Thursday, August 30, 2012
Disaster on day #1
As I mentioned in my previous post, I am trying to decide which physical fitness testing program I want to start using at my school. I briefly shared my ideas with the other PE teacher that I co-teach with during our meetings yesterday and he was on board. It felt great to know he was on the same page as me in regards to the fitness testing. I was excited to start going over the two different programs with him today and early next week, however, after hearing him talk to the students today I am a bit concerned. He told the students right away that we would be testing them next week and listed all the tests we were going to give to them, making a lot of them very nervous. Rather than come out and burden them on the first day, I was hoping next week to ease into it after we had discussed how we were going to record their test results, where we would keep them for future records, which tests we would be using, and how to motivate what seem like "the impossible students" to give us their best effort. I do not like to rush into things. I like to plan every single detail out before I give something a shot. Before having the students run the mile, I want to help them understand the importance of pacing yourself rather than running as fast as you can for the entire time. Rather than have them run the mile on Tuesday, I would like to see them run 2 laps to have them practice their pacing and also give me a good idea of how in shape they may be or not be. There are proper techniques that need to be reviewed so that our students are performing to the best of their ability. Tomorrow I am going to sit down with him and explain my thoughts to him so that we can talk it over and come out with an actual plan, rather than just winging it.
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I understand your situation. It is very important and I cant stress it enough that you give the kids time to get acquainted with the idea of fitness testing. This gives you and them time to understand what works for them and how it can improve their lifestyle. If you continue the route that the other teacher has set for the class the students will more than likely dread fitness testing and you will not get the results you are looking for. I had a similar experience in the past with a fellow teacher that lead to the failure of our fitness testing for that semester. The next semester we did exactly what you are wanting to do and it was successful and the kids actually enjoyed the testing and trying to improve their previous times. I hope that he will reconsider and jump on board with your plan because it is the better of the two avenues. Good luck and if you need any advice or help with anything feel free to contact me.
ReplyDeleteUnless you plan to pre-test and post-test I would want the fitness test toward the end of the semester so that you have a chance to positively impact their success.
ReplyDeleteWe have spent all week working on proper form for sit-ups and push-ups. The kids have practiced each day. We plan on testing them on Tuesday of next week. We also talked about the specific muscles that these exercises work on and what sports or activities use those muscles. I gave each student an index card to record their reps/times. This is working great because each day they see their progress and become excited if they improved. This is a temporary solution until I decide which software to use.
ReplyDeleteBryan, I plan on testing them now and at the end of the school year.