Building Character, Community, and a Growth Mindset in Physical Education: Activities That Promote Learning and Emotional and Social Development

Building Character, Community, and a Growth Mindset in Physical Education is a highly practical and theoretically sound resource that will help you build a positive learning environment, teach valuable life skills, and inspire in students a desire to live active, healthy lives. It reinforces the many ways in which physical education and sport are the ideal setting to build college and career readiness skills. Teachers will learn how to help students develop a growth mindset and recognize that obstacles, challenges, and failures provide the greatest learning opportunities. The book is written with both American and Canadian national standards in mind: You can help your students achieve Standards 3, 4, and 5 of SHAPE America’s National Standards and Grade-Level Outcomes for K-12 Physical Education and PHE Canada’s goals for physical education (“enable individuals to make healthy, active choices that are both beneficial to and respectful of their whole self, others, and their environment”). It will also aid you in achieving Standard Six of the objectives set by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS).

This text provides

• 35 new large-group warm-up activities;

• 20 character-building activities;

• 11 team-building challenges;

• assessment, reflection, and goal-setting strategies; and

• a web resource with ready-to-use printable and editable activity materials (such as focus words and definitions, reflection scenarios, station and team challenge cards, and more).

The activities, which are ready-made for use in your curriculum, include a motivational strategy and resource tool using the acronym GROWTH that will help your students learn and adopt the growth mindset traits necessary to set and reach goals. The book addresses many hot-button topics, such as emotional intelligence, community building, teamwork, physical fitness, and goal setting—all in a concise, practical, and highly effective way. As such, you will be helping your students meet Common Core and College and Career Readiness objectives. And students with goal-setting skills and a growth mindset will be well prepared to meet the challenging standards that are promoted by the Every Student Succeeds Act.

In addition, Building Character, Community, and a Growth Mindset in Physical Education is the perfect antidote to bullying: Through the materials and activities, the students learn to be respectful competitors and supportive teammates.

The text contains six chapters:

• Chapter 1 explores the connection between emotional intelligence and a growth mindset. It reinforces the many ways in which physical education and sport are the ideal settings to build college and career readiness skills. 

• Chapter 2 describes the impact community building has on motivation and learning. It also contains fun community-building activities as well as guidance on how to develop a positive learning environment.

• Chapter 3 outlines strategies for building character and offers reflection scenarios, focus words, inspirational sayings, and recommended video clips.

• Chapter 4 supplies more than 20 fun, engaging, and motivational character-building activities and games.

•; Chapter 5 provides outdoor collaborative team-building challenges.

• Chapter 6 delves into various aspects of developing a growth mindset through concepts such as assessment, reflection, and goal setting.

Building Character, Community, and a Growth Mindset in Physical Education is a powerful and valuable resource because it develops the whole student. It helps students meet important national standards while also preparing them for success in life. This book will help you develop resilient citizens who choose to live active, healthy lifestyles; understand the importance of collaboration and teamwork; and are intrisically motivated to succeed in all areas of their lives.

Leigh Anderson currently teaches in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, where she applies many of the concepts in this book. In addition to her elementary classroom and intervention experience, Leigh taught at the graduate level in the masters of teaching and learning program at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. This is the second book that Leigh has coauthored dealing with best practices in education, and she has presented both nationally and internationally. Leigh holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction.

Donald R. Glover has taught physical education, including adapted physical education, since 1967 at the preschool, elementary, secondary, and postsecondary levels. He currently teaches elementary physical education methods at the University of Wisconsin at River Falls.

In 1981, Glover was recognized as Minnesota’s Teacher of the Year, and he was named the Minnesota Adapted Physical Education Teacher of the Year in 1989. He has written seven books, published numerous magazine and journal articles on physical education and sport, and been a clinician at more than 100 workshops and clinics.

Glover earned his master’s degree in physical education from Winona State University in 1970. A former president of the Minnesota Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, he is a member of SHAPE America, the National Association of Sport and Physical Education (NASPE), and the Minnesota Education Association.