One thing that I read about in the Woolfolk text in Chapter
3 was the importance of physical play and exercise. This was especially interesting to me as a
physical education major. Recess, school
sports, and lessons that include physical activity aid in the development of
not only motor skills but also social and cognitive skills and the emotional
well-being of students. One study
discussed in the Woolfolk text describes how students in Asian countries who
are known to outperform US students on reading, science, and math tests, have
more frequent recess breaks throughout the school day. Another study showed that students age 8 and
9 who had daily recess of 15 minutes or longer every day were better behaved in
class than students with little or no recess (p. 77). I believe schools have an important role in
promoting activity as some students unfortunately do not have much physical
activity at home at times.
As a sub and going forward as a
physical education teacher, I try to incorporate activity as much as I can into
my classrooms. For example, when subbing
for kindergarten, I incorporate learning anatomy with a fun exercise. I will have the students point out different
parts of their body by telling them to put their hands to their head, toes, ears,
knees, etc. and walking around the classroom while discussing what we are going
to do next in the lesson plan. Teachers
can also incorporate scavenger hunts by, for example, having the students find
all things that are square in the room. This
allows the students to still be learning while being active and breaks up the monotony
of just sitting down at their desks.
Unfortunately, physical education
is one of the first things to go in terms of budget even though it can be an
important thing that can benefit how the students learn. Physical activity promotes the overall health
and well-being of students at every age and grade level. This is
especially important as since 1971 the incidence of childhood obesity has
doubled in every age group from 2 to 19.
Obesity not only has the obvious physical impacts on health but also
affects children’s psychological development as well (p. 78).
Eric thank you for writing about the importance of physical activity. Many people don't feel that it is important and because it's so easily cut out when districts have to do budget cuts makes it harder to prove the point that schools need it. The world is so technologically advanced today and we often times find kids on computers, tablets or phones for hours at a time. That's not only not healthy for their eyes but it's physically unhealthy to be sitting in a position for a long time it ruins the posture.
ReplyDeletePhysical activity needs to be stressed on more these days than ever. I love the way you explained how you incorporate it with Kindergartners without their knowledge. I am sure it kept them more engaged and willing to participate as well.
ReplyDeleteEric,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your post, especially being a future physical education teacher. However, currently I am a personal trainer and I see first hand the effects of years and years of an unhealthy lifestyle and how it affects the adult body. I truly believe that it is during the k-12 grades that we need to stress the importance of physical activity. It is truly unfortunate like you mentioned that physical education classes are usually the first to go when schools make budget cuts especially when physical activity is crucial in young people and we need to be promoting a healthy lifestyle from a young age.