Yes, we must prepare our students to be critical thinkers, problem solvers and to be able to collaborate on a global level but I feel more important we want them to learn how to be healthy. Children need to eat properly and exercise in order for their growth and healthy development. This is a lifelong skill that I feel is essential. We, as educators/parents should be modeling ABCDE: Act Boldly to Change Diet and Exercise for our students/children.
I must commend these educators who lead by example in terms of fitness:
David Britten @colonelb, Salome Thomas-EL @Principal_EL, Bob Dillon @ideaguy42, Josh Stumpenhorst @stumpteacher, Joan Young @flourishingkids, JoAnn Jacobs @JoAnnJacobs68, and Philip Cummings @jasontbedell Jason Bedell among others.
It is felt that children who have good nutritional habits and exercise regularly feel better about themselves, perform better in school, and can cope with stress better.
Take a survey of your students and see if they are getting enough exercise and eating properly. Children should be getting at least 60 minutes of exercise on a daily basis and this does not mean playing games on their Xbox, texting or watching TV.
The fact that I exercised regularly and ate properly kept me well, gave me more energy and led to an excellent attendance record. My track teams appreciated the fact that I ran with them. I tried modeling good nutrition yet my students used to laugh at me when I ate a salad for lunch with water as my beverage. When I taught in my school’s health careers program I was very pleased at the end of each year when some of the students would thank me for changing their lives when they followed my preaching of eating properly, exercising and getting enough rest.
My new workout sneakers.
2013 is here and I will soon be eligible for Medicare and I will continue to exercise regularly and be more careful with the foods that I eat.
We all can achieve more if we are healthy as we have more energy. Too many children are not getting enough exercise and eating properly. Please model proper health to your students/children.
Hope everyone has a very Happy and Healthy 2013.
Great post, Jerry! I couldn’t agree more. Thanks for mentioning me and addressing this very important topic. Kids must be healthy in order to learn best!
Joan, I wish we could get everyone aboard on the fitness bandwagon. Have a very Happy & Healthy New Year.
Jerry,
I started off as a Phys Ed teacher and even now when in Admin, I still enjoy taking a class for PE, as well as modelling a healthy lifestyle through my own running. There are a few also in Australia who are keen and enjoy promoting good living to our students!
That is great what you are doing. I sure wish more educators would join us modeling good health and fitness.