What's New In Adapted Physical Education

This episode is very unique, in that it is an example of a project from my Technology in Physical Education (PE) undergraduate course at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI). This project had PE undergraduates create a podcast focused on a specific area of PE and for a specific audience. After listening to all of them, I felt one group did an outstanding job and I wanted to highlight their thoughts and hard work on this platform. This group (which included: Thone Golwitzer, Brooke O'Connell, and Jakob Horstman) discussed the feeling of having to fight for others respect due to their college major, feelings of marginalization, and their views on the importance of PE. In addition, they also interview Dr. Tam Burt, a PE faculty member at UNI, about her experiences of feeling marginalized when she was a PE major in college.

As explained in an earlier post, "The journey of choosing to pursue, and actually pursuing doctorate are very difficult and individual". Somewhat in a continuation of the recent podcast episode focused on how PhD students choose and navigate a PhD program in the area of adapted physical activity (APA), for this episode we interviewed a panel of APA doctoral advisers that are a part of a newly formulated APA Consortium. More specifically, this episode included the well-known scholars: Dr. Martin Block (University of Virginia), Dr. Deborah Shapiro (Georgia State University), Dr. Sean Healy (University of Delaware), and Dr. Samantha Ross (West Virginia University). Within the episode we specifically discuss their research interests, how to navigate the PhD journey, and the qualities of a good PhD mentor. In addition, we discuss how the APA Consortium is beginning to train 28 high quality and competent scholars at the doctoral degree level at nine universities across the country, to serve as higher education facu

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Nancy Spencer and discuss some of her work and perceptions towards disability and disability models. Disability models are used to view and conceptualize disability, as well as to understand how society interacts and impacts disability. Dr. Spencer is an Associate Professor at the University of Alberta in the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation. Dr. Spencer has written numerous articles questioning how we view disability in the field of adapted physical activity. Recently she wrote a book chapter called "Disability Language in Adapted Physical Education", along with Drs. Peers and Eales, in the Routledge Handbook of Adapted Physical Education. In addition to her work on disability models, Dr. Spencer's research interests are in the areas of adapted physical activity and children’s physical activity. According to her faculty page, she is "committed to understanding how to facilitate inclusive and meaningful experiences in play, sport (parasport) and

For this episode, I was able to bring back Paralympian Jessica Heims to talk about how COVID-19 has disrupted the 2020 Paralympics, and how this organization and herself are working towards 2021. In addition, we discuss living with a disability during COVID-19, and the recent films Rising Phoenix and Crip Camp and what they mean to the disability community. Jessica is currently an undergraduate student at the University of Northern Iowa. She also currently competes on the University's track and field team as a discus thrower and sprinter. Furthermore, Jessica recently broke two world records in discus throwing. You can follow Jessica on Twitter @Jessie_Heims.

The journey of choosing to pursue, and actually pursuing doctorate are very difficult and individual. In this episode, I had a panel of three adapted physical activity (APA) doctoral students from across the nation discuss their journeys to get a doctorate in the field. The three panelists included: Chloe Simpson (West Virginia University), Thomas Wilson (The Ohio State University), and Justin Bueche (Old Dominion University)Each of these young scholars are a part of a newly formulated APA Consortium. This APA Consortium aims to train 28 high quality and competent scholars at the doctoral degree level at nine universities across the country, to serve as higher education faculty, and train pre-service physical education teachers and related service professionals to appropriately educate youth with disabilities. This training will occur through coursework, practicum, a consortium-wide enrichment program, community-based service-learning programs, and research engagement. The faculty engaged in this Consortium a

For this episode of the podcast, I interviewed the lead author, Dr. Seth Jenny (@DrSethJenny), of the recently released textbook "Technology for Physical Educators, Health Educators, and Coaches: Enhancing Instruction, Assessment, Management, Professional Development & Advocacy". This textbook is obviously very relevant during the recent COVID pandemic. Indeed, Human Kinetics explains that "This text will help health and physical education teachers and coaches improve their abilities by learning to effectively use technology in the areas of instruction, assessment, management, communication, professional development, and advocacy". Indeed, this textbook offers an array of resources and strategies on how to use a wide range of technologies within a physical education setting, as well as this textbook as a full chapter dedicated to the implementation of assistive technology to meet students with disabilities' needs. Within this interview, we discuss the development and use of this textbook. We talk about spec

Dr. Barry Lavay, an adapted physical education professor at California State University, Long Beach and longtime contributor to the podcast, has been so kind to bring his expertise and personality to the podcast. In fact, for the next two episodes Dr. Lavay will be interviewing Dr. Geoffrey Broadhead about his career in the field of adapted physical activity (APA), as well as his insights on the status of field and where we are going. Dr. Geoffrey Broadhead is a pioneer in the field of a APA and has many noteworthy achievements. More specifically, Dr. Broadhead is the founding editor for the quintessential Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly (APAQ) journal, and a former professor of APA at Louisiana State University and Kent State University. For the second episode, Dr. Lavay talks to Dr. Broadhead about the founding of APAQ, and this journals impact on the field of APA. In addition, they discuss how this journal helped to legitimize and validate the APA profession. More specifically, they discuss the drivi

This episode of What’s New in APE is extra special, as we have a guest moderator taking the reins today. Dr. Barry Lavay (@BarryLavay), an adapted physical education professor at California State University, Long Beach and longtime contributor to the podcast, has been so kind to bring his expertise and personality to the podcast. In fact, for the next two episodes Dr. Lavay will be interviewing Dr. Geoffrey Broadhead (@geoffbroadhead) about his career in the field of adapted physical activity (APA), as well as his insights on the status of field and where we are going. Dr. Geoffrey Broadhead is a pioneer in the field of a APA and has many noteworthy achievements. More specifically, Dr. Broadhead is the founding editor for the quintessential Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly (APAQ) journal, and a former professor of adapted physical activity at Louisiana State University and Kent State University. In addition, Dr. Broadhead has received a number of honors and awards for his contribution to the profession su

Brad Weiner (@APETeacher), an adapted physical educator for Montgomery County Public Schools and longtime contributor to the podcast, acted as the moderator for this episode. Brad leads this podcast by attempting to examine how adapted physical educators use and view research within the field of APE. This episode had on three panelists who all were authors of a recent research article (Adapted Physical Educators’ Perspectives of Educational Research) that surveyed 124 adapted physical educators on their views and use of research. The panelists included: Dr. Scott McNamara (ScottMcNamara12), the regular host for this podcast and an assistant professor at the University of Northern Iowa; Dr. Andrew Colombo-Dougovito (@amcdphd) from the University of North Texas; and Mr. Christopher Ahrens (@chrisahrens), an APE Teacher for the San Diego Unified School District and former US Paralympic soccer player. Within the episode the panel discusses why and how they undertook this research project, why APE teachers may

Due in part to the recent Black Lives Matters (BLM) Movement highlighting inequalities within our healthcare, education, and criminal justice systems, we dedicated to devote an episode to discuss this movement and social justice. For this podcast had on two scholars with expertise in social justice in the fields of physical education and adapted physical education to discuss topics related to BLM and social justice. More specifically, we discuss the role of race within physical education, how disability and race intersects, critical race pedagogy, and how continue this discussion moving forward. In addition, Clark's (2020) recent paper entitled "Toward a critical race pedagogy of physical education" was used to guide this conversation. This podcast features two panelists: Dr. Langston Clark (@LangstonDClark) who is an assistant professor of physical education at the University of Texas at San Antonio, and Dr. Samuel Hodge who is a full professor of physical education and adapted physical education at The O

Welcome to the What's New in APE Podcast blog. In this episode, I was able to have a panel discussion with three APE and/or grading experts to discuss grading philosophies and procedures within the field of APE. The panelists included: Brad Wiener (@APETeacher), a former SHAPE America National APE Teacher of the year and a current an adapted physical educator for Montgomery County Public Schools; Dr. Kristi Roth (@midlifetreks), a full professor at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and one of the co-authors of Principles and Methods of APE and Recreation; and Dr. Matt Townsley (@mctownsley) an assistant professor in the educational leadership department at the University of Northern Iowa. Within this discussion, the panel tackles topics related to (1) what is the purpose of grading, (2) barriers and issues with grading in APE, (3) standards-based grading in APE, (4) an adapted grading scale APE teachers can use within their classes, and (5) grading policies and laws.

For the 5th, and likely final episode of this COVID series, I sat down to discuss how COVID has impacted the day-to-day life of Dr. Kristi Roth, a full professor at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and one of the co-authors of Principles and Methods of Adapted Physical Education and Recreation. In addition, we discuss how to use her app to find APE activities and how-to videos. She details how she has created this app, as well as other technologies to curate quality content for others to easily use in order to find useful content. To further drive home the point that these mediums allow experts to curate and provide easily accessible resources to those who need it. Finally, Dr. Roth and I discuss best practices in online learning, and some advantages of using online learning.

For the 4th, and final installment of the COVID-19 APE podcast series, Brad Wiener (@APETeacher) joined us to discuss how he has navigated his job as an adapted physical educator during the pandemic. Brad is a former SHAPE America National APE Teacher of the year and is a currently an adapted physical educator for Montgomery County Public School, in Maryland. In this episode, Brad discusses how he is delivering APE services to students, how his school is monitoring students' IEPs, as well as he shares how and why he developed a variety of APE related resources during the pandemic. Brad has revamped his APE website since the pandemic, and has created a variety of resources (curriculum for different age groups, videos, worksheets, etc) that parents and APE teachers can use to continue to provide services to students with disabilities. In addition, Brad discusses how we need to use these resources as templates, and customize them for our individual students' needs.

For the 3rd installment of the COVID-19 series, Dr. Melissa Bittner (@CSULB_APE) discussed how she is coping with the pandemic from a university viewpoint. Dr. Bittner is an assistant professor of adapted physical education at California State University, Long Beach. Because of the pandemic, her undergraduates were missing the opportunity to work with students with disabilities, so Dr. Bittner took the initiative to create an online practicum program, where her students conduct a free online lesson Tuesday through Friday at 1 pm PST.

Because of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, we decided to create a series of podcasts that highlight some different resources that may help APE teachers deliver services to students with disabilities during this time. For the second episode. we had Matthew Bassett (@PhysEdApps) tell us about a plethora of resources he has developed with the help with several other physical educators across the nation, for SHAPE America. Matt is a general physical educator for San Jose Charter Academy in California, and in 2017 was named the CAHPERD Elementary Teacher of the Year. Matt discussed how his job has been impacted by the pandemic, how he plans on continuing to deliver quality physical education to his students, and how he started working with SHAPE America to develop the SHAPE America Corona Virus Resources page, which provides a resource list of different online physical education resources one can use to continue to deliver quality physical education services to students during the pandemic. In addition, he outline

Because of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, we decided to create a series of podcasts/blog posts that highlight some different resources that may help APE teachers deliver services to students with disabilities during this time. Please contact Scott McNamara @ scmcnamara23@gmail.com if you have any additional resources we should highlight. For the first episode in this series, we had David Gelsak from Exercise Connection to come on and discuss his Exercise Buddy app. David briefly discusses his how he created Exercise Connection, how he is dealing with COVID-19 as a business owner, how APE teachers and families can utilize Exercise Buddy during the pandemic, and how he is continually adapting his program and app.

This episode of What’s New in APE is extra special, as we have a guest moderator taking the reins today. Dr. Barry Lavay, an APE professor at California State University, Long Beach and longtime contributor to the podcast, is tackling his second podcast series and interviewed Dr. David Porretta about his career in the field of APE, as well as his insights on the status of APE and his friendship with the Late Dr. Joseph Winnick. Dr. David Porretta is a pioneer in the field of APE and has many noteworthy achievements. Dr. Porretta is a Faculty Emeritus from the Department of Human Sciences at The Ohio State University. For the second episode, Dr. Lavay and Dr. Porretta give an in-depth analysis on the development and maintenance of one of the most well-known APE textbooks in the field "APE and Sport" which is published by Human Kinetics. They discuss how this book was unique in its' content and format, how the book has changed over the years, potential changes to the 7th edition of the textbook, and how this

Hello! This episode of What’s New in APE is extra special, as we have a guest moderator taking the reins today. Dr. Barry Lavay, an APE professor at California State University, Long Beach and longtime contributor to the podcast, is tackling his second podcast series and interviewed Dr. David Porretta about his career in the field of APE, as well as his insights on the status of APE and his friendship with the Late Dr. Joseph Winnick. Dr. David Porretta is a pioneer in the field of APE and has many noteworthy achievements. Dr. Porretta is a Faculty Emeritus from the Department of Human Sciences at The Ohio State University. In addition, he has has numerous major publications and has regularly presented scholarly papers at international, national, and state meetings. For this very first episode, Dr. Lavay talks to Dr. Porretta about his friendship with Dr. Joe Winnick. More specifically, Dr. Porretta explains how Dr. Winnick helped to share the field of APE since the late 1960's and influenced his own person

I recently had the opportunity to talk with Dr. Luis Columna about his background in the field of APE, and his recent projects and research endeavors. Dr. Columna is a native of San Juan Puerto Rico and currently is an Associate Professor in the Kinesiology Department at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. His research focuses on ways to increase the participation of families (especially Hispanic) of children with disabilities into physical activity and also his research focuses on ways to better prepare physical activity professionals and physical education teachers to work with diverse populations. One of Dr. Columna's projects that is discussed with the podcast is FitFamilies. FitFamilieis is a physical activity program that brings together children with disabilities, their parents, college students and in-service professionals in the fields of APE and special education.

We are excited to bring you a new episode that explores recent collaboration efforts between Speech and Language Pathologists (SLPs) and APE teachers. Joining us for this episode are four distinguished guests from California State University, Long Beach: Barry Lavay (APE Professor, @BarryLavay), Melissa Bittner (APE Professor, @MBittner_APE), Alaine Ocampo (SLP Professor), and Belinda Daughrity (SLP Professor). Each of the experts listed above were recently involved in a research project that examined how pre-service APE teachers can encourage peer engagement and social communication in tasks related to children with disabilities' participation in physical activity. Along with discussing their recent research and the importance of their findings, the guests also discuss the guiding principles of SLPs, the importance of training APE teachers with regards to SLP, and how SLPs and APE can effectively collaborate.