Physical Education - Alan Palmer

This school year, Physical Education promises to be a very fun, exciting and educational experience for all students. I hope to make the learning environment challenging but rewarding in an environment where students can feel safe to explore movement and skills and comfortable enough to make mistakes and learn from them.

All students attend physical education (P.E.) at Westmoreland School two times per week for approximately 30 to 45 minutes each class. The P.E. program follows the New Hampshire K-12 physical education curriculum guidelines. Individual classes are designed in a sequential manner, offering a logical approach to learning the different phases essential to physical learning.

The program offers psychomotor enhancement such as developmentally appropriate lessons involving fundamental skills such as locomotor movements, non-locomotor movements and manipulative movements where students control objects with hands or feet.

All students have the opportunity to apply their understanding of basic movement concepts, principles, strategies and tactics through games and activities. The program also teaches the students to exhibit responsible personal and social behaviors in a setting where many students are typically insecure about their physical abilities.

The elementary physical education program offers units such dance, exploratory and creative movement, cooperative games and activities, ancient Olympics, tumbling and physical fitness. The middle school program includes cooperative and competitive games and activities that involve higher level thinking and problem solving as well as advanced social skills like trust, cooperation, and sportsmanship. The overall goal of the P.E. program is to teach the basic components of daily physical activity while creating an inherent desire to maintain a physically active lifestyle.

The teaching methods used in P.E. include small group work, guided discovery and guided practice, and lecture and demonstration. Students are assessed via self, peer and teacher observation with the use of rubrics. Assessment of students is also done through student effort and participation and subject tests.

Physically educated students have the knowledge, skills and confidence to enjoy the benefits that result from a lifetime of physical activity.