Garrett Lydic
Delaware Teacher of the Year
North Laurel Elementary School, Laurel
Grade K-4, Physical Education

My teaching philosophy
I believe an effective teacher must have a strong understanding of his or her subject matter, as well as of the underlying pedagogical theory. Every teacher has the responsibility to stay current in his or her chosen field, and participate in classes, conferences, workshops, or mentoring programs. A teacher must be able to make good decisions about what to teach and how to structure, organize, and teach the material. At the same time, it is important to stay abreast of current theory and research in the field of teaching methodology.

Research demonstrates that effective teaching skills are developed through continued teacher training and professional development. Teachers must have knowledge of the skills that make an effective teacher and should be continually developing, refining, and personalizing these skills. Although education has become an increasingly complex profession, a teacher who accepts teaching as a personal challenge and as a community responsibility will find it most rewarding.
I am committed to incorporating cross-curriculum learning into my lessons. I feel that by regularly communicating with classroom teachers, concepts and skills that children are currently studying in math, reading, science, and social studies can easily be incorporated into their physical education lessons. I agree with John Dewey’s belief that many children are able to demonstrate greater cognitive improvements when lessons emphasize activities and processes where children interact with their environment (Ornstein, 1997). Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget learned that when interacting with and manipulating their physical environments, children are better able to develop an understanding of abstract ideas such as cause-effect relationships and physical characteristics such as weight and volume (Ormrod, 2000). The observations of both these respected educators correlate with my personal philosophy regarding my classroom planning and instruction.

I encourage a sense of community within my classes. As members of that community, students are responsible not only to themselves, but also to the other members of the community, including myself. For a teacher to be effective, one must take the time to study the strengths, and weaknesses, that each child brings to their classroom. It is important to understand what motivates and drives each of these children, to ascertain what they already know, and how best to build upon that knowledge. All children have something to say, and benefit tremendously from a teacher who is willing to listen to their thoughts. Teachers are responsible for building relationships with children in their schools. As teachers, we should be accessible to the children by communicating and interacting with them during class, and by also letting them know we will be available to them outside the classroom.

Educational research shows classroom diversity leads to increases in the breadth and depth of learning. Teachers should respect and appreciate diversity among their students. I believe all children are able to learn and that they all have something to contribute to the learning process within the classroom. I recognize that each child learns in a different way, and I individualize the lesson to capitalize on each learner’s unique traits. Teachers should be able to vary teaching styles so they can expect all children to participate in discussions and activities, both independently and within groups.
I agree with Russian educational psychologist L.S. Vygotsky who contended that children best learn when activities are within their “zone of proximal development” (Ormrod, 2000). Children will develop skills faster and in greater depth when appropriately challenged, as opposed to continually providing them with opportunities for easy success. When this type of challenge occurs, the potential for growth and development is greatly enhanced. My goal is to design lessons that provide opportunities for children to be physically active for the majority of class time. I am committed to having all children directly and actively involved in the daily lesson for the duration of the activities at a level that is appropriate to their individual needs and abilities.

I believe in lifelong learning and I hope to encourage all children to become lifelong learners as well. In order for that to happen, children must acquire the desire to learn. To help foster this sense of self-responsibility, children need to be provided with countless opportunities to make decisions, offer alternatives, solve problems, and give input. In other words, they need a lot of practice in order to think and act independently. My role as a teacher is to be a facilitator, enabling children to become responsible for their own learning. I create a classroom environment where children can take charge of what they learn. My goal is to teach the whole person (i.e., the cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions of the learner).

I view teaching as a process of encouraging children to make connections between life experiences and the subject matter. My goal is not only to ensure that children are continuously active within my class, but that they incorporate physical activity into their daily lives as well. In order to accomplish this goal, I create lessons that make physical activity more intrinsically appealing to children. Contrary to the opinion of many that children are unable to focus on any one activity for long periods, I maintain that children will focus on an activity when they are intrinsically motivated to do so. I have witnessed children who have remained focused on a video game for hours at a time. To make my lessons intrinsically motivating for children, it is necessary to focus on four areas: challenge, curiosity, creativity, and control.
When children participate in my class for intrinsic reasons, they are more inclined to view physical activity as something leading to personal satisfaction and will most likely participate in physical activity outside my classroom. While a longitudinal study would be required to determine the success of my goals to create life-long learners, the foundation of my teaching philosophy is based on the old Chinese proverb: “If you give a man a fish, you have fed him for a day. If you teach that man how to fish, you have fed him for a lifetime.” I chose to be a teacher because I want to inspire the world. While I realize what I am able to accomplish may be limited in scope, I am confident that education is where I can have the greatest impact. I believe that each individual student who becomes a life-long learner will also become a leader in his/her community and will insist that community schools emphasize the nurturing of mental and physical attributes, coupled with academic growth of all learners.

My philosophy in action
I am constantly searching for more effective ways of helping each of my students develop and acquire a love of movement and of learning.

Through this passion and committment, I continually strive to contribute to the teaching profession. I realize that for many of my students, I am one of the few positive adult male role models in their lives. As such, I believe that in leading by example with what I say and do, I have a tremendous opportunity to positively impact and fill a void for many of my students. I am involved as a teacher mentor and have worked with several student teachers, including one this semester. I have initiated two school-wide clubs: the Kangaroo Club, designed to help students improve their jump-rope skills as well as their levels of physical fitness, and the Cup Stacking Club. Cup stacking is an exciting individual and team sport that promotes hand-eye coordination, ambidexterity, quickness, and concentration. On the more technical side, cup stacking helps students develop bilateral proficiency - equal performance on both sides of the body. By increasing bilateral proficiency, a student develops a greater percentage of the right side of the brain, which houses awareness, focus, creativity, and rhythm.
I go to great lengths to acquire the resources necessary to provide the students of Laurel with numerous unique and meaningful physical education experiences. I have written and received several Delaware Department of Education and MBNA Excellence in Education Grants to purchase a Discover Climbing Wall system and Speed Stacks equipment. I have introduced the students of North Laurel to the Lt. Governor’s Challenge as well as the P.E. Central Challenge. During the 12-week Lt. Governor’s Challenge, students and parents performed their favorite physical activities to earn points toward a gold, silver, or bronze medal, while having fun and increasing their physical fitness levels. The purpose of the P.E. Central Challenge is to provide opportunities and incentives for students to master six fundamental physical skills (jump rope, hula hoop, paddle ball, volleying, throwing and catching, and balancing).

Two years ago, as part of my health and fitness curriculum, I introduced my students to Jump Rope for Heart. After this 3-week program was complete, my students were both excited and proud to learn that during their very first year, they had raised more money for the American Heart Association than any other school in Delaware. This is a truly amazing accomplishment in itself, but especially because our community is considerably disadvantaged, with over fifty-five percent of our students receiving free or reduced-price lunch.

In addition to increasing their awareness of heart disease and stroke, this event has enabled the students of North Laurel to experience the satisfaction of helping those in need, and has demonstrated how a group of people working together can accomplish great things.

My greatest personal reward as a teacher comes from helping students become confident and independent learners. I strive to reach out to each individual student to ensure individual success. An example of this relates to a student of mine who I taught four years ago. She had all but given up during one of my classes because she was unable to skip like the rest of the members of her 2nd grade class. Noticing her embarrassment and frustration, I suggested that she and a friend come to the gym during recess to practice. Together we worked on the cues “step-hop, step-hop” until she mastered the skill. When she came to my class the next day, she was a completely different student. She was beaming with confidence. To my delight, instead of choosing to sit out, my student asked if she could demonstrate skipping for the entire class.

While my students’ accomplishments may seem minor to some people, I know my students are becoming successful learners. I am so proud of them. Through initiative and perseverance, they are able to achieve their goals and are learning skills that will enable them to be life-long learners and productive members of their community and society. As a teacher, I don’t know of anything that could be more rewarding than watching children gain confidence to face new challenges and conquer their fears to seek new horizons. Facilitating this process for children is the most significant accomplishment achieved by any teacher. Teaching has enriched my life and I am grateful for the awesome experience I have from working with children. I truly feel that I have the greatest job in the world.

My greatest teaching accomplishment
The last five years have been filled with many exciting moments in teaching. I believe that my greatest teaching accomplishment has been to instill a love of movement and of learning in so many of my students.

The most critical issues facing educators today
A number of educational concerns have deservingly come to the forefront of issues that need to be addressed including: 1) closing the achievement gap between disadvantaged and advantaged populations; 2) increasing emphasis on using research-based instruction in the classroom; 3) attracting and retaining dedicated and highly qualified professional teachers and providing continued quality professional development for those teachers; 4) maximizing student achievement through effective literacy instruction and Reading First; and 5) practicing inclusive schooling. I will focus this essay on a less discussed, but nevertheless, very important issue facing educators: the soaring rates of obesity in our children. It is important for educators to understand how obesity in children is impacting education.

As many as fifty-five hundred years ago in what was Mesopotamia, a wheel was used to assist in the movement of very large and previously unmovable objects. Several thousand years later, around 1839, Kirkpatrick Macmillan, a Scottish blacksmith, made the bicycle a serious form of transportation. Fast forward another fifty years and a growing number of humans were riding in the automobile, which is likely the most revolutionary invention in the history of transportation since the wheel. At the 1939 New York World's Fair, RCA announced the launch of commercial television. In 1974, Atari introduced Pong, the very first video game, which became the most popular game of the 1975 holiday season. And shortly thereafter, in 1976, Steven Jobs and Stephen Wozniak designed and built the first Apple computers, the Apple 1, in the Jobs' family garage.

Since our beginning, human survival has depended on our ability to adapt, improvise, and overcome. These abilities have not only ensured our survival, but they have facilitated the many inventions and technologies on which we rely and which we take for granted today. Americans, including myself, love convenience. We are a nation obsessed with it, and if there is anything that can be done to make life easier, we’ll make sure it’s done. Though these technologies and conveniences may be wonderful, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that they are contributing to an alarming growth in childhood obesity.

Open your window on a sunny afternoon and what do you hear? Do you hear the chirping of singing birds or the yelling of playing children? Odds are that these days you'll hear the birds, but not the children. As kids spend more time in front of television, computer, and video screens, their physical activity levels have decreased and their body weights have increased. Obesity in kids is now an epidemic in the United States. The number of children who are overweight has doubled in the last two to three decades; currently one child in five is overweight. Increases are being found in both children and adolescents, and in all age, race, and gender groups.

This rise in obesity is worrisome for a number of reasons, including the fact that children are now experiencing diseases like type-2 diabetes and heart disease that used to occur only in adults. Furthermore, an overweight child tends to become an overweight adult, which continues to put him/her at greater risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, and stroke. But perhaps even more devastating to an overweight child than the health problems is the social discrimination they face at school. Children who are often teased and bullied can develop low self-esteem and depression.

Additionally, in recent years, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has increased pressure on schools to improve performance on standardized academic tests. Since it is extremely difficult for educators to increase the school day or the school year, a growing number of schools have tried to meet increased expectations by reconstructing the school day. Often this has meant reducing time for recess and physical education classes. By reducing the amounts of time children are physically active, educational leaders are not only contributing to the rapid rise in childhood obesity, but they are also hurting rather than helping children’s ability to perform academically.

The results of a recent study conducted by the California Department of Education (CDE) show a distinct relationship between academic achievement and the physical fitness of California’s public school students. According to this study, the physical wellbeing of students has a direct impact on their ability to achieve academically, and students who are most physically fit perform highest on academic achievement tests. Educators should take a close look at these and other similar research findings when deciding whether or not to change the level of structured and unstructured physical activity for students in their schools.

There is also evidence that obesity and the widening of the achievement gap between advantaged and disadvantaged children may be interrelated. Although the obesity rate has increased dramatically for all U.S. children, certain ethnic minorities — Blacks, Hispanics and American Indians — have been experiencing the highest rates of increase. Nearly 25 percent of children in these ethnic groups are obese by medical standards. Poverty is another risk factor. In recent years the cost of fresh fruits and vegetables has increased substantially more than the cost of carbonated drinks, meat, sweets, and snacks. It is literally cheaper to eat unhealthy foods.

Ways to resolve this issue
In order to prevent this rise and possibly even reduce the levels of childhood obesity, educators must teach and promote healthy behaviors at a young age, as change in personal behaviors and habits becomes more difficult with age. Constructive instruction and regular student participation regarding physical activity and proper nutrition are the cornerstone in preventing obesity in children and adolescents. Families and schools are the two most critical links in providing the foundation for those behaviors. Every student should have quality physical education and health experiences from kindergarten through high school. The goal of these programs should be to provide students with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to participate in health-enhancing behaviors and physical activity throughout their lives.

One thought to inspire teachers to succeed
Your life is not a "dress rehearsal.” Make the most out of your life and the lives of your students. Be the teacher your students will all remember as their very best!

One lesson every student should learn
Students should set lofty goals and constantly work towards the achievement of those goals.

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