Bouldering and Rock Climbing

In today's physical education classes the sport of bouldering and rock climbing are becoming increasingly popular. It is an activity that can be done with elementary, middle, and high school aged students.  As a physical education teacher, I enjoy teaching my bouldering wall unit for a variety of reasons which include:
It's not a team sport:
  Don't get me wrong I think team sports like basketball, volleyball or soccer are great and most definitely belong in any physical education program, but bouldering or rock climbing offer a different variety of challenges as well as skills. Many students are not as interested in team games, and excel when activities like bouldering and rock climbing occur.

Students must work together:
  What I mean by this is that whenever students are bouldering or climbing you should always have a climber and spotter or belayer, sometimes even a back-up belayer. These individuals must always work together to be successful. One aspect I try and stress with my students during this unit is that they need to be clear communicators as well as trust in each other.

Adresses National Standards for P.E.:
   During a rock climbing or bouldering wall unit, you can easily address many of the national or state standards which are required for physical education. Looking at the social aspect, students are continuously working together and relying on one another. As with the cognitive domain, student must plan specific climbs, as well as continuously make decisions and problem solve. It is easy to see the psychomotor domains that go along with climbing, it takes a great amount of balance as well as lower and upper body strength to maneuver around a wall.

It's challenging:
  One aspect I really enjoy while teaching my bouldering wall unit is the excitement I see in students when they complete a climb or challenge that they initially did not think they could. It builds there own self-esteem and confidence up and will likely boost others in their class as they see the success of other students.

What is the difference between Bouldering and Rock Climbing?
There are a few different types of climbing (Bouldering, Top-Roping, and Lead Climbing).

Bouldering:
Bouldering occurs when individuals climb while they are low to the ground. No ropes or harnesses are required for this activity. Generally individuals who climb regularly will practice bouldering to improve on their climbing moves and body strength. Individuals also move more horizontally as opposed to vertically. Bouldering is very common in elementary physical education classes since it is easier for a single teacher to teach students specifica aspects of climbing without the use of ropes, harnesses or belay devices.

Top Roping:
Top roping occurs when an individual wears a harness that has a belay rope attached to it. The rope from the climber runs up through a top-rope running anchor, which is located at the top of a climbing route, then back down and is attached to the belayer (Steihl, J. & Ramsey, T. Climbing Walls. 2005, Champaign, IL). Top-roping allows individuals to climb at a much higher vertical height than bouldering. It is very important that climber and belayer clearly communicate with each other to prevent serious injury.

Lead Climbing:
Lead climbing, which is similar to top-roping requires a series of protection anchors vertically spaced at proper intervals going up the wall. A climber clips his/her belay rope into the non-locking carabiner as he/she reaches each anchor point. This continues until the climber reaches the top of the route, at which point they must attache their belay rope to be lowered back down (Steihl, J. & Ramsey, T. Climbing Walls. 2005, pg.13 Champaign, IL).

Interested in finding more out about climbing, below is a list of online sites that will provide you with up to date information on climbing as well as give you more information if you have an interest in building a wall for your school. A great book to have if you are interested in building a climbing wall or already have a wall, but are new to climbing is also suggested.

Climbing Wall Association (CWA)

Indoor Climbing

Books

Climbing Walls: A Complete Guide by Jim Stiehl and Tim B. Ramsey

Blogging: The first few posts

A few months ago I started my blog. I was asked by a fellow educator to reflect on how I feel this process has been going. Although I have not written a lot of posts, I have definitely enjoyed writing my blog, but have realized that it is not something that has been easy. There are things I am passionate about, teaching physical education is one of those passions, hence my blog Making a Difference Through Physical Education. I am continuously trying to think of creative posts to write about that I not only find interesting, but that also might be of interest to other physical education teachers. As difficult as it is to think of ideas that I feel I can effectively write about, I always try to allow myself to reflect on my own teaching abilities, as well as what works for me and what doesn't, which has been very beneficial. I have also taken an interest in reading other blogs and learning from fellow educators. Blogging is definitely becoming more popular, and it allows us to generate our own thoughts for others to view. In the end, the main reason I am blogging is to share my knowledge or lack of knowledge with others, because I am always looking to improve upon my own teaching abilities. If you have any thoughts on blogging or have found things that have worked well for you, please send me a post.

Field Day: A Daunting Task

Field Day tends to be one of the most enjoyable events for students throughout the year. As physical education teachers, we are typically responsible for organizing all of the various activities, setting everything up, as well as getting volunteers to help out and it can be an extremely daunting task depending on the size of school you are at and amount of help you have. 

We recently held our annual Field Day, which went great, and luckily the weather gods were on my side because it was a beautiful day, along with that I had a lot of parent volunteers to help out. After finishing field day though, I thought it might be a good idea to reflect on the various steps that I took to prepare for field and what I made sure to do the day of field day. 

Step 1: Brainstorming what you want to do for Field Day.

• Deciding how your field day will be run is one of the most important aspects in the initial process. Some things to consider include:
• Will you use groups/teams
• How will you divide groups/teams up (strictly by grade level, mixed primary, and secondary)
• Will you have enough space to have all of the students participating at the same time and on the same day
• Will you have a theme for field day
• Will you need volunteers and if so, how many will you need

Step 2: What activities for field day will you do.

• Once you have decided on some of the above questions you can begin to think about various activities and games that can be incorporated into your field day. Some of which may include
• Relay activities
• Water related activities depending on the time of year you have field day
• Team sport activities 
• Adventure Ed. related activities

Step 3: Deciding whether or not you will need more volunteers aside from the school staff.

• If you are using volunteers whether it is parents or other older students, it is important to think about what they will do, will they help lead groups or lead stations. Along with this, keeping them informed as to their job responsibilities will help them and you out on field day.

Step 4: Trying to make it as stressless as possible for staff/parent volunteers.

• Along with the games and activities, teachers and many other staff members are typically involved, so it is always important to keep teachers informed of what is going on far enough ahead of time so that they can prepare. I have included a few ideas of what teachers might need, to prepare for field day.
• List of students in their group or team if it is mixed grade leve
• Station schedule
• Description of each station for station volunteers
• Map of stations
• Daily breakdown of how field day will run

Step 5: Preparing on the day of field day.

• My busiest morning of the year is field day, I am always running around, trying to organize equipment, and making sure everything is set-up ready to go for the afternoon. A few things to consider when the day has arrived.
• Allowing yourself enough prep time
• Ensuring equipment is in working order and safe
• Depending on climate, having available areas for water or shade for students to chill out in
• Making sure volunteers arriving with enough time to prep about how the day will run or informing them about the station they will be working at

There are many other things to consider when preparing for field day, but these will hopefully help get you started as you prepare for your big day.  I would love to hear creative ideas you have with regards to field day, please post on my blog any great ideas you have. Thanks!!!

Striving to Push Physical Education in Schools and Communities

As physical education teachers we continue to have to fight for more P.E. for our students, yet we continue to see the health of our students diminish. More and more research continues to come out that reinforces increased physical activity leading to higher academic test scores in school. Having a quality physical education program can benefit students in a variety of ways some of which include:

• Increase in overall health
• Ability to stay more focused and on task inside and outside of class
• Ability to develop various physical skills (i.e., manipulative, locomotor, etc...)
• Opportunity to interact with fellow classmates outside of the classroom environment
• Opportunity to challenge the brain in fun, and creative ways that involve movement
• Opportunity to learn lifelong activities that promote a healthy lifestyle

As a physical education teacher, I feel it is my responsibility to create healthy, active lifelong learners who understand why physical activity is important now, but also for the rest of there life. I also feel that I need to promote what I teach. The more I can promote physical education, the more I can make a difference. There are a few different ways I try to promote physical education within the school and community both for students and parents.

P/T Conferences:
I recently had parent/teacher conferences, and those of you who are P.E. teachers typically know that many parents do not feel the need to attend a p/t conference with the physical education teacher. I fortunately did not have the same experience this quarter, many parents were very interested in what their child was doing in P.E., which was great for me. Having the opportunity to talk with parents about how their child is doing in class and at the same time promoting physical education allows parents to be more aware of how important physical education is.

Fundraisers w/in School or Community
Fundraisers within your school of community can be a great way to promote physical activity and physical education, as well as raise money for your own department or local community organizations. Last spring I along with another physical education teacher organized a Skipathon to raise money for a local school that primarily dealt with special needs students. A month before we had the skipathon I presented a key note presentation for all the students to watch, and discussed the goal of trying to raise  money to purchase various fitness equipment for the school. The skipathon allowed our P.E. department to do the following things:

1. Present students with an opportunity to help another school within the community.
2. Present students with a goal to try and raise as much money as possible to help out another school.
3. Challenge students to practice their skipping skills to prepare for the skipathon
4. Promote healthy activity at school and within the community
5. Take part in helping another school within the community

Offering Extracurricular Activities

A teachers job never ends when the bell rings at the end of the day, and much of the time physical education teachers are involved in coaching various sports throughout the year. If you have the time, offering extracurricular activities to students can be a great way to keep students active as well as develop a relationship with them that you might not in class. 

Working with your Physical Education Department to Secure Grants

Obtaining grants for your  department can be an extremely beneficial opportunity for your physical education department, school, or district to effectively promote physical activity within your school and community.  PEP Grants (also known as the Carol M. White Physical Education Program) are probably the most influential grants geared directly toward physical education. The main goal of this grant is to "to initiate, expand, or enhance physical education programs, including after-school-programs, for students in kindergarten through 12th grade." 

(retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/programs/whitephysed/index.html). There are many other different grants that you can apply for and if you are not sure where to find information on grants, go online and search. There are a lot of different grants and any money you can bring in for your department will benefit the students. I have include links to different websites that offer information on physical education grants for you to check out. I have also included a link to tips on how to effectively write a grant proposal. Grants may seem like a daunting task, but if you work with fellow educators to write up  a proposal, a little work can go a long way in helping to change your physical education department.

If you have any insights on what you have done to help promote physical education within your community or school please share your ideas on my blog. I am always looking to hear from other educators about what they effectively do within their classroom to promote physical education.

PEP Grant Information

Physical Education/Community Grants

Tips on Writing Effective Grants

 

Managing your Classroom

Effective classroom management might be one of the most important aspects you as a teacher can do to achieve a healthy classroom environment. This is something that takes time and patience, but if you can create a clear outlook for students regarding the expectations you have, things will run much smoother and you will cut out a lot of waisted time that can be used to engage students in activities. I have listed a few of my own personal thoughts with regard to how I manage my own classroom:

1. Be clear with your expectations

• The first day of class, one of the first things I do with my students is to clearly communicate the rules and expectations for the entire year. I discuss with them the rules of class, and consequences. At the end of class on the first day, I make sure to ask students what the rules/expectations for the year are.

2. Stick to the rules

• Students will pick up if you are not sticking to the rules/expectations you have set forth in class, which can lead to an even more chaotic classroom environment. So do not be afraid to be harsh with your students early on if they break a rule, they will make sure they do not break that rule the next time.

3. Don't be afraid to communicate with parents

• I have found that clear communication with parents is always beneficial with a class that struggles with following classroom management procedures. Sometimes all it takes is a quick email home or even a discussion with the classroom teacher.

4. It's Ok to let students wait

• Some students love to talk, and this might be one of my biggest pet peeves, especially if I am trying to discuss a new skill or perform a demonstration during class. I have found that sometimes just letting students continue to talk while I stand patiently waiting for them to quiet down can be effective. Usually, other students that see this will ask or tell their peers to be quiet and this can mean more coming from them than the teacher.

5. Reward classes that are on task

• Rewarding classes that are on task and following the rules is a great way to encourage and reinforce the expectations you have set forth for students. During my student teaching experience, I worked with a very good physical education teacher, and learned a lot from him. One of the best classroom management tools he gave me was something he called P.E. Class of the Week. It was a great classroom management tool for teachers to use to reward classes that were on task, following the rules, and showing respect for themselves and others. I have included a link of P.E. Class of the Week for you to take a look at.

There are a ton of different classroom management strategies you can use in your own classroom, and the best way to see if something works for you is to try it. So don't be afraid to see what works!!!

Welcome to my blog!!!

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to my blog, my name is Ben Schwamberger, I am a elementary physical education teacher, and love working with kids. As a physical educator, I am always interested in learning new ways to creatively teach students. I have created this blog as an informational tool for physical educators which focuses on current topics in P.E., as well as what I find working and not working in my own classroom. I hope you will take time to view my blog and hopefully use it as a tool to help you in your own classroom.