107: Assignment 3, Chapter 11

It is increasingly clear that after reading this article, that students of elementary school age need ample amounts of physical activity throughout the day. Not only does sitting for a longer period time lead to fatigue within children, which lowers the ability to achieve academically, but it also hinders children from sharpening their motor skills. A separate article about eight years olds suggested that children of elementary school age should have breaks for physical activity every 2 hours. At my school, each child receives P.E. (which the article states many schools don’t offer) and one twenty minute recess daily, however students are required to be in class for periods of up to four hours. These articles have lead me to reflect my teaching practices. If students are not getting crucial physical activity throughout the day, how can I incorporate in my teaching?

The article also made a point about parents acting as models for healthy choices. I know that within my classroom I am often not a model of making healthy choices even though it is a core value of the school. Students frequently joke with me about the half-empty diet coke cans that are sporadically left around the classroom. Although it may seem funny, I am sending the wrong message to students. Although I tell them to make health choices, if my actions are aligned with my words, then those words a meaningless.

Another part of the article I found interesting is when it spoke of sports and how the “pressure to achieve” has negative impacts on students. The “pressure to achieve” is not merely unique to sports. We apply a lot of pressure on our students on a daily bases. Although the pressure is presented in a positive way (eg: investment systems that are marketed in an exciting fashion), the pressure is certainly still there. In many ways, students thrive off of competition and it is a strong motivator. Even in group work, when I assign students a task to complete as a group, each group has a sense of urgency to be the first done or the group with the best result even if I never stated that such an activity was a competition. Is this sense of competition and pressure negatively impacting students, especially students that don’t often feel the sort of success many other students do? If so, how do I eliminate that competitive energy around group work? I suppose it would merely be a mater of explaining to students that it is not a competition, but then how do I retain that same level of motivation and investment?