As teachers, their goal is to help all their students to become physically educated people. Each of the five characteristics of the physically educated person is important, but consistent with the focus of this article, the author has concentrated on those characteristics that relate most to physical activity and fitness promotion. The following are important ideas that every physical educator should know about teaching physical activity and fitness: (1) Physical fitness is a state of being; (2) Teachers' ability to change the fitness of children is not a great as most of them would like; (3) Teaching children about health-related fitness is an important goal; (4) The use of criterion referenced fitness standards, rather than normative standards, is recommended; (5) Self-testing can help students learn important concepts; (6) Fitness tests are not good indicators of student achievement or teacher success; (7) Physical activity education is the paramount goal of teachers; (8) Learning self-management skills is an important objective of physical activity education; (9) Activity guidelines for youth are not the same as for adults; (10) Because a child can do something, it does not mean that it is appropriate for him/her to do it; and (11) Building intrinsic motivation is a key to promoting lifetime physical activity.