I find that it becomes increasingly more difficult to fit things like art and physical movement into elementary school level curriculum. Our public schools curriculums have become more and more focused on preparing for the tests that come in the later grades. With this development, things like physical ability and artistic expression become secondary in most schools and non-existent in others. This is extremely detrimental to students in the younger grades. Movement and art are extremely helpful in creating healthy children both emotionally and physically. They also are the most useful way for some students who have different learning styles to process information. I believe that it becomes more and more important for teachers of all levels to incorporate physical activity into the classroom. It allows us to teach the required curriculum in a differentiated way, letting us reach more students. It will also allow the students to have art and exercise included in their school experience. These are forms of expression that can be crucial to students' emotional and physical development. Children need to be given tools such as art and exercise to help them develop as well rounded human beings. Although these subjects have come to be regarded as extracurricular, they can save nontraditional students from failure in a traditional school system, and truly insure that no child is left behind. As educators we need to concern ourselves with these areas of our students' development as ardently as we do with our test scores. I am hoping through this unit to help to bring two neglected areas in our students' development, kinesthetic and artistic, into the classroom.
In my short teaching career I have taught in two schools. Neither one of these schools had recess. At both schools it was not uncommon for students to have one session of gym a week for thirty minutes. Many young students are at school from seven thirty in the morning to five or six in the evening. It is appalling that we are allowing our young students to spend this much of their time without physical activity. Therefore I would like to use part of my unit exploring different ways teachers can incorporate movement into their unit.
Writing a unit about anatomy that incorporates physical activity, and teaches about health issues has allowed me to explore ways to tackle one of the issues I feel most passionately needs to be improved for children today. The health crisis of obesity that is facing our country's youth today is one that is currently not addressed in any meaningful way by our public school system as a whole. In fact, in many inner cities, where the crisis is most prevalent the school systems have been culprit to exasperating the crisis rather than helping to remedy it. Many schools are similar to the two I have taught in, in that they have no recess. Also, enrichment subjects such as gym and music are given minimal time and/or resources. Many classes can expect no more than thirty minutes of gym a day in a typical urban elementary school. I have known teachers who report that their classes have gone entire semesters with no gym or recess. There also is often a lack of space and classes are overcrowded. This can force teachers to need to enforce strict rules to limit movement within the classroom.
I have noticed that school lunches often lack nutritional value as well. While there are currently some programs aimed to improve the quality of school meals in many parts of the country, it is still an area that needs much to be desired in many of our school systems. In the school I currently teach in, breakfast for my first graders consists of either cold cereal or a muffin or breakfast tart. All of these options contain an enormous amount of sugar, a substance that is a key factor in the obesity crisis our country faces.
As a teacher who is particularly concerned with this current health crisis, I try to find as many ways as I can to include physical activity into my classroom. I also try to take opportunities to teach about nutrition and healthy foods. You will find some examples of the ways that I have successfully done this in the lessons portion of the unit.
Through teaching about anatomy and art I plan to address two neglected aspects of education, physical fitness and the arts. I expect that with a better understanding of their bodies and how to portray them, it will not only allow my students to open up artistically, but also help them to make healthy choices in their lives. I also anticipate that the unit will be a useful resource to other teachers. I hope they will be empowered to find ways to bring physical activity back into school, and help to allow our students to indeed have healthy minds and bodies.