Partnership Marks 20 Years of Training PE Teachers
Contact: Kay Hyatt (207) 581-2761
ORONO, Maine — A 20-year partnership between the University of Maine and Old Town Elementary School has given hundreds of aspiring physical education teachers the skills and insight needed to motivate, instruct and evaluate the progress of young students in a busy school environment. Through the initial and continued leadership of three key players, the venture is a model of strategically planned teaching and learning that is highly anticipated by everyone involved.
The partnership was formed in 1986 by Glenn Reif, UMaine associate professor of Kinesiology and Physical Education; Michael Thurston, now in his 32nd year of teaching physical education at Old Town Elementary; and Chris Avila, who is completing a 35-year career in education, including 30 as building principal. They continue to be avid supporters of the school-based program now serving a third generation of students. Over the years, the UMaine students have taught — and learned from — children in grades K-3 of varying skill and behavioral levels in classes taking place in old and new facilities.
The program centers on Reif’s course, Physical Education in the Elementary School, one of the classes required of KPE majors prior to student teaching. Twice a week during both spring and fall semesters, UMaine students head for Old Town’s new elementary school to work with small groups of students. They come prepared with developmentally appropriate, standards-based lesson plans aligned with the Maine Learning Results, and a variety of activities and assessments. But it’s the reality of working directly with young children under the experienced direction of Thurston and Reif that makes the difference, students continually point out in their evaluation of the course.
“While classroom observation and peer teaching are important, there’s no substitute for being responsible for managing and teaching seven to eight kindergarten kids in a real school setting,” says Thurston.
The elementary students just can’t wait to get to gym class on the days their “college teachers” are scheduled, according to Thurston, and that’s not always the case at a middle school or high school. Likewise, the UMaine students eagerly anticipate “game day” with the Old Town students. It’s that two-way enthusiasm, Thurston says, that causes a number of UMaine students who begin the semester intent on teaching at the secondary level to change their minds and become elementary school PE teachers.
It was enthusiasm for the research behind Reif’s doctoral degree, earned at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, that spurred the Old Town partnership.
Basically, teachers learn how to teach effectively by trial and error in real schools, Reif explains. The partnership provides the environment, common goals and support structure for trying and analyzing different strategies and giving and receiving feedback.
“Our students learn so much,” says Reif who estimates that over 500 KPE majors have participated in the Old Town program over the past two decades. For example, the future teachers get to see the developmental sequence as a child progresses from simply dropping and catching a ball with both hands while standing still to dribbling with either hand while moving in different directions.
But what happens to a carefully planned lesson when a first grader needs a drink in the middle of class, falls down and begins to cry, or just balks? Only a real-school setting can provide the opportunity to see the broad range of skill and behavioral levels in young children, quickly make adjustments to what does and doesn’t work, and to control the group dynamics while keeping everyone individually engaged.
“That’s when students really see how important planning is,” Reif says.
Avila, Thurston and Reif all agree that the partnership has been a win-win situation for UMaine and Old Town students since the beginning.
“The contact with University students and extra activities in a group setting have been extremely beneficial to our students,” says Avila. “It also provides a lab experience, new challenges and professional development opportunities for the UMaine students.”
Avila is especially pleased that a number of the UMaine students seek to do their student teaching with Thurston. “Then we get to see them continue to grow professionally,” the principal says. Both Avila and Thurston are UMaine alumni.
Watching students’ growth and change of roles from kindergartners to college students, to parents and grandparents and to other positions of responsibility is a major reward of spending their careers in the same community, Avila and Thurston say.
All three educators credit one another with the program’s success and an environment where everyone feels welcome. Unanimously, they agree that the essential connection is the continued desire to improve the educational experiences of both elementary school students and their future teachers.
“It’s definitely been a highlight of my teaching career,” says Reif.