Physical Education When teachers give students a voice, they are empowered and primed for success. According to Holdsworth (1998), giving students a voice means much more than consulting them and letting them speak. Students need to be made to feel they are valued. They need to feel appreciated and as though they make a difference in the community to which they belong.

Three levels have been identified within physical education at which students can have a voice. The highest level is curriculum, in which students have a say about the course content over the semester and/or school year. Obviously, students' opinions must be reasonable, as the curriculum must satisfy state standards. It may be more realistic to involve students in Level 2, project-based learning, where students design their own projects and assess their own process and performance. Easiest for the teacher to implement is Level 3, in which students make decisions within selected units.

The first factor in having a voice involves self-determination and an individual's three basic needs: competence, relatedness, and autonomy. The second factor involves letting students make choices but, because their experience is often limited, they may not fully recognize all their options. In...

Facilitating the decision process in this case helps students develop valuable skills they can use in other aspects of school and in life.
"Taking Personal and Social Responsibility" (Hellison, 1995) is a program that aims to teach responsibility through physical activity. The series of goal levels are approached with strategies including awareness talks, group meetings, opportunities for individual decision-making, and counseling and reflection times. A quality aerobic fitness program can meet the goals of this model. The program can improve physical fitness and can be modified for students with disabilities.

1. Physical Education can be integrated with other subject areas in a variety of ways. For young children, movement can be incorporated with music. Movement can be used as part of the morning meeting routine and for kinesthetic learning in drills for sight words and math facts. Some teachers use movement as part of behavior modification programs. Brain Gym, for example, is a trademarked program with prescribed movements…