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School Wellness Weekly
May 26, 2022
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Taking a Moment to Pause to Acknowledge the Healing Role of Educators |
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We dedicate this issue of School Wellness Weekly to the community of Uvalde, to school communities across the country mourning the tragic loss of life, and to all school staff who help their students and communities heal and address continuing trauma.
In the wake of the recent school shooting (opens in new window) at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas—where 19 students and two teachers were among the casualties—we want to pause and acknowledge each of our educators and school staff who work diligently and bravely to help New York City students and communities heal and recover from trauma. In the midst of challenges and uncertainty, both immediate and long-term, one thing is clear: Healthy students are better learners, and better prepared to succeed in life. Thank you to our educators and school staff who have often put their own needs aside this year to prioritize the mental and physical health and well-being of students and their families. This moment is difficult, especially for parents and caretakers and life-long teachers who feel like the recent violence hits painfully close to home.
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If you need immediate help for yourself or someone in your school community, visit the NYC Well page (opens in new window) for 24/7 support via talk, text, and chat services and additional resources to help cope with stress, depression, and anxiety.
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In recognition of New York City teachers who go above and beyond to model excellence, we are honored to share profiles of this year’s Big Apple Physical Education Teacher Award finalists:
- Andrew Bieber, P.S. 040 Augustus Saint-Gaudens (02M040)
- Lisa Cohen, P.S. 091 Richard Arkwright (24Q091)
- Daniel Matos, The River School (02M281)
- Kathie McDermott Green, Bayside High School (26Q495)
- Catherine Scouroudis, P.S. Q023 @ Queens Children Center (75Q023)
Each of these teachers has been selected for their work to inspire students, model high-quality PE instruction, and enrich their school communities. Check out this issue for details on some of the lessons they have learned, their inspiration for teaching PE, resources that they found helpful this school year, and more. And thank you to all Health and Physical Education teachers for their commitment to students’ health and well-being.
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Andrew Bieber, P.S. 040 Augustus Saint-Gaudens, 02M040 |
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What do you love most about teaching PE?
The most rewarding aspect of teaching PE is seeing children achieve success, which then carries over to participation. When the "light bulb goes on," it's a great feeling. We are teaching them lifetime skills.
What lessons have you learned, or hurdles have you had to overcome?
I've learned that hands-on experience is the best kind of experience. Although the classroom can teach you many things, there is no substitute for on-the-job learning. Student athletes learn by doing. In my opinion, there is no substitute for retaining knowledge other than practicing a skill or a technique over and over until it becomes part of one's muscle memory. Corrective feedback on the part of the instructor is crucial, as it must be immediate and succinct so children can absorb this knowledge and reflect. Practice comes from participation, and this participation will eventually lead to success.
Classroom management skills have really come into play, especially after COVID. For many students, this is their first experience with in-person learning. Management skills that we had taken for granted had to be revisited for returning students: raising one's hand, sitting up straight when instructions are given, as well as personal space issues. These routines have really taken a back seat during the pandemic. I had to go back into my "toolbox" and pull out techniques that I had instituted early on.
What continues to inspire you?
I am inspired to be the best PE teacher I can be. I have enthusiasm and dedication to the job and feel I can teach anything that I know to anyone that wants to learn. Being able to connect with student athletes using differentiation tools are my strengths.
What instructional resources have helped you the most in the past year?
The pandemic has enhanced my knowledge of computer technology and all that it has to offer. When it came to teaching live via Zoom, the resources that colleagues posted on Twitter as well as YouTube were invaluable. Online Professional Learning Communities (OPLCs) were another resource from which to draw on; I am thankful for all the postings of PE-related skills and activities that have been a lifesaver during the pandemic and beyond. I can't thank those people enough. I still use them today if I have to go into a classroom or to present an activity or resource to a colleague. I am lucky that I have many teachers at my school that I can go to when I need technical assistance.
Please share something you are proud of since schools have reopened to in-person learning.
Being a Big Apple Award finalist is something I am very proud of. Being considered this year is a great honor. I am also happy to have my gymnasium back and have the kids return to some type of normalcy.
The fact that we were able to hold a Kids Heart Challenge event and reinstitute our annual Sports Night fundraiser was a welcome addition. [American Heart Association’s] Jump Rope for Heart, now called Kids Heart Challenge, is something I have been involved with for the past 25 years. This past February, P.S. 40 raised over $11,000 for this organization. Children learn the importance of physical fitness as well as learning about heart disease and the importance of exercise.
Sports Night is a fun-filled community event co-hosted by the Parents Association; this year’s event had over 800 ticket sales. I am proud to have instituted this event, and it has remained a staple at P.S. 40 for the past 26 years and is still going strong.
If you could share one piece of advice to fellow NYC teachers, what would it be?
Teaching is not always easy, but it's a profession in which you can constantly grow and become a better teacher. One is always learning in this job. It may be hard now because of the pandemic, but don't let that discourage you. Things will get better.
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Lisa Cohen, P.S. 091 Richard Arkwright, 24Q091 |
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What do you love most about teaching PE?
I get to see my students "grow up." As a grades 3K-5 school, I get to know my students deeply, allowing me to teach to their strengths and facilitate learning where support is needed most. My gym becomes like a little microcosm within the school where the whole child is developed across all the domains: psychomotor, cognitive, and affective. Seeing my students become autonomous and taking ownership of their learning is quite rewarding.
What lessons have you learned, or hurdles have you had to overcome?
I have learned that communication and collaboration are key, and that as a team player, we are all working in the best interest of our students.
One hurdle I have had to overcome is that I do not have a traditional PE learning space. In my school it is called a "play space," originally designed to be the school's cafeteria. The space has three cinderblock pillars and is also a common space for other programs and activities.
What continues to inspire you?
My students. Their enthusiasm about participating in my class and their excitement when they master a new skill drives me to provide them with optimal learning experiences. I am constantly learning from my students and adapting my curriculum and instruction to improve the teaching-learning process to reach all learners. The challenge of ensuring all students feel successful in my class truly inspires me to be creative and innovative with my instruction.
What instructional resources have helped you the most in the past year?
The text Children Moving [a PE lesson-planning guide] coupled with the NYC K-5 Physical Education Scope and Sequence. I bring these resources to life using GIFs and Google Slides to create visual supports and learning tasks for my students.
Please share something you are proud of since schools have reopened to in-person learning.
Being able to implement remote learning best practices to enhance my students' in-person experience. I create GIFs for physical movements and share them on an interactive whiteboard so that my students have a model for physical performance that they can use to evaluate their own movement or the movement of their peers. This gives me time to instruct and provide corrective, prescriptive feedback while ensuring students are aware of the task(s).
If you could share one piece of advice to fellow NYC teachers, what would it be?
Always remember that you never know the impact you are making on the lives of your students, so strive to be the best version of yourself because they are always watching.
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Daniel Matos, The River School, 02M281 |
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What do you love most about teaching PE?
Teaching Physical Education has been a dream come true. Throughout my previous years in fitness, I always thought teaching was something I'd end up doing "after" that career. However, I slowly began to think about the possibilities teaching would offer me, especially when working with so many adults that had wished they were more active in their childhood. So, when the Pathways to PE Program opened in 2018, I knew I had to apply. I'm so grateful to be a PE teacher, especially because I learn just as much from my students as they learn from me. Young people are curious, bold, outspoken, and full of wonder.
What lessons have you learned, or hurdles have you had to overcome?
The biggest lesson I've learned is flexibility. Planning is important, but so is the ability to be flexible. Not being married to the outcome is something I try to embrace daily. Being able to respond to the nuances of each class and the dynamic that the students create is a skill I've worked hard to consistently refine. Students, classrooms, teachers, and the time of day are all like ingredients in a recipe. Remove one, change one, or slightly swap something, and you suddenly have a different situation. Embracing that has helped me be less reactive and more in tune with what's happening within the moment in each of my classes, especially when it comes to being mindful of students' emotions or feelings, life outside of the classroom, and how those manifest on a daily basis.
What continues to inspire you?
I'm constantly inspired by students' culture and learning how to deeply connect with them. I'm relentlessly inspired to use their culture to make PE more engaging, purposeful, and enjoyable for as many students as possible by creating meaningful experiences that speak directly to their interests and who they are as multifaceted people.
What instructional resources have helped you the most in the past year?
Like so many other PE teachers, I’m always looking through OPEN, the NYC DOE’s TeachHub and the NYC PE Scope & Sequence documents, Adventure Curricula, and PE Universe. Twitter has been such an amazing resource for PE. Type “#PhysEd” in the Twitter search and you’ll find tons of teachers, resources, concepts, ideas, and Q&A’s. I’m also able to see into other teachers’ spaces. Like anything else, you can take what you can and then adapt it to fit the needs of your current environment.
Please share something you are proud of since schools have reopened to in-person learning.
I'm deeply touched any time I get a note that reads something like, "Dear Coach D, Thank you for making me feel welcome and safe. Have a great Thanksgiving." To have that happen, especially during a time when we were all wearing masks, really helped me feel like I was still being present, making a difference, and building connections despite students not seeing my face regularly. Being able to create a warm environment even though our faces were covered for the first half of the year is something I feel tremendously proud of. Being able to establish a culture despite these limitations was also a testament to how important it is to be together in other people's presence. Being able to sit with students at lunch again, give fist pumps and high-fives, put students together in teams, and smile at or talk with another student have been some of the most notable things. My job title may be PE teacher, but my role is to be a safe, trusting, warm, and caring adult.
If you could share one piece of advice to fellow NYC teachers, what would it be?
Find the sweet spot in your classroom using your strengths and personality. Find and cultivate what works for you and remember why you've chosen a career as a PE teacher.
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Kathie McDermott Green, Bayside High School, 26Q495 |
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What do you love most about teaching PE?
Students will walk away with knowledge on not only how to be physically active, but how it can increase your chances of a long, healthy life. I try to instill in my students this notion: You should find an activity that you like, or even love, and try to do it as often as possible. Whether it’s yoga, biking, weight training, pickle ball, or even something as simple as walking, it’s better to do some type of daily activity than no activity at all.
What lessons have you learned, or hurdles have you had to overcome?
Teaching during the pandemic has taught me how important it is to work together. It was surreal: One day we were in school and teaching, the next we were at home teaching through a laptop. Before the pandemic, I had very basic skills using a computer, so it was a whole new world for me, like learning how to use Google Meet and posting and grading assignments through Google Classroom. With time, patience, persistence, and not being afraid to make a mistake, we got through a successful year of remote learning.
We had daily check-ins with students to make sure they were okay and let them know that we were going through the same thing, and that allowed us to create relationships with students. This added to the concept of truly working together to learn what we could, and how important physical activity was during this time to relieve some of the stress brought on by the pandemic.
What continues to inspire you?
My love of sports. Physical activity is something that’s helped to shape my life thus far. Helping students to find that activity that keeps them active and engaged inspires me. I still love what I do even after 30-plus years of teaching. How many people can say that they truly enjoy going to work? Every day is a new adventure, a new challenge. Believe me, no two days are ever the same.
What instructional resources have helped you the most in the past year?
I used a variety of resources throughout the year. I used websites such as Kahoot, Ed Puzzle, and YouTube to help students understand the importance of physical activity, especially to relieve stress. I also consider collaborating with my colleagues a resource—without them, we wouldn’t have had the success we had through the pandemic. Sharing lesson plans and modifying them for our classes was something that helped my department teach students the importance of physical activity. I have been so fortunate to work at my school because in our department we have a mix of new and veteran teachers. The exchange of new and old ideas about Physical Education has helped to make our department even stronger.
Please share something you are proud of since school has reopened to in-person learning.
I’m proud that we were able to run a PE program using all the safety protocols. With these protocols in place, we were able to engage with students in a way we haven’t since before the pandemic. We have had the perfect opportunity to implement some new units, keep the students physically active, and bring back some sense of normalcy.
If you could share one piece of advice to fellow NYC teachers, what would it be?
We are shaping the future, our future. So if we want to have a future filled with kindness, empathy, understanding, and equality, we have to model it and teach it to our students. Children are our hope for a better future, and it all starts in the classroom. Choose kindness and understanding, teach empathy and equality.
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Catherine Scouroudis, P.S. Q023 @ Queens Children Center, 75Q023 |
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What do you love most about teaching PE?
I love that I get to stay active—but I also love that as an instructor, I do not have to tell children to sit down, or be quiet, or stay still. Kids are free to run and play and be kids within the context of learning how to be active, healthy, and part of a team.
What lessons have you learned or hurdles that you have had to overcome?
I have learned over the years that being proactive and preparing for lessons and units keeps my students' learning targeted and structured, and I can still be flexible and inventive in my day-to-day instruction.
What continues to inspire you?
The kids. I love when they come in and say, "What are we going to do today, Ms. Scouroudis?" They are it, and they are having fun; they get to be social but learn at the same time. They tell me stories about their personal lives, and how they are able to incorporate the things I am teaching.
What instructional resources have helped you the most in the past year?
Facebook and other social media networking. There are physical education groups, and I get a lot of ideas from other professionals on Facebook.
Please share something you are proud of since school has reopened for in-person learning.
I am proud of getting kids to be active again. They missed being involved in sports with other kids, and they missed physical activity, and a lot of them missed a lot of active time.
If you could share one piece of advice to fellow NYC teachers, what would it be?
Help each other out. Sharing resources and being collaborative improves all of us. If we expect our kids to function as a team, we have to be role models and teach them how to be a member of a community.
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