Coaching vs PE

Monday we started class with a friendly game of Ultimate. Personally I think that this was a great idea. We could have easily had a lecture style learning experience, but instead we played Frisbee, moved around and activating our bodies. We did however spend sometime in the classroom. I feel that this is a great approach to allow the body, spiritual and mind to develop and flourish.  One thing that I can say for sure is that splitting the class time up like this encourages a “real” sense of teamwork in and out of the classroom and effectively aids development in all the domains of learning.  When we did go to room we were all excited, enthusiastic: talking and sharing with each other.  Basically this type of instruction permits natural development as opposed to traditional classroom setting where there is often a limited time to transmit the require learning information and the focus is solely on the cognitive domain.

Once we were sitting down in our classroom we spent the rest of the time talking about the NYSAHPERD conference that my professor and some of the TA’s and students attended. We watched a recorded discussion between my professor and life-long PE teacher that also attended the conference. It was this exchanged that gave me a bit inspiration. Basically he talked about the transformation and self-awareness he gained over his years as a coach and PE teacher.  He offered that although it’s important to help athlete’s success the true goal as a PE teacher should be to encourage all students to gain and maintain a level of health related fitness. To help them achieve what they never thought possible and guide all students toward a path of achievement.