L.

Noelle Murphy

Carol Wilson-Robbins

PED-105

April 2019

Physical Education Experiences

Throughout my entire education career, I have always had a passion for physical

education classes. As far back as I can remember to elementary school, I had always gotten

excited about the days I had a physical education class. Now that I think about it, I feel as

though I enjoyed the games that the class played more than the actual physical activity that we

engaged in. Either way, I enjoyed every minute of it all the way through high school.

Like I stated before, one of the many things that I like about the physical education

classes that I took throughout my school years would definitely be the games we would play. In

elementary school I would love to play “Octopus” and even in high school, I would look forward

to playing mat-ball, volleyball, whiffle ball, and etc. I would have to say that the games we

played definitely brought enjoyment to not only me, but most of my classmates as well.

Another thing that really sparked my interest in physical education class was the teacher I had

throughout elementary school. I feel as though this plays a huge role on the students as well.

My teacher was so bubbly and interactive with our classes that it would just really encourage

me to want to engage as well. Another reason I really liked physical education classes, was the

fact that you got to have physical and social interactions with your peers that you may have

never had without this class. You really get to see what your peers enjoy, what they excel at,
and even what they are truly interested in. I made many friendships by bonding over things we

liked and disliked inside and outside of P.E. class. Along with this, I learned how to work well

with teams as well as independently.

Now even though I highly enjoyed physical education classes, there are a few aspects

that I did not absolutely agree with or like. One example would be the fact that students were

forced to do things that they are not comfortable with doing or maybe not even physically

capable of doing. Examples being running “the mile”, lifting weights, and etc. It seemed as

though teachers would assume students just didn’t want to do it, but really either they didn’t

know how and were uncomfortable in front of others or they honestly couldn’t do it. I feel as

though by pressuring students to do these tasks; educators are causing students to dislike the

thought of physical education/activity all together. A way to avoid this issue would be to give

the students options in order to make the students feel as though they are in charge of their

actions. For example, if you are planning on having a weightlifting day with your class, maybe

have another option for those students who are not comfortable with lifting. Examples could

include walking laps around the gym, playing some sort of physical game, modify the weight

lifting activities for those who are not entirely “strong”, and etc. I feel that by having these

other opportunities for students, they will have a more positive experience rather than

negative. Another thing that I did not entirely like would have been the fact that my high school

physical education teacher allowed us to pick our own teams. Now normally in a general

education course all students would die for their teacher to allow the students to choose their

own groups or partners, right?! Well, from what I saw in high school P.E. was that the strongest,

most athletic students would be all on one team and then the least athletic or more weak
students would be on the opposite team. This would cause uneven, unequally strong teams and

everyone in the class would already know who would win and the weaker team would feel

defeated before the game ever started. By doing this, students also felt disappointed and

singled out if they were the last to be picked. I think in order to avoid the hurt feelings would be

for the teacher to pick groups before class even starts for the day in order to avoid any

confrontations.

As stated before, from the time I can remember I have always loved participating in

physical education classes. I loved the interaction with the teachers and students, the games

we played, the things I learned about my physical self and what I was capable of accomplishing.

I think altogether, physical education courses are an important thing that students and even

adults should be participating in to stay happy and healthy. Not only do they help you stay in

shape, but also can teach you skills that you can use in your life. Although I see physical

education as a positive experience, there will definitely be students who view it as a negative so

I believe that schools should most definitely have modifications or a backup plan for those

students to avoid any further negativity. We, as teachers want to help students embrace

physical activity, not push them further away from those experiences.