PE circuit workout
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Top 4 High-Intensity Interval Training PE Circuit Workouts For Schools

The most impactful PE circuit workouts engage participants from the outset, get them to their target heart rate zones quickly and keep them moving throughout.

For adults and students alike, exercise time can be limited, so the quicker participants can get their heart rate up, the more beneficial the workout can be. During the school year, IHT has collected lessons from PE teachers that maximize student productivity no matter how much time they have to exercise. Teachers implement High-Intensity Interval Training PE circuit training workouts in different formats with similar results:

  • Quickly get students exercising at an elevated heart rate;
  • Engage students with a variety of exercises;
  • Teach students how to get a health-enhancing workout when crunched for time.

Through the IHT Spirit Video Challenge, teachers submitted their most impactful PE lessons. Most showcased their favorite HIIT circuit lesson, including the following four lessons that work for students across each grade level. Read More

frisbee fitness
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Fast-paced frisbee fitness PE lesson elevates student heart rate

Childhood favorite finds new purpose in Spirit Challenge-winning activity

By adding a new twist to a backyard game, Portland (Mich.) High School physical education students push themselves to exercise in a healthy fitness zone by re-connecting them with what many high schoolers consider a childhood past-time: the frisbee.

Portland P.E. teacher Andy Pulling’s Fun Frisbee Fitness lesson keeps students moving, uses national standards, can be duplicated at any grade level and teaches the importance of teamwork along with fitness. Pulling’s lesson ranked as one of six winning submissions in last fall’s IHT Spirit Video Challenge, and his superstar lesson is the March Lesson for IHT Spirit.

“It’s just a kids’ toy at the secondary level,” Pulling said. “But when we teach them how to play ultimate frisbee or do frisbee golf, it’s kind of like their youthful excitement comes back to life.” Read More

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December’s Lesson: Creating healthy students by developing passion for F.I.T.T.ness

Shelburne Community School physical education teachers Kelly Spreen and Craig MacDerment use their superstar lesson to help students find a passion for physical activity that will last a lifetime.

“Part of our goal is to expose students to as many different activities and fitness exercises with the hope that it will transfer outside of the classroom and promote lifelong fitness,” Spreen said.

Over the duration of their “Fun, F.I.T.T.ness and Forever Strong” circuit-based lesson, students go from station to station working together to complete different exercises. Students stay at each station until they accomplish the task at hand before moving on.

MacDerment said several goals help keep students motivated, the first being friendly competition. Read More

SEL
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MA State PE Association Measures Student SEL Progress

With its Board of Education focusing on Social-Emotional Learning, SEL, across the Commonwealth, Massachusetts physical education teachers now have a way to quantify how students master those essential skills.

SEL
Students enjoy a pleasant conversation during PE class at Indian Springs Elementary (Texas).

IHT and the Massachusetts Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (MAHPERD) have integrated SEL protocols into IHT’s Spirit Assessment Measures software. Teachers at 79 participating schools can now assess how students master SEL skills and report the results of those assessments to state leaders, including MAHPERD Executive Director Maria Melchionda. Read More

academic
/By IHT Spirit/ Academic Readiness • IHT Blog • IHT Spirit System • Personalized Learning • Standards-based lessons/ • • • • • • /0 Comments

PE Plays Key Role in Academic Readiness

Dec. 26, 2016 – Data confirming the direct correlation between active, healthy students and academic achievement continues to mount, further demonstrating the growing importance that physical education plays in schools.

“Physical activity can have both immediate and long-term benefits on academic performance,” a report published by Active Living Research found in 2015. “Almost immediately after engaging in physical activity, children are better able to concentrate on classroom tasks, which can enhance learning.” Read More