Summer: The Ultimate Planning Period

written by Steve Shelton, Jon Poole, Radford University, Radford, VA

As children excitingly await the end of the school year and the beginning of summer, sometimes they forget that teachers look forward to a break, too! In addition to relaxation and a chance to reconnect with family and friend, summer can be the ultimate planning period for professional development as it allows brainstorming typically not possible during the workday. Some of that brainstorming, we believe, should include designing creative program extensions which serve as a way to showcase our programs to parents and colleagues.

Both authors also believe, unfortunately, that physical education teachers traditionally do a poor job of this when compared to our specialist brethren, art and music teachers. Annual elementary school field days held in the spring are one of the few times that physical educators extend their program into the entire school community. Art and music teachers, on the other hand, tend to extend their programs throughout the school year.

Both authors have children currently in K-12 schools and have homes filled with art work proudly displayed on refrigerators, or framed on family room walls. What parent could possibly resist the artistic skills of their child? Exactly our point. While the art teacher fills the school hallways with student work in prominent locations, where does the physical education teacher display student work? Further, what would a physical education teacher display?

This ability to decorate school walls and send home artwork presents a powerful message. Similarly, both authors have sat transfixed in school auditoriums as music teachers directed our children in wonderful performances complete with singing, playing of musical instruments, and even dancing at times. The powerful message being sent, we believe, is that parents can point at a picture on the refrigerator, or point at their child on a stage, and say without hesitation, "my child learned that at school." What do physical educators offer a parent to point at?

Traditionally, classroom teachers assign homework almost daily and maintain nearly constant communication with parents. By spending some time at a local elementary school in your area, you might also find a similar pattern at work. In fact, we like to describe this approach as an effective pattern of work. Classroom teachers take advantage of opportunities to advertise the potential of their programs to students, community members, and parents by extending their programs beyond the normal obligations involved during the regular school day. Homework can certainly be one form of this important program extension.

One little girl in our area, for example, recently received her third grade homework assignment that included an opportunity to check out a classroom book bag filled with a Sock Monkey doll, Sock Monkey story book, composition notebook, and an assignment list that shared that she was to keep the Sock Monkey with her over the weekend (Bell, 2009). She was thrilled to take Sock Monkey on multiple adventures over the course of one weekend, while reading to her new friend, and later writing about her experiences. Her journal entries, and the insertion of related photographs depicting the details of her adventures with Sock Monkey, were recorded in the same composition notebook her classmates used; thus creating a running record that could later be expanded by additional classmates.

Each successive student could enjoy reading about classmate experiences prior to adding their own. This classroom teacher-based Sock Monkey assignment sparked the idea for the elementary physical education teacher-based Sock Monkey assignment found at the end of this article.

The time students are actually engaged in activity that promotes learning is of concern to all physical educators who support motor skill acquisition and fitness attainment in their classes. With such limited time allotted for physical education, teachers might consider using unique homework assignments that employ strategies, like approach tendencies and generalization, to gain additional practice time for students. This added practice can afford children with opportunities to engage in the subject matter taught during the school day in another location, and is supported by research relative to approach tendencies that allow students to enjoy and become attracted to activities (Hawkins, 2009).

Generalization, the process of learning a skill in one setting and transferring it to another setting, can be a powerful way to improve skill levels. Many students are originally exposed to concepts and skills in physical education class, but must generalize the skills in another setting to become more proficient movers. Additionally, the intermittent schedule of reinforcement involved in performing activities outside of school, and away from the watchful eye of a child's physical education teacher, has been demonstrated to help maintain a behavior after it has been established during class time (Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 2007).

Youth sports can be a wonderful outlet for children to expand responses and refine skills in an alternative setting. However, many families have difficulty finding the time or money to participate in many of these after school programs. Therefore, homework assignments that allow all students to check out basic equipment can be a more affordable means for many families that value activity, but who may have limited resources.

The Sock Monkey assignment highlighted in this article is offered only as a suggestion for those educators contemplating new approaches to class assignments. Physical education homework can be connected to specific units of instruction throughout the school year. For example, allowing students to check out a soccer ball, pedometer, and carefully designed task checklist during a soccer unit might be a great way to promote additional practice opportunities, and allow parents to play with their children after the school day ends.

Admittedly, the chance of school equipment getting lost or broken is a real possibility. The aforementioned check-out system might be connected to a class reward system to allow the teacher more control on who can be trusted to return equipment responsibly upon completion of each assignment period, based on dependable behaviors displayed during class time.

As you embark on your summer break we hope you will use the time away from school to consider new and innovative approaches to enhance student learning, including creative homework assignments when school resumes in the fall. We believe such novel homework assignments have the potential to enhance the students' own affection for the subject matter, promote an added level of responsibility to safely use and return school equipment, and enhance motor skills by playing at home.

REFERENCES
Bell, C. (2009). Sock monkey in the spotlight. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.
Cooper, J., Heron, T., & Heward, W. (2007). Applied behavior analysis (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
Hawkins, A. H., personal communication, July 12, 2009.

Sock Monkey's
Daily Exercise Adventures and Writing Project

Congratulations! You have been selected to take sock monkey home for this week (Monday-Thursday). I know you will take sock monkey on some amazing exercise adventures over the next several days. Please return sock monkey on Friday morning.

Your Challenge: Actively go on exercise adventures each day for at least 30 minutes and hopefully up to 60 minutes. You do not need to complete all your daily exercise at one time; you can exercise for as little as 10 minutes at a time and add the minutes throughout the day. Sock monkey likes a wide variety of exercises.

Directions: Keep sock monkey with you on your exercise adventures with your friends and family. Sock monkey loves to ride in bicycle baskets or wear his special synch bag on your back and you can carry him with you when you walk, hike, run, and play at the park.

Write a journal entry at the end of each day describing your time together with Sock Monkey. You should have four journal entrees (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday) to turn in on Friday morning.

Biographies

Steve Shelton is an Instructor for the Physical and Health Education Teaching Program at Radford University. He previously taught elementary physical education for 20 years before coming to Radford University in 2012. His interests include systematic supervision techniques, the association between academic achievement and physical activity, and principles of effective teaching in elementary school physical education. Steve currently teaches motor development, cooperative activities, adapted physical education, and supervises student teachers.

Jon Poole is a Professor and Coordinator for the Physical and Health Education Teaching Program at Radford University. He taught previously at the University of Utah and Virginia Tech before joining Radford University in 2000. He is an advocate for a more coordinated approach to teaching physical and health education in K-12 schools with his professional interests including promoting physically active and healthy living for K-12 students, health-related fitness education, and teaching lifetime sports and physical activities. He teaches elementary and secondary methods courses and supervises student teachers. Jon has been a regular contributor to PELinks4U since 2000.

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