This podcast episode delves into the evolution of physical education (PE) and health classes, highlighting a significant shift from traditional, rigorous activities to a more inclusive and skill-focused approach. David Owen engages with Elizabeth Godbee, the Supervisor of Health and Physical Education in Cobb Schools, who emphasizes the importance of teaching fundamental motor skills and adapting lessons to accommodate all students, regardless of their athletic abilities. The conversation explores how PE classes now aim to develop not just physical fitness but also life skills such as goal setting and decision-making, which can positively impact students' academic performance and mental health. Godbee also discusses the district's initiatives to encourage physical activity beyond school hours, including after-school programs and intramural sports, fostering a supportive environment for all students. Listeners will gain insights into the benefits of physical activity and the critical role it plays in holistic student development.

Useful links from the podcast:

• Georgia Department of Education: Health and Physical Education
• Health & Physical Education

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The Cobb County School District

Takeaways:

• Physical education has evolved from a focus on competition to skills development, emphasizing comfort for all students.
• The impact of physical activity extends beyond fitness, influencing mental health and academic performance positively.
• Teachers adapt physical education assessments to allow individual growth rather than direct comparison among students.
• Parents play a crucial role in encouraging children to stay active outside of school hours.
• Incorporating movement into learning, such as academic movement strategies, enhances student engagement and retention.
• Extracurricular activities, like after-school sports and clubs, provide vital opportunities for physical engagement.

David: 00:00:00

A loud whistle, short shorts, and a lot of yelling are some of my PTSD memories of pe. What about you? How PE and health have changed is this week's episode starting right now. Hello and welcome back to the Inside Scoop. I'm David Owen.

You can watch this podcast on YouTube or listen to it on a number of podcasting platforms now, including iHeart podcasts. Make sure you like, subscribe and share it with your friends. Many of us either have fond memories of PE and health or we shudder at the thought.

The way things have been done might be fine, but then again, there might be a better way to educate us on the current state of classes in PE and health is the supervisor of Health and Physical Education, Elizabeth Godbee. Elizabeth, welcome back.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:00:54

Well, thank you for having me, David. It's such a pleasure to be here.

David: 00:00:58

It has been a minute.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:01:00

Yes, it has.

David: 00:01:01

me you were on was January of: 2020

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:01:05

Absolutely. Wow. That's.

David: 00:01:07

And something else happened just a month or two later.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:01:10

Yeah, absolutely.

David: 00:01:11

So we won't go there.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:01:13

Right? We won't.

David: 00:01:15

So PE and health in Cobb county, what are, what are the main goals of those classes? We kind of have a feel for the kinds of things that we do or did, I guess would be appropriate in my case. But what is the goal of.

Let's just take PE for example.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:01:37

Yeah, well, I'm glad you asked, David, because health and PE has really changed. And before it was, you know, just like you were saying, the short shorts, the yelling and the screaming.

David: 00:01:49

I'm sorry to bring that up.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:01:50

No, that's ok.

But what we do now is really focus on the skill of a sport or skill of an activity, as opposed to just making sure that you run until you pass out or anything like that.

So we don't do that here at our district and just focusing on motor skills, hopping, skipping, jumping, knowing how to throw and catch, and just the fundamental skills. So those students who may not, you know, feel comfortable with the athletic part, you know, of the. Of the sport or the skill.

David: 00:02:29

Sure.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:02:29

They can. We can, like, kind of reduce it down to something that they're comfortable with.

David: 00:02:34

Yeah. Yeah. And I think also things have changed through the years, and I remember being able to have, like, neighborhood baseball games, for example.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:02:44

Right.

David: 00:02:44

Well, for whatever reason, you know, maybe there's not enough room to do that. A lot of kids, you know, maybe you're in apartments or whatever and just don't have those opportunities.

So is PE more or less another opportunity for that to happen?

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:02:59

And like you said, we met in: 2020

And it's funny that you say that, because we had to really adapt, you know, because no one could go outside. And now, you know, we had to create activities for students to be physically active in the home.

You know, so there were lessons that our teachers created, you know, to help them, like, ball up a.

Like a piece of paper and then they will throw it in a trash can, you know, just to formulate the, you know, the shooting skills and then also baseball, you know, just learning how the formation and how the. How to swing a bat.

So we instead of like, we're not swinging bats and balls in the house, but we're just doing the mechanism of swinging a bat in a ball, and.

David: 00:03:52

The brain is actually developing. Typically middle school. I'm thinking of middle school when I think of P.E. i mean, I know that was that.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:04:01

The torture part, but that was the.

David: 00:04:04

Time that my therapist addresses most often. Those T ball teams, for example, where you see the kids and they are hilarious at times.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:04:15

They are hilarious.

David: 00:04:16

A kid just swinging the bat at a ball on the tee can have a huge advantage in development of even including academics.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:04:24

Oh, absolutely. So you have the ball on the tee and then you have the student or the kid swinging at the bat. And that helps hand eye coordination.

And the hand and eye coordination can roll over to writing and handwriting and having meat handwriting.

David: 00:04:47

That's interesting.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:04:47

Yes, because they're focusing on a smaller target.

David: 00:04:50

Yeah, yeah. Interesting connection. Well, see, you learn stuff here. So.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:04:55

Yes. So PE has really, really changed. You know, where it's not. It's.

So it's meaningful because we really focus on the standards because we know that those standards really helps the teacher as well as the student.

David: 00:05:10

And when you say the standards, you're talking about like the state requirements of what to teach or the COB requirements.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:05:15

Yeah, they are the state and COB requirements.

David: 00:05:17

Okay, so let's go a little bit deeper on that. Okay. We're talking about the benefits of the physical activity and how they impact academics in general. What other things are you seeing?

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:05:30

Yeah, so we have our national and state standards, and I am happy to say that our district really focuses on the state standards and our COB standards to make sure that there is strong efficacy, you know, within our teachers as well as in our students. So we mentioned standards, and what our teachers do is that they really focus on the verbs of the standard.

You know, I can through learning targets, I can hop, skip, and jump, or I can swing a manipulative like, such as a bat or a tennis Racket, you know, and when we learn or when those teachers teach those particular standards, those students are able to learn the vocabulary, health literacy, physical literacy, and then transfer that information, you know, to their, to the actual activity.

David: 00:06:26

We talk about physical literacy. What, what exactly are we talking about?

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:06:32

When you.

David: 00:06:32

Yes.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:06:33

So you have different types. Let's talk about high school. Right. You have your different types of stretches. Isotonic, isometric. Right. Okay. So if a teacher is teaching.

That's part of the standard. If they're teaching about isometric and isomet stretching, then that particular student will learn that particular vocabulary.

And then, not knowingly, they may say, hey, I want to get in sports training, I want to be an athletic trainer.

Because it's not just in physical education, but it stretches out to careers that has to do with isotonic stretching, isometric stretching, and, you know, the different vocabularies for health related fitness and skill related fitness.

David: 00:07:21

They can help us know which type of stretching to do so that we don't get injured. Is that kind of.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:07:27

Absolutely.

And so when you're saying that that's the importance of the teachers learning the standards so they can teach the students the proper form of stretching, you know, more education when it comes to a exercise prescription. So let me give you an example.

David: 00:07:50

Yes, please.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:07:50

You will have a cross country runner. You wouldn't give the same exercise prescription to a cross country runner as you would give to a linebacker or wide receiver. Right.

Because the different stretches and the different aerobic capacity. Aerobic exercise is totally different for each student.

David: 00:08:11

So different goals for each student shape what you do.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:08:15

Absolutely. Absolutely. And those goals transfer from the physical education aspect and then also the health education aspect as well.

David: 00:08:23

How can we encourage them to be active after the bell rings, you know, in the afternoon, it seems like there's this attraction to screen time or even naps or whatever. How can we as parents do a better job of getting them outside and getting some activity?

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:08:41

Oh, wow. I'm so glad you asked that powerful question. So our district does a very great job into making sure that students have after school activities.

So let me give you an example. Like elementary schools, they have the opportunity to participate in after school programs. They call it asp.

David: 00:09:02

We used it tremendously.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:09:04

It was very helpful. So the focus on that was to make sure kids are active after school.

And so they would get involved in different sports activities, different moving activities, jump rope, they even have dance in the elementary aspect of the after school program. And then you have your middle school. Right. So the parents are able to take their students early to school so they can participate in intramurals.

And intramurals is like a sidebar to club sports and the major sports and what they do in school in the morning in the gym will have sports like basketball, soccer, football. And then they also have recreational games such as cornhole. And also.

David: 00:09:51

Do you stretch for that?

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:09:54

Yes, you can stretch for.

David: 00:09:55

Some of us would need to.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:09:56

There's a method, you know, there is a method of stretching for Cornhole as well. And then dance.

David: 00:10:03

I think we've gone off the rails just a little bit.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:10:05

Dance.

David: 00:10:06

Sorry.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:10:06

No worries. Dance and jump rope and things like that, you know, so we want to offer a variety for students.

So it's not just for the athletic students, but you know, those non athletes that just want to keep themselves moving and then get their blood pumping for the day. For middle school and then, of course, high school, we have those athletes. So the athletic programs in the.

Sometimes the exercises are in the morning and then the actual sports are in the afternoon. But I want to tag on a little bit about the parents and how the parents can help their students. Right.

So participating in activities in the house, you know, maybe dance activities on, you know, social media, that's appropriate for the students that can get them moving. And then what they learn in the physical education class, they can actually share that with their parents and maybe the parents can also participate.

Well, right.

David: 00:11:07

Again, it goes back to the stretches. So I think you really.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:11:10

As long as the parents stretch and make sure that their muscles are limber enough to participate. Absolutely.

David: 00:11:18

So not every kid comes to the PE class at the same development level, right?

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:11:25

Absolutely.

David: 00:11:27

Some kids, you're like, wow, that's a sixth grader. I've never seen a sixth grader with a beard. And then other kids are like, you know, very much not.

They are a little slower to progress in their growth spurts. So how does a PE teacher differentiate between those two students?

I mean, if you've got a requirement for a student to do X number of push ups, do you adjust that per student or how do they handle that differentiation?

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:12:00

That is awesome, David. Thank you for asking. We do have a fitness assessment that is mandated by the state.

And what the teachers do from K through 12, mostly for 4th through 12th, is that we have fitness assessments that the students practice on. Curl ups, push ups. And you like those.

David: 00:12:26

Again, I'm having flashbacks.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:12:28

Okay, Right. And then there's a cardiovascular or a cardiorespiratory assessment called the pacer. I'm not sure if you heard of that.

David: 00:12:37

Yeah, I think I Have one of my kids was complaining heavily about.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:12:40

Heavily about the pacer. And then the other option is the mile, and that's the fitness assessment. So it's more of an individual assessment.

And it's not really comparing students to students, but it's comparing that particular student to how well they perform in that particular assessment.

And then I want to add on, as far as the athletic part is concerned or the sports part is concerned, whether it's elementary, middle and high, our teachers are very savvy in understanding flexible grouping. And what that is, is that they would place their students in maybe the beginning or the intermediate in advance.

David: 00:13:20

Okay. The student is competing with, against themselves, basically looking at gains. Is that a fair way?

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:13:28

They're looking at their gains. And then that information is given to their parents so the parents can actually see their gains as well. And it's personal.

No one ever sees their scores and what have you. We place them in different groups based on their ability level.

And the reason for that is just to give an example, like how many of you do not know a sport? We'll ask the kid the particular sport or activity, and they'll raise their hand. We'll put them in a group.

How many of you are familiar with the sport? A little bit and maybe have parents participate in that sport or activity. Then you have another group that. That'll raise your hand.

That would be the intermediate. And then your advanced group would be the ones who may do club ball or actually, you know, in an athletic sport for high school.

And they would be put in the advance.

David: 00:14:15

Right. And they've been in it since kindergarten. Right.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:14:18

They're the pros, you know, and, you.

David: 00:14:20

Know, to be fair, I mean, there. There are parents who are really good at keeping their kids engaged and that sort of thing.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:14:27

Absolutely.

David: 00:14:28

So that's kudos to them for doing that.

So I know that in some other classes like math or science, they might collaborate with another set of courses like maybe literature or English or what have you. Maybe there's an assignment and they insist that, for example, writing a science report would use proper grammar and punctuation and so forth.

That cross. Is that called cross curricular?

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:15:03

Yes, it is.

David: 00:15:04

Okay, so is that cross curricular thing done in physical ed and health with other disciplines, or is that kind of not even a part of the picture?

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:15:16

Well, I'm glad you asked that, David. We actually assist in that area by doing a strategy called academic movement.

So our department has had the opportunity to talk to principals and counselors and as well as teachers and really help Them find a different strategy in order to help students learn and embrace a particular concept. So an example would be, let's say, if they were studying for a particular assessment.

And so what we'll do is let's say if it's true, false, the teacher would ask a question. And if it's true, the students would do jumping jacks. Right. If it's false, they would do like elbow to knee raises.

David: 00:16:04

That is hilarious.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:16:05

Yeah, it's hilarious, but it's super cool because they're not sitting in their seats. And then it's something different.

Instead of just raising their hand, they are actually moving their bodies in order for them to retain that information after.

David: 00:16:18

The PE classes have already been done, you know, no more need for the credits. How can parents encourage their students, their kids, to get out there and stay physically active?

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:16:32

Well, that is a powerful question because that's the goal of the health and physical education program, is to make sure that from the K through 12 learning and the health and physical education aspect is that they take the skills that they learn through health and physical education and make that a reality in their life. And so the way we hope that at that time, parents won't have to remind their students or their children to exercise and things as such.

But it's very important that for health, for an example, we teach decision making and goal setting, and we teach that throughout the years of the student, you know, at the Cobb County School district. And so it's very important that the student learn goal setting and setting goals and then also making good decisions.

Now, if they learn how to set goals in school. Right.

And making good decisions, we hope, and that's the goal, to be able to set goals in life and then make good decisions after they graduate from high school.

David: 00:17:45

Okay, all right, so what about the. And this is maybe a curveball question, so if you don't have an answer, that's fine.

But sometimes parents will withhold being able to participate in a team sport until those grades come up, for example, kind of thing. Is that. Is that still a valid approach or should a parent maybe consider, well, maybe that's an outlet they need to get their grades up.

They just need to get a better balance, maybe on time management or something like that.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:18:21

I highly encourage parents not to take their kids out of the sport because not only does it help to help the team win, but the social skills and the camaraderie that the child builds within that particular sport is so much more important than taking them out. Because when you take them out, then they're left to do things that they, the parent really might not want them to do.

And then also there needs to be a balance. Right. You know, so the parent, excuse me, the student should have, you know, their outlet with the sport or some other type of activity.

Let's, you know, not even just physical education, but it could be another outlet activity as well as doing the academic part.

So if the parent and the child can have like a conversation and have that balance of why it's important and what some strategies that they can do to build those grades up, that would be much more effective than just, you know, pulling them out of a sport.

David: 00:19:31

And that can also, you tell me if this is accurate or just folklore from the Internet or whatever. Doesn't the physical activity release, like, you know, chemicals that can help a student do better, focus better?

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:19:49

Those chemicals, call them neurotransmitters.

And then when those neurotransmitters are fired up and those endorphins, the happy hormones, once they're increased, it helps the mental health, the stress level of the student. And so what we have to understand is that not only, you know, we want the student to be fit, but we want them to decrease their stress levels. Right.

And so getting involved in the sport, getting involved in fitness assessment, fitness activity, and just moving the body around has substantial gain in the mental health and the stress levels of students.

David: 00:20:26

And reducing the stress always benefits the academic side.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:20:29

Absolutely.

David: 00:20:29

Makes perfect sense. Okay, so final question for you as a bonus round.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:20:33

Okay.

David: 00:20:34

Is marching band a sport?

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:20:36

Marching band is a sport.

David: 00:20:37

Oh, we're out of time. I'm sorry.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:20:45

That was fun. That was. Marching band is a sport because they are outside for hours marching.

David: 00:20:57

I don't disagree. It's such a third rail question. I had to throw it out.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:21:02

Wait, I do want to share that. We are three time national champions for the Kids Heart Challenge.

David: 00:21:12

The Kids Heart Challenge. Interesting.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:21:14

Yeah. So, yeah, for all that for the entire district.

And so we were able to raise funds and also support the health and well being of our students for the American Heart Association. So we.

David: 00:21:29

When does that happen?

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:21:30

So it happens throughout the year. So each school does it, like in different times.

David: 00:21:35

Okay.

Elizabeth Godbee: 00:21:36

But typically it would be in February, but some do it even earlier. So we're trying to four peak. So. Okay, so we want to be, you know, national champions for four years in a row.

So we've been national champions for three consecutive years in a row.

David: 00:21:52

Elizabeth, thank you so much for coming in. You've shared some really good insights for us. And did you find a helpful nugget or two from this episode.

Be sure to subscribe so you won't miss out on the next one. Also, maybe share it on your social media or share it with a friend. That's always helpful.

Thank you for listening to this episode of the Inside Scoop, a podcast produced by the Cobb County School.