PE Teachers Rise Up

Now that an unusual school year has come to an end, it is a time for reflection. Think back to March... everything changed so suddenly! From Spring Break vacation to stay at home orders - from an expectation of end-of-the-year activities to the uncertainty of any activities at all.

As our world as we knew it changed, I noticed that PE teachers from all over the country were rising up. The truly passionate physical educators could not sit on their hands and wait for instructions; they took the lead and found new ways to connect with their students. In my own experience, that connection became even more powerful because it allowed the parents to get involved in their children's physical education on a deeper level.

A professor of Kinesiology and Health and a leader in the PE field stated in a podcast that "physical activity is what folks really turned to during this time." He goes on to say that "PE was quite the leader in education in pivoting this time with COVID-19 and using what we knew to enhance and to provide our physical education experiences during a time of e-learning."

If you do a YouTube search for "PE at Home," you will get hundreds, maybe thousands of results. PE teachers flooded YouTube with their endless ideas of ways to be active at home in the blink of an eye. The fun part was that their kids, and sometimes their pets, were involved in the making of the videos.

I, too, turned to YouTube as one solution for reaching out to my students and their families. I wasn't sure if it was actually working, and I knew my videos were not the best quality, but I had to try. For me it was all about keeping that connection with my students.

My school did a drive-thru line so students could pick up their belongings. I worked an outside station one day, and parents told me that their kids really enjoyed the videos. That made all the effort worth it. I hope all the rock star PE teachers out there have that same feeling of validation.

The true PE teachers rose up! They took charge. They rolled with the changes. They were always loved by the students, but now, even more than before, they are an "integral part of the school." (Good article on change in PE)

Physical Educators need to continue to rise up. There is still uncertainty ahead. But just think, at least one thing can remain constant and bring calm to an ever changing situation - that fun loving, creative, active, goofy, and passionate PE teacher.