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Print2007 District Teacher of the Year
High School
- Northwest District -
 |
Name: Greg Bert |
Describe one or two of the newest and/or most innovative activities that you do with your students in physical education?
Freshmen Physical Education: I have taught physical education at Black Hills High School since the school opened in 1997. Another physical educator (Lisa Summers) and I have developed and lobbied hard for a one year course for all freshmen to take; Freshmen Physical Education. Through our efforts this class for the last three years has been a full year.
In my freshmen physical education classes, I teach motor skills and lifetime sport units on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. Tuesdays and Thursdays are devoted to the teaching of lifetime fitness skills.
Teaching fitness through "themes"- "I am Fit", "What I am Made Of" and "I Can Train Myself". We are on the trimester system so during the fall trimester on the Tuesday and Thursday activities my theme is "I am Fit". What this means that all throughout the trimester, my focus is on teaching skills, cognitive strategies and affective appreciation of the following: F.I.T.T. Principle, 5 Fitness Components, Benefits of Fitness, Consequences of Sedentary Lifestyle, Heart Rate: MHR-THR, RHR and Target Heart Rate Range, Basic Nutritional Needs- the 6 nutrients.
The primary fitness theme for the Winter Trimester is: "What I am Made Of"- In this theme we teach strategies, activities and lessons towards body composition, the muscular and skeletal systems, review of nutritional needs, obesity and diabetes prevention. During the Spring Trimester the fitness theme is: "I can train myself". In this theme we teach concepts devoted to principles of exercise, training for a run, how to sign up for a run and individual exercise planning and prescription. At the end of the course students will turn in their own "Individual Training Portfolio".
The lifetime sports that we teach throughout the year are: soccer, tennis, badminton, soft tennis, CA pickleball, speedball, aerobic badminton, golf, ultimate, Frisbee golf, lacrosse, cricket, volleyball, basketball, Tekraw.
What is your particular expertise in regard to teaching physical education – what is the focus of your teaching?
Primarily high school physical education. This could be the last chance for my students to learn important concepts that will keep them healthy for a lifetime. The focus of my teaching is primarily teaching lifetime sport motor skills and lifetime fitness skills and concepts. I like to do research regarding what is best for the high school physical education student and how I can implement our six national standards into such a program. Someday I would like to get a PhD in physical education on this topic, but I am having too much fun teaching high school physical education and it is very expensive!
I am a NBCT in physical education (EAYA) and I focus a lot of my energy keying in on what the student is actually learning. Assessment is an area that I feel that I do a very good job in. I use assessment to re-focus and drive my instruction.
In addition to all of this, I have learned how to advocate for my physical education profession. Since I live in Olympia, WA which is our state capitol, I am able to make appointments with my legislative representatives and speak to them about getting rid of the PE Waiver which exists in our state and adding additional minutes to daily physical education for grades K-12. This year I wrote six different bills related to quality daily physical education. I will keep meeting and writing bills until our state mandates daily physical education for grades K-12. My feeling is that no one is going to advocate for physical education except ourselves who are in the field. I encourage all of you to get busy and contact your representatives.
Racquet Sports is another area when I feel I have much to give back to our profession. I use mini-games to teach racquet sport skills and fitness games to keep everyone moving and having fun. I wrote the curriculum for this class and it is very popular with the students.
What is your philosophy for physical education – what do you believe in?
"Education Through The Physical"- I believe physical education is the most important core subject at our high school. Through activity I teach the psychomotor, cognitive, appreciation for activity and social responsibly (affective domain). No other subject can lay claim to teaching all three domains of education each and every day. Physical Education is the perfect social laboratory to teach respect, honor, character, fair-play, teamwork, cognition, fitness skills and motor skills all in one lesson! We get to do this every day and get paid for it! Wow!
I believe that each and every student is "wired for activity and play". Our ancient ancestors had to run, walk or hunt for their food daily! It was many times that these ancestors of ours would walk, run all day. In fact, our recent ancestors who traveled in wagons across the prairies of America one-hundred and twenty five years ago would walk a marathon each day as they traveled west. Sadly, not many people do this anymore. We need to tap into this inherit nature of mankind as a mover and play artist. We are wired for both play and movement. When we stop moving is when we begin to break down. I work to instill this message into each of my physical education classes.
More specifically, at the high school level I believe that the curriculum needs to be based on BOTH lifetime fitness and lifetime sports. We cannot forget our lifetime sports. We should be teaching fitness through sports like golf, ultimate, tennis, badminton, swimming, fitness walking and many others. One of my goals as a teacher is to have my students feel comfortable playing 2-3 lifetime sports as they leave the security of high school. We also need to teach our students how to train themselves to stay fit for a lifetime.
I see the high school physical education program as "their last chance"—their last chance to make sure that they leave high school knowing how to stay fit, their last chance to appreciate a vigorous and active lifestyle, their last chance to learn the proper motor skills to enjoy lifetime/leisure and recreational sports.
We all need to expect more from OURSELVES first. We need to be active ourselves and put forth our personal best each day. We may need to work harder than most teachers because our society does not unilaterally endorse or support daily physical education. We must advocate daily, and call, write or visit our school boards, elected officials and parent support groups.
Now is a great time to be a physical educator. Now is the time to take a stand and take on the personal mission of "Let's Find A Way". Let's all find a way to be better teachers, to be the hardest working teachers on our staffs, to promote and practice quality physical education, to find ways to fund our programs in creative and "out of the box" ways.
What does being a physical education Teacher of the Year mean to you?
My proudest moment as a professional has been going through the TOY process. It is awesome to be recognized by other physical educators. I am also a NBCT and that is thrilling too, but the day I heard that I was named our state high school TOY I was shocked, surprised and honored. In Baltimore, I had a great time going through the TOY process. I have met so many other great TOY colleagues it makes me proud just to be part of that group! I feel we will always have that bond.
Being a TOY means that I have a lot to do and live up to! My work has just begun! My pledge is to live up to what it means to be a TOY- someone who actively advocates for daily quality physical education, promotes our profession to others, goes out with the mission to improve other high school physical education programs. High school physical education is my passion and I want to make a difference and make high school physical education meaningful and significant in the lives of others.
I feel very fortunate to win this award because there are many good physical educators out there who do a terrific job and sadly, are never recognized. Being a TOY means that I will actively seek out other quality physical educators and nominate them for our state physical education awards. President Kennedy years ago said…"To much is given, much is expected". My goal is to get out there and make our great profession better, advocate and inspire new professionals to be great teachers.
What do you do to help other physical education teachers plan and implement exemplary programs?
I teach a PETE class for teachers who want to teach health and physical education for grades 1-8 in the evenings at St. Martins University in Lacey, Washington. By doing this I am able to give my college students a "real life look" at what it takes to teach physical education from someone "down in the trenches". I stress to them that physical education must be fun, purposeful, provide opportunities for all students, standard based, motivating and creative. I provide examples of how physical education teachers can "teach their students on the run" by keeping them active the entire time.
In addition to this, I have and will present at my state and district conferences. I also got a chance to help present in Baltimore and will continue doing so at our national conferences. When I get back from conferences I disseminate information to my local district colleagues.
Within my district, I send current information to all of the physical educators in our district regarding teaching ideas, alignment information and power standards. Currently I am working with a team of physical educators in our district in designing current standards for our district in physical education.
I also work with local universities such as St. Martins and Washington State University by serving as a supervising teacher for physical education student teachers.
Any quotes from students about you as a physical education teacher, or the classes taught by you?
"Wow, I can't believe a PE teacher is actually running with us".
"Mr. Bert, you're crazy".
"Instead of just telling us what to do, or expecting us to know, he shows us how, even if he has to show us 50 times."
"I could never be a PE teachers and do this (working out with the students) 6 periods a day."
"I can't run as much as you do Mr. Bert, because I'm out of shape."
List three of your "favorite" conference session titles that you have presented, with a brief description of each.
Teaching Tennis to High School Students…Game Based Learning - In this workshop, I teach teachers how to utilize tennis lead-up games in order to teach skills and tennis strategies. Teachers learn how to use a fun, game based approach to learning while at the same time having EVERY kid active with an objective to meet. There are no long, boring lines and waiting periods; target heart rate range and the learning of tennis motor skills are accomplished at the same time for the entire period!
High School popular large group fitness games and activities - Teachers how to use new large class fitness games that are fun, active and will get students into their target heart rate range. The games are used with a minimal amount of equipment and can be performed indoors or outside. They can be used for a short dynamic warm-up or used for an entire class fitness lesson. In addition, motor skill reinforcement can be included with these games.
High School Physical Education…Their Last Chance! - Basically, this is a short workshop where I show high school teachers how to organize and implement a quality high school physical education program. Much of which is what our STARS program has implemented. The thought to keep in mind is that this may be high school students their last chance to learn lifetime sport skills, important fitness concepts and the chance to develop an appreciation for staying fit, active and healthy for a lifetime.
STARS Pipeline Workshop- High School STARS Program - I was actually part of a team of teachers who presented at the Baltimore AAHPERD Convention in the STARS Pipeline Workshop. I gave a brief overview of what NASPE is looking for in a quality high school physical education program.
Any additional major teaching awards you have received:
2003 - Tumwater School District Coach of the Year, Boys Tennis, PAC-League
2004 - Washington State Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance
(WAPHERD) High School Teacher of The Year
2004 - National Board Certified Teacher
2006 - Northwest District AAHPERD High School Teacher of The Year
2007 - NASPE Regional High School Teacher of The Year/Northwest District
Outstanding Achievement Award in Physical Education