Designing and Teaching Fitness Education Courses

Fitness education is often overlooked for various reasons: no equipment, no weight room, large class size, or lack of professional development.

Designing and Teaching Fitness Education Courses provides real solutions for all these issues. This book offers secondary-level physical educators innovative ideas, practical answers, and guidance in implementing fitness education programming that will meet the needs of all students.

Designing and Teaching Fitness Education Courses is packed with highly useful tools and resources:

• 211 instructional photos showing exercises and stretches that require no equipment and are easily adapted for varying abilities
• 18 pacing guides that form a week-by-week blueprint for implementing a semester-long fitness education course
• A robust online resource with
  • all 18 pacing guides, as well as a blank template for developing your own;
  • 139 video demonstrations of all the book&;s exercises and stretches;
  • PowerPoint presentations to show in PE classes, including video demonstrations of the book&;s exercises and stretches; and
  • teacher aids and student handouts, including assignments, assessments, posters, and a 12-week personal fitness plan

Teachers can use the pacing guides to develop a semester-long fitness education course that can be implemented in either a traditional or block schedule. These guides offer objectives, class discussion topics, activities, assessments, and teaching strategies for each week of an 18-week semester. All topics in the guides are aligned with SHAPE America&;s National Standards and Grade-Level Outcomes for K&;12 Physical Education.

The authors guide teachers in addressing the following priorities within a fitness education course: social and emotional learning; behavior modification principles and adherence to fitness activities; social cognitive theory; classroom management; student safety; equity, diversity, and inclusion; and social justice.

Designing and Teaching Fitness Education Courses also includes a detailed chapter on nutrition education written by internationally recognized sport nutritionist Lisa Dorfman, who provides teachers a wealth of information to integrate into fitness courses.

Teachers will learn how to integrate a quality fitness education curriculum into any setting (rural, urban, or suburban) and any learning model (remote, hybrid, or in-person learning).

Designing and Teaching Fitness Education Courses is organized into three sections:

• Part I presents both theoretical and practical knowledge of fitness education; its importance in a standards-based curriculum; pedagogical and content knowledge considerations; nutrition, wellness, and consumer issues; and the general components of fitness education.
• Part II focuses on various components of fitness education: flexibility, strength, and cardiorespiratory fitness. This part includes stretching and muscular strength and endurance workouts, illustrated with photos in the book and videos in the online resource.
• Part III guides readers in enabling students to participate in community fitness and activity events to support the development of lifelong fitness habits.

Through Designing and Teaching Fitness Education Courses, teachers will be able to provide appropriate fitness activities that will lead to the elevated health and wellness of students and a greater appreciation for participating in lifelong activities.

Note: A code for accessing HKPropel is included with all new print books.

Jayne Greenberg, EdD, has served as program director for the I Can Do It! program for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Prior to that position, Dr. Greenberg served as the district director of physical education and health literacy for Miami-Dade County Public Schools from 1995 to 2017. During her career in education, she has worked as an elementary, middle, and high school physical education teacher in both public and private schools; a region physical education coordinator; a high school and middle school administrator; and an adjunct professor teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses in teaching methods, sport psychology, and research.

Dr. Greenberg has served as president of the Florida Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. She also has chaired the Sport Development Committee for the United States Olympic Committee and USA Field Hockey. She assisted the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the development of the I Can Do It, You Can Do It! program, a national initiative to address the physical activity levels of youth with disabilities. Dr. Greenberg was named the 2005 National Physical Education Administrator of the Year by the National Association for Sport and Physical Education and received the 2005 Highest Recognition Award from the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Michael Leavitt. In 2009, she received the Point of Light Award from Florida Governor Charlie Crist and was appointed to the Governor&;s Council on Physical Fitness. In 2011, Dr. Greenberg was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on the President&;s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition. In 2015, she was named as the North America chair for the International Sport and Culture Association. In 2016, she was named as an Aspen Institute Scholar and received the 2016 North America Society of HPERD Professionals Award. In 2017, she received the Lifetime of Giving Award from Delta Psi Kappa and was named as the education sector chair for the National Physical Activity Plan. Dr. Greenberg was inducted into the SHAPE America Hall of Fame in 2019.

Dr. Greenberg serves as an international consultant in many capacities. She coordinated Olympic education programs in Canada; developed the sport science curriculum at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and developed a math and science sailing curriculum for the National Maritime Museum and Royal Observatory in London and Sydney, Australia.

Dr. Greenberg coauthored the Human Kinetics text Organization and Administration of Physical Education and the handbook Developing School Site Wellness Centers and has published numerous articles. She also has been a featured speaker at several state, national, and international conventions and meetings. In the past 12 years, Dr. Greenberg has secured more than $39 million in federal and foundation grants for educational programs.

Nichole Calkins, EdD, is an assistant professor of physical education pedagogy and the program director of the kinesiology department at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. She was a high school health and physical education teacher and a sports coach in the public school system for more than 14 years, and she was a district health and physical education instructional specialist for two years. Dr. Calkins is a curriculum writer and works with various school districts and organizations as a consultant on curriculum design and instructional practices. She is certified by the NSCA as Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist.

Lisa S. Spinosa, MS, is a physical education teacher for Miami-Dade County Public Schools. She received both her bachelor&;s and master&;s of education from Florida International University, where she was part of the women&;s basketball team. She later pursued her leadership degree from Nova University. In addition to being a physical education teacher, Spinosa has worked in many capacities, including as a girls&; and boys&; high school basketball coach, athletic trainer, assistant athletic director, and athletic business manager. She was recruited to open a new high school, where she later became the athletic director and department chair. Ms. Spinosa presently has returned to the classroom to further pursue her goal of finding and implementing new, innovative, and motivating ways to transform children&;s ways of thinking regarding health and fitness.