News at NASPE: NASPE has posted many news items over the last couple months. Check them out.
  Teaching Nutrition: Most elementary schools do not teach their kids anything about nutrition, or how eating healthy can help them. Students usually don't learn this information until middle school. Do you think students in the elementary school should be taught this information, or do you think it is appropriate to wait until the middle school level? Please share in the forum.
  Awards in PE: How often do you give awards to your students? Do you think it is important for elementary students to receive awards during the year, and should you make sure every child receives them? Right now I do a daily "Teamwork Award" for each class, and one students receives an award during each period. I have 28 classes a week so I am giving out 28 each week and I have to say it's hard to keep photocopying/laminating/cutting them out on such a regular basis. Any suggestions or thoughts about specific awards that might be meaningful to the students? Please share in the forum.
Choosing Teams in Gym: What do you think is the best and most fair way to pick teams in gym class? Why do you think this way is fair? Because I know in my highschool our teacher picked captains then they picked the teams which I dont think its fair at all. Because everyone picks their friends and the best players. Any suggestions? Please share in the forum.
Fitness Education Software: I am promoting my new, educational game, The Dead Miles. On the surface, The Dead Miles is a game about surviving in a world filled with zombies. However, the underlying goal of the game is to teach about the health related components of Physical Fitness and calorie intake/output. It is not obvious that the game is a teaching tool, and that is the point! As soon as a kid suspects that something is educational, they tend to anticipate an unpleasant experience. I hope to use The Dead Miles to teach kids about fitness and metabolism without them realizing it. Please read more at the forum.

NYC Frustration: This is my 12th year teaching phys Ed in NYC. I am the only teacher in the gym servicing about 700 kids per week. Each class has PE once per week for 45 minutes. Keep in mind there are many Mondays and several Tuesdays where there are holidays and the kids miss gym that day. In my estimation, the average class will get PE about 25 times per year. Maybe 30, depending on the class. While I always took pride in trying to do lesson units, I have realized that there is no way I can make any type of major impact doing units, and putting together a curriculum while seeing the kids about 3 times a month. It is a joke, and very demeaning to me and my field.

Administration wants me to start actually doing units and a progression. I feel like its impossible. If I did a basketball unit, and made it 6 to 8 lessons long, I would be spending 2 to 3 months on basketball. Makes no sense. The population is mostly kids from Bangladesh and Guayana, many with limited English. Almost all kids have no idea what it means to be on a team, or even how to play with each other. I am burned out from seeing 700 kids a week all by myself. I want to keep administration happy, but can't do what they expect. They have no clue. When I tell them there is a state mandate which requires PE a certain amount of time, they basically brush it off. I guess that's the story of NYC PE. It's an embarrassment. I am looking for any suggestions in any way possible. At this point I still work hard, but really just put together some games and free play many times to just get the kids moving. Still think that's the best bet for my situation. Thanks in advance!! Please share in the forum.

Student's Choice in PE Classes: Should students be given a choice of activities to participate in during class? When I was in high school, every once in awhile our teachers would have a day where we could choose to walk on the track or play a game like softball. Most of the girls would walk the track because it was easy and required little effort. Is it a good idea for teachers to do this? Please share in the forum.
Obesity and APE: Is anyone using obesity as a qualification for APE. If so what are some of the criteria used for qualifying for APE? Please share in the forum.
Community and Parent Involvement: One strong way to advocate for PE is to get parents and the community involved in physical activity outside of school. One idea is to create a "PE Olympics". The Olympics would consist of activities that children could do outside of class with a parent. For example walking at the park, playing basketball, swimming, bowling, bike riding, or ice skating. (This list can go on and on!) To get credit for these tasks, the students would have to take a picture with a parent/guardian doing that specific activity. Now to get the community involved with tasks like bowling or ice skating, students would get extra points for taking a picture with the manager of that specific business. This way when the manager asks the student and parent why they want a picture, it automatically starts a conversation about PE. This may spark the interest of the business to get more involved in the project. Students would get extra points for completing this extra task. These points earned for each activity completed would go to some type of reward, for example a "PE Olympic" t-shirt. The pictures taken would also go up on a wall in the school to motivate more student to participate. Please share in the forum.