Growing up I do not recall using texts for any of my PE classes. However, I do believe that it is something that we are able to incorporate as PE teachers. I believe that reading is a skill that should be used a lot more in PE... that means it should be used once in a while. Going from never using text to using it once in awhile would be considered a lot more. I think it is okay to give students homework in a PE class. They get homework in every other class so why do we never have homework in PE?
I would propose that in my PE class I would have each student read any text that has to do with physical education or being active and summarize that article in a one half page paper due every other Friday. That is only two times per month and at the same time hopefully the students may find an article that could spark an interest in some type of physical activity.
This idea would not be to turn students away from my PE class but rather, it would be to help stimulate the minds of those students in my class that may not know what PE is really all about.
I posted this on Scott's blog, too, but I recently had a back injury which has meant that I haven't been able to do yoga (which I LOVE...I used to do yoga everyday). However, I like reading books by Mathew Sanford who had injuries but still kept persisting with yoga. There are so many cool sports magazines and inspirational books out there, that if you had them in your class somewhere, students might just pick them up and read them while they were waiting for the bell to ring or on days that they were sick and couldn't dress for class. Maybe magazines that outlined different kinds of exercises you could do on machines? I know I've picked up a lot of new tips that way too...I've learned about exercises I didn't know before.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your posting!
I really like your idea of how to integrate reading into your P.E. classes. This will help students advance in reading while finding articles that they really enjoy. I know when I was in P.E., I don't remember doing too much reading so even just a little bit more will go a long way.
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