When I started teaching several years ago, I had a very naive view of teaching. I thought that if I made the class enjoyable, every student would succeed. Physical Education is fun. All kids want to go gym class. Then I realized that not all kids learn the same or are driven by the same motives or even view success in the same manner. I also realized that I lacked some of the key tools I would need to tackle many of the issues facing Physical Education classes across the country - obesity, large classes sizes, a decrease in Physical Education requirements, and so on. And so I began my task of self-teaching. I started by getting to know my students and what kinds of learners I had in front of me. Then I worked on figuring out the various motivators that could be used to get kids up and moving during PE. I then started creating different ways of teaching certain sports. And I realized that I had to take risks in my teaching and I had to be flexible if I wanted students to experience success in my class and become active, healthy adults.
