PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT UPDATES
SHAPE AMERICA CONFERENCE // By Tiffany Lippoldt, Middle School Physical Education Instructor I would consider my trip to Nashville an overall success. I got more game/ activity ideas for Middle School students, met other P.E. teachers from Wichita as well as from all over the U.S., and reconnected with some teachers I haven’t seen in a long time. I also came away with some new equipment ideas. I wanted to learn about new large group games for when boys’ and girls’ classes combine. From the sessions I attended, I learned four-corner capture the flag and rock, paper, scissor baseball. Our students love playing capture the flag so I was excited to learn of a different version. The four corners variation provides more movement and opportunities for teamwork and strategy, as there are twice as many teams. I also like that the game is very modifiable, being able to change offense, defense, objects, and the goal of the game. Rock, paper, scissor baseball is an activity I can incorporate into students’ laps or as an activity by itself. I saw a ton of other great elementary-age activities and hope to modify them for Middle School. I went to two other sessions and am excited to bring them to WCS – double-dutch and drumfit – most likely activities our students have never tried before. I hadn’t thought of doing double-dutch with my girls, but I enjoyed doing the exercises and think that the girls will, too! Drumfit is a dance and drumming workout using an exercise ball and drumsticks – an activity I think all ages would enjoy! Another idea I LOVE is something called “Train a Teacher.” I would do this just with my 8th grade girls, but they would get the opportunity to train a teacher at WCS. The teachers and students wouldn’t know who they were working with until the end, and so would
26
communicate through me and through surveys and questionnaires. This project is hands-on and requires the girls to apply their knowledge of fitness and exercise to create a workout regimen for their teachers and to make modifications as needed.
There were also some great tips, tricks, and pieces of equipment I learned about. One tip with push-ups is to have kids do “kipping” push-ups to help them feel more success while still working on building arm strength. Push-ups are an exercise that a lot of students and athletes struggle with, so I am excited to show them this variation. I also learned of an app that students could download onto their computers to make posters to advertise things but also to create workout regimens to send to their teacher during “Train a Teacher.” I saw an agenda for students to use for all of their classes that also allowed them space to write down other things related to health and fitness, such as food choices and a mini workout log. They could bring the agenda to P.E. class and jot down notes and ideas regarding their health and fitness goals/needs. While at the conference, I purchased FloorMarx – a new, improved way to mark the gym floor without the need of a bunch of floor tape and cones. It’s like a dry-erase marker for the gym floor. I am excited to try this! I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to go to such a big conference and see so many great physical educators. Thank you to the Ford Foundation for allowing me this amazing opportunity, as it will positively affect me and my students and classes. I look forward to putting these activities and ideas into action this year or next.
