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The most beneficial aspect of this book
is its comprehensive perspective on the
field of physical education. PE4life is
an excellent resource for every practitioner
in this field. Whether you are a physical
education major, student teacher, novice
teacher, or even a veteran physical education
professional, this book proves very valuable.
The book is divided into 3 major sections.
Part One consists of 7 chapters that provide
you with practical information to help
you build a PE4life action plan. This
section provides a step-by-step plan on
how to:
build your community-based team
advocate for your program
acquire funding and essential equipment
design your program
overcome roadblocks.
I found these chapters to be extremely
practical and easy to implement. Provided
in each chapter are "Action Plan"
worksheets that help guide you through
the process. I was especially impressed
with the sections that have you list your
next steps, your implementation plans,
and document your progress over time.
This community-based program provides
you with the tools to involve a variety
of community organizations. I will be
using this book in one of my senior level
methods classes as a tool to review the
information currently taught, and to initiate
essential student discussions.
Part Two of the book consists of 3 chapters.
These chapters focus on the actual implementation
of the PE4life program. Planning your
curriculum, implementing your curriculum,
and assessing your students are the major
topics. A review of planning and curriculum
development is provided, as well as short
vignettes of real school districts experiences.
These topics are extremely helpful when
taking on a monumental change in curriculum.
All grade levels are addressed, and specific
examples are provided to help guide you
through your own change. I found chapter
9 to be extremely useful for novice teachers
and college majors. This chapter provides
a review of effective teaching skills
and qualities, along with an excellent
summary of 11 teaching styles and appropriate
activities that are linked with each.
In a time of constant justification of
our profession, the assessment section
emphasizes how important it is for physical
education teachers to include appropriate
assessments for all students. Included
in this section are a variety of assessments
for students of all ages.
Part three includes the 5 appendices.
Appendices A and B consist of Nutrition
and PE4life resources. Not only do they
list useful websites, but also include
a description of what you will find at
each website. Appendix C provides you
with a variety of lesson plans and activities
to get you started on your own program.
Appendices D and E list even more links
to PE websites, and a variety of other
references and resources.
The book also comes with a DVD that is
useful in the promotion and support of
quality physical education. The DVD supplies
all the reproducible forms found throughout
the book. |
