Since school started in August I have been in contact with our Dept of Ed. to get a program to come to our school that promotes physical education and getting children up and moving in the classroom. It has been very stressful trying to get everything in order for them to come and it is a BIG DEAL. Schools are on a waiting list to get them to come and do a live show. Anyway the whole point is to show teachers how to integrate the 5 min videos into their classrooms to get children to move around and let some energy out. They have a presenter that is a coach and he leads the students in short 5 min videos to exercise.
My 1st and 2nd grade teachers dropped their kids off in the gym and went back for their "planning period". The speaker was there to talk to them just as much as the kids. So I asked the principal to call the teachers to the gym which she did and after the speaker raved and thanked teachers for all they do they got up right in the middle of it and left! They stayed barely 3 minutes. I was mortified. Some of them even expressing how they didnt have time for this and this was their planning period. Needless to say I was HOT! I understand that was your planning period but one day isnt going to kill anyone and what an example you set for your students that someone trying to teach them to be healthy and how to do better in school isnt worth the time. Do I get a planning period? Do I get to eat my lunch most days without interruption? NO! And on top of it this presenter was at our other local schools and all the teachers were raving about it. So of course my school has to be rude.
This program when implemented daily in the classroom has been shown to aid in higher test scores, better focusing, less test anxiety, and a drastic decrease in behavior problems. So it was worth the 30 min to be present. And some of the teachers couldnt even do the little movements with their students and just sat there. Which is a whole other rant so I wont even start.
