Dana Brooks - President-Elect - American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance -

Recently I had the pleasure of meeting Dana Brooks, President-Elect of AAHPERD. Dr. Brooks gave an address to the state and district AAHPERD Executive Directors and President Elects in Washington DC recently.

In addition to his vision for the future, his understanding of the collaboration and partnership as significant tools to achieve his vision, Dr. Brooks presented the attendees with his:

Ten "Commandments" for Living With People - as developed by his own long time mentor, Joe Gluck.

1. Speak to people: Nothing is as nice as a cheerful greeting.

2. Smile at people: It takes 72 muscles to frown, only 14 to smile.

3. Call people by name: The sweetest sound is one's own name.

4. Be friendly and helpful: If you want friends, be a friend.

5. Be cordial: Speak and act to prove everything you do is genuine pleasure.

6. Be geuinely interested in people: Just try and you can like almost everyone.

7. Be generous with praise: Be courteous with criticism.

8. Be considerate with others. There are often three sides to a controversy: yours, theirs and

the right side.

9. Be alert to give help: What we do for others lives and is immortal.

10.Add to all this good sense of humor, loads of patience and a dash of humility and you will be rewarded manifold.

Look Up Look Down

by Michele Batz, Ph.D.

Here's a Project Adventure game that Physical Education teachers can incorporate into their curriculum without too much hassle are Look Up, Look Down,

How much money will it take to add these two games into your present stash of magic? A whomping $6.00. Most school budgets can afford this, right? So, do you want to hear more? I knew you would!

Let’s begin with the simple game of Look Up, Look Down. This game, I found, worked best as an ice breaker during the first two weeks of school, but also before a holiday break or for the last 4-5 minutes of class for a cooldown.

It's fun for your students as well as for yourself.

Here are the easy directions. Have the students form a big circle, standing with their arms held comfortably at their sides. On your command, they will look down, pause, and then look up. They will try to make eye contact with someone in the circle, looking across, diagonally, or to either side. If they don’t make eye contact they stay where they are, but if they do make eye contact, they get to celebrate by yelling or dancing, and can then make a second circle. The whole process starts over with your command. When you say Look Down, pause, then Look Up, both circles will do this at the same time. If they make eye contact in the second circle, they go back to the main circle again. So, you constantly have students running back and forth. It's great fun; you must try it!

Think outside the box and when you do, as a Physical Education teacher, your students take your lead and begin thinking more critically and efficiently.

For more great ice breakers and games that can be done with out any special equipment...check out No Props....by Mark Collard.