The 3 Rs Of Summer Planning

Welcome to Summer,

Today I lay out a simple way to rest during summer break while still coming back ready to serve students better. I use the three Rs reflect, refocus, and regroup to review what worked, fix what didn’t, and build a real plan instead of repeating last year. 
• reflecting on the previous school year with pluses, minuses, changes, and keepers 
• building a PE culture that stays fun and educational 
• using a wristband-style student leadership program to create ownership and responsibility 
• dealing with tight equipment budgets, missed grants, and making do with what you have 
• spotting games and routines that feel stale and deciding what to tweak or drop 
• refocusing the yearly calendar around weather, indoor days, and units like net games 
• adding new games, music, exercises, and better ways to run large-group flag football 
• planning bigger projects like a treasure hunt challenge, archery, and a bike trailer 
• regrouping with a written plan, backwards planning, and meetings with administration 

 Take care,

Dave

-Check out supersizedphysed.com for more resources, including free PDFs, articles, and courses to help with your PE program. Please leave a review to help grow this podcast and keep pushing our profession forward.

-Article on Outside PE Checklist

-Team Building Games Ebook (with preview): https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Team-Building-Games-and-Activities-for-PE-Class-14063095

-Free resources include Substack and Medium articles with PE tips, games, and strategies

-High Fives and Empowering Lives book available as an ebook or paperback

-Paperback or download: HERE

-Amazon Ebook: HERE

Transcript

Welcome And Summer Intentions

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Hello and welcome to the Super Science Visit Podcast. My name is Dave, and today I want to talk about your summer tuna plans, what I'm going to do for the summer to get better for the next school year, and what you can do to implement in your PE program. So without further ado, here we go. Well, welcome in everyone. It's good to be back on the microphone for a little bit here. Um, I'm planning on doing some summer podcasting and just getting back in the swing of things. Um, it's just been a long time just to get really back into uh what I want to do with the podcast and things like that. And um, yeah, I'm glad I'm glad to be back, glad to uh podcast a little bit here and there. So for the summer, um, we just started our summer break last week. Um, last Monday was our final day with the students, and then it was like a little half day early dismissal day, and then Tuesday I had to go in for a little bit. So it's been uh not quite a week um of you know uh summer break.

Rest And Recovery Without Guilt

SPEAKER_00 1:26

And obviously in the summer, um, it shouldn't just be go, go, go, go, go. It should be, you know, obviously recharging your batteries. It should be resting, it should be recovering, it should be travel, maybe, or just fun, or just relaxing. And that is definitely what I'm doing. Um, we've had some things going on so far with sports and things like that, but you know, I'm getting in my rest and recovery. I'm going to the gym, I'm uh, you know, binging a little bit of Netflix here and there, so things like that. And that's okay. But today I want to talk about how you can, how I can, uh just get back in the swing of things and be ready for next school year. And that's that's the whole point. Just be ready for next school year and not just walk in day one and say, oh boy, here we go again, and what can I do? And do I just do the same thing over and over again and that kind of

Reflect On Last School Year

SPEAKER_00 2:19

deal. So I'm gonna do a boomer. It is three things that I want to do that maybe you could do to make your summer uh productive as well as restful. So here we go. Here's number one. Okay, I'm gonna do the three R's today. It's not reading, writing, arithmetic. It is uh number one is reflect. So reflect on the previous year, the school, previous school year, the pluses, the minuses, the things we can do better, the things we can change, the things we can keep that worked really well. And um, you know, I have a bunch of each of those, and I'm sure you do too. So I'm gonna start with the uh positives, because let's go positive now, shall we?

What Worked: Fun And Leadership

SPEAKER_00 3:05

So for positives, you know, first of all, it it my my program is fun, and I know that's sometimes controversial, like should should PE be fun or should it be educational? Well, it should be both. But mine is definitely fun and educational. But if it's not fun, then kids don't want to be in your class. And I I think most of you keep things on the fun side, and that's what you should do. But obviously, again, educational, yes. But fun, definitely. Between my uh mascot Webster and just the the dances and exercises and things like the energy that um I try to bring every day. Um, I think we have a lot of fun and there's learning as well, obviously. Um I have great kids students. Um they've you know they're always helpful, they're always uh want to be uh leaders, which we'll talk about in a moment, and not all of them, but you know, they want to step up and they want to um be the best they can. And not again, it's not all almost thousand students feel exactly the same as what I just said, but you know, my goal is to get them there, and a lot of them do feel that way. And the other positive, one of the other positive things is the leadership program that and my my principal even and my assistant principal, when I was in my final uh like meeting for the year with them, you know, they said, What's you know one thing that you really uh enjoyed or like um I don't know what it was, but thought was successful. And I said the leadership program. And I did a whole couple podcasts on that. So if you want to check that out, um, you can go back and take a look at those or actually listen to those. But it is about my uh it's like a wristband martial arts kind of like levels, and students move up based on um things they do in the school, if they are helpful, if they are uh, you know, leaders, if they're like safety patrol or they're um captains of a game, referees, they help me out in games, things like that. They can move up levels, and you know, with that comes more responsibility, but also more uh possibilities of things they could do, like be safety patrol or be uh a field day helper or things like that. So the the leadership program is just, I think it was just fantastic. And it's gonna it yet last year was the first year we did it, so it's you know, it's something that's needs to be tweaked a little bit, but at the same time, I think the kids loved it. The kids really wanted to be, um, I said a if they got to a black belt, the fifth graders, that was like uh Jedi night. No, red belt was like Yoda. So uh we had about 10 Yodas, uh, maybe a little less, but they were just you know, phenomenal, fantastic students that you know would do anything to help anybody and to uh help us and to be just again fantastic leaders. That's a whole nother podcast. But to me, that was one of the best things of the school year is that idea that I had from last summer just by um going into a place that I actually applied to work at and they turn me down. It's something I do like every day, and I I couldn't believe they actually turned me down. Uh they never even called me back after my interview. But the thing I kind of got from them is um uh kind of like a leadership program. Um they do it way differently than I I implemented it, but that was the idea uh that sparked from that, and um I just thought it was fantastic.

What Missed: Budget And Stale Games

SPEAKER_00 6:35

So let's go to the negatives now. That's you know, not so good stuff, but that's okay. So I'd say for the negatives, first of all, we don't get as we don't get any money anymore really for spending money on equipment, things like that. Um we get some money from the class wallet. Um I'm not sure who gets that or who doesn't, but it's like $300. So it's um, you know, that that bought some of my wristbands for the leadership program that uh, you know, got a few things here and there off of Amazon. But, you know, I had a and I got by the way, on the negative part, I I write grants every year and I did not get the grant. I was writing it for more cup stacking uh timers and cup stacking products and uh things like that, and I did not get it, which I get it almost every year. So I was kind of bummed out. And um, so money-wise, it was a tough year. We did what we could and we did uh earn some money, and I'm always about the bag, borrow, and steal ideas and things like that. So, and um, you know, that that definitely helped. So some of the things that um, you know, I think and I think are not negative, but you know, need to improve for me, is you know, I did some of the same games I did in the past, and that's okay. Like you the the real the real real good ones that the kids always love, that's okay. But I think there's a few games I need to tweak or get rid of. Um it might have got a little stale, and that's my fault. I also, because I've had the same pair as well, one of one of the paras I've had for five years, which is the longest I've ever had a para, and one I've had for two, um, you know, I I don't want to change too much on them. And so when they did games, they did some similar games, um, familiar games, so they can do their own thing with it, but also um, you know, I need to add more to them and challenge them as well. So that is the reflection part. Um, I could do better on a lot of things, but a lot of things won't really well. So that is number one, reflect. Number

Refocus With New Units And Calendar

SPEAKER_00 8:40

two is refocus. So, what do I want for next year? What do I want to bring that's new, that it's exciting, um, or that just needs to be changed or updated or whatever for next year. So, first I'm thinking, definitely some new games. And it's, you know, depending on the unit. As a matter of fact, we always seem to run out of time at the end of the school year for net games. And I did do some pickleball at the end of the school year, but I didn't do a lot of uh volleyball, nitro ball I want to bring to the school, um, those kind of activities. So I need to kind of, I don't know, refocus, or we that's the word here, but the the calendar as well, but it's tough with Florida and being outside. I know some of you in the same position, but some of you are not. The beginning of the school year, the heat index, uh, if it goes over, if it goes 104 or higher, which happens a lot actually in the beginning of the school year, we have to be inside. So we miss a lot of time. And when I say inside, I don't mean inside gym. I mean inside doing like brain pops and talking about nutrition and things like that, which um is great, but I miss we miss a lot of time outside in the beginning of the school year, especially with the whatever grade levels at the end of the school uh the day, which is has been like third grade. Um, so you know, they miss a lot of time. And so that pushes some of the units further back. And then by the end of the school year, uh when there's uh poor weather sometimes as well, we miss some things. So I might change that my schedule a little bit, my calendar. And, you know, I don't like doing volleyball-ish games in the beginning of the school year because that's it's tough. Kids are that's one of the things kids have a real hard time with, um, like net games, but I might start the year off with some of those just to uh you know finish off what we tried to uh, you know, we never finished last school year. So I want to add some more um like newer songs to my we always start with a song or two or a music mix I make. We start with some new songs kids really like, new exercises, ideas, units. Um football. Now I'm a flag football coach and I have been for a few years with my son and uh now just my daughter. But you know, doing flag football in school is different than flag football, or you just football uh and PE. Or sorry, in school is different from out of school. So, you know, I have like eight to ten kids out of school um at the park or at the field, and this is more like you know, up to 30 kids. And so it's I mean, I could do different flag football drills, things like that, but it's it's tougher, and I want to add more to it. But um, you know, getting the flag belts on the kids and this whole thing, it just it's taken a while, but I want to refocus that and get that going. I definitely want to get my treasure hunt going. I have a treasure hunt that I've been planning for a year and I just haven't been able to figure out exactly how to do it and when to do it, um, like an amazing race kind of thing. Um, I even bought a slack line like two years ago, and I have a place to put it. I haven't even opened the box yet. So there's things I want to read, let's just add to the program. Um as far as grants, I want to write a grant for archery. Uh, probably the soft tip ones that I've seen online, and some of you have seen, I'm sure. And um, I want to get a bike trailer going, which I talked to my principal a few times and um just hasn't panned out yet. But like create our own bike trailer. Uh just something I really want to do because we had a bike trailer and it the grant got uh I don't know, defunded or whatever. And so they don't do it anymore in the district. So I want to make my own bike trailer. So that's just refocusing my program and that um just something we need I need to do to get you know get back in the swing of things for next year. So that's number two, refocus.

Regroup With A Written Plan

SPEAKER_00 12:34

All right, the final one is regroup. That's number three. And when I say regroup, I mean you have to have a plan. It can't just be like, well, I did this, I did this, and I want to do this, and you know, hopefully, you know, fingers crossed. And no, you need to have a plan, and that's to regroup with a plan. So, you know, how do we do that? First of all, you know, I like to write things down. I want to write exactly what I want and how I'm gonna do it. Even working backwards and say, well, this is when I want this and work backwards, or even calendar-wise, here's when I want these units finished, work backwards from that. Um, I want to just you have to have a plan. You know, meet with your administration, that's what I want to do for that bike trailer again. I also want uh need to meet with them about the leadership program and just how we can tweak it a little bit, um, just to make sure everybody everyone's successful on the same page. Uh again, I want to add new games. I've been researching already new games and just going online and seeing some new things, and I want to add my spin on it. Um, you know, again, I want to do that amazing race, definitely. That's my main thing focus this this year or this uh summer. So, but it this amazing race thing, I've uh it's been on paper for a year, but I haven't really had a plan into how to really implement it. And so, you know, again, we when I say regroup, it's more about having a plan. Like really write it down, meet with who you have to meet with meet with, you know, do the things you have to do to make sure you are successful in the next school year. So that's number three, regroup.

Cowbell Tip And Next Steps

SPEAKER_00 14:12

And now it's time for your cowbell tip of the day. All right, so your tip of the day is to revisit the three Rs I just spoke about and just to fine-tune your summer plans and to get ready for your school year, your new school year coming up. Um, so again, they are reflect, refocus, and regroup. But definitely don't just walk into the next school year and say, well, I'll just roll at the ball and do what I did last year. And, you know, because it's easy to do. In PE, it's easy to just be like, well, no one's gonna check on me. I mean, really, I I could do the same thing over and over again. Nobody would probably know. Uh, but I don't want to do that for my students. I want to be the best I can be for my students, and I know you do as well. So take a look at those three Rs and have a plan to get your next school you're going and in the right on the right foot, in the right direction, and where you want to go. So that is your cowbell tip of the day. Thank you everybody for tuning in. I really do appreciate it. As always, check out Super ScienceFized.com for more information. Or if you want to do some little summer reading, you could check out my first book, High Fives and Empowering Lives, which used to be The Teacher, The Chef, and the Hockey Player. I just rebranded it. My uh second book is actually finished. I just need to get that uh going with uh all the editing and the everything. Everything goes with it. But I did write a second book. I've just been sitting around, um, just not ready yet as far as for publishing, but we're getting there. And definitely check those out if you have a chance or just the older episodes like I talked about with the leadership program and other things like that. So, with that, PE Nation, have a great day, week, weekend, whenever you're listening to this, over summer break, of course. And let's keep pushing our profession forward.