Teaching Tips for Beginning PE Teachers
The following tips may be helpful to new physical education teachers who are trying to establish and create a positive and orderly learning environment in their classrooms. This certainly isn't an all-inclusive list but we hope it is helpful.
- Get to know students names as soon as you can! After learning them, use them often when giving praise, feedback, or getting students attention.
- Look students in the eye when speaking with them.
- Greet students at the gym entrance or in the locker room as soon as they arrive.
- Have class rules posted clearly in all places in which you teach.
- When instructing keep your "back to the wall" as much as possible.
- While helping individual students with a task or skill, position yourself so you can see the rest of the class.
- Keep your eyes up and looking across the class so you can see what is going with all of the students and not just the students in front of you. Think of it as a good defensive driver of a car. You don't look at the hood when driving, look out in front so you can anticipate and avoid potential problems.
- Give feedback across the gym every now and then. For example, using a raised voice while students are practicing extend your voice across the gym telling Sally and Jessie they are doing a nice job working together.
- Have students practice and perfect the procedures and protocols you set for such management tasks as entering and leaving the classroom, lining up, putting and getting out equipment, getting drinks, what to do on the start and stop signal, etc.
Submitted by Mark Manross who is the Executive Director of PE Central. Thanks for contributing to PE Central! Posted on PEC: 8/22/99.
