Peter B.
Moderator Pick
More movement
My latest challenge is not with the little people, but from the adults in my district. The Administration of Longmeadow Public Schools recently imparted a directive for all PE teachers to be certified in Health/Family and Consumer Sciences in order to now teach PE/Health and SEL. We were presented a Notice of transfer and change in certification. Not only was this a shocker to everyone, but it was all supposed to happen by the end of 23/24.
K-5 S's have PE 2X/wk for a total of 90 min., well short of the recommended 150 min/wk in Mass.
There's no curriculum, no Frameworks, no increase in teaching time, no wage increase, no data to back it up and a HFCS certification w/in a year's time. My mental health was fine until this hit! Something has to give and movement will be sacrificed with this plan.
Based on my observations/experience, PE/movement/outdoor immersion is the critical element for improving mental wellness for students (and teachers). If it were my school to run, movement would be embedded throughout the day. There's a mountain of research and evidence to back up that idea and my own experiential based research would show the same results. Everyone knows it's important, but they can't seem to make it a priority.
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Comments (2)
Peter, I so very much agree with the need for and benefits of outside movement breaks. I provided 15 minutes outside for snack and play time for my 5th graders, two years in a row. This was discouraged by admin and I had to revert to an in-class working snack time instead of an outside movement break.
PE/outside time is competing with math/ELA time on learning. Additionally, in our district elementary kids used to have PE twice a week for 45 minutes. Unfortunately, that was cut back to once a week. Administrators need to prioritize outside and movement time.
Hi Peter:
That sounds really frustrating. What needs to change so nothing like this happens again? And what needs to change to ensure that students do get the PE time they need? Have you found that it's even tougher post pandemic?