Imagine a school setting where equal goals are assigned to reading, math, and physical activity? Leveling the playing field through equal priority given to academia and movement.
It is exactly what is going on in in Oklahoma at Steed Elementary School. Coordinated amongst all grade teachers students are called to master 26 math skills, learn 26 reading skills, read 26 books and RUN 26.2 miles! Yes, a full marathon - even if it is over time.
Teacher Christine Paradise says," the goal is to get the kids involved in more physical activities and running is a natural fit as they do it anyway."
The program's success is in students running and learning gradually. They keep journals on their progress and a teacher or parent verifies that each task is completed. Needless to say, students can run any time. The program is now implemented from pre-kindergarten through fifth grades. The finale will be for students to run the final 1.2 miles of their 'marathon' at a Kids Marathon in Oklahoma City.
Goals are pretty tough. One math assignment would be the mastering of the multiplication table. In reading it could mean the ability to understand inferences or main ideas. Ultimately the idea is to encourage students to keep going and persevere - A rare commodity now a-days.
The cool part is that several teachers have joined the program as well, setting 26 personal goals in addition to running a 'marathon'. Breaking it up in parts makes it easy and enhance the chances of success. Such programs teach life skills in addition to personal development, self-discipline, and intrinsic motivation. No fault can be found with this formula.
Michael Cordier
Michael,
ReplyDeleteAn interesting concept and one I subscribe to totally. We at John Spence have just implemented a scaleddown trifit programme and have now looked to moving on to the next stage. We have mentors (teachers who support) for Gifted and Talented pupils, mentors for Special Education Needs pupils and with our Senior Management we have agreed to implement mentoring for those pupils who currently have health issues. One useful resource for you guys would be to check out our Change4Life programme which is running Nationally - this aims to get the whole family involved and is being run by the National Health Service.