Date:
01/14/2008 02:23 PM With more overweight kids, gym teachers shifting to
individual activities, less team sports
By JAMIE STENGLE
Associated Press Writer
RICHARDSON, Texas (AP) _ With music pumping
in the background, the kids in Terry Wade's physical education
class are in constant motion, going from sit-ups to jumping
jacks to curls with light weights.
After their 45-minute session, the sixth-graders
who are sweating the most, or as Wade calls it, "burning
butter," get stickers.
"My main goal and emphasis is getting
these kids up and moving," said Wade, who teaches at
Northrich Elementary in the Richardson school district in
suburban Dallas. "It's 'Can this kid do this for a lifetime?'
I don't care how good they are. I care if they're having fun."
Instead of team sports, Wade and other physical
education teachers across the country are focusing more on
individual activities that students can incorporate into their
lives long after their school days are over.
Experts say the shift also helps gym teachers
include children who are struggling with their weight. With
individual activities, overweight students can work at their
own pace, and not be left on the sidelines. And they can take
part in lower impact activities like weightlifting, yoga or
martial arts.
"Now we organize our classes in such
a way where no kids are sitting," said Susan Henderson,
coordinator for physical education and health for the Dallas-area
Mesquite school district.
She said that even if the lesson is about
a team sport like football, they focus on skills like passing
the ball.
"Nobody is waiting their turn,"
Henderson said.
Steve Jefferies, head of the department of
health, human performance and nutrition at Central Washington
University in Ellensburg, Wash., is a fan of treasure hunts
and other activities that students can do without realizing
they are getting exercise. That shifts the focus to finding
things, not the half-mile walk to get there, he said.
Jefferies suggests teachers wear a weight
belt to get an idea of what an overweight student experiences.
"You've got to find something that each
individual person enjoys," said Jefferies, who also runs
a Web site to help physical education teachers keep up with
the latest developments.
Gym teachers also are placing a greater emphasis
on general health and nutrition, said Craig Buschner, president
of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education.
"This field had to make changes. It's
not about dodge ball and it's not about duck-duck-goose,"
said Buschner. He added that the obesity epidemic has helped
educators make a case that students need more physical education
time.
How to deal with overweight children in class
is something that's on the minds of future gym teachers, too.
"My undergraduates are asking 'What do
I do?'" said Josh Trout, of California State University,
Chico, who has written a book set to be released in February
called "Supersized PE: A Comprehensive Guidebook for
Teaching Overweight Students."
Wade said she walks a fine line when instructing
her students: "I don't want to push anyone past what
they're capable of doing, but I don't want them to take it
too easy."
As the morning light poured in from the windows
in her gym, she asked her sixth-graders: "How are you
graded in this class?"
A chorus of replies comes quickly: "Effort."
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On the Net:
National Association for Sport and Physical
Education: www.naspeinfo.org
