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Lee High School

How can PE teachers create meaningful and interesting activities for students?
Rough Draft

John Vargas Lopez

Senior Capstone
Mrs. Jensen
March 24, 2015

John Vargas Lopez

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Mrs. Jensen
Senior Capstone
24 March 2015

What the Instructor wants to accomplish

A Physical education (P.E.) instructor is more than just a person who wants the apprentice
to sweat and get tired; they want students to enjoy the activity and at the same time get
something out of it that benefits them. A P.E Instructor pushes his or her students to make
something out of themselves because that's what theyre trained to do, it is why they need to win
them over in terms of getting students involved. The point of Physical Education classes is to
teach students to stay physically active throughout the rest of their life, so they need to give the
students an experience that theyll never forget. P.E teachers can create meaningful and
interesting activities for students by providing motivation, teaching specific skills and
giving support to ALL levels of students.
First of all, motivation is the first step to get students into activities that theyll surely
love. What better way is there to create activities then to have a reason for them to actually
become a reality? Motivating is showing the possible positive outcomes in whatever it is that the
person is working on and in this case it involves younger individuals so fun can be used. It will
serve as the main reason, so up the fun factor. The positive things that could be associated with
upping the fun factor are 1. The activity is fun. 2. It allows an opportunity for mastery. 3. It
forces a persons sense of competing.4. It provides a chance to be with friends. (WilliamsEvans) Another strategy for making and increasing motivation for students is to actually provide
challenges for them individually occasionally. Match the activities to the students and have

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different difficulties of a task for the kid to choose from. For instance, in a juggling lesson,
provide both scarves and balls of various shapes for youngsters to choose from.(Alderman)
Now this strategy is only acceptable sometimes but the amount of times this specific method
should be used should be minimal. Although there are other proven methods and types of
motivation, these seem the most effective and useful to instructors everywhere.

In teaching specific skills, again students can also have the possibility of feeling the
amusement or fun in whatever it is that they are participating in. In addition to this, the students
will then possibly grow into the specific skill that can be taught by the instructor and then the
student athlete will enjoy it for the time that comes even after he or she is no longer in the P.E
course. Students have the choice to excel in those special skills for the future if they desire, and
thats how professional athletes are born. Furthermore, specific skills are also meant to be
mastered by all of the students, and this is so that none of the students feel like they dont get any
use out of it or because theyll get left out of the crowd. While specific skills are taught, the
worst thing that can transpire is having students not want to try new activities because they dont
progress in their own ways. Along with positive the reinforcement, you create games that
everyone can succeed at on some level. For example, if youre practicing stretching, record each
students personal best at the beginning of the year, and then record it again at the end of the
year.(15 Fantastic Ways) With everyone succeeding on a specific area at some level, students
will be begging for more interesting activities similar to the ones they already participated in, and
the Instructor of course will then have a reason to create those meaningful activities.
Activities and drills that are carried out in P.E classes are not just limited to certain
groups or students of different ages but are made so that everyone can participate and get
something out of it. Whether its an E.L.L student that has a P.E course, a special needs student

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or an obese student, they should get support somehow so that they can have an activity designed
to benefit them. For example, obesity is one of the leading problems in the U.S in children today.
Healthy lifestyle habits, including healthy eating and physical activity, can lower the risk of
becoming obese and developing related diseases.(Childhood Obesity Facts). These activities
that the Instructors create for the youngsters are part of that healthy lifestyle and of course they
are physical activities which fights the obesity our youth is struggling with. It is common
knowledge that being active is healthy, thus creating requirements for schools having certain P.E
classes. From there, the P.E instructors use their creativity to make useful drills and activities for
ALL students, even those who arent at full learning capacity. In the past three decades,
numerous studies have revealed that physical activity and sport participation result in improved
functional status and quality of life among people with selected disabilities. (The Role of Sport)
The teacher can easily find an activity which will benefit the student. For example, a student in a
wheelchair would not be able participate in an activity/sport that includes kicking a ball such as
soccer because they cant use their legs. Instead of having an activity that revolves around the
body part that they cant use, the instructor will instead find an activity that requires some other
body part that functions such as tennis or badminton which will only require the use of hands. In
participating in the sport, the student will then also take the experience and partake in that
activity even after P.E in school, and this of course will keep the student active and living a
healthy lifestyle.
In conclusion, P.E instructors can create enthusiastic activities for students in creating
motivation, teaching certain skills and finding ways to involve ALL levels of students. The
activities will affect the student in a positive way more than in a negative way.

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Works Cited
"15 Fantastic Ways to be a Better PE Teacher." N.p., 2012. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.
<http://physicaleducationdegree.org/be-a-better-pe-teacher/>.
Alderman, Brandon L. "Enhancing Motivation in Physical Education." Publications Website. Ed.
Brandon L. Alderman. N.p., 28 Feb. 2014. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.
<https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233570980_Enhancing_Motivation_in_Physic
al_Education>.
"Childhood Obesity Facts." CDC, n.d. Web. 27 Aug. 2015.
<http://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/obesity/facts.htm>.
"The Role of Sport and APA for People with Disabilities." N.p., 2013. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.
<http://www.sportanddev.org/en/learnmore/sport_and_disability2/sport_and_adapted_physi
cal_activity__apa_/the_role_of_sport_and_adapted_physical_activity_for_people_with_dis
abilities_/>.
Williams-Evans, Kymberly. "Maximizing Motivation, Minimizing Fear." N.p., 1 Feb.
2002. Web. 27 Mar. 2016. <http://www.ideafit.com/fitness-library/maximizingmotivation-minimizing-fear-0>.