I am going to switch up my Twitter chat this week thanks to @carmelhealth’s (and @TheWeirdTeacher) idea. I will be throwing out answers this week and you the reader will be writing the questions for it.  If you need to see the pics better ctrl + will zoom in and ctrl – will zoom back out.

This week is a #rantchat (stole from @shahlock) week.  Twitter has been blowing up with hate and rudeness. Example A was a set of tweets attacking @pernilleripp for writing a blog about her thoughts of the #whatiwishmyteacherknew by @mdawriter.  The problem was not her thoughts but the fact that she did not come out on Twitter and join in on the attack of @kylemschwartz.  This is a huge problem when we are being told how we should respond to an issue and what is an acceptable and timely fashion. There is no correct way to use social media.

My next problem comes when people can’t discuss an issue. The great part and scary part of social media is that we have immediate access to the public.  The whole controversy of #whatiwishmyteacherknew shows me that we are still not ready for everyone to share. We might never be ready. Whether you agree or disagree with what Kyle did, the fact of the matter is that this came from a teacher.  A teacher who I hope is trying her best. Negativity does not make people try harder.  It beats them down and makes them not want to share their work anymore.

One of the biggest worries in this whole debacle is this paragraph in @rafranzdavis blog:

“For the past few hours, I’ve thought, rethought, written and erased…over and over again. In between going back and forth, I got to experience the vile realities of twitter trolls…people creating accounts for the sole purpose of saying the most unreal, racist, sexist, body shaming…things to me.”

This is appalling that simply because Rafanz had things to say that some people didn’t like she was subjected to this garbage.  Her voice is being used for the social justice that she believes in.  You can agree or disagree with her.  You can love or hate her.  What you can’t do is degrade her based on the color of her skin, gender, or weight.  The worst part of this is you hide behind fake Twitter accounts.  Step into the light and say what you want so the world knows the hate that is in your heart.

Another area of great concern to me is the bottom of the picture of the continued thread on the right.  I don’t understand the bottom of the thread where race is brought into this one-sided conversation.  The broad statement of “white folks confuse provocative bold speech for anger” doesn’t make sense in this context.  Where did the color of anyone’s skin come into play? This throws more fuel on a fire that was already roaring.

As a white straight male I am scared to talk about race.  It doesn’t matter that I have my own story that no one knows about hatred and bigotry.  What I do know is that #educolor exists for a reason.  That reason is that we still have a long way to go when it comes to race relations.  If you do not follow this hash-tag I suggest that you do for no other reason that this is outside most people’s comfort zone.  They come from a perspective where race plays an issue where most people have no clue it does. I do not have to agree with every tweet that comes from their thread just as I don’t agree with every tweet that comes out of #slowchatpe’s thread.  What I do know is they are not engaging in the group think that I have been fighting against since joining social media.

I am a hippie libertarian at heart. I want us all to accept the differences in each other and leave each other alone.  Most importantly I want to live in a world where everyone understands that exercise and nutrition are necessary for happy healthy lives.

A1 Sharing my story is the best way for other people to understand where I came from as well as who I am.

A2 Not surrounding myself with everyone who looks, acts, and speaks like me.

A3 Nutrition and Exercise.

A4 Talking about subjects that scare me, learning new things that are hard, being married, and ADHD.

A5 My PLN

This week might go down as the week that redirected the course of my life. Jarrod Robinson recommended that I listen to the Tim Ferriss Podcast. I needed another thing to listen to like my wife needs another pair of sneakers! (she has tons) When Jarrod says something I tend to listen to it so I went along and listened to podcast number 56 of the show.  My mind was instantly blown! Here is a quick synopsis of the episode:

Dr. Peter Diamandis has been named one of “The World’s 50 Greatest Leaders” by Fortune Magazine.

You asked for an entire episode with him, so here it is!  The subject is simple: How to think big, and how to use the key strategies of Peter’s friends and investors, including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and Larry Page. How do they create maximum leverage? How do they think differently? We explore all of this.

In the field of innovation, Diamandis is Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation. Among many other things, Diamandis is also the Co-Founder (along with Craig Venter and Bob Hariri) of Human Longevity Inc. (HLI); and Co-Founder of Planetary Resources, a company designing spacecraft to mine asteroids for precious materials (seriously).

If you actually took the time to read this some things should pop out to you. The first one is that Dr. Diamandis is planning on mining asteroids! What? Yes that is what Google calls moonshot thinking.  The podcast calls it 10X thinking.  The next thing you should recognize are the names of these people: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and Larry Page.  If you don’t Google them now! These people are all brilliant thinkers who don’t let anything get in the way of their vision. They are successful in business but that is not what makes them worthy of your time and effort. They are thinking on levels that we can’t even imagine. They want to change the world.

This is something that I have thought about often. How can I change the world? I used to think that this is some grandiose idea that would never come to fruition. Why? What is stopping me? Only myself and my limited vision. One of the great takeaways from this podcast is that even if you “fail” with your 10X plan you will still make positive strides.  Norman Vincent Peale said it best, “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”

My questions for this week are in asking how can we change our thinking and make it 10x or moonshot thinking? How can we change the world?

Q1. What is one idea you have that will change you field of education? #slowchatpe

Q2. What is one idea you have that will change all of education? #slowchatpe

Q3. What are you currently doing to change the world? #slowchatpe

Q4. What have you read or listened to that blew your mind? #slowchatpe

Q5. What people should others follow that will force them to think big? #slowchatpe

I was raised Jewish, and am not a super religious fellow, but I like the famed teacher Jesus have been resurrected.  My career has been resurrected that is.  The reason I say this is because I have come to fall in love with teaching again.  The reason for this is simple. Voxer. My PLN is tired of me going on and on about it.  A teacher in my school tells me I vox so hard. My wife asks me when am I going to get off my phone.  My superintendent tells me not to Vox in class! (only half jokingly) I have been a part of a group that made videos of how to get on Voxer, tips and tricks of Voxer, as well as welcoming all new members to Voxer. (Check this out) Why do I have this love affair with Voxer you ask?

I love Voxer because I have Jorge Rodriguez to push my teaching forward. He makes videos explaining how to play new games. He also starting making videos of how to implement the Teaching Games For Understanding physical education model.  I don’t need a book or some abstract resource telling me how to do it.  I have Jorge showing me what it is and how to do it!! This is the new way to learn. Books just aren’t enough anymore. Show me don’t tell me!! I discovered Jorge through Voxer.

I love Voxer because I have Jarrod Robinson to push my teaching forward.  This man is amazing. I want to hate him because he sells applications and programs for physical education teachers.  It’s easy to hate salespeople.  The only problem is his apps and programs are resources that push physical education teachers forward.  In addition to the fact that he creates great technological products he is always willing to help anyone out. He has given out numerous free programs on Voxer as well as increased the number of students allowed to be signed into his programs for free. This man is the king of technology in education. Yes in all of education. He doesn’t just tell us what’s great for teachers to use in technology,  he creates it as well. I have access to Jarrod whenever I want due to Voxer. AMAZING!!

I love Voxer because I have Nick Spencer to push my teaching forward.  I have changed my whole class procedure due to his one Vox. (Voxer voice message)  He told us he doesn’t use the word go. He switched it to the phrase “never smoke”.  His theory is that if his message is pushed out several times a class over a broad number of years the students will be bombarded with the idea that one of the most addictive habits you can ever embark on is negative.  I also use his jump rope videos as the warmup to my Jump Rope for Heart month. They demonstrate and explain over 20 different ways to jump rope.  I learned about this all through Voxer.

I love Voxer because of my buddy Franklin.  Franklin is on Voxer all the time.  Anytime I need someone to talk to Franklin is there.  When I have a bad day and need to vent I reach out to Franklin.  There is no better stress relief in the world than someone you can talk to about anything at any time.  Talk about social, emotional, and occupational wellness!! Everyone needs a buddy like Franklin.

I love Voxer because of the chat groups I am in outside of Physical Education and Health.  I moderate #slowchatpe on voxer, co-moderate #satchat on voxer, and am a member of @edumatch and many others.  Those groups either post education questions of the day or talk about education all day every day.  I love thinking and talking about education.  Every teacher should challenge their thinking through a dialogue of peers that challenge them.  Every day I listen to the brightest minds in our business tell me about what they are doing and how they are doing it. This allows me to understand the changes that are sweeping across our nation right now.  Voxer connects me to education.

I love Voxer because educators from across the world run book clubs on it. I am currently in Digital Leadership book club run by Doug Timm.  The wildest part about the books club is that Eric Sheniger is actually a participate of the club! Holy shnikes the godfather of educational technology reform is in the book club with us of the book he wrote!! That is fantastic.  I am learning more through this Voxer chat than I could have imagined! Voxer allows me to interact with authors while reading their creations.

So if I come across as a champion of Voxer I am. This is a medium that every teacher should be a part of.  I hope that this blog helps at least one person realize that Voxer is the next logical step after Twitter and reaches out to me. My handle is SchleiderJustin. Use (Check this out) to sign up for Voxer.  If you are not a PE teacher I can still advise you into what groups are out there. Voxer will change your life! No more 140 character limits. No more oh the chat is over. Voxer lets you use your voice, text, or pictures to push your teaching to the next level.  You get connected to the best and brightest minds in education!  Why aren’t you Voxing?

Q1: What makes you want to start using a new technology? #slowchatpe

Q2: Do you ever consider how your digital legacy will be viewed? #slowchatpe

Q3: How much does pd play in your role as an educator? #slowchatpe

Q4: Has anything changed your teaching? If so what? #slowchatpe

Q5: Who has been your champion to become connected? #slowchatpe

Words shape thoughts and thoughts shape actions. If you have ever played sports you know this as fact. What do you do when someone makes two basketball shots in a row? Tell them that no one makes three.  Put your fingers in your ears when the ball bricks off the rim.  What does the guy on the free throw line do when taking his shot? Tells himself he is going to make it. Self-talk is just one way that words shape our thoughts.

Different languages associate gender with nouns. This affects the way that the same objects are viewed by different cultures.  This article from Newsweek does a much better job explaining why language changes the way different cultures view the world.

The power of words and thoughts are so strong that we have words that are not allowed to be said anymore in America.  Football teams are having to remove their nicknames because the words are offensive to people. Why does it matter to them? It matters because words shape thoughts and thoughts shape actions.

This brings me to the point of my blog.  I am starting a trend to eliminate the term “brain break”.  That term makes it seem like people who are exercising as a break from sitting are temporarily stopping their learning.  This bothers me. We know the science behind exercise.  “According to a study done by the Department of Exercise Science at the University of Georgia, even briefly exercising for 20 minutes facilitates information processing and memory functions.” When we move we are not taking a break we are creating a brain boost!

“Recent research from UCLA demonstrated that exercise increased growth factors in the brain- making it easier for the brain to grow new neuronal connections.” It is really simple.  The more we move the better it is for our brains. This is why I am publicly petitioning @gonoodle to get rid of the term “brain break”.  I believe that brain boost would be a much better term that will encourage people to move and make time to improve their learning.

Q1: What words in the English language really bother you? Why? #slowchatpe

Q2: What is a phrase that your ss say that drives you crazy? Why? #slowchatpe

Q3: What is a phrase that your co-workers say that drive you insane? Why? #slowchatpe

Q4: What is a phrase that your bosses say that grinds your gears? Why? #slowchatpe

Q5: What phrase motivates you the best? Why? #slowchatpe

Response To Blog:

The blog that was published by OPEN was posted this week.  It addressed many issues that I was worried about in my blog.  The one area that was cleared up for me is that OPEN continues to demand ownership for anything physical education teachers post.  I do not care if OPEN is owned by a corporation or an individual.  I do not want to hand over my intellectual property and say here you can own this for free.  It goes against everything I believe in.  PE Central allows you to submit but they pay you $50.  I do not think that the company or anyone working for OPEN has ill intent.  My problem is the principle of the situation.

They claim that they must demand this for liability purposes.  I am not a lawyer but PE Universe, which allows users to submit videos, is owned by Gopher and they have this posted on their site:

The main part that pertains to us is this statement: “For clarity, you retain all of your ownership rights in your User Submissions.”  Why can’t OPEN do this?

The site is an awesome place for resources that I will definitely use but until the ownership issue is changed I will not submit any lessons to the site.  If you understand they own your material and agree that for the good of the profession I will hand over my property and all rights to it than I support you doing that.

The idea is great, the people who worked on it is great, and the final product is great.  I am just wary of the submission part.

What is my role in social media? This week I made two mistakes using social media and championed two areas of social media that I found morally outrageous.  First let me start out with my missteps.  Neither mistake was make or break but at the same time neither mistake makes me proud to think about.  The first mistake I made was on Voxer yesterday.  I let my sense of humor get carried away and starting making jokes that were inappropriate in mixed company.  The jokes were not super offensive but I definitely crossed the line between professional and personal.  This is something that happened so quickly that I barely even realized it happened until Mary Neal (@mrsneal0) helped me realize that I need to be cognizant of all the words that leave my mouth.

The second mistake I made was I let my emotions get in the way of logic.  I publicly called someone out that tweeted something somewhat sardonic in response to my questions.   This person deleted the tweet but I did not have the class to let it go.  I quickly stood on top of my soapbox and responded to the tweet. My response was respectful but unnecessary.  I apologize to this person profusely and don’t want them to think that my behavior is acceptable to me.

Now onto two other moments of the week that made me realize that my role in social media is changing.  @rusulalrubair and I started on Twitter at the same time.  We started following each other and I have enjoyed watching her go from a very pleasant, but timid social media presence, to a voice for equality and equity for all.  Today I was extremely disheartened to read her blog about a school in New York state’s reaction to a student reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in Arabic.

“Many students reportedly shouted their disapproval during the recitation, and later complained on social media.  Later in the afternoon, the school’s principal made a school-wide announcement to explain why the pledge was read in Arabic and to apologize to those who took offence.  Ms. Carbone said the pledge would only be read in English in the future.”

My only response to this is to respond WHAT!!! You apologized as well as stated that it would only be read in English?!! Does speaking English make you a better citizen than someone who speaks Arabic?  Is the Pledge only allowed to be spoken in English?  What are we saying when our educational system lets its students and families be explicitly treated like second class citizens and then apologizing to the wrong group of people!! I will not keep quiet when I read about bigotry and injustice.  Arabic and terrorism are not synonymous.  As Rusul states in her blog they don’t even speak Arabic in Afghanistan!

The second event that occurred this week is the unveiling of US Games lesson plan creator OPEN.  OPEN is a, “backward designed curriculum project that targets SHAPE America’s National Standards & Grade-Level Outcomes.”  The idea behind OPEN is a great one.  Free lessons for teachers and exposure for US Games. I applauded all this until I read the following:

“By hitting submit, you grant US Games all rights and ownership of the work submitted in addition to any derivatives of the work.”

This bothers me that they want to own my intellectual property.  When this was brought to the attention of the Physical Education Voxer community it immediately raised questions.  Instead of assuming the corporation was evil I contacted several members of the OPEN Development Council.  We have spoken to two members of the council which did not clear up the confusion we have.  I am waiting for a response from Aaron Hart which will hopefully clear this up for myself and the physical education community.  Regardless of the outcome this has made me realize that my role in social media has shifted from taker to questioner.

So what does all this have to do with my role in social media? This week made me realize that my words and actions can help make a change.  They can also make me look petty and juvenile.  I want my role to be that of someone who is constantly pushing myself and others to grow.  I want to learn more, think deeper, rail against injustice, and help change the world.  This can only happen if I hold myself to a higher standard than I have acted this week.

Q1:  What is your role on Social Media? #slowchatpe

Q2:  What do you have to do to protect your “brand” on sm? #slowchatpe

Q3:  How do you protect yourself from becoming too emotionally involved on sm? #slowchatpe

Q4: What do you do to protect education? #slowchatpe

Q5:  What warning would you give new people to sm? #slowchatpe

How do I step out of myself? That is a question that I have been wrestling with. I am in a book club on Voxer.  The book we are discussing is The Missing Voices in EdTech.  The subject of minorities and being shut out of edtech, having their ideas stolen, and the lack of diversity at conferences has been coming up over and over. The only problem I have is that I don’t see any of that where I come from.  The superintendent in my school is a woman, the staff is 90% women, and the main IT guy is black.  This means that those who make the decisions for technology (superintendent and IT) are minorities and the staff is made up of minorities.  The school is forward thinking, we have 1-1 for grades 3-5.  Technology is being embraced by minorities faster than kids agreeing that adding chocolate chips to pancakes makes them infinitely better.  My school does lack racial diversity in staff and students though.  My problem is how do I put that all aside and truly understand the plight of minorities in the United States?

I am much more aware of race now than I have ever been before. I walk into places and recognize that there are very few minorities outside of women at conferences and school events. Part of that is the school I work at is 95% white. The other problem, which seems to be widely accepted, is that minorities are not represented well throughout the ranks of educators and administrators.  This is a problem that needs to be addressed.

@adamphowell wrote a great piece this week asking “Do we have the equity of voice our profession needs as part of the discussion?”  He posted these results from a survey his team put out:

Those results are alarming. It is alarming from a socially connected POV, from an educator POV, and from the physical education teacher community POV.

Not only does it make minorities uncomfortable the teaching profession is losing out on a whole majority of voices. When we have people all cut from the same cloth making decisions group think is bound to occur. We need all walks of life to push education forward.

I am Jewish. That is not considered a minority. I have taken heat for this my whole life but I am able to go places where people look at me as being white. It has got to be brutal to constantly think you are the only representative of your race or gender in whatever meetings or conferences you go to.

When I hear about inequity and injustice I want to do something. I want to change things. When I presented at my last two conferences the subject was on social media and technology. Before my session I was actively trying to find minorities and inviting them to my session. I did not approach them and say hello you are a minority would you come to my session but I was conscious of the audience that I wanted to reach.  I want to be a change agent. Whether or not this was the right way to go about it I do not know. What I want to know is how can I right these wrongs that are occurring.

This brings me all the way back to the beginning. How do I step out of what I see and know? The answer I came up with is I will just start to listen. I will close my mouth and listen. I will hear what is being said and marinate on it. I will mull it over. This week I encourage all people but especially minorities make your voice heard. Enlighten me as to what I am missing. I will not be commenting on any of my thoughts this week. Any questions will be asked to clarify a response.  This week please tell the world your story.

Q1. Is your school district represented with the same staff and student racial makeup?  #slowchatpe

Q2. What should school districts do to ensure that their staff is more culturally diverse if they aren’t already? #slowchatpe

Q3. Do schools do enough to encourage all ss? Why or why not? #slowchatpe

Q4. Do we teach cultural differences in our class? How? #slowchatpe

Q5. What can educators do to become culturally literate? #slowchatpe

This week I received an email from a parent inquiring why their student was, “Taking surveys about how they liked the class and what they thought about it.” You would think the parent would be congratulating me on taking an interest in what their child thought about my class. At least that was what I was expecting.  The email continued to inquire an explanation of why this is happening and a copy of my curriculum.  That was not the direction I had expected our communication to travel. I have to admit the email did have a connotation.

The author’s son was given a google form that asked him, “What can Mr. S. do to improve your motivation in his class?” The second question asked the student to rank their amount of movement in my physical education class from 1-10.  This was the full extent of the questionnaire.  It was two questions long.  I do not know if the parent knew the extent of the research I was conducting before the email.

Why doesn’t this parent understand what I am doing? Don’t they trust me enough to run my own class?  I had to step back.  I put myself in their shoes. My child comes home and tells me they were using technology in physical education class. This doesn’t seem to make sense on the surface. I get it.  As a teacher I have to be my own best advocate.  I can either become defensive and moan and complain like we hear teachers do all the time, or I can rise to the occasion and educate them on how much education is changing toward becoming student centered.

I am choosing to meet with the parent and educate them as to why it is so important that I infuse technology and student voice/choice into my program.  The main reason I gave the survey is because I wanted to do action research into the motivation of my students during my class. I will start the conversation with this fact from the Michigan University.

Receiving student feedback in the middle of the semester can help you know what you are doing that facilitates the learning of the students and it will help make you aware of any difficulties they may be having with your instruction. (Improving Your Teaching: Obtaining Feedback  Adapted from Black (2000) Center for Research on Learning and Teaching)

This shows concrete evidence why it is so important to have students communicate with the teacher and allow them to understand who they are teaching.

Now that the research supports my practice I will inform her about the Danielson evaluation system.  The system specifically states:

The complexity of teaching requires continued growth and development in order for teachers to remain current. Staying informed and increasing skills allows teachers to become more effective and to exercise leadership among their colleagues. Academic disciplines and pedagogies have evolved. Refine their understanding of how to engage students in learning.

This is the most important part of our conversation.  The model that I get evaluated on demands that I implement these practices. Whether you agree with Danielson’s model or any other they ALL agree that developing and maintaining relationships with students is so important. When we can understand what they want to do, we can understand what motivates them.  This is something that can make my life and the student’s life better. You tell me what you want to learn or do and I will find a way to incorporate that into my lesson.

An example of this is when a student approached me and stated that he hated dance.  I understand this feeling. I am not the best dancer naturally and never practice the skill. This does not bode well for me ever improving in that area. The student stated they would rather be playing basketball. This is a chance to use student voice/choice or pull the power my class my lesson card. The opportunity was perfect to marry what we both wanted to do. I offered the student the idea that they could use basketballs to demonstrate rhythm and movement to a 4X8 meter.  The student accepted and both parties left winners. The point of that anecdote was that when you understand what students want to do and can tie it in with what you want to do learning is more fun and less stress.

This is another opportunity for me to show the world how education has evolved into a place of inclusion instead of exclusion.  We all have gifts and interests.  The trick is finding out what they are in each of our students and encouraging them to pursue what they find enjoyable.

This week will be extra special at #slowchatpe because Sandy Otto will have her class tweeting all week with us!!!  More student voice = more empowerment!  Join us this week to Tweet with @sandyotto class about motivation!

Q1: Do grades motivate students/you to try their/your best? #slowchatpe

Q2: What are motivating words, songs, or movies that inspire you/ss to give it their all? #slowchatpe

Q3: How so you motivate your classmates/ss to work hard and try their best? #slowchatpe

Q4: Do you as a student/teacher get motivated by your classmates/ss? If so when or how? #slowchatpe

Q5: What is something that the school could do to help motivate you? (ts and ss) #slowchatpe

We have all heard the Greek myth of Icarus.  Icarus’s father warns him first of complacency and then of hubris, asking that he fly neither too low nor too high, because the sea’s dampness would clog his wings or the sun’s heat would melt them.  This is the story that closest resembles my life. I did not want to get too high because life would kick me down. I did not want to be too low because then my life would be meaningless. That all changed when I read the book entitled Good to Great penned by James C. Collins.

The book analyzed why some companies were able to achieve statistical greatness while others didn’t.  It researched companies that were good than hit a transition point where they went on a 15 year tear with stock returns that averaged 6.9 times the general market average. (read the book for more explanation)  The quote that really resonated with me came from the bottom of page 71.  It stated, “There is nothing wrong with pursuing a vision for greatness.”  That statement right there gave me the freedom to imagine being great.  I was able to change my mindset and start believing that greatness is in my future.  That is step one to greatness. Believing that

I understand that greatness and arrogance have a close relationship, but they are not mutually exclusive.  I can want to be great without having other people be beneath me. In my perfect world we would all be great.  I do not need to step on others to get to the top; however, I definitely need the help of others to achieve greatness.   See the story of complacency and hubris is true in attitude not outlook.  We can want to get better while all the time understanding we are not the best.  Sports has taught me this lesson time and time again.  There is always someone faster, stronger, or better at something I do. It is not about what they are doing but about how I am bettering myself.  How am I training to excel in life?

This week I watched the culmination of an idea come to fruition.  William Bode (@bodepe) and I started a physical education Voxer group toward the end of last school year.  It has grown to something that is way beyond anything we could imagine.  There are Voxer groups for Elementary, Middle and High school PE and Health.  There are groups for Field Day, assessments, solo taxonomy, technology in pe, and so many more.  It has become the greatest form of professional development that I have ever used.

If you are interested in Voxer and you are a physical education or health teacher; Mike Graham (@pe4everykid) and Lynn Burrows (@lovepeme) have created the best introduction to Voxer you could wish for.  It has links to how to download and start on Voxer, what the chat groups are, lesson plans from over 50 teachers, and so much more! This link to Voxer Form may just be the link that takes you from being a good teacher to being a great one! If you are an educator and are interested in Voxer contact (@schleiderjustin)  to get put in SatChat where we post a question a day about education.

Q1:  Do you want to be great? Why or why not? #slowchatpe

Q2: Is being great a growth mindset or just arrogant? Why? #slowchatpe

Q3: What are doing to better yourself? #slowchatpe

Q4: What are you doing to better others? #slowchatpe

Q5: How can we convince our students that greatness is achievable? #slowchatpe

This was a huge week in the life of #slowchatpe.  The first event that occurred was the response to the blog I had written about entitled Help Me, Help Me by Doug Gleddie.  Specifically he responded to Question 3 that read: “Q3: Should physical education teachers be physically fit barring medical reasons? Why? #slowchatpe”.  His response was enlightening, detailed, researched based, and game changing.  I always assumed that an obese person was not physically fit. This is because they don’t look like the typically “fit” person.  He showed pictures of ripped athletes on his blog. I would argue that most people think of a fit person as being on the thinner side with some sort of muscle tone and not like professional athletes, but I digress.

His blog enlightened me to a huge surprise.  I was a “weightist”.  “Weightism: “…the assumption or belief individuals of a certain weight or body size are superior – intellectually, morally, physically – to those who exceed the ideal weight or body size.” (Morimoto, 2008)” I was definitely that. I didn’t feel that I was smarter, or morally above other people, but I did feel that physically I was better than them because I work hard to stay in shape and obviously they did not.

The article went on to talk about two ladies that were heavy that danced and ran.  I was still not convinced that I was wrong though. His point was that that I was only concentrating on looks instead of, “…complex skills, active living in the community, health behaviors, or other parts of the PE curriculum”. He was missing the point though that people see an obese person and assume they do not practice what they preach.  I mean an obese person has to be sedentary and eat unhealthily correct? Isn’t that why they are obese?  I was still not totally convinced by his response so I googled it. Can an obese person be in shape? This article popped up from Fitness Magazine.

The article changed my whole perception of what a physically fit person looks like. I already knew that you could be skinny and out of shape. Could you be obese and in shape? This says it all:

Consider the group of athletes recruited for a recent study at the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas. All of them are seriously accomplished, having participated in multiple Ironman competitions, marathons, or distance cycling events. And all of them are obese, with fat making up more than 30 percent of their body weight. “From a cardiorespiratory standpoint, they are very strong and very healthy,” says the study’s lead author, Santiago Lorenzo, PhD, a cardiopulmonary researcher at the institute. “They have outstanding endurance and are comparable in fitness to fellow athletes of normal weight.”

Hold on!! An obese person could participate in multiple Ironman competitions, marathons, or distance cycling events!! Holy shnikes my view of what fit looked like was terribly askew.

If the story ended here it would be awesome. #slowchatpe did exactly what it was supposed to.  It lit a debate and encouraged others to challenge my beliefs.  This is exactly what I want from the chat. I want to constantly grow and become better than I was yesterday.  The story doesn’t end there though.  The conversation popped up on my Voxer group today.  I already knew about the research so when people were talking about how it looks to be obese and a physically education teacher I knew that I should stand up and say we can’t judge a book by its cover and have research to back that statement up.  I did just that but during the debate this vox came through: LISTEN.  If that didn’t make you rethink how you look at other people I don’t know what will.  Here is her second response to the group: LISTEN. This was heartbreaking to hear.

Doug I would like to thank you for going the extra mile and forcing me to defend my position. You blog response forced me to do more research and that is how we evolve as people. Conversation, dialogue, debate, or arguing respectfully challenges people to think on a much deeper level.  I now know with scientific research backing my beliefs that what a person looks like cannot determine their fitness level.  So tip of the hat to you Doug and the wag of the finger to those that read this and don’t change their thinking.

Q1. What do you do to show your ss that you model physical literacy? #slowchatpe

Q2. Why is it important that ss understand the struggle to stay active? #slowchatpe

Q3. How will/do you change ss mindset that fit=looks? #slowchatpe

Q4. Who in you PLN challenges your statements or assertions? #slowchatpe

Q5. Do you believe it is important to challenge other people on Twitter or Voxer? #slowchatpe