MTS Physical Education

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With the limited time your children have in my Physical Education class, I try and make the most of it.  All classes hit the ground running literally, as we start with one song warmups of running, skipping, or galloping or other locomotor movements in every class. With every class, I have multiple goals. I want every student to raise their heart rates for an extended period of time and will do so in various ways. Another goal is to teach them skills and inform them of content that will keep them moving in my class, outside of my class, into middle school and high school, and into adulthood.  Our younger students (K-2) are constantly learning new ways to move their bodies in many different locomotor movements and to do so safely.  We also spend time focusing on basic skills such as moving in space safely, kicking a soccer ball, dribbling basketballs and soccer balls, throwing and catching yarn balls, gator skin balls, frisbees, footballs, and foxtails, etc., as well as other skills such as balance and jumping.   While our older students (3-5) participate in our Focused Fitness curriculum that teaches them about the Five Components of Fitness, Nutrition, Muscles, and Bones.  Our older grades also participate in Fitness testing. The events we test are the MTS Mile Run, Pacer, Sit-ups, Sit and Reach, and Push-Ups while also collecting data on height and weight.  We Pre-Test in the Fall, set goals in the Winter, and Post-test in the Spring. Parents will receive these scores twice a year as I send home Fitness Report Cards with their student's regular Report Cards. All grade levels also work on cooperative team games that focus on teamwork, offense, defense, strategy, communicating, and how to handle winning and losing. Yearly my classes also participate in Kids Heart Challenge (Formerly known as "Jump Rope for Heart" and "Hoops for Heart"). This is an opportunity for classes to spend time working on their heart health, learning about their heart, as well as have an option to fundraise for the American Heart Association. In 2019, we set an all-time MTS high by raising over $8,000 in donations. In all of my classes, there is a constant theme of fun, respect, and doing your personal best. The more my students have fun learning and moving in my classes, the better chance I have of getting them motivated to have fun and move outside of my class whether that be at recess, at home, or through organized sports.