As a Physical Education teacher, you need to start letting go of the idea that more is always better. More games, more time, more content, more objectives… no, that’s not the right approach. Better is better, but more isn’t better. In fact, sometimes, more can be worse.
The Problem with Constantly Changing Activities
Sometimes I observe 40-minute classes where 5 activities are crammed in, with only 6 or 7 minutes per activity. That’s barely enough time for anything more than learning the rules. Sure, students might have fun this way, but honestly, it’s pretty difficult for them to actually learn anything.
However, a session with one or two well-planned activities with progression or variations changes everything. The session length can be the same, but the results are completely different.
I come from a personal training background, and one of the most important lessons I learned there is that constantly changing exercises and objectives doesn’t work because your body never adapts to anything. This same principle should apply in Physical Education classes, since it’s impossible for children to make progress in something they work on for 6 minutes before moving on to the next thing.
What does “Better” mean?
In this context, better simply means not trying to cover everything. In my native language, we have a saying: “el que mucho abarca poco aprieta.” Basically, if you try to grab too much, you can’t hold onto anything firmly. In other words, better means giving students enough time to truly inquire, ask questions, and genuinely feel themselves progressing.
Before asking for more hours and greater importance for Physical Education in the curriculum, maybe we should ask ourselves if we’re using the time we have now correctly and if we’re really having an impact on students. Are they leaving our classes better than they were when they walked in?
Next time you’re planning, instead of asking “how many activities can I fit into this lesson?”, try asking “how can I make this one activity good enough that students actually grow?”
More isn’t better. Better is better.
