After a multi-year effort to recreate the program so that it would better serve – and engage – students, Smith used the combination of IHT heart rate monitors and a variety of activities to turn things around.
“The heart rate monitors have super-charged our program,” Smith said. “You can see it in the body language of the students, the look on their faces. As soon as we gave them the heart rate monitors, they really felt at that time that we really cared about them as individuals.”
The monitors showed students that teachers no longer assessed their performance by comparing them to other students. On top of that, Smith and his colleagues created a program where students who wanted to be fit had the power to choose how they went about their workouts.
“We created a program where students had the choice of a traditional sport (soccer, basketball, football, etc), a non-traditional sport (Spikeball, pickleball, etc), and a fitness group,” Smith said. “The kids started feeling good about being engaged, making decisions, and taking control of their fitness and health.”
Creating Real-Life Learning Experiences
Every decision has consequences, and there’s no safer place to test that than a classroom. In Oskaloosa, Iowa, middle school PE teacher Betsy Luck runs a program in which students can choose their activities, with one exception. On their “Flipped Wednesday” classes, they must choose activities that enable them to achieve daily goals for minutes spent exercising at a moderate-to-vigorous level.
“I let the kids have the lead,” she said. “I make sure that the students have the prior knowledge to be able to create a workout that meets the correct criteria. I give them the goal for the day but allow them to choose how they are going to meet it.”
On Flipped Wednesday, students wear IHT ZONE wrist heart rate monitors while creating workouts that:
- Focus on essential exercise skills
- Motivate students to exercise at an elevated heart rate
- Reach daily goals for minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity
Wearing the heart rate monitors and then using the data the monitors provide, students can see how they did with their choices. Sometimes the choice doesn’t pan out, but that’s okay. Luck said that’s part of the long-term learning process.
“It helps them realize things,” she said. “Last year I had some boys decide they wanted to do a yoga workout, and they didn’t reach their heart rate zone goal for the day. They reflected on that and concluded that they aren’t going to do a flexibility/yoga workout when they need to get 25 minutes in (a yellow or red heart rate zone).”
Reinforcing the Positive Power of Student Choice
Glen Crest Middle School PE Teacher Kelly Nordlund gives students a choice of activities that ranges from team games such as volleyball or basketball to Zumba to fitness activities that include circuit training, jogging or even walking. She tells them where she needs their heart rate to be and let’s the IHT heart rate monitor provide them with real-time feedback as they progress through their workout.
“They just have to keep their heart rate in a specific zone for whatever our goal is for the day,” she said. “Regardless of your fitness level, your target heart rate zone is tailored to you. If you are an elite soccer player, you can be zipping around our field and barely get into the yellow zone. But that’s because your cardiovascular fitness is crazy good and you can sustain what you’re doing.”
The most important thing, Nordlund stresses, is that students find an activity they like that can help them enjoy exercising at an elevated heart rate. That, she says, will serve them long after they leave her class and progress into adulthood.
“Whatever you’re doing, if you’re enjoying it you’re more likely to do it in your adult life or just out of school. And that’s kind of the whole point, right?” she said. “Fitness for life and be healthy for your whole life.”
Boost Student Wellness with IHT ZONE heart rate monitors:
