Table of Contents
Tailoring Health Coaching Strategies to Promote Middle School Student Wellness
– Duke Biber and Sarah Gross
Adolescence is a crucial period for developing social and emotional habits that are important for mental and emotional well-being. Learning how to cope, manage emotions, problem solve, and develop interpersonal skills strengthens resilience, and promotes healthy lifestyle behaviors. Various health coaching techniques can be applied to the classroom setting to promote middle school student mental, emotional, and behavioral wellness. This article provides three coaching techniques that can be tailored to the classroom, including 1) vision casting, 2) goal setting, and 3) the development of a growth mindset. Students who develop a grounded and bold vision can more easily establish goals for such a vision, which can be strengthened through the development of a growth mindset.
Articles
Flipping the Script on Teaching Volleyball
- Ray Schweighardt
When teaching volleyball to neophytes and relative beginners, it is crucial to make modifications to ensure success, to maximize touches, to lengthen rallies and to foster structured play. Two such modifications described in this article, Instant Volleyball and Flips, help the instructor meet all four of these goals. Eliminating the serve from beginner play and modifying the scoring system to reward multiple team contacts are also key elements in creating structured, engaging play that builds player confidence, leaving students eager to return to the court, both inside and outside of school. Instructors should “flip the script” on teaching volleyball by doing what seems counterintuitive at first – eliminating aspects of a standard six-on-six volleyball game during learning activities to develop a higher quality of game play in the long run.
GoReact: Video Annotation Software to Foster Feedback in Physical Education Instruction
- Denis Schulz and Karen Gaudreault
University supervisors responsible for the programming and congruency between field experiences and the physical education teacher education (PETE) preparation program play a pivotal role in the opportunity for PST success. Due to limitations of time, quality mentors, and the residual effects of the pandemic, on-site observations are becoming more difficult to arrange. While there are concerns about the quality of remote observations, GoReact (GR), a video annotation software, can support PETE programs in conducting observations using this virtual tool. The purpose of this article is to describe how PETE programs can utilize video annotation software to provide alternative means for engaging feedback that encourages self-reflection when in-person observations are not feasible. Additional uses for this software in physical education are also suggested.
Using Traditional Activities from Around the World in Physical Education
- Mijoo Kim, Christian Martinez-Rivera, Fabian Arroyo-rojas, Omar Sanchez, Rio Watanabe, and Samuel Hodge
In this article, five different traditional activities from Chile, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and South Korea will be shared. For each traditional activity, the following four questions will be addressed: (a) What is the culture and language background of the activity? (b) How is it played? (c) What modifications can be made to be inclusive of all learners? and (d) What are the main benefits of the activity for students’ holistic development? These traditional activities from around the world can be incorporated easily into any PE program. They all can be adapted according to students’ diverse abilities, and none require expensive materials or equipment. They each have relatively simple instructions, and the tasks can be made more challenging or simplified according to each student’s needs. Overall, they create opportunities for all students to experience new cultures together and learn from one another, while promoting physical activity. It is hoped that this article will lead to further investigation and inclusion of traditional activities from around the world.
Departments
THEORY INTO PRACTICE
The Effect of DeskCycle Use in a College Classroom
- Lynn Pantuosco-Hensch
Research by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and major universities supports the impact physical activity can have on academic achievement. In a review of research, the CDC found “positive relationships between classroom physical activity and indicators of academic achievement, classroom behavior, and cognitive function.” In particular, aerobic exercise is most associated with academic achievement. Aerobic exercise has been hailed by experts as Miracle-Gro for the brain. Specifically, aerobic exercise increases oxygen, blood flow, and glucose to the brain. Aerobic exercise also promotes the production of more brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF promotes healthy cellular growth in the brain and increases brain plasticity – all of which increases cognition and aptitude for learning.
ADVOCACY IN ACTION
Mind the Gap: A Call to Action
- Laura E. Bruno and Anne Farrell
In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, findings indicate a significant gap exists in learning and social norms amongst students of all ages, backgrounds, and academic levels. This gap transpires despite teacher’s and academic leader’s best efforts to minimize disparities from the 1.5 years of virtual or atypical learning. Nevertheless, schools must now acknowledge this recent data and identify how they will address it moving forward. This Call to Action urges educational leaders, teachers, coaches and decision makers to put students first and #MindTheGap.
COACH'S CORNER
Implementing Small-Sided Games into Youth Basketball Practice
- Brett Carter Jiling Liu
In youth sports, specifically basketball, coaches tend to believe drills as the most effective way to develop skills and make their players more capable. In fact, relying on drills may not work, because it does not mimic real game situations that players will face (Clemente, 2016). What’s worse, repetitive drills can be boring and therefore hinder players’ motivation (Collins & Barcelona, 2018). An alternative way to typical drills is to implement small-sided games. Small-sided games are modified versions of the actual game with a reduced number of players and typically with a reduced playing area (Rodrigues et al., 2022). This approach has many benefits such as providing opportunities to make game-like decisions, specifying constraints to focus on certain skills or situations, and increasing involvement of players in the game. In this paper, we will elaborate the benefits and suggest a practice plan for youth basketball coaches to better implement small-sided games into practice.