This week for the Featured PE Teacher section on the PE Central Facebook page, the spotlight is on Victoria Turner!
About Victoria Turner:
I am a Physical Education teacher at Oakridge Elementary School in Hollywood, FL. I teach 480 students in grades PreK-5th. I have been teaching for 4 years.
Current Lesson Plan/Unit:
My PreK students are part of the ASD program in Broward County, and we typically do a lot of dance. Right now we are working on the Chinese Ribbon Dance as part of the Spring Concert. K-2 is working on Kicking and Trapping. I am also incorporating one of Character Traits, which is Control. We talk about how in soccer you need to have control over the ball and we relate it back to how you need control in the classroom. Grades 3-5 are working on Frisbee. Also, since we are just finishing up math testing I incorporated math into their lesson plans. We worked with throwing at different angles, and playing Frisbee math golf where each “hole” was worth different points based on a bath equation that was provided at each “hole”.
Focus for 2017:
Our focus for the year is Cooperation. It seems that a lot of the students do not know how to properly communicate with each, or work together in teams. Every unit we do involves a group or team activity where we focus on how the team works together and communicates, rather than the final score. Teams that work cooperatively can earn or lose points based on how they cooperate.
Favorite Lesson Plan/Unit:
It used to be Omikin Ball, but I recently started to fall in love with Cup Stacking. There are so many different activities that you can do, and they also include the Jumbo Stacks which the younger students LOVE. They are also great for South Florida in the rainy season since they can be used indoors and outdoors.
What is your favorite part about being a PE teacher?
That I am a constant in my students lives. Each year they switch classroom teachers, but every year they see you. You get to watch them grow from tiny kindergartners, to big fifth graders. I also love being able to see the transformations in that timeframe.
Just had to share this photo as well! For our Jump Rope for Heart celebration, students who raised over a certain amount of money got to dump chocolate syrup on me and the principal. At least it wasn’t mud!
