How do you use and how can I implement the pedometer in to my classes at any level?
A pedometer is a small device that looks much like a pager. It is worn on a belt or waistband, and it contains a motion sensor that responds to vertical acceleration, e.g., our steps when we ambulate. It does not measure the length of your stride--only the number of steps. Some pedometers contain very good motion sensors; others contain very poor motion sensors.
Therefore, just like anything else, the quality of pedometers varies.
I usually recommend using pedometers with students in the 3rd grade and on up, as research shows that K-2 kids are really getting plenty of activity as is without our interference, i.e., let them play uninhibited!
There are some lesson ideas posted on http://www.pecentral.org and some free teaching resources available on www.new-lifestyles.com , but the best usage of pedometers is as a physical activity measurement device and (combined with record keeping) a behavior modification device. You can use http://www.logit.org as a record keeping system for elementary students or http://www.everystepcounts.com as a record keeping system for middle and high school students.
For grades 3-5 I would recommend a step counter only model with no other functions. Then, encourage your students to think through how to convert their step counts to distance in feet, in yards, in miles, in centimeters, in meters and in kilometers. Make them use their own computers--their brains! Have the students wear the pedometer for a few days to determine their base line/current level of physical activity in steps per day. Develop with the class ten strategies that they can use to increase their level of physical activity or steps per day. Finally, put the strategies into practice to see if the students can learn some ways to modify their current behaviors to increase their number of daily steps.
Students are already active in PE class--so I think pedometers are more useful outside of PE when the kids are less likely to be moving. Let the students take the pedometers home and get their parents involved. Had you thought about bar-coding some of them and placing them in the library so that the students could check them out like a book? I think it would be great to let the students take them home!
These are just a few of my many ideas. I have written and published a teacher's activity guidebook, Teaching with Pedometers which is available along with many other pedometer program materials on our website www.new-lifestyles.com . More than half of the book is dedicated to activity ideas, categorized by age level.
I hope this answers your questions!
Thank you for your email!
Teresa Vollenweider, President
NEW LIFESTYLES, INC.
Fitness and Pedometer Expert
