Goal: Let's Move

Part of the Goals 2010 Challenge Series, Goal 18

One of the most popular resolutions is to exercise! Several members of my Personal Learning Network (PLN) have posted their physical achievements and goals. They have shared their exercise goals with their PLNs and have gained support. I love this idea, because I believe most goals are accomplished when we have a support system. Here are ideas others have shared with me in case you want to join me in my long-term goal of promoting my own physical well-being:

  • If you like video games, then try the Wii Fit Plus program.
    • Follow this educator’s journey in his blog, Wii Me.
    • Follow 2 educators’ journey to health in this blog, Can Wii Do it?
  • Try running.
    • Joel, who writes one of my favorite blogs, So You Want to Teach, shared this Will Smith video on his post, Running and Reading. I love what Will Smith says about running and the person in your head pushing you to accomplish your goal.
  • Try yoga or a peaceful walk.
    • Read Mary Beth Hertz’s post, The Importance of Silence, which has interesting research regarding sleeping disorders and the computer and tv.
  • Post your fitness accomplishments using #PLNfit, a hashtag that was created by Beth Still.
    • One great suggestion I found on this hashtag was @Cybraryman1’s tweet where he suggested changing up your routines.
  • For more exercise tips for educators, try these resources!

Get Your Students Moving

One of the greatest technology workshops I attended suggested teachers wear comfortable shoes so they would be comfortable moving around the classroom all day! Many of children are becoming overweight and suffering from diseases like Diabetes. I love to move in the classroom. Movement makes me feel better mentally and physically. Moreover, I believe it is not healthy to have to sit in a classroom at a desk for nearly 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. Here are some suggestions to get you moving that I posted on the Prestwick House blog:

  • Have students get out of their desks and physically move.
    • Try a game where students sit down if they agree with something. This works well with history lessons.
    • Character education through a deck of cards- Give each student a card face down and tell them to place it on their forehead without looking at it. Instruct the other students who can see the card to treat the student according to the value listed on the card. A person with a Queen is treated very well and a person with the number two is treated with disrespect. The students walk around the room while playing this game. Then the teacher asks the students to guess what their card value was by the way others treated them.
  • Make videos—One of my high school student’s favorite lessons was recreating television commercials. First, each student group chose a commercial and analyzed the stereotypes or misconceptions in the commercial. Then the students tried to recreate the same commercial without the stereotypes or misconceptions.
  • Move the lesson outside. Try any of these outdoor tasks:
    • Round robin discussions — Students sit in small groups on the ground or on picnic benches and discuss a topic; one student keeps a record of the discussion. The class will then come together, with each group reporting its findings.
    • Go on a scavenger hunt — Students can look for objects of a certain color, texture, and so forth. If you want to add a digital aspect, have them record certain sounds, and then have other students hunt for these sounds. Have the students take close-up pictures of objects and have others hunt for the object.
    • Do a field study — I’ve had elementary students hunt for fossils with a paleontologist, collect and analyze weather data with a meteorologist, and explore the microbes in a nearby river with a water engineer. A majority of these activities required only a phone call, and we even walked to some of the events. In Germany, school groups walk to several places or take public transportation, which lowers the cost to make more field trips possible.
    • Journal — Students can simply listen to the sounds around them and describe the experience in a journal, or each one can pick a place to sit and compose a poem, create a comic, or draw.

Challenge:
Plan to be physically fit. Do something about it today! If you are currently active, then aim to get your students moving in the classroom!

You may want to subscribe for FREE to receive regular updates!

This is goal 18 of this series! If you’d like to join the challenge, please read this post with more details!

Don’t forget to leave a comment that you accomplished this goal using the hashtag #30Goals!

How are you getting physically fit? Do you want to suggest some tips?


You May Also Like

More From Author