Minimizing Accidents in P.E.

Safety is the top priority in every school system (or at least it should be). How can educators keep our students safe and improve in that area? This should be a question all educators ask themselves. From the moment they enter the parking lot until the moment they leave, teachers and all staff members are responsible for their students. In physical education, injuries are going to happen, there is no way around it. Considering this thought, a quality physical education class must have appropriate lessons and activities. Age appropriate activities and classroom management are two keys that help decrease the likelihood of an injury.

To find age appropriate activities, it is important to first look at the TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills). For more information on TEKS go to the website listed at the bottom. The TEKS will give you a foundation to understand expectations and abilities for students in each grade.1 The next step in finding age appropriate activities is to find age appropriate games through numerous websites that offer games and activities for all age groups, one example is (http://www.pecentral.org/lessonideas/pelessonplans.html). This website includes preschool all the way up to the collegiate level. It also states the purpose for each activity which can relate back to the TEKS.

Classroom management is crucial when it comes to the safety of students. Establishing routines and consistent procedures is key. The students should know what is expected of them and understand the consequence of bad choices. The best example I can give is when students are doing stations. The Physical Educator should have a set order of how to rotate, how to participate in each station, and how to put equipment up. Classroom management can and should take time. From a scholastic article, teaching routines and procedures should be the focus for the first few weeks of school and taught as needed throughout the year.2 A common mistake is not spending enough time at the beginning of the year reinforcing your routines and procedures. When the students know what is expected of them, it decreases the likelihood of injury.

Injuries are going to happen in Physical Education Classes. How likely it is for a student to get injured is up to the educator. If the activity is age appropriate and the students know what is expected of them, injuries should go way down.

   

1(1998). 19 TAC Chapter 116. Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Physical Education.

(http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/rules/tac/chapter116/).

2Paula Naegele (2002). Teaching Classroom Routines and Procedures.

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/teaching-classroom-routines-and-procedures