You will be seeing this editorial after the leaves have fallen and many of you are indoors, in confined spaces trying to keep students active, interested and learning to be healthier, fitter and better human beings. This is a challenge that is mounting each day and in a direct correlation with the increasing girth of our students.

Weight issues have become alarming. Teachers of physical education who try to be constructive will face problems despite their concern. First, the tried and true methods and programs used for years may not meet the needs of overweight students. Second, not only do the overweight, obese and morbidly obese face serious health problems, but they face debilitating psycho-social problems that impact their effort in social environments, especially the gym.

You needn’t be reminded that most students, especially those with weight problems, are insecure about being exposed, criticized and ridiculed. Many, when entering a gym, anticipate being tormented. What you may not realize is that for them, following simple instructions to move is not all that easy. The physiological toll on them is greater than it is for an average student. Their cardiovascular systems’ are more heavily taxed by their weight. Walking upstairs from the locker room can represent a major effort. The difficulties such youngsters face leads to a vicious cycle of inactivity. In the guise of protecting themselves against physical pain and psychological anguish, overweight kids often develop habits of avoidance that are counter-productive to their health and success. Breaking down their reluctance to move is one of the great challenges we physical educators face in this century. Helping such kids requires a good physical education program, individualized administrative scheduling, and access to creative, sensitive, caring, knowledgeable teachers.

These and other issues of the day require that we keep up with research, share innovation and ideas, and be flexible in adapting what we learn to our teaching environment. Therefore, I challenge you to be professional. Register at one of the local, state or regional conferences which are abundantly scheduled during the fall. There is no better place to catch up on the latest scientific information, get ideas about teaching styles, share common problems, learn how others deal with them, and find resources to enhance your programs. Check the internet for dates, programs and locations. Then register and get there and please, don’t avoid the research or seminars sections. They’ll give you important food for thought.

Isobel Kleinman
Secondary Section Editor

Do you want to provide a wonderful environment for co-ed competition but don’t think it can be done? Take a lesson from these comments in Girls Playing Football, (September, Queens Courier). “We’re learning. We’re losing right now, but each time we play, we’re getting stronger,” says a co-ed in a flag football league. “It’s harder to play against the boys, but if we try hard we can beat them. We’re having fun.”

Want to hear such comments from your students? Here’s how:

1– Teach the three most essential skills for each unit in the most efficient way possible and allow every free moment for the kids to practice them.

2– Give the kids plenty of non–competitive hands on time so they have a chance for mastery.

3– Introduce movement patterns independently of the equipment. Have the kids practice the motion without the equipment (mimetics) as their warm–up daily.

4– Involve students in games early in the early part of the unit, but lead them in skills practice before every game begins.

5– Make sure that the playing field is even, that you have no team or group that dominates.

6– Make sure that the kids know and follow the rules of the game so their competition is safe and fair.

7– Make sure that every student has equal playing time.

8– Teach the kids to play their best, no matter whom they play.

You say this is impossible. Get a copy of Complete Physical Education Plans for Grades 7–12 and see how a forty minute lesson integrates mimetics, skills practice, game rules, practice, strategy education seamlessly and how units build kids up so that even the child who was the most reluctant initially ends up saying, . . . “Gee, I never knew that sweating can be so much fun.”

START A LEADERS’ CLUB

With the rise in interscholastic sports, most Leaders’ Club gym programs have disappeared. Maybe it’s time to bring them back. Think of the advantages.

–Students learn to take responsibility for themselves and others.

–Student leaders can officiate, monitor equipment and help the progress of the class.

–Student can be involved in the activity of game playing without being competitive.

–Leadership is promoted and enhanced.

–There will be a Corp of dependable kids who can become role models for the others.

–Leaders can learn a marketable skill (officiating) which could provide them with a source of part–time income if properly developed and encouraged.

RUN AN INTRAMURAL PROGRAM

An intramural program (within the walls) is open to every student, requires no costs for uniforms or transportation and appeals to kids who just want to play. An intramurals program would meet the recommendations of the Center of Disease Control and Prevention, who recommend that schools and communities make it easier for all girls, especially girls from minority groups, to get involved in a team sports program. (New York Times, 9/16/03 . . . Adolescence). Their report claims that being on sports teams does not preclude girls from engaging in risky behaviors involving drugs, sex or . . . but it makes it less likely.