The Benefits of Creating Videos

There are a few reasons why it’s worth creating PE videos for students to use at home during breaks. First, it can help your students stay active and healthy during times where they may be moving less. Second, it can help prevent them from gaining weight or becoming sedentary during the break, which is easy to do if they have less structure than a school day. And third, it can help maintain their fitness and physical activity levels as they prepare for sports and other after school activities. While not all of your students will buy into using these videos, it’s still a great way to offer them opportunities to stay active.

Choose Exercises They Can Do at Home

Physical education activities don’t have to be restricted to the gym; there are plenty of exercises you can share with students that they can do at home. Whether you’re looking for drills for dribbling a basketball or passing a soccer ball, tips for stretching safely, or exercises that use household items as props, there are loads of options available.

Try recording short demonstrations of yoga poses and simple Pilates moves or post tutorials on creative dance steps and other formative activities. You may want to consider more energetic exercises, too, such as arm circles and jumping jacks. If you have balls or weights available at school, ask a student to demonstrate how to use them correctly in each video. Finally, remember to end each video by encouraging students to drink plenty of water and stretch.

Stock Footage Can Make This Task Easier

Working with royalty-free stock footage is an easy way to create PE videos for students. With stock footage, PE teachers can find video content that is instructional, energizing, and safe for all ages. Additionally, these royalty-free videos allow instructors to select content that aligns perfectly with their educational objectives. Best of all, these gems of multimedia knowledge can be easily accessed online, making them not only visually impressive but highly convenient as well.

Easy Ways to Share Your Videos

To get started, create a shared space where your students can access the videos. If you’re using Google Classroom as your platform of choice, you can simply paste relevant links into assignments, or you could use YouTube or Vimeo and then share channels or playlists directly via the platform.

It’s also worth considering pre-made lesson plans or sport-focused websites that offer copyright-free instructional documents along with short video clips embedded in the content. Whichever way you choose to share the videos, make sure that all resources are organized in one central location to maximize access and ensure that everyone is able to join in on the learning. As the holiday break approaches, many students will be looking for ways to stay active. Creating PE videos is a great way to provide students with guidance and motivation while they are away from school. When planning your videos, be sure to include a variety of exercises that can be performed without equipment. Students of all ages and abilities can follow along, and the videos can be easily shared with friends and family. With a little creativity, you can create PE videos that will help students stay fit and healthy until it’s time to return to school.

The post Keep ‘Em Moving: Create PE Videos to Keep Students Moving appeared first on SPARK PE.

Be the leader they need.

If you’ve never particularly considered yourself a leader before, it’s time that you started. By refining your leadership skills, you can showcase many ideals, such as integrity, motivation, and respect. Remember, being a great leader means doing the things you want your students to do. Kids will follow your lead, and then they themselves will become leaders for their younger siblings and underclassmen.

Let them see you achieve your goals.

Little minds often have big aspirations. But, if they don’t see the adults in their lives pursue their own dreams, they may abandon their hopes by the time they reach high school. Let your students know about your own personal goals and what you are doing to achieve them. For example, if you have always wanted to go back to school for a degree in IT, psychology, sociology, or even liberal arts, let your students know that you’re doing so, and then show off your shiny new diploma once you’ve earned it.

Take them outside.

There are so many benefits of going outside, including better vitamin D levels, lower blood sugar, and boosting your overall happiness. Time spent outdoors can relieve stress and anxiety and bolster social interactions. Talk to your school about whether it would be feasible or not to implement an outdoor adventure curriculum that includes non-gym-related activities, like fishing and archery.

Change your vocabulary.

How we say something affects the response from students. You can change your vocabulary when it comes to your activities. Try to use the word “challenge” instead of “competition” to motivate students to improve. Sometimes we focus on winning and losing, an alternative can be to use ahead and behind. Instead of telling them what they did wrong, share with them what you want to see. It will make a big difference in their mindset.

Talk about how food is grown.

Here’s the sad reality: many of your students probably don’t have access to fresh fruits and vegetables. They may have busy parents or live in a food desert and have to rely on fast food and frozen meals to fill their bellies. Though you may not be able to change their home environment now, consider talking to administrators about starting a school garden. Earth Easy explains that, like being outside, gardening can help moderate mood. It’s also a great way to show children where food actually comes from. Plus, you can send veggies home with those who need them most.

Show the effects of bad habits.

We always tell students you should exercise, eat right, get enough sleep, stay away from drugs and alcohol. We show the benefits of a healthy lifestyle but we should also share the consequences when we don’t. Students should be aware of and see examples of what happens when we don’t take care of our bodies so they can make an informed decision as to living a healthy life.

Discuss the importance of sleep.

You already know that sleep is important for the physical body, but it’s also crucial to kids’ mental health. The brain needs sleep just as much as the body. If you are dealing with school-age kids, they need between nine and 12 hours each day, while middle school and older kids need between eight and 10 hours. Talk to your students about how they can get better sleep, and make sure to include the advice of leaving their phones and devices out of the bedroom.

Every day, the students under your care will always remember the lessons you’ve taught. By being a leader, you can demonstrate that you practice what you preach. Whether that’s being open about your personal goals and aspirations, discussing the consequences of actions, or simply changing the way you talk about your lessons and activities, everything you do now will help them build a solid foundation for their healthy future.

The post Being a Role Model and Helping Instill Healthy Habits in Students appeared first on SPARK PE.