“When my students leave me, I want them to have a positive association with physical activity,” Lazear said. “To me, my biggest failure as a teacher is if I have a student that comes and leaves my class and doesn’t want to be a mover for the rest of their life. The heart rate monitors, especially for our elementary kiddos, are a huge motivating factor.”
Data Makes the Difference
Lazear said he and several colleagues began researching heart rate monitors before the COVID-19 pandemic. Some teachers preferred the IHT heart rate monitors, but Lazear favored selecting a different monitor.
“We had talked to several vendors about getting set up with heart rate,” he said. “Full disclosure, I wasn’t pushing for the IHT monitors. I was looking to get a competitor.”
His opinion changed once he saw the data he could collect and use with the IHT heart rate monitors.
“I’m a big data nerd and I like validating what we do in class with tangible, quantitative analysis of how kids are doing,” he said. “After I saw the data that IHT created, I thought that blows away any of the other competitors that I’ve seen.”
Teachers use the combination of the IHT ZONE heart rate monitors and IHT Assessment software to collect data specific to each student, store it, and generate reports that can be used by students, teachers, and administrators.
With the IHT heart rate monitors:
- Students benefit from real-time feedback about their heart rate zone and activity level, along with a post-session report that details the entire session along with a heart rate graph.
- Teachers and students see immediately if students met their goals for the day, allowing for quick 1:1 feedback opportunities at the end of each session.
- Parents can receive the same session summary email that students receive, giving them a clear picture of what’s happening during PE class.
- Teachers and administrators can see class or grade-level reporting on things such as fitness testing to see how they can adjust teaching to improve student outcomes.
“Previously, it has been tough to pull data in physical education,” Lazear said. “To be able to easily use the data that we already collect makes it super easy for me. I can create a report any time I want and provide it to the principal or superintendent.”
Providing Performance Feedback Daily
Lazear does more with the data than assesses student performance. The data leads directly to a daily performance evaluation for himself. He checks data from each class – did students meet his goals for minutes of exercise at an elevated heart rate? – and knows immediately how he did planning and teaching the day’s lessons.
“When I scan the kids’ heart rate monitors (at the end of class), I can tell quickly whether or not I did a good job,” Lazear said. “I’m the first one to tell them that if they didn’t do well, that’s on me. It’s my job to create activities to get them up and moving.”
And if necessary, he modifies his lessons throughout the day.
“The instant feedback allows me to change from class period to class period,” he said. “If something is not working, I can see in real-time how the kids are doing and I can modify my lesson to directly reflect that.”
Keeping Stakeholders Connected Through Data
Parents enjoy seeing the data too. IHT’s software allows teachers to add parent email addresses to student files. Then, following each session, Lazear can deliver the same information that the student receives to the parent or guardians.
“It’s a great parent contact point,” Lazear said. “I utilize the parent email feature. I know that as a dad when I ask my kids what they did during the school day, their common response is I don’t know. At least on the days my students have PE, their parents know at least one thing they’ve done because it’s going to be listed in the email. It takes no extra time for me to do that and it especially helps when sending out fitness assessment results directly to families.”
Using Heart Rate Technology to Create Lifelong Movers District-Wide
“I like using real-world applications for the kids,” Lazear said. “We use the monitor as an indicator of how their body should feel when they are in different (heart rate zones).”
Lazear creates class activities designed to get students into each heart rate zone, though maybe not in each zone every day. Students can see which zone they’re in simply by checking the color displayed on the heart rate monitor:
- Blue indicates a resting heart rate or calm emotional state;
- Yellow indicates a moderate heart rate, moderate activity or emotions such as nerves or excitement;
- Red indicates a vigorous heart rate from intense activity or emotions such as anger, fear, anxiety, or elation.
Teaching students to make the connection between what they see on their wrists and what they are feeling is key to lifetime success when seeking exercise.
“We use it to know what each area feels like,” Lazear said. “So when they’re outside at recess or when they’re doing anything else at home, they can accurately know what each one of those levels feels like. I’m focused on them understanding what the different zones feel like so they can recreate that in the real world. Even if they don’t have a heart rate monitor on them, they still know how their body feels.”
But Lazear is confident that almost everyone will have some kind of device as they progress into adulthood.
“I feel like having a heart rate monitor or fitness tracker is now a way of life for everyone,” he said. "Once (students) get older, this is going to be a piece of technology that you’re going to have and it’s so beneficial for you to be able to know how to use it.”
Boost Student Wellness with IHT ZONE heart rate monitors:
