About the Product
Learn how to get kids more involved in their physical education classes—and how to get them to stay active beyond high school! In Its Not Just Gym Anymore, national high school physical education teacher of the year Bane McCracken shows you how to develop a program that prepares students to be physically active after they graduate.

Just as kids wonder how theyll use certain academic skills later in life, they may also question how physical education activities, such as learning to play volleyball, will help them after they leave school. The approach in this book doesn’t just help students recognize and learn physical skills and understand why physical activity and fitness are important. It also keeps them motivated by showing them that they don’t have to be athletic to be fit and by presenting more diverse activities that they can continue to enjoy as adults.

Helping students make the transition from active students to active adults is the element that’s missing from too many traditional physical education programs, but it’s at the heart of the revolution that’s being touted as the “new PE”—programs that are results-oriented and valued as relevant to the needs of today’s society.

Its Not Just Gym Anymore is divided into two parts. In Part I, the author provides a theoretical basis and practical strategies for developing a "new PE" program. As a highly successful teacher himself, McCracken shares his insights in a personal, encouraging manner that teachers can really relate to. He explains how to

• examine what motivates people in the community to stay fit;
• determine what local and regional resources are available;
• design courses according to the needs of students;
• develop cross-curricular activity plans that reinforce basic skills and concepts, using hands-on technology to enhance students knowledge and motivation;
• integrate computers and the Internet into physical education classes;
• use appropriate teaching styles to reach all students;
• develop a critical-thinking portfolio system of assessment that enables students to be more active; and
• promote physical activity throughout the school and the community by offering field trips, fairs, coordinated curriculum events, and family nights.

Part II contains helpful tools that make the program easy to implement—including 170 sample lesson plans and 118 reproducible forms that teachers can photocopy for use in class or use as examples for developing their own forms. The lesson plans cover not only traditional activities such as basketball and volleyball, but also nontraditional activities, including outdoor adventure, mountain biking, fly-fishing, bow hunting, hiking, orienteering, and downhill skiing.

Physical education programs can be more than just "gym class." This book shows new and experienced physical education teachers how their programs can become a valued part of the school curriculum and achieve the ultimate goal of preparing students for a lifetime of activity and good health.

Audiences
Reference for secondary physical educators. Reference and supplemental text for instructors and students of undergraduate physical education methods courses.

About the Author
Bane McCracken, a physical education teacher at Huntington High School in Huntington, West Virginia, has nearly three decades of teaching and coaching experience. He chaired the department of physical education at Cabell Midland High School in Ona, West Virginia, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recognized the program for its exemplary promotion of physical activity. In 1997 he was named the National Association for Sport and Physical Education’s Secondary Physical Education Teacher of the Year in recognition of the success of his lifetime fitness approach to physical education.

McCracken, who received his MS in educational administration from Marshall University, has received numerous other honors and distinctions, including the 1996 Midwest District Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AHPERD) Teacher of the Year award; West Virginia Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (WVAHPERD) presidential citations in 1995 and 1996; the 1995 WVAHPERD Secondary Physical Education Teacher of the Year award; and the 1995 Regional Wrestling Coach of the Year award.

An active presenter and workshop leader, McCracken is chair and former vice president of the physical education division of the Midwest District AHPERD, and he is a member of its ad hoc committee on networking. He is also the WVAHPERD section chair and a member of the resident assembly, as well as a member of the West Virginia Coalition for Physical Activity Executive Committee, the Governors Council on School Health, the West Virginia Physical Education Curriculum Team, and the West Virginia Physical Education State Conference Planning Committee.

McCracken practices what he preaches by leading a physically active life. He has completed more than 20 marathons and numerous triathlons and duathlons. He also races bikes, lifts weights avidly, and is a keen outdoor enthusiast. In 1994 McCracken was the Mountain State Road Series Champion in the age 50 and over category. He lives in Ona, West Virginia, with his wife, Joyce.

NOTE: This is nonreturnable product and all purchases are final.

Physical Education

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