This week for the Featured PE Teacher section on the PE Central Facebook page, the spotlight is on Taralynn Lorance:
About Taralynn:
I am a Physical Education Specialist at Wainwright Intermediate, Tacoma School District, Tacoma, WA. I teach 6th and 7th grade PE, and I have about 200 students. I have been teaching for 8 years in a gym and spent 17 years teaching swimming.
Current Lesson Plan/Unit:
Currently we are working on cooperative games with a focus on communication and teamwork. Communication is the theme of the month at our school and cooperative games lend a hand to this. By providing these lessons in my PE classes, it gives students opportunities to use communication in a variety of ways. it also sets a high standard for the use teamwork and communication during the year in PE and every subject area.
PE Focus for 2017:
The focus I have for my classes is for them to understand lifelong fitness and why it is so important to practice it. Taking charge of your own health and fitness is essential part of being an active member of society.
Favorite Lesson Plan/Unit:
I’m a big fan jumping rope! My students and I have been active with American Heart Association’s Jump Rope for Heart event each year. The unit that I teach around this is a great combination of physical feats as well as health related concepts. Jumping rope if a physical activity that can be done almost anywhere with little equipment.
What is your favorite part about being a PE teacher?
My favorite part about being a PE teacher is giving my students a chance to try now things. My gym is a safe environment for them to be active and explore the options of fitness. Their faces show such excitement when they master that new skills without feeling judged.
