Job Description and Insights

As an elementary PE teacher, I am responsible for introducing a variety of

activities and games that students can incorporate into a lifetime of physical

fitness and activity.

On a typical day I start with m eetings or planning time until about a half hour

before school when I am responsible for watching the children on the playground

who are dropped off before the bell rings. As my teaching day starts, I will see 5-7

classes in a course of a day for 45 m inutes at a time. This schedule allows the

majority of my day to be spent on essential tasks rather than administrative tasks.

Administrative tasks can include professional development, staff meetings or day

to day operations such as lesson plans, lesson research, making copies or arranging for special events, presentations or speakers. This year I had to incorporate travel time into my schedule as enrollment at our elementary school decreased and enrollment at a nearby middle school increased. This was the first time I had a job share assignment, but it required an extra 30 minutes out of m y eight hour day for travel that took essential teaching time away from the students. One of the downfalls of becoming a PE teacher rather than a classroom teacher is that more and more schools are forced to make hard choices with the budget and often times "specials" such as PE, music and art are the first to go. On the other hand, there is no other job in the building that allows you to play all day and wear what most people get comfortable in after work every day!