purchase additional single font licenses. Do not purchase the $299 all font license at one time if you've already purchased a single font license, because you'll essentially be losing what you've already paid for. For example, I personally have purchased six single use font licenses. I would want to pay for 54 more individual licenses and contact Kimberly instead of buying the $299 license because I would be losing $30 I've already paid.


5. Hold Off on Social Media: Everyone I spoke to advised me to hold off on social media and I didn't listen. I tried to pin, tweet and blog immediately after becoming a seller and it was a mistake. I was overwhelmed trying to keep up with everything and I believe that my sales and product line suffered because of it. I am a just shy of a year in now and I've just started utilizing social media to the fullest! My blog is updated weekly, I tweet and post to Instagram what my classes are doing daily, and I can Pinterest like a pro! I would recommend having 10-15 solid resources in your store before you start utilizing Pinterest, 30-40 solid products before using twitter, and waiting until you feel comfortable utilizing your products in your classroom before moving on to Instagram and Facebook.


6. Understand Copyright Laws: I did a lot of research on copyright and trademark laws before creating my products. There is a ton of information out there and it is important to the integrity of your work, as well as the integrity of Teachers Pay Teachers. It's also very frustrating for those of us who know what the laws say to scroll through TpT and see blatant violations everywhere. If there is something popular with kids that is produced or manufactured by a major company, it's likely copyrighted or trademarked. Just because you see someone else selling it on TpT, doesn't mean it's okay or legal. Teachers Pay Teachers offers help directly from their site here.


7. Make Good Covers & Brand Yourself: This is important on TpT for many resources! When potential buyers are scrolling through a long search for a product you want to be able to catch their eye! Colorful, easy to read covers are an excellent way to entice buyers to view your product. Be consistent with your covers so buyers know, "Oh, that's a {insert seller} product!"


8. Find Your Niche: Find what you are passionate about when thinking of products for your store! If you try to make products about things you're not knowledgeable or experienced in, it will show in the product. Don't try to fit into the crowd, make resources you can make well regardless of what category that places you in!


9. Purchase a Seller's Kit or Binder: Let's be honest here, if you're new to TpT or thinking about becoming a seller, you likely have no clue what you're doing. I certainly didn't! There is nothing wrong with being new and purchasing a sellers kit or binder is so helpful! I purchased mine here and it has kept me so organized! I can track my sales by month, quarter, and year round. I can track what I've purchased, what I want to blog, I can plan out resources and units, and so much more.


10. Understand TpT Etiquette & Common Decency: You're going to log in and see so many great ideas! Maybe you've been a buyer and you've decided to create your own store or maybe you're scrolling through the search for inspiration. Whatever you're doing it's important to ensure you're not just re-making other sellers resources and selling them as your own! All of your products should be your own unique creation that add to what the rest of the community has already created, not a copycat that hurts other sellers.


11. Read the Terms of Service Agreements: Every seller should have a terms of service (TOS) agreement within their downloads. Read them. Clip art especially has specific conditions for using that source in other products you create. Read them carefully and follow their instructions so you are not violating their TOS.


12. Make a Terms of Service Agreement: Protect your work and include a TOS agreement with every product download. This allows you to back up a claim made against another seller if you ever need to. Not only that, it helps buyers understand what your rules are so they can use your resources appropriately. 

There are many more tips I can provide, but I believe this is a good base for anyone just getting started. I have learned so much along this journey and if you're considering selling on TpT I highly recommend it! If you ever want to ask me specific questions, please feel free to e-mail me at sassypeteach@gmail.com.

As a thank you to my followers, check out my latest freebie here. I hope you enjoy utilizing these frames in your future TpT creations!

VAHPERD Review Series Part 4: The Brain Game Challange

I am so excited to share my final session review from the 2016 VAHPERD Conference! This presentation was created by Andrea Samsky and I have to say that there is not a more creative person teaching HPE in this universe! For example, when she teaches soccer in class, every piece of equipment takes on a role in the circulatory system (i.e. the balls are oxygen) and she utilizes these pieces to teach two or more concepts at once. My mind was truly blown! I could have stayed and talked to her for HOURS to listen to all of the ways she incorporates health concepts into the PE realm for her elementary students. If you are ever in search of creative ideas for your HPE classroom, reach out to Andrea, she is phenomenal!

Well now that you've heard about how wonderful Andrea is, let me give you all the skinny on what she taught us at VAHPERD to prove it! This lesson was created for elementary students, but after going through it with her, these can easily be adapted to fit the middle school classroom. This activity is called the Brain Game Challenge and works with a station system and worksheet to get kids building, moving, and learning throughout the classroom. I did mark this as a freebie, but there are components you will need before taking this into class and I'll warn you, it requires some work, but the payoff is worth it!

Equipment:

1. Pool noodles cut into 1/2 inch sections (approximately 23 per group)
2. Rope (approximately 24-36 inches long) per group
3. Printed worksheets (one per group)
4. Pens/Pencils (one per group)
5. Station Cards
6. Cones (one per station)
7. Hula Hoops (one per group)

Setup:

1. Stations should be spread apart around the outside of your safe space with all necessary equipment.
2. Each group should find a hula hoop with their equipment placed inside of it.

Recommendations:

1. If possible, try to keep group sizes between 3-5 so students are actively involved.
2. Number your station cards so they match the question on the worksheet. You don't want students spending five minutes at a station sitting and staring at the worksheet trying to figure out where the answer is - keep it simple for them.
3. Avoid making every individual child fill out their own sheet - it keeps them still for longer bouts of time.
4. Move around throughout the activity and check on student learning and retention.
5. Review at the end of class while keeping kids active.

     If you would like to see the PDF files of her station cards or worksheet, please shoot me an e-mail at sassypeteach@gmail.com. If you know of an easy way to upload those files directly to blogger  as a PDF, please let me know! I'm still learning and can admit, I'm not sure of the best way to get you that information. You can see in the sample below that the set she gave us is for lower elementary! Over Christmas break, I will be working on a middle school version for those of us who may be interested!

     Don't forget to submit your ideas for my TpT store by December 20! E-mail sassypeteach@gmail.com with your submissions and check out the entries and rewards post here! Until next time :)

All I Want For Christmas Is...

I'm making a list and checking it twice, I promise to make what ever you like, any resource you can think of!

Welcome back everyone! This week I really want to do something special for you guys as my followers. Drum roll please...

I want to find out what resources you want to see me create! As we enter the holiday season, I will have much more free time on my hands to get crafting on TpT and what better way to utilize that time than by helping you all! Not to mention, if you offer a suggestion for a resource you would love to see, there will be an added benefit for you. As a TpT seller, I'm constantly trying to think of new and exciting products for my followers and I really want to hear from you! What products do you want to see created? What will you utilize most in your classroom? What are you dying to have, but don't have time to create on your own? I want to know it all! So without further ado, let's get into how this will work and what you can expect from me!

1. E-mail your new resource idea that you would love to see me create to sassypeteach@gmail.com. I humbly ask to keep these ideas health and PE related as that is my specialty.
2. Be creative! It can be a holiday specific item, a general classroom item, health, PE, the sky is the limit.
3. Be as specific or broad as you'd like with your request. Please keep in mind that if you have a specific vision for a project I want to know so I can give you exactly what you're looking for.
4. Be sure to leave your TpT store name or the name you would like to see credited in the creation of the project.

1. I will create your resource and place it in my store for purchase, BUT...
2. I will send you a copy of the resource FOR FREE as a way to say thank you for the idea!
3. Credit given to you in the product download!

1. Please submit your project idea by December 20, 2016. This will allow me the time I need to create your idea.

My goal is to fill my store with products that will benefit the entire HPE community! We teach such a valuable subject to our students and my goal is to help all educators achieve greatness in the classroom.

So from the Sassy PE Teacher to you this holiday season, Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, and Happy Kwanzaa. I hope each of you are blessed throughout this holiday season and beyond.

Note: Special thanks to Ashley Hughes for the header borders, as well as the primary picture background and clip art.

VAHPERD Ideas Worth Sharing Part 3: Music Like You've Never Heard Before

Welcome back for part three of my VAHPERD review series! I am so excited to share this session with you all as it blew my mind when I sat through it. This edition is all about music in PE, how to edit it with iTunes, and the legality of it all. This amazing session was titled Music, Let's Get Your Gym Rocking and was presented by Patrick Lynch of Hampton County Public Schools. He was generous enough to include tutorial videos for those of us that attended! That means you'll get to read and see how to remix all of your songs for future classes.

The most useful thing we learned about during this session was how to edit track lengths in iTunes. I can't tell you how many times I have wanted to use a song that I know the kids will love, only to find it uses bad language and an edited version isn't available. If only I could shorten it to the first thirty seconds or use a small segment somewhere within the track... WELL NOW I KNOW HOW thanks to Patrick.

Converting Songs from YouTube to an MP3 File (legally):

1. Go to www.YouTube.com and search for a song you would like to convert.
2. Once you have found the song you are looking for, copy the URL link from the top of the browser.
3. Visit http://convert2mp3.net/en/ and input the URL you copied from the YouTube video into the "Insert video link (URL) and select format" box.
4. The video will convert and give you the option to provide the artist name and song title. This will be automatically filled in, but you have the opportunity to edit the names if you'd like to.
5. Click continue and you will see a "download"button. Click download and the file will save to your computer.
6. Open iTunes and select File and select upload file.

Confused? Don't be because you will find Patrick's step-by-step guide on how to do everything I've just mentioned. Start this video from the beginning and pause around the 4:00 minute mark to read the next section.

Editing Songs in iTunes:

1. Select the song you would like to edit.
2. Right click, select get info and then select options
3. Once here select Adjust equalizers and then select start & stop time {this allows you to fully edit the track}
4. Select the portion of the song you'd like to use {Example: Start at 1:30 | End at 1:55}
5. Select Input into playlist when you're ready to use

Your track is now ready to play for the times you selected! Like all good things however, there is a con to this method. The song is shortened no matter what until you either make a copy of the track or go through the steps above and reset the settings you've used. Luckily, Patrick taught us how to make this transition simple:

1. You can change the track back to its original formatting after use
   OR
   
   Skipping the original steps above...
2. Select the song you would like to edit.
3. Right click, select options, and then select AAC version.
   
   OR
   
   Using the steps above and working with the already edited version...
4. Select the edited track, select file, and select create AAC version
5. Rename files to say something different (i.e. Uptown Funk - Workout)

This second process allows you to keep your original file untouched, while creating a new file to use in playlists for your classroom. Confused? Not to worry, below you will find Patrick's step-by-step guide on how to do everything I've just mentioned. Skip to the 4:00 minute mark in the video to specifically see how to cut songs in iTunes.

Why does any of this matter?

Music is an essential component to each of our HPE classrooms. We have the power to change the environment we create with every song and activity. Music helps students connect to our content and express themselves while participating in activity.

Below are some ideas on how to utilize music in your classroom using these tools:

1. Workouts: Make an uptempo song clip that last 20 seconds for the students to be working throughout, followed by a 10 second slower tempo for a break or transition phase.
2. Stations: You could also use 1 minute long clips to signal for station rotations - when the song changes, students know to switch
3. Full Song Workouts: Certain songs that use the same word repeatedly are awesome for warm-ups and small workouts throughout class. For example, AC/DC's Thunderstruck says the word Thunder 33 times. When they hear the word, they perform an exercise you've specified (like a burpee), while the rest of the song is playing they perform a lower intensity movement (like a high knees march).

FitnessGram Will Never Be the Same:

Finally, how many of you have the Pacer test track memorized? Let's just be honest and admit that we all do. We hate the musical background it has and the kids do too... So let me (er, Patrick) rock your world with the following information:

YOU CAN PUT YOUR OWN MUSIC OVER THE PACER TRACK.

What!? Yes, you read that correctly. Check out the video below as Patrick shows you how to utilize Garage Band to rearrange the tragic background music of the pacer.

I hope each of you found the information from this session as amazing and life changing as I did! It has taken me a few tries to get the directions right so if you try it out and struggle with it, just know to keep trying! The more you do it, the more natural the process will become, and the more your students will enjoy music in your classroom!

Check back next week for the final part of my VAHPERD review series to learn all about an incredible central nervous system integrated activity {drum roll please...} that can be used for middle AND elementary students (with minor adaptations)!

VAHPERD Ideas Worth Sharing Part 1: Crazy Kickball

The Sassy PE Teacher is finally back in action! I truly tried to keep up with my store and blog during cross country season, but it simply was not possible.

I apologize for the hiatus, but I am excited to refocus my efforts and share some truly incredible ideas thanks to fellow professionals in my beautiful home state of Virginia!

The Virginia Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance held it's annual conference in my hometown of Midlothian, VA from November 11 - 13 and it was an action packed weekend! I've been to many VAHPERD conferences, as well as SHAPE Southern District, and the SHAPE National Conference, but this conference was truly spectacular. I left with so many new ideas, knowledge, and research. My plan is to share many of them with you all over the next few weeks.

First up in my VAHPERD series is a game that I can't wait to implement in my own classroom! It is a new twists on an old classic and was featured during a session titled, "The Best We've Ever Seen."

Also known as "Fitness Kickball"

This game is similar to traditional kickball in the sense that there are two teams, one of which is kicking while the other is defending the outfield. This is also where the similarities end so be prepared to move and lose track of the score,

Equipment: You need three balls, five cones, and a bucket or tub large enough to fit three playground balls in. The setup is identical to traditional kick ball, except for the tub directly next to the pitcher.

Recommendations: Always have the teacher pitch. Anyone who has played kickball before knows this is the cardinal rule!

Directions: Start the game with the three playground balls inside the tub. One at a time and at 3-4 second intervals, pitch the balls to the kicking team. {You can vary the rules on how students have to kick for your classroom, but a general rule of thumb is to ensure the ball moves forward (bunts count).} Once the ball has been kicked, students are trying to run the bases one time as quickly as possible. When they return to home base, they move to the end of the line. Don't worry about this line part, it moves very quickly... The fielding team is trying to collect all three balls into the tub at the same time. Once they do this successfully, the teams will switch roles and continue play.

Like all games there are certainly pros and cons to this one. What I love about this game is that it gets kids moving! Unlike traditional kickball when only one student is running at a time, this version allows kids to constantly move on both sides of the ball. Student interest and involvement is off the charts with this as well! Cons of this game revolve around the lack of standards content. You can definitely argue that fitness concepts can be incorporated, but without adaptations this game will not be content focused and therefore shouldn't be played on a regular basis.

Adaptations: Now, the good news about the cons is that we can make some small changes to incorporate standards. Incorporating health standards into PE content is an excellent way to make fun games more educationally focused. Tell students that the playground balls are oxygen, the kickers are arteries who have to send the oxygen through the body, while outfielders are veins who need to take the carbon dioxide back to the lungs {the tub} to be dumped so blood can be oxygenated. All of a sudden, your students are learning about the circulatory system while improving cardiovascular endurance in a fun, engaging way.

I hope that this game is a hit for you in your classroom! Stay tuned next week to learn all about Chicken Football, an exciting warm-up game that teaches basic football movement, cooperation, and critical thinking.

Plickers in PE: Using QR Codes For Quick Assessment

If you have not be exposed to the glory that is Plickers, then you are missing out on a PHENOMENAL resource for your classroom. I just learned about them in a professional development seminar prior to this school year, so I haven't implemented them in my PE classroom yet, but I use them daily in my health room!

Plickers are a QR code system that allows each student to answer questions placed on your projector/smart board. The question can be generated online or through your mobile device! Another benefit of Plickers is that it is free to use! Visit Plickers here to sign-up and download your free printable cards.

You can also purchase a set of laminated cards for $20. If you want to download and print the free cards to laminate yourself, you can, but it's important to note you can only use matte finish laminating paper. The traditional laminating sheets will cause the Plickers to malfunction due to the glare off the gloss finish.

Recommendations for creating your Plickers set:

1. Buying the matte laminated cards is a worthwhile investment. They are sold through Amazon. The only downside to purchasing them through Amazon (recommended from the Plickers site) is that they only sell the standard pack of 40. If you need more than 40 unique cards, buying two sets will not fix this issue.
   
2. If you decide to print the cards yourself, I recommend printing on card stock as opposed to traditional computer paper. This will help maintain the integrity of the cards for a longer period of time, especially if you decided not to laminate them yourself.

Getting Setup & Organized:

1. Build in an organizational tool in your gym. I am a huge fan of pocket charts for this purpose. They're easy to hang and make taking Plickers out and putting them back in a breeze. S&S has a great packet chart here. It's 20"x 24" and features 30 clear and 30 yellow pockets.
   
2. At the beginning of the school year, assign each student a number (per class period). When students enter the gym, they grab their card (huge help for attendance to avoid squad lines and down time). Take your phone, scan any leftover cards and instantly know who is not in class today.
   
   

   
   

   This will also keep students accountable for managing their attendance. If a student forgets to claim their card and is accidentally marked absent, it opens the door for the conversation about accountability and personal responsibility.
   
3. Teach students how to use the Plickers. (A) Each Plicker has a number on every corner of the QR code. This is the number I assign to students. (B) Each Plicker then has a unique letter on each side of the QR code (A, B, C, D) (C) You can ask true/false questions with A = true and B= false.
   
   
   
   TO ASSIST MY STUDENTS, I WRITE THE LETTERS ON THE BACK OF THE CARD. This prevents them from flipping back and forth for every question. You can see a sample of this below. Now, students can simply look at the back side of the card to know which answer they should be holding up.
   
4. Now, you can easily scan the QR codes with your phone to gather formative feedback while teaching in your classroom.

How to Implement in PE

Now comes the tricky part.. How do you keep track of all these cards while in physical education class!? So many of us in phys. ed are hesitant to use Plickers in the gym because it seems like too much of a headache, but in reality Plickers are easy to implement!

You can enter questions ahead of time or enter them real time as you see needs developing in class. You can do this online or on your phone. You'll then need to click on the application on your phone, select the appropriate question, and scan to collect your data.

1. Teaching a new skill? Great, Plickers can allow you to see who is grasping essential concepts and who still needs more practice.
   
   For example, let's say you're teaching how to plant your non-dominant foot beside the ball in a soccer unit. You want to see if all of your students understand why that's important instead of calling on a few kids who raise their hands. Propose the following question: True or False - placing your non-dominant foot next to the ball in a soccer kick allows you to direct the ball properly. Students would hold up their Plickers with A for True or B for False and you now know exactly who gets it and who doesn't. Now open up the discussion to help those students who don't understand why!
   
2. Formal Formatives? Don't have time for a sit down quiz, but want to see where your students are with rules or concepts of a sport? Read (or display) the question, give the answers and record student responses in no time.
   
3. Class Exit Tickets? Great, save paper, incorporate technology, and avoid grading by having exit slip questions plugged into your Plickers account.
   
4. Polls and classroom surveys are also possible with Plickers. This is perfect for testing a new game or drill to see how your students respond to it. For these types of questions, it's simple to mark every answer for a question correct or leave one as incorrect (personal preference of the teacher) to see if it's a hit or a flop.
   

This is just the tip of the iceberg for possibilities with Plickers! There are so many additional resources that you can find through Gopher and SHAPE America. These were just a few tips to help you get started and I would LOVE to hear how you incorporate Plickers into your own classroom!

Tips to Celebrate National Physical Fitness & Sport Month

There seem to be months for just about every cause nowadays and May is no different! Something near and dear to my heart is Physical Fitness and Sport Month, which is going on right now!

It's not too late to talk to your students, colleagues, and community about the importance of physical fitness. In fact, with state testing approaching for many of us, especially those in Virginia, educating on the importance of physical fitness can help students reduce stress and anxiety during test season! Keep reading to learn about the purpose of Physical Fitness and Sports Month, as well as how you can get your students, faculty, and community involved.

Why is Physical Fitness and Sports Month Important?

     According to the Center for Disease Control {CDC} 34.9 percent of adults in the United States are classified as obese. When we look at adults who are also classified as overweight that percentage double to 68.6 percent. The CDC also reports that 60 percent of adults do not participate in enough physical activity.  The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System found that 13.7 percent of high school students were obese, while 16.6 were classified as overweight. The estimated annual health care costs of obesity-related illness are $190.2 billion, which is 21 percent of the annual medical spending in the United States. Childhood obesity alone is responsible for $14 billion in direct medical costs annually. By promoting healthy habits to our students, faculty, and community, we can help build the foundation for a healthier population!

What are some benefits of regular physical activity?

• Improve muscular fitness, bone health, and heart health
• Lowers the risk of heart disease, type two diabetes, and some cancers
• Lowers the risk of falls and improves cognitive functioning
• Improved mood, happiness, and quality of life

What are some social benefits of participating in sports?

• Sportsmanship
• Enhanced cooperative skills
• Improved communication
• Improved discipline
• Responsibility
• Respect
• Honesty

What are some simple changes students, faculty, and the community can make?

• Take a walk after dinner as a family.
• If you're a pet owner, walk the dog an extra block or take a longer route.
• Perform simple body weight exercises during television commercials.
• Join a gym.
• Visit a local park and walk along the nature trails.

How can you promote Physical Fitness and Sports Month in school?

• Emphasize the importance of physical fitness with your students. This can be done through a simple comprehensive goal setting lesson.
• Work with core content teachers to promote physical activity in their classroom through brain and activity breaks.
• Create and place posters throughout the school building and provide copies for each teacher to place in their classrooms.
• Host a school-wide/community event: This could include a 5k, run/walk event, host a field day or healthy youth day, schedule a class field trip to a local facility to take an exercise class, or encourage students/staff to join sports leagues in the community.

What are some resources for brain break activities in the classroom?

GoNoodle is an online site that allows teacher and student login for physical activities. You can also add your own videos straight from YouTube! They have guided dancing, exercise videos, free dance, yoga/stretching, songs, KidzBop, and so much more!

Just Dance has an awesome YouTube channel full of guided dance videos to current songs kids love! Most of the videos are edited for language, but some of the dance moves in certain songs may not be age appropriate (depending on your classroom). I recommend previewing any video prior to playing it in class.

     If you are looking for more resources on how to promote Physical Fitness and Sports Month in your school, check out the US Department of Health and Human Resources here.

Newest Purchases and Future Plans

Happy Saturday!

I wanted to take a moment to highlight some products I have purchased recently from other TpT sellers. I have spent the majority of my day printing, cutting, laminating, and filling out the information for these products and I genuinely feel every teacher could benefit from both of these items.

First, this Teacher Binder by Blair Turner has changed my life overnight. Yes, it looks adorable and cute, but that is only the tip of the iceberg! The options for this planner are endless. She has a custom folder included in the download so that you can make the planner exactly as you need it. I am a huge proponent of being organized and am complimented by my peers on a regular basis about my organization, but this binder has put everything I have ever done to shame. My substitute information is now so clear and easy to see. My lesson plans will soon be all in one place as opposed to various files all over my computer. I teach two subjects over three grade levels, as well as a fourth single grade level, so finding a planner that fit my needs was not easy. Set-up, printing, and creating the binder was also simple and easy. If you have never thought of using a teacher planner created by TpT, there are so many products out there that are available to fit your needs. This planner only cost $8.00, while I've seen others cost as much as $16. The more expensive binders typically have digital planners included, which is great for a lot of teachers! I prefer a hard printed version so this product worked great for me, but like I said, there as so many amazing products like this on TpT! I may even consider making my own, but that will take me quite some time, especially if I want to make it a quality product.

Secondly, I am in the process of redecorating my classroom. One of my bulletin boards focused on the Green Bay Packers and quotes by our beloved Vince Lombardi. Sadly, the Packers season has come to an end, so I believe it is time to move on to my next great idea! Ever since I started selling and buying on TpT in December, I have become slightly obsessed with flag banners. The things I have seen done with them are so adorable and perfect for my classroom. I ultimately decided to go with a grey chevron banner from Aunties Sweet Life. I enjoyed the neutral color scheme so I can match it to any color combination on my new bulletin board. I finally printed and laminated the banner set this morning and the excitement to hang them is overwhelming. Thankfully, we have a work day on Monday and my grades are already submitted! I will make sure to post pictures of the final product so you guys can see the banner in action!

Finally, I'm going to begin work on creating sports themed digital papers. I had a request from a seller earlier this week about a product line dedicated to sports digital papers and I've been doing some research all week in regards to how to make professional digital papers. I look forward to creating those and sharing them on my store soon. My biggest challenge will be finding clip art that the sellers allow use for in commercial designs as opposed to teaching products with substance. Most artist clearly state in the TOS that they do not want their clip art being used as more than 50% of the product and I would require more than that. If anyone knows of a clip art designer who allows their designs to be utilized in other design products, please let me know!

Until next time,
xoxo The Sassy PE Teacher

Jonas and TpT

Winter storm Jonas has come and gone. Here in the Richmond area, we are seeing abandoned vehicles everywhere. The roads in the apartment complex are impassable, there is no status and no hope for the main roads... We are beginning to lose hope. Digging out is impossible. HAS JONAS NO MERCY!?

But in all seriousness, we are finally seeing the sun again! I went out to explore the aftermath this morning and laughed when I came up on the items in this picture. Needless to say, I took full advantage of the opportunity for some humor.

I've seen many forum posts about fellow sellers experiencing "Blizzard Sales" and I must say, an unexpected boost like that was largely in part to my own banking account dwindling away, slowly but surely! Cabin fever set in within the hour and I just kept seeing so many amazing resources and came up with a reason to buy every single one of them! NO REGRETS! But it did get me thinking about something... When teachers are out of school for unexpected reasons, are they more likely to buy? If I had access to that scale of data, I would absolutely conduct a research study on that to see if it's true.

What have been some of your inclement weather sales experiences? Have your sales gone up, dipped, or stayed the same? Share your experiences in the comment section below!

Until next time,

xoxo The Sassy PE Teacher

Snow Day Productivity

Snowpocolypse Day 2: So many new products... So many new possibilities! Between what I created and the amazing products I've purchased, I am on TpT overload. Thankfully for you, I'm equally excited to share those things with you tonight.

Let's get this show on the road by sharing my own new products!

Heart Clip Art Collection | FREE

This set includes:

• 14 Heart Images
• 3 Different Styles {Brush Border, Handwritten, and Film}
• PNG formatted for easy use and printing

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Heart Borders: 2nd Edition | $1.50

This set includes:

24 unique borders

4 varied base backgrouns with heart overlays

PNG formatted for easy use and printing

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Heart Borders: 1st Edition | $1.50

This set includes:

• 24 borders
• 12 rectangular and 12 squared
• PNG formatted for easy use and printing

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What's the Word? | $3.00

This is an integrated PE lesson that utilizes vocabulary to promote fitness. Students spell out words, where each letter is represented by an exercise. My students have loved it in my own classroom!

This set includes:

Game directions, setup, and variations

Alphabetical letters cards

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Aside from my own products that I've been busy creating, I have also found, purchased, and utilized many products from other sellers that I would love to take time to highlight as well.

Tribal Arrows Clip Art by Old Market | $3.50

I have searched through what feels like an endless sea of arrow clip art, a lot of which is tribal, but this set was well made and priced even better. The seller makes the product available in JPEG and PNG, it looks great in the products, and I loved it so much I remade my entire store profile utilizing them. If you are need of some awesome arrows, this is the product for you!

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Chevron Banner Letters by Aunties Sweet Life | $5.00

TALK ABOUT A PRODUCT, I could not wait to get my hands on this one... Sadly, I had to because of that teacher pay gap over Christmas break, but I took full advantage of the TpT sale to purchase these beauties! I cannot wait to print and utilize these on my classroom bulletin board. They are so cute and perfect... They also come in teal as opposed to grey.

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Absent Slips by Free to Discover | FREE

I found this in a blog post recently and utilized it the next day. I feel like many teachers can identify with not being able to keep track of everything when a student is absent. For my classes, we switch between health and PE every two weeks. Over the course of two day, I teach 140 different students and I am also human... I can't even begin to tell you how many times I have forgotten to give my students their make-up work. Thankfully, they are always responsible and come ask for it, but they shouldn't have to. I already used these for two of my students and it made me feel so much more organized! It's a free download and I can't recommend it enough.\

Well that is all I have for now! It is time to take all of my new products and post them to Pinterest for others to find and hopefully purchase.

Until next time,

xoxo The Sassy PE Teacher