Journal 5: Get Your Students Moving

Fish , B. (2011). Get your students moving. Learning and Leading, 34(6), Retrieved from http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/20110304#pg36

In "Get Your Students Moving," Betty Fish gives many examples of how she got her students to participate in physical activity, while in the classroom. She states that students shouldn't be just restricted to moving around doing activity during Physical Education (PE), and that getting students moving also promotes healthy learning which students consider fun. One of the activities she explains was one used for her Heart Adventure Challenge. She had the students pretend to be blood flowing through the heart, and to produce a commercial for the whole school to educate them on keeping the heart healthy. Another activity she outlined was one where she had simple relays for students to participate in, with simple learning objectives like putting numbers in order. This activity was short, let student's be active, and also sparked student interest because it was a race. Fish also used Skype to video chat with an Olympic athlete, giving students an example of live communication. The students really enjoyed this, and they would ask to Skype with the same athlete to see how she was doing! Overall, Fish stresses the importance of getting your students to move around while educating them!

What about the students who can't physically move around?

Fish gave students different tasks for her activities. The tasks weren't all limited to physical activity. Students were given tasks like creating, presenting, etc. If a student can't be physically active to the level as other students, they can still participate by doing other activities within the activity. By being active, it is not limited to physical activity, Fish just wanted to give her readers different resources to teach children how to move in different aspects.

By giving students freedom to "move around," do they perform negatively in the other not so fun activities?

I think students would just look forward to the "moving around" activities. Different teaching styles should always be welcomed, and I think that in any activity there is room to "move around." I think a teacher should just be open minded to trying new innovative teaching methods, and to always think of how a lesson could improve and promote the most learning it can!