Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance

When I think about what a successful first week of school looks like in my high school gym, two words immediately come to mind: creative chaos! For me, the first week of school is first and foremost about building intentional relationships. If you establish that human connection early on, students will trust you when it comes time to dive into content. I want my gym to feel like a community from the moment they step across the threshold.

The first week of school hits different.Teachers are excited, students are excited, school morale is high, and people are ready! Now is when it’s important to realize: Long before students remember your lessons, they’ll remember how your classroom made them feel.

I’m wearing a bracelet right now that says “GREEN BEANS” on it. A group of students made it for me back when they were in seventh grade, the day they found out I was moving up to the high school. They handed it to me and said I had to wear it until they got there. The joke goes back years, to a quiz I give on the first day of class, where one of the questions is about my favorite food. The answer is not green beans.

In health and physical education, building community and belonging is the foundation that makes learning possible, and creating that sense of belonging takes intentional effort. We asked several of SHAPE America’s District Teachers of the Year to share the practices they’ve used to create a sense of belonging and community in their health and physical education classes — and the positive changes they’ve witnessed as a result of these efforts.

Physical education teachers know that sports are more than games — they’re powerful entry points for teaching problem-solving, teamwork, data literacy, and real-world applications of STEAM concepts. That’s exactly the idea behind LIV Golf and Discovery Education’s new LIV to Learn Video Topic Series, STEAM on the Green. The five-part educational collection is designed for middle school and high school learners.

At Pleasant Lane Elementary, I teach health and physical education to students in grades K-5. Each year, I look for meaningful ways to help them grow as learners and as kind, confident individuals. This year’s health. moves. minds.® fundraiser brought our school community together around movement, character and compassion in an especially powerful way. Our initial goals became something bigger — both in dollars raised and in lessons learned.

As a very busy elementary physical education teacher, I know it’s not always easy to add “one more thing” to your plate, but when the pros outweigh the cons, you just have to go for it! For 27 years, I’ve been teaching elementary physical education in DeKalb, IL. My K-5 students have PE every day, and it’s an amazing experience to educate them for their six years of elementary school.

Policy. Let’s be real, it’s not exactly the kind of word that gets physical education teachers jumping out of their seats. It sounds stiff, official, maybe even a little scary. Add research to it, and you can almost hear the energy drain out of the room. But here’s the truth: Policy isn’t some far-off idea buried in a state document or district office.

Across the United States, physical education policies look very different from one state to the next. Some states require minimum instructional minutes. Others leave decisions entirely to local districts. Some specify teacher certification, class size or accountability measures, while others do not address these issues at all.

With a new school year underway and increased pressure for schools to generate additional sources of revenue, now is the perfect time to start thinking about a health. moves. minds. fundraiser. SHAPE America and Booster are here to help you map out a plan to succeed, whether you’re leading your very first school fundraiser or are a seasoned pro.