Cross-Curiculum Integration

One of the goals that I have been working on as a special area teacher this year has been cross-curiculum integration. As a special area teacher at the elementary level, you are one of the few teachers in the building that are able to see all of the students in the building. We see all different ages throughout the whole year, and have the freedom in our curriculum to work on the activities that we choose to work on. Although physical education still does have state standards and requirements, we are not buckled down with the limits of state testing. It is my goal this year to try to work on a cross-curriculum project with each grade level by the end of the year. There are two major benefits that I see for cross-curriculum integration and why I feel as though that all special area teachers should make an effort to add this to their teaching.

1. Allows you as a teacher to get a glimpse into each classroom and see what the students are learning throughout the year.

Sometimes as a physical education teacher, you lose connection about what actually is going on inside each of the grade level classrooms. I never spend any time in the classroom and sometimes you take for granted what some of the students have knowledge of up until the point that are at in school. By spending time working on a cross-curriculum project, you are able to get a glance at some of the learning that is taking place inside the different classroom. It not only gives you a an understanding about what different grade levels are working on, but it also allows you to implement some of the same principles into PE class. Certain games and activities can easily be modified to adapt to certain learning concepts, especially math and science.

2. Allows you as a special area teacher to build better relationships with classroom teachers in the building.

I am a huge proponent in building a positive school culture, and to do that, teachers need to build stronger relationships with not only the students, but also each other. In order to coordinate a project like, you have to spend some time with the grade level teachers, and have conversations with them about what they are doing in the classroom and how you can work together to further reinforce those topics. Reaching out to these teachers shows a level of respect and care for their classroom, and I have found that in return, these teachers are glad to help in the process of creating cross-curriculum material.

Classroom teachers, what are your thoughts on this? Would you welcome a special area teacher into your schedule if you knew it meant some reinforced learning would take place in another area outside of your classroom?

Teach Like a Pirate

During my NYS Conference for Physical Education this past year, I listened to a speaker by the name of Dave Burgess, who is the author of the book Teach Like A Pirate. Dave provided a key note speech unlike any other one that I have ever heard, and one that really made sense to me as an educator. He was full of passion and excitement, and all about teachers getting creative and crazy to get their students involved and passionate about learning. I immediately bought the book after his talk, and read it that summer.

Over my last year of teaching, I have tried to adapt the TLAP (teach like a pirate) mindset when it comes to educating my students. I have dressed up in costumes, turned the gymnasium into a grocery store, and have created some very imaginative experiences for my students in the classroom. Not only do I enjoy stepping out of my comfort zone and having fun, I can tell that my students enjoy the process and are much more engaged in the topics that we are learning.

There are 2 statements that Dave asks the readers in his book that I would in turn like to ask you. They are:

"If students did not have to attend your class, how many of them would show up just because they wanted to?"

and

"How many tickets do you think you could sell for fellow educators to come sit in on one of your lessons?"

I try to ask myself these 2 questions when I am re-visiting one of my lesson plans, trying to put the TLAP spin on it. Dave asks the readers in the book to try starting on the lesson that you absolutely hate to teach. We all have that one subject, topic, material, or segment that we just do not enjoy teaching as an educator. I encourage you to find out what that lesson is for  you, and spice it up! For me it was gymnastics. I never enjoyed the sport when I was going through schooling, and I still to this day do not enjoy teaching in. But, last year I created "Ninja Gymnastics" and introduced a masked ninja character to my students. Students had to perform different "ninja routines" in order to earn different colored belts in class. The unit concluded with a performance in front of the ninja, where the ninja passed out the final belt to each student. Not only was it the most fun I had in my career teaching the topic, but the students absolutely loved it, and I know now I will never go back to teaching it the boring way I started off with.

What is your "Gymnastics" topic? How could you make it not only more fun for the students, but more fun for yourself? Below are a few links to some of Dave's talks as well as some of his books and resources.

Teach Like A Pirate

Ted Talk