Skipping isn't something you see sophomores doing every day, especially not boys.
But at Skyline High School in Oakland, you can tell what they're thinking as they traipse across the blacktop, some with goofy grins on their faces. For the girls in the PE class, it's not quite as embarrassing.
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Chris Caldron, Danielle Brown, Marciela Tinagero, Freddy Kuang, Erik Paez and Sam Huang do step-ups on the bleachers at Skyline High in Oakland. |
"Now skip real high," commands John Beam, their PE teacher who also serves as the school's athletic director and football coach. "When you skip real high, it's the same as a lay-up. Most of you don't even know it, but it's a skill you use all the time in basketball."
Even with more than 50 students in a class, the Oakland Education Association member gives his students a good overall workout. In addition to skipping and jumping jacks, students make use of the sidewalk and bleacher benches to do stretches and squats. Elsewhere, students alternate between riding exercise bikes and jumping rope. Then it's off to the mat room for leg lifts, stomach crunches and sit-ups.
Some students do the exercises with ease; others have trouble doing even one sit-up. One girl can only lift her head off the floor.
Beam tells them that if they are not able to do 10 sit-ups holding their legs, they are deficient in abdominal strength, which could cause them back problems down the road. "You have to work on this. Try doing some sit-ups at home during commercials.
"And remember, you aren't doing this for me, you're doing it for yourselves."
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PE teacher John Beam leads his class in stretches on the sidewalk.\ |
His approach reflects what is known as the "new PE" where the emphasis is on exercise for its own sake and developing fitness for life rather than playing team sports or competitive games where students are branded winners and losers. The new PE is reflected in the state standards, which were created in the 1990s but have yet to be approved by the state Board of Education. While there are plenty of teachers who still adhere to the old PE, the new style is growing in popularity.
The trend, praised by fitness experts, means that students spend their time developing lifetime fitness skills - such as aerobics, running, walking or yoga - rather than waiting for their turn at bat for softball. The goal is to meet the needs of every child and to reward students for personal improvement. It is also meant to avoid situations that turn children off to exercise, such as the humiliation of being picked last for teams.
Cooperation rather than competition is the goal.
"A good program allows children to set their own goals and achieve them," says Beam. "It gives students an outlet during the day, and gives them advice on how to be fit for life."