Daily Physical Education
So CPS will have daily Physical Education and comply with state laws that mandate daily PE. That is pretty awesome. But they still do not have really any details on how it will be carried out. Since CPS is pretty financially strapped at the time they will slowly implement the plan over 3 years.
I believe in using the whole being in education, including the physical body and exercising gross motor skills not just fine motor skills. When I was teaching Kindergarten in AZ, I took advantage of any time that my students had to run around and to play. I saw that when they had this time to exert themselves it optimized my actual instructional time. They were more focused and we could get things done quicker, so I think this time for students to exercise will be beneficial for academics as well as for behavior.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/education/ct-cps-physical-education-met-20140117,0,5775349.story
i agree that a focus on the whole body supports a student's education. physical well-being is such an important piece to a student's focus in the classroom, and can't be ignored, just like the creative and emotional parts of a student's brain need to be nourished to make them the best learners they can be.
ReplyDeletewe've been working with PE for the last few months to coordinate the implementation of their policy, and looking at ways dance and PE intersect. hopefully it all pans out.
and don't forget about the arts positions that are part of the money that also is supporting PE implementation!