Thought of the Day: Wednesday, May 8th

A few weeks back there was a fantastic #pechat about how to better create an advocacy plan for our #physed programs. As the #pechat moved around the globe, it was interesting to see everyone's different points of view and excellent ideas about truly advocating quality PE in our schools. 

Even though the focus of the #pechats that we have  each week changes, a history of these #pechats can be seen by viewing this link. Thanks to the work of @joeyfieth, we can all view the amazing ideas and discussions that have taken place over the past several months on his website. 

I stumbled upon a great discussion on Twitter yesterday taking place between 2 passionate international PE teachers, @Williams10Mark and @PEwithMike. The discussion revolved around how we can ensure parents get accurate information about our PE programs. This is such an important topic to discuss and engage in amongst fellow PE practitioners as our quality programs must be advocated for with regularity in order to ensure that both admin and parents know the great things that are happening. I made the immediate connection with the #pechat a few weeks ago about creating an advocacy plan for our #physed programs. 

I shared with @Williams10Mark and @PEwithMike an approach I took a few years ago at another international school that I was working at. It essentially involved inviting the parents in for a PE presentation and to have them take part in a number of mini-activities. The aim of this evening was to give them a glimpse into how I teach and assess in PE. It only took about 60 minutes and was a very informative and worthwhile experience for the parents. As well, it was a great opportunity to show them the critical thinking and problem-solving skills that are needed regardless of the PE unit being taught to their children. 

Our Parents Become Our Biggest Advocators
Even though many parents didn't show up for the PE evening, those that did walked away saying things like "Wow, that is certainly not like PE was for me when I was young!". I knew that those parents attending would advocate and spread the good word about my PE program. I heard from a few parents that didn't attend that they wished that they would have been there. By creating evenings such as this, we are setting ourselves and our programs up for long term success. Another step in creating better advocacy for our quality PE programs. 

---

Our parents can and should be our biggest advocators.

As an Extension to Parent PE Evening
It was suggested by either Mike or Mark that another great idea for an evening like this would be to have the students come in and observe their parents and peer assess. I thought that this was an excellent add-on as it would give the students a chance to discuss with their parents how the different types of assessment work in PE. I am very happy to have engaged in this discussion with @Williams10Mark and @PEwithMike yesterday. I am more determined than ever to revive the parent PE evening that I once did a few years back. It is such a valuable experience and so worth taking the time one evening to meet with parents and provide them with important information regarding how our PE programs run.