I believe the purpose of education is to engage students by challenging them with new ideas and new activities, and instill in them an excitement for learning. It’s important to me to create a classroom environment where students feel safe, are willing to take risks, and step outside their comfort zone. This can be difficult in physical education, where students come from many different backgrounds and experience levels, and may have preconceptions about how they relate to physical education and sports. I work to find ways to dispel these notions, and show every child that they can benefit, both from a health and cognitive standpoint, and an enjoyment standpoint, from physical education. 

To that goal, I teach diverse lesson plans, from niche sports like fencing, crew and ultimate disc, to more mainstream activities such as basketball, soccer and softball. Each of these sports has elements which are aligned directly with the core standards of the state. I aim to show students a wide range of different sports and recreation, as some may want to continue in the future.  I believe a good experience with a sport can be powerful, giving a student something engaging for a lifetime. 

I use a scaffolding process for teaching. This means that for a unit, I first demonstrate and show proper technique and explain rules and general gameplay, I may show video of have other experts come in to the classroom,  then we shift to having students practice along with me these fundamental skills using drills and exercises, then finally, as students gain confidence in their abilities, work towards scrimmages and games where they are autonomous and using their skills and knowledge as part of a team with a shared goal.  

I do not grade for proficiency in PE, as I believe the range of experience and backgrounds in any given sport across a diverse student body is simply too wide for a proficiency grade to have meaning.  Therefore my grading uses a rubric that reflects broad engagement in the process of learning, rather than a narrowly defined outcome.  I give a grade for cooperation, attitude and behavior (CAB) and a grade for preparedness, effort, participation, and risk-taking (PEPR).  I feel that by focusing on these competencies, students have the best chance of growing and learning in PE.

I believe that as a teacher, I must be a lifelong learner. I am committed to continuously improving my practice and staying up-to-date with research and best practices in education.  I do not believe in a command and control model, as is often associated with sports coaching or PE classes from the past, but rather in building rapport with students, learning about them as people, and then working towards goals related to fitness that fit with their needs.  I am currently working towards my Utah teaching certification by taking a series of courses that will further improve my skills as a teacher and coach.

I feel it is an honor to teach PE, and the opportunities for lifelong enrichment should never be underestimated. One of my great satisfactions as a PE teacher was when I heard one of the students commenting to another student on one of the last days of class for the term,  “I really thought PE was going to be horrible, but I was surprised, it was really fun!”  Being able to shape perceptions about PE and physical fitness towards the positive is my main objective, so my teaching focuses on positive engagement.