Homework

[Slyfox696]

Ah, I didn't know you were a teacher, Sly. Kudos. What do you teach?

PE.

I've never seen gym classes as being particularly important. Why waste 40 minutes asking kids to play tennis or something when some of these kids can't even do basic math or tell the difference between "to, two, too"? Health classes, yeah, that's important, but phys ed (by which I mean "gym") is virtually only useful for getting exercise rather than actually learning anything. How many kids become professional athletes that aren't exposed to sports outside of school as it is?

Let me ask you this. What good is math and science if you're dead at 35 due to an obesity related heart attack?

Physical Education is not just about playing games. It's about PHYSICAL EDUCATION. It's about the education of the physical self. For example, in the first two and a half weeks of class, my classes did a fitness unit. We learned about the difference between aerobic and anaerobic exercise, the 5 Components of Health Related Fitness and what they are, learned how to find target exercise heart rate using the Karvonen method, different ways to exercise (such as circuit training, jog/walk, etc.), and learned some of the major muscle groups in the body. All of that is physical education. And, if I had the course my way, I'd go in depth about the muscles and joints and how they work. I'd talk about First Aid (which I probably will do with my high school class), and I'd hit food and nutrition hard. These are things that kids NEED to know. Learning about food and learning about proper diet, as well as how exercise plays into our daily lives is VERY important these days, to help try and teach kids to live a healthy live.

Because, like I said, what good is doing math if you're too fat to stay healthy?

The classes I haven't aren't tailored to be real in-depth stuff like I said I wanted. Two of the classes I teach are called "Wellness" classes, which is designed to give students some alternative exercise methods, exercise that they can do when their 35 years old etc. One class is Physical Development, where we try to develop the physical abilities of our student. One class is 6th grade PE and one class is a high school PE 2 class, which is geared more towards team sports than anything.

So, homework isn't something I give regularly, because I think that I can incorporate most of my content into a working lesson to teach as we participate. But, we still have tests, and they still have study guides to fill out and are responsible for.

Physical Education is, more and more, becoming a VERY important subject for students. And one that needs to be taken more seriously than just "have fun".

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

PE.

I figured that. I meant like, high school, elementary school, college....standard PE teacher or do you also teach Health classes? Etc. I forgot to elaborate.

Let me ask you this. What good is math and science if you're dead at 35 due to an obesity related heart attack?

Physical Education is not just about playing games. It's about PHYSICAL EDUCATION. It's about the education of the physical self. For example, in the first two and a half weeks of class, my classes did a fitness unit. We learned about the difference between aerobic and anaerobic exercise, the 5 Components of Health Related Fitness and what they are, learned how to find target exercise heart rate using the Karvonen method, different ways to exercise (such as circuit training, jog/walk, etc.), and learned some of the major muscle groups in the body. All of that is physical education. And, if I had the course my way, I'd go in depth about the muscles and joints and how they work. I'd talk about First Aid (which I probably will do with my high school class), and I'd hit food and nutrition hard. These are things that kids NEED to know. Learning about food and learning about proper diet, as well as how exercise plays into our daily lives is VERY important these days, to help try and teach kids to live a healthy live.

Because, like I said, what good is doing math if you're too fat to stay healthy?

The classes I haven't aren't tailored to be real in-depth stuff like I said I wanted. Two of the classes I teach are called "Wellness" classes, which is designed to give students some alternative exercise methods, exercise that they can do when their 35 years old etc. One class is Physical Development, where we try to develop the physical abilities of our student. One class is 6th grade PE and one class is a high school PE 2 class, which is geared more towards team sports than anything.

So, homework isn't something I give regularly, because I think that I can incorporate most of my content into a working lesson to teach as we participate. But, we still have tests, and they still have study guides to fill out and are responsible for.

Physical Education is, more and more, becoming a VERY important subject for students. And one that needs to be taken more seriously than just "have fun".

Well I have to applaud you then, Sly, cause that truly IS a worthwhile class, and its the first example I've ever heard of someone actually doing that. Every single gym class I've ever had and anybody else that I know has ever had (not just from the same school system, either, because my school system isn't low rent or anything) has only witnessed it as more of an exercise yard than anything else. Whenever we've learned about everything that you just exhibited, it was in a Health class, not a gym class. Gym was always "we're playing tennis for 2 weeks, then we're playing basketball, then we're getting graded on how fast we can run a mile or how many sit-ups we can do", etc. If you're really structuring your class to provide lessons and not just playing hockey, much applause.

 

[jmt225]

It's ridiculous ignorant attitudes like this which are a prime cause for the rise in obesity in America, in my opinion.

As for the rest of your completely uninformed post, I'm not even going to bother such complete and utter bullshit with a response. If you had half a clue as to what you were talking about, I might be inclined to care. Do you even know what PE stands for?

Haha.. like I said dude, you take yourself way too seriously. Look, I'm not saying I don't respect P.E. teachers, but come on. All P.E. ever was to me and everyone else I ever known in my lifetime was dressing out, doing warm-ups and then playing basketball or playing softball or weighting weights, ect. The only time P.E. was a pain in the ass was the week you had run the mile, do chin ups and pull ups and all that stuff.

And how does my post have anything to do with the rise in obesity? Did you actually read what I wrote? I said P.E. was about having fun and participating in athletic activities. It's really the only time at school when you can get any exercise whatsoever.

Moreover, all that shit you said to NoFate, that's the shit you learn in HEALTH CLASS. Seriously, if you want to teach all that stuff, then move up to the 9th Grade and teach Health Class, because that's where that belongs to be taught. P.E., since it was created, has always been about dressing out, participating in sports, and staring at hot girls in short shorts. It shouldn't change.

Also, this obesity crap is just that: crap. Kids are fat because of their parents, plain and simple. There is nothing you will ever "teach" at an elementary/middle school that will keep a kid from getting fat, because you won't be home with them when they're stuffing their faces with junk food and sitting on their couch playing video games all night. If you want to be this noble person who helps lower the obesity rate in this country, then start your own business. Become like a personal trainer for kids and start a school strictly for teaching kids how to exercise and loose weight. Run a fat camp. That way, you'll only deal with kids whose parents care whether or not they're healthy. You'll deal with kids who want to be healthy.

Lastly, thank you for the really sweet rep comment. I deeply appreciate it.

 

[FromTheSouth]

You don't have enough time in class to do the work. Your class is for the lesson. You go home to practice.

When you are working, you get given material to learn to do your job. You go over it at work, but when they send you home, it is your resposibility to be able to use the information given to complete your mission.

Shitty as it is, rationalizing by saying it makes kids fat isn't going to prepare you for like.

 

[Rusty]

Of course it does. But, that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about quantity of homework, not quality.

Your grades on homework is quality, not quantity. Completely separate issue.

So are you saying that students that do loads of homework but don't understand it properly, won't get good marks? Thus meaning that homework is useless to a minority of students.

Because most students aren't aware of all the things there are to do in this world. Some people, like me, know exactly what they want to do in life. However, some, like my girlfriend, change their majors a couple of times before they realize what they want to do.

If you don't have that background in ALL areas, then your education can't meet the needs of your changing interests. And your interests will change as you get older.

Well, I'm still not completely sure what I want to do when I leave school but I do have a specific area that I'm aiming for. Making subjects like Religion and English almost useless to me.

Which is why homework is assigned

Homework still doesn't help me remember EVERY single thing I learn. It's just not humanly possible to learn and to remember everything from the year.

Then you need to add time on to school.

There's just not enough time in a day to teach everything AND give class work time. Which is where I brought up Saturday school.

Hmm, going to school 6 days a week.. I may as well live there if that is what you're implying.

No, you're not focusing on our discussion.

You talked about homework being the reason kids are overweight, not being the reason that kids don't exercise. Kids are not overweight because of homework, they're overweight for the other reasons I mention.

Pay attention.

I said homework is PART, not all of the reason why many kids are obese. They are obese because they don't exercise. And they don't exercise because of the large amounts of homework and therefore don't have enough time. Is that clear enough?

Don't go there then. Go somewhere else. If you're from America, then you have the right to go to a public school.

I bet the homework given by your school now isn't as much as the homework given by your school 20 years ago. It may be more than most schools, but I bet it's less than what it used to be.

In general, homework is down at most schools, because of the different teaching practices across the country.

I never said I didn't like my school, I just said it is fairly demanding. I live in Australia by the way, and I'm not moving schools. I know people that went to my school 20 years ago and they said they didn't get as much homework as what we receive now.

Then go to a different school.

I mean, you can't have it both ways. You can't pay for a top flight school, and then complain about the school's way of teaching.

I mean sometimes I receive assignments and am forced to research the web for my assignment, without receiving any other information about the topic. It doesn't happen often but when it does, I ask what does that teach me? I am basically teaching myself in those situations.

Tell them to fuck off.

It never worked for me (probably would have gotten my lips smacked right off my face if I'd tried), but you never know.

What do you have to spend money on? I never spent any money on anything. I just hitched rides to the school or rode my bike to the park when I wanted to do something.

I have tried. It's just because THEY had a part time job while at school, they expect me to do the same. But like you said, focusing on your schoolwork is more important.

Well, it would be nice to purchase more sports eqiupment, video games, a new phone etc. Sure they aren't necessary but they are my distraction from reality which is important to me. And since I am receiving my drivers licence soon, they will most likely expect me to pay for fuel with money I won't have.

In the end, you can complain all you want, but you're going to have to accept the fact that school is a place for education, not practice. The teachers' job is to teach the material, but it's your job to learn it. And homework is where you learn it.

Homework should only be for revision and for studying for tests. I do more than that at home.

Yes we do. Hell, as often as students bitch about it, we probably can tell you a week ahead of time how much you're going to have.

We know. Believe me, we know. But, like I said, that doesn't change the fact that you still have to do OUR work and learn OUR material.

Yes we do. We were students once too. Some of us probably did more than you do. For example, at my school, there were and still are several kids who went to school, and played football in the fall, basketball in the winter, and baseball or track in the spring. They were literally at the school EVERY DAY after school, competing in extra-curricular activities, representing our school. They still had to do their school work as well. Not only that, many of them had lawn mowing jobs on the weekend, as well as chore tasks.

Well, the teachers at my school can't as students of the same year level have different lessons to one another and therefore it is near impossible for teachers to understand the amount of homework each and every student receives each night.

I assure you, your generation is not being picked on.

I agree. Which is what Saturday and Sunday are for.

I mean, what do you think teachers do during the week? Work the school day, go home, and not think about anything else? Want to know what I did this weekend, even while I was on WZ? I was setting up a message board, adding hack codes so a teacher at school could have a message board forum for her students to respond to a book. If I wasn't doing that, I was creating graphics for the school web site, AND trying to write code so school alumni can be displayed on our school web site.

And I'm a PE teacher who doesn't give homework. Imagine your teachers, with 120 students, all of which have homework. I bet their pretty busy, what do you think?

But I also receive weekend homework, which takes away MORE free time. Yes, but teachers receive free lessons in which they do their marking and prepare for lessons. I don't have any free lessons currently and therefore I am almost forced to do all work at home. Studying from 5pm to 9pm isn't my ideal of relaxing at home. Ever heard of family time? I know you're going to say "But thats what weekends are for", but we are not usually home much on weekends much as I hang out with friends and my parents see their own friends and relatives. Therefore after school hours is important to spend time with your family, in my opinion.

After school hours should be for: eating dinner with your family, maybe having a shower and a shave, exercising to keep fit, watching t.v and just to relax in general. We are only humans, not machines.

 

[HBK-aholic]

So basically what I'm getting fromt his thread is that it's the amount of homework rather than the fact we actually get it? Something I would have to agree with. It'd be perfectly acceptable for schools to make a homework timetable and stick to it. My school had one but not one teacher followed it. The timetable stated you'd get a certain subject homework each day. Sometimes you'd have 2 subjects, others you'd have none. This is a good system in my opinion. This way teachers DO know how much work we get a night, and we know how much we need to do and what to be expected.

I do understand the need for work being done at home therefore I'm not asking for it to be abolished. But I think it needs to be organised into a sensible way that is reasonable for students. As I said before, if I'm supposed to do 4 hours work a night, I won't get finished until 9 p.m. And this is only if I begin at 5 which is the second I get home. I also need to eat, get Jessica sorted out, spend time with her and get her ready for bed, shower and do other little things. So we're looking at 11p.m. Fair?

 

[Richard]

It'd be perfectly acceptable for schools to make a homework timetable and stick to it. My school had one but not one teacher followed it. The timetable stated you'd get a certain subject homework each day. Sometimes you'd have 2 subjects, others you'd have none. This is a good system in my opinion. This way teachers DO know how much work we get a night, and we know how much we need to do and what to be expected.

I WISH we had that, but meh....teachers can't give me anymore work because no more class but that would have been great. Sometimes teachers don't understand and especially for year 12 where you get homework for every subject everyday it got very hard sometimes especially with projects ontop of that.

I think that homework is neccessary but not at the amount which is given, well at my school anyway, it was just too much.

If I was to do all my homework, I would be working for say an hour and a half, maximum two hours. Then after that about 4 hours of revision. I get home at 3:30. One and a half hours of homework means 5, then till 9 with revision, that's if I do it as soon as I walk in my front door which I think is fairly unreasonable.

I would go on more but I will discuss the rest later, typing with one hand is very annoying as I fell on my wrist playing football and I think I fractured the bones, it's been hurting pretty bad most of the day, doctors and xray place tomorrow

 

[LigerBomb]

Haha.. like I said dude, you take yourself way too seriously. Look, I'm not saying I don't respect P.E. teachers, but come on. All P.E. ever was to me and everyone else I ever known in my lifetime was dressing out, doing warm-ups and then playing basketball or playing softball or weighting weights, ect.

And that's your first mistake: basing your opinions on your limited personal experiences. Were you to look at the history of PE you would see that the ideas of physical health, well being, and education can be traced back to the days of the ancient Greeks (if not further) who gave thought to the human body in context of a complete spectrum that included -but was not limited to- art, philosophy, religion and medicine. Its only relatively recently that we as a culture have relegated the subject to the practice of simply playing competitive sports or "exercise".

And how does my post have anything to do with the rise in obesity? Did you actually read what I wrote? I said P.E. was about having fun and participating in athletic activities. It's really the only time at school when you can get any exercise whatsoever.

PE isn't just about having fun, nor should it be. However when it is and as you say it should be, you lose the opportunity to learn valuable information about preventing a myriad of health problems, such as the enormous problem of obesity.

Moreover, all that shit you said to NoFate, that's the shit you learn in HEALTH CLASS. Seriously, if you want to teach all that stuff, then move up to the 9th Grade and teach Health Class, because that's where that belongs to be taught.

Actually there really wasn't a need for a specific "Health" class when all of it was originally taught in PE. However when the mindless decision to play games switched PE to GYM, a "Health" class all of a sudden became necessary.

Hell I say create a "Physical Arts & Science" class and then have hands on labs like other science classes and put it all back together under one roof.

P.E., since it was created, has always been about dressing out, participating in sports, and staring at hot girls in short shorts. It shouldn't change.

Wrong. See above.

And just as an example: At one point in history it was used to condition the youth for military combat preparedness.

If you want to be this noble person who helps lower the obesity rate in this country, then start your own business. Become like a personal trainer for kids and start a school strictly for teaching kids how to exercise and loose weight. Run a fat camp. That way, you'll only deal with kids whose parents care whether or not they're healthy. You'll deal with kids who want to be healthy.

Start a business? Education, even a physical one, belongs in a school. But as an actual working CPT, CSCS, & USAW coach, and soon to be grad student in Exercise Science that can see the obvious failure of some schools, I suppose I would like somebody somewhere to pick up the slack.
All day long I deal with lazy adults who don't know a damn thing about how to treat, care for, or respect their bodies, and kids who lack the basic CNS coordination and cardiovascular fitness to do a tumblesault without a coronary episode. No wonder Health Care costs are so exorbitant.

Apologies for the thread hijack

BTW kids need homework... and it should be mandatory

Just like it should be mandatory for some adults to have continuing education credit requirements to keep their jobs.

 

[-John-]

For some reason at my school we dont get much homework. For some reason sometimes our Teachers let us do it in class and now we have this sceme where the teachers are only allowed to give the Homework to our Form Teachers and then our Form Teachers will give us one peice a week. The only homework i currently have is that i need to do a poster on The Digestive System. It needs to be in tomorrow and i've already done it .

 

[jmt225]

And that's your first mistake: basing your opinions on your limited personal experiences. Were you to look at the history of PE you would see that the ideas of physical health, well being, and education can be traced back to the days of the ancient Greeks (if not further) who gave thought to the human body in context of a complete spectrum that included -but was not limited to- art, philosophy, religion and medicine. Its only relatively recently that we as a culture have relegated the subject to the practice of simply playing competitive sports or "exercise".

I've been to a few different schools in my day; in two different states I might add. All the P.E. classes were the same. Yes, it is still “limited experience” to a certain degree, but aren’t we suppose to base our opinions on our own experiences to begin with?

Also, those ancient Greeks you talk about are the same Men who slept with little boys regularly. So using them an example is not the most intelligent thing to do, as they were obviously wrong about a lot of things. Not trying to say homosexuality is wrong, just pederasty.

PE isn't just about having fun, nor should it be. However when it is and as you say it should be, you lose the opportunity to learn valuable information about preventing a myriad of health problems, such as the enormous problem of obesity.

Like I said to Sly, you get that in Health Class. Hell, you get that in certain Science classes as well. P.E. is not about that and shouldn't be, in my opinion. Learning about all that shit belongs in a classroom, not on a basketball court or in a lockerroom.

Actually there really wasn't a need for a specific "Health" class when all of it was originally taught in PE. However when the mindless decision to play games switched PE to GYM, a "Health" class all of a sudden became necessary.

But it's there and that's what the purpose of it is.

And just as an example: At one point in history it was used to condition the youth for military combat preparedness.

Well, that's interesting, honestly... no sarcasm. I'm glad it isn't like that today.

Start a business? Education, even a physical one, belongs in a school.

Yeah, but why deal with kids you have a VERY little chance of truly affecting for the better? I mean, dude... as a P.E. teacher, you're only going to spend 50 minutes a day, five days a week with these kids. It's got to be hard to get through to kids with that limited amount of time spent with them. That's why I said if this is so important to Sly, then he should enter a field where he can be more hands on and only deal with kids who will take him seriously and kids who really want to change for the better. It's just my opinion of course, but to me it seems pretty obvious.

But as an actual working CPT, CSCS, & USAW coach, and soon to be grad student in Exercise Science that can see the obvious failure of some schools, I suppose I would like somebody somewhere to pick up the slack. All day long I deal with lazy adults who don't know a damn thing about how to treat, care for, or respect their bodies, and kids who lack the basic CNS coordination and cardiovascular fitness to do a tumblesault without a coronary episode. No wonder Health Care costs are so exorbitant.

Good points, but changing P.E. into some grueling, pain the ass course isn't going to make things better. At least, I don't personally think so. Kids are still going to be kids when they leave that class.

 

[LigerBomb]

,

Also, those ancient Greeks you talk about are the same Men who slept with little boys regularly. So using them an example is not the most intelligent thing to do, as they were obviously wrong about a lot of things. Not trying to say homosexuality is wrong, just pederasty.

Actually, to discredit an entire culture's profound legacy of ideas, contributions and achievements due to one's own disagreement with certain and specific sexual education practices is "not the most intelligent thing to do".
To put it in wrestling terms I wouldn't dismiss Chris Benoit's abilities and accomplishments within pro wrestling simply because I don't personally agree with the actions he committed during the last weekend of his life.

Baby with the Bathwater my friend

Like I said to Sly, you get that in Health Class. Hell, you get that in certain Science classes as well. P.E. is not about that and shouldn't be, in my opinion. Learning about all that shit belongs in a classroom, not on a basketball court or in a lockerroom.

Correction: As already stated, PE isn't currently like that. If you believe it shouldn't be, that's fine but don't rewrite history, please.
Additionally I believe you could synthesizer Health and PE into "Physical Arts & Science" then you could have your class room and your locker room

Yeah, but why deal with kids you have a VERY little chance of truly affecting for the better?

Ask that question of any educator and see what answer they give you. A Sisyphean task it may well be, but never the less it's a worthy if not necessary task to be sure.

I mean, dude... as a P.E. teacher, you're only going to spend 50 minutes a day, five days a week with these kids. It's got to be hard to get through to kids with that limited amount of time spent with them.

By that logic why teach anything if your criteria for "hard to get through to" is the same 50 minutes a day that all subjects receive.

That said, if you go to a school that has PE scheduled for 50 min a day, 5x a week you should consider yourself lucky. Now just try changing the current sport centered curriculum and you would be all set.

That's why I said if this is so important to Sly, then he should enter a field where he can be more hands on and only deal with kids who will take him seriously and kids who really want to change for the better. It's just my opinion of course, but to me it seems pretty obvious.

Your right, its pretty obvious that he should quit a current job, research the required information to start a business, secure loans for start up capital, and then open said business hoping it's a success especially in the current market economy.
Hyperbole aside, preaching to the converted doesn't beget true change.

Good points, but changing P.E. into some grueling, pain the ass course isn't going to make things better. At least, I don't personally think so. Kids are still going to be kids when they leave that class.

It would be just as "grueling" as any other class that instills educational information. Just as some would be inclined to math or history, some may excel and find a true interest in exercise science and human kineseology/physiology. And others who have made the wrong choices due to lack of information may make better choices given proper guidance. And were that to happen to even a single student it would make things better than if it never happened.

 

[Slyfox696]

I've been to a few different schools in my day; in two different states I might add. All the P.E. classes were the same. Yes, it is still “limited experience” to a certain degree, but aren’t we suppose to base our opinions on our own experiences to begin with?

Not really in a case like this. You can tell us what YOU'VE done, but try and say that's the way everyone should do it is short-sighted and ignorant.

Also, those ancient Greeks you talk about are the same Men who slept with little boys regularly. So using them an example is not the most intelligent thing to do, as they were obviously wrong about a lot of things. Not trying to say homosexuality is wrong, just pederasty.

Actually, to discredit an entire culture's profound legacy of ideas, contributions and achievements due to one's own disagreement with certain and specific sexual education practices is "not the most intelligent thing to do".
To put it in wrestling terms I wouldn't dismiss Chris Benoit's abilities and accomplishments within pro wrestling simply because I don't personally agree with the actions he committed during the last weekend of his life.

Baby with the Bathwater my friend

Pretty much sums it up.

Like I said to Sly, you get that in Health Class. Hell, you get that in certain Science classes as well. P.E. is not about that and shouldn't be, in my opinion. Learning about all that shit belongs in a classroom, not on a basketball court or in a lockerroom.

Health IS Physical Education. Health is to Physical Education as Geometry is to math.

That's like saying you shouldn't do Algebra in a math class. It's ridiculous. However, it is MORE than acceptable to teach those subjects in a gymnasium. You don't have to have a classroom to teach fitness concepts, the impact of nutrition habits, muscular structure etc. To say that you have to be in a sit down classroom to learn that stuff is just ignorant.

Especially since I do it, and my students learn it.

But it's there and that's what the purpose of it is.

It's there because of ignorant and uninformed people like yourself. People who think PE should be a recess.

Yeah, but why deal with kids you have a VERY little chance of truly affecting for the better?

WHAT? Using that theory, what's the point of even having school to begin with?

In fact, I have just as much, if not more, power to better a kids life than other teachers. Because, not all students will go into a career dealing with science, not all will do math, etc...but ALL people have to eat, and ALL people have to deal with the benefits or repercussions of their lifestyle.

If I can train the next generation to make healthy nutrition choices, and to teach them various ways to properly exercise, then my class becomes the most important of all, because the subject matter affects all students, and, in the end, is the most material.

Like I said earlier, what good is doing math or science if you're dead at 35 from a heart attack?

I mean, dude... as a P.E. teacher, you're only going to spend 50 minutes a day, five days a week with these kids.

EXACTLY. Now you're getting it.

I don't get to see these kids for an hour every day for the rest of their life. Providing 50 minutes of exercise for one year isn't going to make a difference 10 years down the road.

But, if I can teach kids how to exercise, how to do things on their own, and show them all the different types of exercises that are out there, then I've given them the tools to keep themselves in shape for the rest of their life.

To quote an ancient proverb..."Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime."

I'm teaching my students how to fish.

It's got to be hard to get through to kids with that limited amount of time spent with them.

No more than it is as a math teacher, english teacher, science teacher, etc.

That's why I said if this is so important to Sly, then he should enter a field where he can be more hands on and only deal with kids who will take him seriously and kids who really want to change for the better. It's just my opinion of course, but to me it seems pretty obvious.

It's pretty dim actually.

In my position, I see HUNDREDS of kids in a school year. I'm teaching all of 6th grade, all of 7th grade and all of 8th grade, as well as a high school class. That's over 200 students just this one school year. Do that for 30 years, and that is a LOT of kids who I will impact. Whereas if I were to do it your way, the only people I would see are the people who want to make an effort to exercise. Well, making the effort is half the battle. Those people who would come to me have already won the battle, they just need guidance to help them. My job is to get ALL people interested in exercise, and give them the tools to do it.

My way is FAR superior to your way, and will make an impact on far more lives.

Good points, but changing P.E. into some grueling, pain the ass course isn't going to make things better.

Wait, who said anything about grueling or pain in the butt? You don't know much about education do you?

No one said that school and learning have to be boring. No one said that it can't be fun. Just because I'm not mindlessly throwing out dodgeballs and saying, "Go play", doesn't mean we don't have fun in class.

 

[Slyfox696]

I've been to a few different schools in my day; in two different states I might add. All the P.E. classes were the same. Yes, it is still “limited experience” to a certain degree, but aren’t we suppose to base our opinions on our own experiences to begin with?

Not really in a case like this. You can tell us what YOU'VE done, but try and say that's the way everyone should do it is short-sighted and ignorant.

Also, those ancient Greeks you talk about are the same Men who slept with little boys regularly. So using them an example is not the most intelligent thing to do, as they were obviously wrong about a lot of things. Not trying to say homosexuality is wrong, just pederasty.

Actually, to discredit an entire culture's profound legacy of ideas, contributions and achievements due to one's own disagreement with certain and specific sexual education practices is "not the most intelligent thing to do".
To put it in wrestling terms I wouldn't dismiss Chris Benoit's abilities and accomplishments within pro wrestling simply because I don't personally agree with the actions he committed during the last weekend of his life.

Baby with the Bathwater my friend

Pretty much sums it up.

Like I said to Sly, you get that in Health Class. Hell, you get that in certain Science classes as well. P.E. is not about that and shouldn't be, in my opinion. Learning about all that shit belongs in a classroom, not on a basketball court or in a lockerroom.

Health IS Physical Education. Health is to Physical Education as Geometry is to math.

That's like saying you shouldn't do Algebra in a math class. It's ridiculous. However, it is MORE than acceptable to teach those subjects in a gymnasium. You don't have to have a classroom to teach fitness concepts, the impact of nutrition habits, muscular structure etc. To say that you have to be in a sit down classroom to learn that stuff is just ignorant.

Especially since I do it, and my students learn it.

But it's there and that's what the purpose of it is.

It's there because of ignorant and uninformed people like yourself. People who think PE should be a recess.

Yeah, but why deal with kids you have a VERY little chance of truly affecting for the better?

WHAT? Using that theory, what's the point of even having school to begin with?

In fact, I have just as much, if not more, power to better a kids life than other teachers. Because, not all students will go into a career dealing with science, not all will do math, etc...but ALL people have to eat, and ALL people have to deal with the benefits or repercussions of their lifestyle.

If I can train the next generation to make healthy nutrition choices, and to teach them various ways to properly exercise, then my class becomes the most important of all, because the subject matter affects all students, and, in the end, is the most material.

Like I said earlier, what good is doing math or science if you're dead at 35 from a heart attack?

I mean, dude... as a P.E. teacher, you're only going to spend 50 minutes a day, five days a week with these kids.

EXACTLY. Now you're getting it.

I don't get to see these kids for an hour every day for the rest of their life. Providing 50 minutes of exercise for one year isn't going to make a difference 10 years down the road.

But, if I can teach kids how to exercise, how to do things on their own, and show them all the different types of exercises that are out there, then I've given them the tools to keep themselves in shape for the rest of their life.

To quote an ancient proverb..."Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime."

I'm teaching my students how to fish.

It's got to be hard to get through to kids with that limited amount of time spent with them.

No more than it is as a math teacher, english teacher, science teacher, etc.

That's why I said if this is so important to Sly, then he should enter a field where he can be more hands on and only deal with kids who will take him seriously and kids who really want to change for the better. It's just my opinion of course, but to me it seems pretty obvious.

It's pretty dim actually.

In my position, I see HUNDREDS of kids in a school year. I'm teaching all of 6th grade, all of 7th grade and all of 8th grade, as well as a high school class. That's over 200 students just this one school year. Do that for 30 years, and that is a LOT of kids who I will impact. Whereas if I were to do it your way, the only people I would see are the people who want to make an effort to exercise. Well, making the effort is half the battle. Those people who would come to me have already won the battle, they just need guidance to help them. My job is to get ALL people interested in exercise, and give them the tools to do it.

My way is FAR superior to your way, and will make an impact on far more lives.

Good points, but changing P.E. into some grueling, pain the ass course isn't going to make things better.

Wait, who said anything about grueling or pain in the butt? You don't know much about education do you?

No one said that school and learning have to be boring. No one said that it can't be fun. Just because I'm not mindlessly throwing out dodgeballs and saying, "Go play", doesn't mean we don't have fun in class.


EDIT: I want to give you a link of what PE teachers are supposed to teach in my state. Just click on the link, and then open it in Word, PDF, or Excel. These are the things we're required to have our students know.

http://dese.mo.gov/divimprove/curriculum/GLE/PEgle.html