“The Day in The Life of . . .” is the most powerful community outreach strategy for changing the minds of our community members as to what physical education is all about. This creative multi-dimensional lesson allows for physical educators to reach outside the walls of the gymnasium and into the hearts and minds of the community to gather support for physical education while helping to educate community members on how to live healthier lives. The educational aspect of this lesson is extremely powerful as stunning visual evidence is provided to students and adults concerning the inactive lifestyles virtually every occupation in today’s world offers.
Goals:
- To educate students and adults regarding the inactive lifestyle of adults.
- To educate parents about the lifestyle illness facts facing youth today.
- To help students impact other lifestyles or health habits in a positive way.
- To create advocates for physical education.
- To educate students of different career lifestyles.
- Show Me How much Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity is in Your Physical Education Class?
This is the printout I first looked at in the early 1980’s. The first time I looked at this printout, I realized I was looking at the evidence of what that kid had done: his effort, in my class. I also realized that I was the one that prescribed the exercise that he was doing. And for a while, this was enough. I could see what every kid had done in my class, I could see the ebb and flow of intensity. I didn’t really question what was going on. I simply was fascinated that I could hold a kid accountable. I could get the data from their parents. I could have this in my files and I would actually be measuring what was going on in my class as far as effort or intensity. 50% of the student’s grade was based on effort. With a heart rate sensor on every kid, they were now able to answer the key question: “How active were you in Physical Education today?” The answer: “You were moderate to vigorously active 51% of the Physical Education class time”. For me, that was powerful. But once I took a look at this, after a few months, I realized this was also showing a timeline of what my lesson design was creating for my students over the course of the school year. What was I doing as a teacher? What was my intent for every segment of this class? The first five minutes? The next 15 minutes? And so on.
2. Show Me Your Lesson Design… What Are Your Goals for Each Segment of Your Class Time Design?
3. How Much Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity is in a School Day?
4. How Can We, as Physical Educators, Reach Outside the Walls of The Gymnasium?
As early as the 1980s, heart rate sensors were implemented in my home state of Iowa into not only the school physical education program, but also into the community. In doing so, there soon was a movement to build a fitness center for everyone to work out in the community. It was an awakening for parents that quality physical education included getting “families” fit and living better. We really have the ability to inspire so many through outreach strategies like fitness fun nights, where parents get to use heart rate sensors. Another way we are able to get parents involved is through an activity I like to call “A Day in the Life of . . .”
4a. “A Day in the Life of…” Activity Directions:
Students choose a parent and invite them to wear a heart rate sensor for a day. Students bring the heart rate sensor back to school the next day and the printout of their heart rate is given to the student to take home. The teacher selects various career heart rate printouts, enlarges them, then places them on a wall in the gym. The idea is to showcase the use of technology inside the physical education program, but also to show parents the data that is produced each day by their child during physical education where we are making the Mind/Body connections daily!
This evolved into a new strategy: getting parents to wear a heart rate sensor to see the visual evidence of their activity throughout “A Day In The Life. . .” The huge heart rate graphs of the “Day in The Life of . . .” our community members were hung on the walls of my gym in Grundy Center, Iowa. Hundreds of parents from the local community participated, wearing a heart rate sensor throughout their workday to demonstrate their typical daily activity. What do you have hanging on the walls of your gym to showcase what is going on inside your classroom: The Gym?
And finally…
5. How can you Reach Outside the Walls of The Gymnasium and Into The Hearts And Minds of The Community?
