You may or may not know this, but elementary PE is relatively new to me. I have been a teacher now for about fourteen years and have taught various subjects in various countries. PE is certainly one of those classes that is simply a “whole different animal,” if I can quote my father there. Here’s why:
The atmosphere is just different. I am dressed differently, the classroom is a huge open space, kids are encouraged to be loud and run around the room as fast as possible. That is certainly a change from previous classroom settings.
The comments. Teaching TK-6th grade allows me to experience all levels of development in early and middle childhood. When I introduce myself at the beginning of the year, I always lay down the rules for class procedures. One of those is “Don’t talk while the teacher is talking.” As I explained this to TK, a little girl raised her hand. I acknowledged her and listed to her question. “Are you sure?” she asked. “Am I sure about what?” I replied, thinking that maybe she was having a different conversation than me. “Are you sure we can’t talk while the teacher is talking?” was her clarification. I have to tell you, I have never even thought that could even be a possible question that could be asked about that rule, so I told her yes. She seemed satisfied with that answer.
Another favorite of mine: “Coach Taylor, did you know I was getting hot lunch today?” I can say with absolute certainty that I am unaware of the hot lunch status of any and every student in the school.
There are certainly many other things that set PE apart from my other classroom experiences that I won't go into right now. I look forward to this new year and all of the wonderfully bizarre things that can happen in PE class.
No comments:
Post a Comment