There is an imperative need for secondary physical education programming to prepare students for lifetime fitness and health. Physical activity levels in adolescents and adults are dismal, and the negative health outcomes associated with sedentary behaviors are catastrophic. Secondary physical education programs have the opportunity to implement a…

For most people, the word "pioneer" conjures up romantic visions of sturdy, courageous people who crossed physical frontiers of land and/or water alone, or who took their families, communities, and cultures with them into those uncharted territories. Once settled, their pioneering efforts shifted to starting new societies with new laws and new…

By completing a short worksheet, physical education students can develop and practice a five-step fitness plan that is appropriate for elementary through college students. The steps include: selecting an appropriate goal and listing costs and benefits, assessing progress, creating a supportive environment, using supportive self-messages, and…

The President's Challenge Physical Fitness Awards Program makes four awards: The Presidential Physical Fitness Award recognizes those students who score at or about the 85th percentile on all five tests; the National Physical Fitness Award for those in the 50th to 84th percentile; the Participant Award for those who fall below the 50th percentile…

Lessons left out of the formal superintendents' education include handling the school board; working with micromanagers; dealing with the once-a-month expert; communicating with parents; and keeping fit. (MLF)

This article proposes teaching strategies and an instructional format to make traditional secondary physical education classes more fitness oriented. Suggestions address the preclass activity, fitness lectures, skill development, integration game activities, playing of traditional games, fitness activities, and closure activities. Sample week…

Learning about the relationship between heart rate and physical activity is an important aspect of fitness education. Use of a heart rate monitor (HRM) helps a student to understand how stretching and large muscle movements gradually increase the heart rate and blood flow, and enables students to measure their exercise heart rates and set goals…

Aerobics instructors can use step aerobics to motivate students. One creative method is to add the step to the circuit workout. By incorporating the step, aerobic instructors can accommodate various fitness levels. The article explains necessary equipment and procedures, describing sample stations for cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength,…

Agility ladders can be effective fitness tools for elementary and middle school physical education students. Agility ladder activities have students perform various locomotor movements over ladders placed flat on the ground. The paper describes how to conduct agility ladder activities, acquire an agility ladder, and adapt activities to specific…

Physical educators can help students set goals to achieve maximum physical fitness. Educators should continually assess students' progress toward their goals, repeatedly updating goals and activities for reaching the goals. The article explains how to determine students' fitness levels and includes a fitness components activity sheet and class…

The "Missouri Framework for Curriculum Development" is designed to provide school districts with a "frame" for building curricula based on the "Show Me Standards." The 73 "Show Me Standards" define what students should know and be able to do by the time they graduate from Missouri's public high schools. This…

Teachers in a large, urban school district created Wellness Wednesday, a program in which students invite family members and school staff members to join them every other Wednesday for an aerobic workout. The article describes how the program works and notes successful program ideas. (SM)

Physical education teachers should incorporate the concept of muscular balance into their daily curricula and select activities that work the muscles as they are used in everyday activities. The article focuses on maintaining normal strength between the anterior and posterior trunk muscles, detailing appropriate exercises. (SM)

To teach students to maintain active lifestyles, physical educators must know what motivates students to exercise. The article discusses factors contributing to youth inactivity, what physical educators can do about the problem, and what research says about exercise motivation and adherence. Six recommendations for physical educators are included.…

Describes a collaborative project designed to help high school students understand healthy exercise. The project involved preservice physical education majors who acted as fitness facilitators and motivators to the high school students who selected on and off campus, moderate intensity activities. Both groups of students tracked progress and…