r/PhysicalEducation

I think it is easy to write a sub plan that makes sense to us because we automatically fill in the missing details. We know where the equipment is, how students enter, which rules need to be repeated, and what to change when an activity is not working. A substitute knows none of that.

I try to include setup, safety expectations, transitions, equipment locations, and a simpler backup option. Those details are usually more useful than adding another paragraph describing the activity. What is something you always include in your sub plans because you learned the hard way that it matters?

I teach high school PE and weights. It’s at a small school, and I have two classes of 10-18 students (depending on attendance) and a couple classes of 10 or less, and one class where only 2 or 3 students show up and participate. What are some activities I can do to engage everyone? I can’t really do a traditional sport with the really small class. We do weights 2, but now I’m moving it to 3 days a week. Need ideas for the PE days though.
Also, I’m testing maxes for weights. Any ideas on how I could build up to max? I have one class ready to max but my big freshman class is nowhere near ready because of their horrible behavior.

This is a student favorite game that I play during my throwing and catching unit in grades 3-5 with single and double classes.

The gym is divided in half with each half having two gymnastic mats. Each mat is placed at the corners of the basketball court. One player from the opposing team is standing on each gymnastics mat.

The objective is for a player to throw a ball to a teammate on the gymnastics mat and have them catch it with both feet on the mat (like a touchdown).

Once they successfully catch the ball, the thrower switches places with the receiver.

To create more difficulty after a couple of minutes, I give each team two demi-noodles (large pool noodles cut in half). The students with the demi-noodles are defense and meant to smack the balls out of the air.

I normally play in rounds of 5-10 minutes; stoping for differentiation (moving mats closer/further, adding defense) and speaking about teaching points (teamwork, sportsmanship, strategy).

Give it a try and let me know your thoughts!

Hi! I made two PE Halloween playlists with appropriate & fun music to play for PE classes! One for elementary PE and the other for all ages! Here is the playlist for elementary PE. I hope they work great for you, and would love a save on them - thanks! Happy October! 🦇

I used to assume I would remember what worked the next time I taught the same lesson. Then a few months would pass and I would have no idea why I changed the groups, skipped part of the activity, or spent an extra day on a skill.

I’ve found that one quick note about what worked and one thing to change is usually enough. It might be that the directions were too long, students needed smaller groups, or a modification worked better than the original activity. It takes a minute, but it saves a lot of time when the lesson comes up again.

Do you keep lesson reflections anywhere, or are you mostly relying on memory like I did?

[removed]