Gym Observation Paper

Mr. Rowe is the PE teacher at Springhill Elementary School, and a lifelong friend as well, and so he was excited when I asked to come and watch him teach gym classes. Thursday, I had the privilege of observing two sessions, 4th and 5th grade. The gym space they used was smaller than half the gym in the Wells Fargo Sports Complex, and when filled with about 30 kids seemed even smaller. Fifth grade came in first, and since they had already participated in two form and technique sessions already that week, this third and final day meant they could put those skills into practice with a game of “End Line Soccer.” Fourth grade was the second class I observed, and that day was their first and only gym class of the week, so Mr. Rowe took them through some soccer drills for the first time. The 30-minute session for each class seemed to fly by so quickly. Mr. Rowe barely had enough time to send off one class, before the next group of kids came barreling in with lots of energy. The beginning of the fifth grade session started with Mr. Rowe instructing the students to run a few laps around gym, and then changed up the movement by asking for a skip, grapevine, side step, and backwards skip. He then called for them to come and sit in their places, and all the kids knew their assigned

I was so surprised at how short the sessions were, and how little time the kids get to spend in gym each week. It was an eye-opening observation for me, and I was thoroughly impressed with Mr. Rowe’s ability to actively retain the kids’ attention the entire class period. He kept the class positive, and explained to me that was his method for helping himself as well as the kids have a good experience in gym. He said that it keeps coming at you, as a PE teacher, and your experience depends on how you react to unruly kids. He was a great example of a well-seasoned PE