PE/Recess time mandates

dragonlady wrote in message
CA requires more. My kids had to pass 4 semesters of PE in High School,
and all of their classes meet the same number of hours -- so PE is every
day in a "regular" schedule, or every other day for two hours in a block
schedule.

And I can't see that any of them benefited in any way from HS PE.

I know I certainly didn't benefit from PE in high school or in any other
grade. I hated gym class and spent more time trying to get out of class than
I did trying to learn how to jump over the hurdles or to run the mile. I
think with so many kids these days being involved in extracurricular sports,
that gym class should teach good eating habits and learn how to eat properly
and how to incorporate a good exercise program in your life. I am really not
sure how playing six weeks of football, soccer or floor hockey is really
helping kids these days. I could be totally off though since my views on
sports is not very good.
--
Sue
mom to three girls

"Donna Metler" wrote in message
...
There was someone here who was saying that their child was being kept in
from recess to finish work.

'Twas me.

In TN, 30 minutes of PE a day is mandated in elementary school. If the
school doesn't have a PE class for 30 minutes a day, the days they don't
have PE, the students are supposed to have "structured or unstructured
physical activities"-ie, recess. So you might want to check the PE
requirements, because recess may be mandated via those.

Just thought this might be helpful.

Thanks. I'm in California. There is a PE mandate, but it's nowhere near 30
minutes per day and I'm too lazy to look it up to see what the actual
mandate is. My understanding in California is that there is no requirement
for recess at all, and that recess cannot be used to make up for
instructional PE time.
--
Be well, Barbara
(Julian [6], Aurora [4], and Vernon's [18mo] mom)
See us at http://photos.yahoo.com/guavaln

This week's special at the English Language Butcher Shop:
"No parking passed this sign" -- hotel parking lot sign

All opinions expressed in this post are well-reasoned and insightful.
Needless to say, they are not those of my Internet Service Provider, its
other subscribers or lackeys. Anyone who says otherwise is itchin' for a
fight. -- with apologies to Michael Feldman

: I agree and they do make an exception for marching band as well in some
: states. I would like to see students in high school be able to pick a
class
: in a particular sport or physical activity rather than take some general
class
: too.

That's for sure! I've worked in some districts where kids who were on the
football team *had to* practice for 3 hours after school--having a 7th
period PE "football practice" class was not allowed. I don't know if that
was state law, or district policy, or a school-level thing, but I always
thought it was completely stupid. If the kids in marching band can practice
7th period, why can't the football team? They work harder than any regular
PE class anyway!
--
ColoradoSkiBum

: Thanks. I'm in California. There is a PE mandate, but it's nowhere near 30
: minutes per day and I'm too lazy to look it up to see what the actual
: mandate is.

See! See! Maybe if there had been a longer requirement you wouldn't be so
lazy now!!!!!! :-)
--
ColoradoSkiBum

Ok, here is the California mandate, I know it all too well, as my colleagues
and I have fought our district to follow the mandated minutes! In grades
K-6 (elementary setting) 200 minutes of PE is required every ten days. In
the 7-8 or 6-7-8 (middle school setting) 400 minutes of PE is required every
ten days. At the high school level, 2 years (4 semesters) of PE is required
in order to graduate.

I totally understand why some people don't like physical education. Maybe
they had a bad experience back in middle or high school and therefore don't
stress this content area with their own children. If this is you, I
STRONGLY encourage you to research current physical education standards and
practices. It is very different from as little as 10 years ago. Someone
earlier said they spent a lot of time waiting around in lines. These days,
lines in PE are a "no-no" as well as other "old time methods" such as
picking teams or using exercise as punishment and of course, the biggest PE
no-no of all time, dodgeball! I can't say that I have my students play one
traditional sport all year. We do nontraditional activities that require
cooperation, collaboration, thoughtfulness and crossing the curriculum.
Don't get me wrong, my main goal with my students is a healthy body and
learning a healthy lifestyle, but there are many new affective components in
today's physical education classes that you can't get from after school band
practice. Don't want to offend here, I too was in my high school marching
band.

If your child is participating in a physical education class that is still
using old school thought, I strongly encourage you to contact your principal
and lodge a complaint. It is very seldom you see a physical education
program like many of you have mentioned. Unfortunately, it is usually the
few (no offense here) older physical education teachers that are not moving
on with the times that give physical education a bad name. If you are
curious about current PE programs and conferences please contact AAHPERD
(American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance) at
www.aahperd.org. This is our national organization. Thanks for listening!

Amy Hunt
Physical Education Teacher
Muirlands Middle School, La Jolla, CA
Proud new mom to Nathan Roger Hunt born 6/17/03!

"Circe" wrote in message
news:Cojbb.373$hp5.172@fed1read04...
"Donna Metler" wrote in message
...
There was someone here who was saying that their child was being kept in
from recess to finish work.

'Twas me.

In TN, 30 minutes of PE a day is mandated in elementary school. If the
school doesn't have a PE class for 30 minutes a day, the days they don't
have PE, the students are supposed to have "structured or unstructured
physical activities"-ie, recess. So you might want to check the PE
requirements, because recess may be mandated via those.

Just thought this might be helpful.

Thanks. I'm in California. There is a PE mandate, but it's nowhere near 30
minutes per day and I'm too lazy to look it up to see what the actual
mandate is. My understanding in California is that there is no requirement
for recess at all, and that recess cannot be used to make up for
instructional PE time.
--
Be well, Barbara
(Julian [6], Aurora [4], and Vernon's [18mo] mom)
See us at http://photos.yahoo.com/guavaln

This week's special at the English Language Butcher Shop:
"No parking passed this sign" -- hotel parking lot sign

All opinions expressed in this post are well-reasoned and insightful.
Needless to say, they are not those of my Internet Service Provider, its
other subscribers or lackeys. Anyone who says otherwise is itchin' for a
fight. -- with apologies to Michael Feldman

In article et,
"Amy" wrote:
snip
It is very different from as little as 10 years ago. Someone
earlier said they spent a lot of time waiting around in lines. These days,
lines in PE are a "no-no" as well as other "old time methods" such as
picking teams or using exercise as punishment and of course, the biggest PE
no-no of all time, dodgeball! I can't say that I have my students play one
traditional sport all year. We do nontraditional activities that require
cooperation, collaboration, thoughtfulness and crossing the curriculum.
Don't get me wrong, my main goal with my students is a healthy body and
learning a healthy lifestyle, but there are many new affective components in
today's physical education classes that you can't get from after school band
practice. Don't want to offend here, I too was in my high school marching
band.

If your child is participating in a physical education class that is still
using old school thought, I strongly encourage you to contact your principal
and lodge a complaint. It is very seldom you see a physical education
program like many of you have mentioned. Unfortunately, it is usually the
few (no offense here) older physical education teachers that are not moving
on with the times that give physical education a bad name. If you are
curious about current PE programs and conferences please contact AAHPERD
(American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance) at
www.aahperd.org. This is our national organization. Thanks for listening!


I'm glad to hear things are supposed to be different. However, that has
not been my experience in putting 3 kids through high school here in
California. I sat one afternoon and watched 3 PE classes. What I saw
included:

-kids running with no preparation or warm up or down
-kids playing street hockey with inadequate safety gear, virtually NO
instruction, and inadequate supervision -- there were sticks flying high
all over
-kids standing in line waiting their turn to swing a tennis racket
-absolutely NO stretching, warming up, warming down, or any other
preparation type of activity
-as far as I could see, very little preparation or instruction on the
team sports they were playing
-attention given to the athletically inclined, while the disinterested
mostly hung out

Trying to talk to a PE instructor about appropriate activities for
extremely busty girls was pretty worthless. And when I complained to an
8th grade PE teacher about my daughter being harrassed during PE (boys
teasing her because she "bounced" when they ran or did jumping jacks,
boys using flag football as an opportunity to grab more than the flag)
her response was, "Well, there are other busty girls, too. They must
get teased. They never complain. Tell your daughter she needs to
develop a thicker skin." Trying to talk to any of them about the fact
that my daughter was modest, and did not want to change her clothes in
front of the other girls was just treated with derision -- I know what
her legal rights were, but getting them enforced turned out to be a real
PIA.

(Instead, I let her withdraw from PE for 8th grade.)

Now that my younger daughter is in a Continuation High School, PE is
mostly ping pong and pool and (for the boys . . .) weight training and
basketball. (The girls aren't forbidden from these things, but it Isn't
Done.) Frankly, I suspect she's getting more exercise, having a better
time, AND learning stuff she'll keep doing as an adult. It may not be
the best, but it's better than the constant fighting of her former PE.
Since the two who hated PE so much had OTHER problems in school, as a
parent I lack credibility to complain about that. It is a harsh fact of
life that if your child is in trouble, your legitimate complaints get
little attention.

meh
--
Children won't care how much you know until they know how much you care

Wow, here, in California, my oldest is in high school, youngest
4th grade, and it is exactly like it was when I was young. Lots
of lines. Picking the same athletes to try out things. Sitting and
watching gymnastics. The big change is that now the classes
are coed, so those girls that used to at least be considered
somewhat athletic are now dismissed also, as less athletic than
the so so boys, and in the bottom half of the class. One PE teacher always
picked boys to demonstrate. Small
girls get elbowed in the face by the large boys in basketball,
football, volleyball, and any possible contact sport. Girls
don't even get to hit the ball in volleyball anymore.
Dance, which these girls excel in, is glossed over because the
PE teachers can't dance. And they get to run, and run, and run. In the
elementary schools they aren't given time to change shoes, so if they wore
clogs, or rainboots to school they had to run in those. Even on picture or
special dress up report day. (Kids dressed a prairie women running around
the field.) There is no warm up or warm down.

The one saving grace, my eldest auditioned into advanced jazz class, so she
never has to take PE again.

So no, I don't think PE is any better.


"Amy" wrote in message
nk.net...
Ok, here is the California mandate, I know it all too well, as my
colleagues
and I have fought our district to follow the mandated minutes! In grades
K-6 (elementary setting) 200 minutes of PE is required every ten days. In
the 7-8 or 6-7-8 (middle school setting) 400 minutes of PE is required
every
ten days. At the high school level, 2 years (4 semesters) of PE is
required
in order to graduate.

I totally understand why some people don't like physical education. Maybe
they had a bad experience back in middle or high school and therefore
don't
stress this content area with their own children. If this is you, I
STRONGLY encourage you to research current physical education standards
and
practices. It is very different from as little as 10 years ago. Someone
earlier said they spent a lot of time waiting around in lines. These
days,
lines in PE are a "no-no" as well as other "old time methods" such as
picking teams or using exercise as punishment and of course, the biggest
PE
no-no of all time, dodgeball! I can't say that I have my students play
one
traditional sport all year. We do nontraditional activities that require
cooperation, collaboration, thoughtfulness and crossing the curriculum.
Don't get me wrong, my main goal with my students is a healthy body and
learning a healthy lifestyle, but there are many new affective components
in
today's physical education classes that you can't get from after school
band
practice. Don't want to offend here, I too was in my high school marching
band.

If your child is participating in a physical education class that is still
using old school thought, I strongly encourage you to contact your
principal
and lodge a complaint. It is very seldom you see a physical education
program like many of you have mentioned. Unfortunately, it is usually the
few (no offense here) older physical education teachers that are not
moving
on with the times that give physical education a bad name. If you are
curious about current PE programs and conferences please contact AAHPERD
(American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance)
at
www.aahperd.org. This is our national organization. Thanks for
listening!

Amy Hunt
Physical Education Teacher
Muirlands Middle School, La Jolla, CA
Proud new mom to Nathan Roger Hunt born 6/17/03!

"Circe" wrote in message
news:Cojbb.373$hp5.172@fed1read04...
"Donna Metler" wrote in message
...
There was someone here who was saying that their child was being kept
in
from recess to finish work.

'Twas me.

In TN, 30 minutes of PE a day is mandated in elementary school. If the
school doesn't have a PE class for 30 minutes a day, the days they
don't
have PE, the students are supposed to have "structured or unstructured
physical activities"-ie, recess. So you might want to check the PE
requirements, because recess may be mandated via those.

Just thought this might be helpful.

Thanks. I'm in California. There is a PE mandate, but it's nowhere near
30
minutes per day and I'm too lazy to look it up to see what the actual
mandate is. My understanding in California is that there is no
requirement
for recess at all, and that recess cannot be used to make up for
instructional PE time.
--
Be well, Barbara
(Julian [6], Aurora [4], and Vernon's [18mo] mom)
See us at http://photos.yahoo.com/guavaln

This week's special at the English Language Butcher Shop:
"No parking passed this sign" -- hotel parking lot sign

All opinions expressed in this post are well-reasoned and insightful.
Needless to say, they are not those of my Internet Service Provider, its
other subscribers or lackeys. Anyone who says otherwise is itchin' for a
fight. -- with apologies to Michael Feldman

: I'm glad to hear things are supposed to be different. However, that has
: not been my experience in putting 3 kids through high school here in
: California. I sat one afternoon and watched 3 PE classes. What I saw
: included:

snip

Anyone here have a kid who is always picked *last* for every team sport? Do
you realize how traumatic that is for your kid? I can guarantee that will
affect him/her for most of his adult life. IMO **all** team sports should
be completely eliminated from PE classes, for this reason alone.
--
ColoradoSkiBum

"Cathy Kearns" wrote in message
m...
Wow, here, in California, my oldest is in high school, youngest
4th grade, and it is exactly like it was when I was young. Lots
of lines. Picking the same athletes to try out things. Sitting and
watching gymnastics. The big change is that now the classes
are coed, so those girls that used to at least be considered
somewhat athletic are now dismissed also, as less athletic than
the so so boys, and in the bottom half of the class. One PE teacher
always
picked boys to demonstrate. Small
girls get elbowed in the face by the large boys in basketball,
football, volleyball, and any possible contact sport. Girls
don't even get to hit the ball in volleyball anymore.
Dance, which these girls excel in, is glossed over because the
PE teachers can't dance. And they get to run, and run, and run. In the
elementary schools they aren't given time to change shoes, so if they wore
clogs, or rainboots to school they had to run in those. Even on picture
or
special dress up report day. (Kids dressed a prairie women running around
the field.) There is no warm up or warm down.

The one saving grace, my eldest auditioned into advanced jazz class, so
she
never has to take PE again.

So no, I don't think PE is any better.

It really depends on the curriculum. My district uses the SPARK curriculum
for PE, which emphasizes life skills, and includes quite a bit of dance. In
fact, since I am an Orff specialist, PE and I plan together, because often
her movement objectives and mine match, so they may learn some of the steps
in PE, then use them with a song they're singing with me, to create a new
line dance (which both classes would do in the gym, where they have some
space).

We use a great deal of the movement materials developed by Phyllis Weikart
of the High/Scope foundation.

There is NO picking teams by students-ever. If a game involves two groups,
they are picked by random selection-same with any activities involving
partners or groups in my room.

Now, when the classroom teachers lead PE and actually do structured games
instead of open recess, some of the old-school problems reappear. But it
isn't the fault of the PE teacher.


"Amy" wrote in message
nk.net...
Ok, here is the California mandate, I know it all too well, as my
colleagues
and I have fought our district to follow the mandated minutes! In
grades
K-6 (elementary setting) 200 minutes of PE is required every ten days.
In
the 7-8 or 6-7-8 (middle school setting) 400 minutes of PE is required
every
ten days. At the high school level, 2 years (4 semesters) of PE is
required
in order to graduate.

I totally understand why some people don't like physical education.
Maybe
they had a bad experience back in middle or high school and therefore
don't
stress this content area with their own children. If this is you, I
STRONGLY encourage you to research current physical education standards
and
practices. It is very different from as little as 10 years ago.
Someone
earlier said they spent a lot of time waiting around in lines. These
days,
lines in PE are a "no-no" as well as other "old time methods" such as
picking teams or using exercise as punishment and of course, the biggest
PE
no-no of all time, dodgeball! I can't say that I have my students play
one
traditional sport all year. We do nontraditional activities that
require
cooperation, collaboration, thoughtfulness and crossing the curriculum.
Don't get me wrong, my main goal with my students is a healthy body and
learning a healthy lifestyle, but there are many new affective
components
in
today's physical education classes that you can't get from after school
band
practice. Don't want to offend here, I too was in my high school
marching
band.

If your child is participating in a physical education class that is
still
using old school thought, I strongly encourage you to contact your
principal
and lodge a complaint. It is very seldom you see a physical education
program like many of you have mentioned. Unfortunately, it is usually
the
few (no offense here) older physical education teachers that are not
moving
on with the times that give physical education a bad name. If you are
curious about current PE programs and conferences please contact AAHPERD
(American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance)
at
www.aahperd.org. This is our national organization. Thanks for
listening!

Amy Hunt
Physical Education Teacher
Muirlands Middle School, La Jolla, CA
Proud new mom to Nathan Roger Hunt born 6/17/03!

"Circe" wrote in message
news:Cojbb.373$hp5.172@fed1read04...
"Donna Metler" wrote in message
...
There was someone here who was saying that their child was being
kept
in
from recess to finish work.

'Twas me.

In TN, 30 minutes of PE a day is mandated in elementary school. If
the
school doesn't have a PE class for 30 minutes a day, the days they
don't
have PE, the students are supposed to have "structured or
unstructured
physical activities"-ie, recess. So you might want to check the PE
requirements, because recess may be mandated via those.

Just thought this might be helpful.

Thanks. I'm in California. There is a PE mandate, but it's nowhere
near
30
minutes per day and I'm too lazy to look it up to see what the actual
mandate is. My understanding in California is that there is no
requirement
for recess at all, and that recess cannot be used to make up for
instructional PE time.
--
Be well, Barbara
(Julian [6], Aurora [4], and Vernon's [18mo] mom)
See us at http://photos.yahoo.com/guavaln

This week's special at the English Language Butcher Shop:
"No parking passed this sign" -- hotel parking lot sign

All opinions expressed in this post are well-reasoned and insightful.
Needless to say, they are not those of my Internet Service Provider,
its
other subscribers or lackeys. Anyone who says otherwise is itchin' for
a
fight. -- with apologies to Michael Feldman

Anyone here have a kid who is always picked *last* for every team sport? Do
you realize how traumatic that is for your kid? I can guarantee that will
affect him/her for most of his adult life. IMO **all** team sports should
be completely eliminated from PE

classes, for this reason alone.

Uhhh... so you don't think that it might be, in some way, helpful for kids to
learn how to play soccer/softball/baseketball/volleyball/ etc.

No, the solution isn't to elimiate team sports. The solution to to find ways of
picking teams that does not involve having a team captain select team-mates on
the basis of ability. (i.e., you have the kids line up and count off, or you do
it alphabetically, or the teacher selects permanent teams at the beginning of
the school year, balanced for ability ... or any of a dozen other fair or
equitable methods.)


Naomi
CAPPA Certified Lactation Educator

(either remove spamblock or change address to to e-mail
reply.)