By Bill Delaney and John Stone

Motivating Middle School Students: Health Club Approach By Dierdra Bycura And Paul W. Darst

Motivating Middle School Students: Health Club Approach • Some Middle school physical education programs are either extensions of elementary programs or watered-down versions of high school curricula. • Middle school students need specific curricula that meet their stages of development. • Purposeful motivational curricula can arouse student’s curiosity, which in turn leads to heightened engagement. • Researchers have found that negative responses towards physical activity are due to low skill level, unwillingness to dress, participate or comply with the teacher’s directions.

Health Club Approach • The authors of this article devised a unit called the health club fitness in an attempt to meet middle school student’s needs for relevance in their learning and their desire to enter the adult world. • The unit included aerobic dance, weight lifting, personal training, kickboxing, step aerobics and resistance training.

Health Club Approach • The unit was presented over a two week span for seventh and eighth graders. • It consisted of 50 minutes per day for five days a week. • A different health-club activity was offered each day, with relevant topics for discussion centering on that particular activity.

Health Club Approach Cont. • Activity sessions usually took up the first 15-20 minutes, complete with warm-up, activity and cool down. Following the sessions the students were fatigued and ready to sit and listen to the discussion topic that accompanied each activity. • The study showed that the students were more apt to ask questions because the activity sessions gave them a frame of reference for the discussions. • Students were given the opportunity to look at information from local health clubs. They were eager to find out how all of these clubs operated and what they had to offer. • This approach met on of the states difficult physical education standards, which requires the students to become informed consumers.

Assessment • Students were given an assignment for them to create a personal activity calendar for one month as if they belonged to a health club. • They had to incorporate the five components of fitness by balancing their health club choices, including their rest days. They also had to write a short paragraph on the advantages and disadvantages of the particular exercises and classes that they chose to include in their calendar.

Advice For Successful Implementation • This unit can help students who prefer individual activities. Each student is engaged with his or her own piece of equipment allowing more practice time without the fear of peers watching. • The unit could also be presented with a whole staff approach. If there are multiple teachers in your department, they could split the duties and teach in their area of expertise within the fitness unit, with the students rotating to different teachers each day.

Equipment Problems • The equipment for this project was basically free. • Local health clubs loaned them 30 therapy bands, and additional hand weight sets. • For the kickboxing unit, they used cones for the students to aim and kick at. • They used beech balls for the exercise ball segment of the unit

What does this mean for us? • Presenting fitness in this manner provides students with a link between physical education and the real world. • - It motivates them to engage in the learning process because it is personal, allowing them to work with equipment on a personal basis. • - If students are motivated to move and learn about things that they are interested in, it makes it easier for us as teachers to provide them with the learning experience that they deserve.

After- school physical activity programs for adolescent Girls By Doris L. Watson Artur Poczwardowski Pat Eisenman

After- school physical activity programs for adolescent Girls The after-school program was held by Utah Starzz basketball team and the author of this article. “U move with the Starzz” partnership between two Salt Lake City middle schools School was the most ethnically diverse in the state consisting of 24 and 46% of minority students.

After- school physical activity programs for adolescent Girls • In September of 1998 university students and women from the WNBA came and talked to the students about Physical activity and its contribution overall wellness. At the conclusion of this assembly, consent forms were handed out inviting girls to attend the after-school program. • The consent forms were for female students from the seventh and eighth grade to participate in a two day camp.

After- school physical activity programs for adolescent Girls • Purpose of the camp was to provide the girls with low-cost opportunity to sample types of physical activity. • The after-school program was held by Utah Starzz basketball team and the author of this article.

After- school physical activity programs for adolescent Girls • After the 2 day camp the Utah Starzz held a physical activity session at each middle school from October 1998 to May 1999. • 65 seventh and eighth grader females participated in the program. • These sessions consisted of warms up, cooperative activities, fun fitness activities, and a cool down.

After- school physical activity programs for adolescent Girls • Twice each month the interns would have small groups and talk about nutrition, refusal skills and communication skills. Also each month the students would get a news letter containing a physical activity calendar, nutrition awareness, wellness information, fitness puzzles and quizzes. Also included low fat recipes and Starzz player profiles • Focus groups 2 groups out of all participants • Each group contain 3-5 girls • One in December • One in April

Chapter 11 • This chapter presents the concept of abandoning the common idea of formalized physical education as we see it and replacing it with a school fitness and sports club. • The aspect of the health club that is a more attractive choice to the traditional physical education class is that you get to choose the activity you feel like doing. • You get to chose from aerobic classes, pool-based activities and rock climbing. • Most of the time spent in a health club is spent in exercise, while in physical education class management, instruction and waiting time tends to take up a large portion of the class.

Structure of the School Fitness and Sports Club- What Does it Look Like? • They copied a weekly schedule for the fitness and sports club for Tiger High. • The school opens before other classes and extends its hours after regular classes end. This schedule gives the opportunity for students to exercise when they are most comfortable.

Sample activities Lifetime physical activity education CPR and first aid Nutrition and weight control Aerobics Weight Training In-line skating Frisbee Volleyball Badminton Basketball Rope courses Rock Climbing Kayaking Camping and hiking

Accountability • FSC should not take the place of physical education courses. • The book suggests that students may be required to have a passing grade in the required course before they are eligible to use the weight room or any other part of the fitness and sports club. • Students may be required to reach eligibility standards in order to participate in field trips. Ex: students would not be able to go on a field trip to a wall course without showing their belaying skills

By Bill Delaney and John Stone