Principal Letter

February 23, 2016

Dear Principal Smudde,
I would like to first thank you for the opportunity to join the Bobcat family
and I am looking forward to an exciting year! This letter is to formally
introduce myself and describe the type of physical educator I am along with
how my everyday class will look like.
I plan on evaluating my students based on their participation and effort they
make into their learning. I also want to base their grade for each class on
their attitude toward activities that we practice along with how they interact
and work with their peers. I will do this by using the O, S, and N grading scale
because of the amount of emphasis made on students effort in class. I agree
with the social psychological theories of social emotion that are found to be
the clear preference for working with students who show effort.
Basing students grades on the affective domain is the best way because it is
a way for students to evaluate themselves on their internal feelings and
experience in Physical Education. A students attitude, motivation,
willingness to participate, valuing what is being learned, and incorporating
the values of discipline into a way of life are critical for learning but often not
addressed.
Every unit that we will be covering throughout the year is a part of the
National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) content
standards based on each developmental stage. As students grow their
maturity level also grows and that is what I want to expose that will help
students with all subjects. Teaching students different contents will be
challenging because it will only match a characteristic of a students. I plan
to make sure each activity is developmentally appropriate so they will have
the maturity level and ability to participate. To do this I will follow the
Pangrazi method of the four-part lesson curriculum. Research has shown that
an affective domain type of environment will increase a students overall
academic performance. With that I believe that students will learn the
movement concepts skills, fundamental motor skills, specialized motor skills,
and achieve and maintain a personal level of physical fitness. If students are
successful within the affective domain all other content standards will also be
a success.
Each day all students will be assessed on their effort and attitude for the day
through my observations and logged into a student progress report that I will
have for each class. Students who participate in class without being given a
warning, going to timeout, or refuse to cooperate with directions and
activities will be documented as excellent for the day. A student who are

sent to timeout once or cannot work with the class in an activity but fix their
attitude and behaves in the appropriate they will receive a fair because
they are able to assess themselves and make a change. However, if students
do not fix their attitude and cannot work with the rest of the class they will
remain in timeout and receive a poor for the day. At the end of the
semester an average of their daily performance remarks will give their final
grade of O, S, or N.
My philosophy going through each lesson does not focus on the product of a
skill but more of the effort made to into becoming proficient at a skill. I
believe that for my students to meet the objective for each lesson they must
have the correct attitude and willingness to learn, which will help them learn
new activities. I want to create a class where students are having fun while
still learning and being introduced to new activities.
One of my goals for this year is to keep parents and the faculty of the school
informed about how my classroom is run. I want to create a welcoming
environment for not only students but also for parents so they feel free to be
involved with their childs education. I plan on sending monthly newsletters
home with students at the start of the school year informing parents about
my grading system and keep progress reports to use for parent teacher
conferences.
In conclusion, I would like to thank you again for this great opportunity. I
hope to have your support along with the rest of the schools to reshape the
general idea of a physical education program. My door is always open for
parents, students, or staff if I can be of any help or to answer questions.
Sincerely,
Ryan Whitehorse
Ryan Whitehorse
Desert View Physical Education Teacher
rwhitehorse@pageud.k12.az.us
928-608-1101

Parent Letter
February 23, 2016
Dear Bobcat Parents,
My name is Ryan Whitehorse and I am Desert Views new Physical Education teacher. I am
excited to be back in my hometown teaching what I love! I recently graduated with my
Bachelors this past May from Arizona State University in Secondary Education with an emphasis
in Physical Education, along with a K-6 endorsement qualifying me to teach PE K-12. Away
from teaching I love playing and coaching basketball and enjoy spending time with my family
while being active as much as possible. In my first year of teaching, I plan to use my four years
of coaching at Page along with my teaching experience at ASU and will apply it to my
classroom.
I hope to have your support in my classroom, as my expectations for students are that they come
to PE each day with the appropriate attire, a positive attitude, and excited/ready to work hard.
My goal for the year is to provide learning experiences that will teach students how to be
physically active in ways that increase physical competence, self-esteem and joy through lifelong
physical activity. In order to achieve this goal we ask for parents to please encourage and remind
students to wear appropriate clothing for physical activity, especially tennis shoes for PE days.
Students are also expected to participate fully, displaying positive attitude and effort while follow
directions and staying on task, that all play an important role in the grading system. Students will
learn to respect others, teachers, and equipment that we use in PE.
Physical Education is based solely on participation so I encourage parents and students to come
to PE each day but in case of an absence students will be able to make-up points by participating
in lunchtime intramurals. Parents are also encouraged to have their child participate in at least 60
minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day over the weekends as part of their
homework. This will teach students the importance of physical activity and will adapt easily to
being more active outside of PE.
I am excited and looking forward to the school year and cannot wait to get to know each one of
your children and invite you to come and visit our Physical Education class anytime. By working
together to encourage fitness, we are certain we will be able to help your enjoy a lifetime of
physical activity. Dont hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,
Ryan Whitehorse
Desert View Physical Education Teacher
rwhitehorse@pageud.k12.az.us
928-608-1101
Teachers Concern Letter
February 23, 2016
To the Parents/ Guardians of Logan Tom,
In Physical Education students are often actively engaged in physical activity that promotes
social enjoyment in activities and games that your student maybe interested in. Logan is a great
example of this type of student who enjoys coming to PE with a positive attitude that is
contagious to his classmates. Logan is a joy to have in my class because his energy rubs off to
the rest of the class, making him a great leader and everyone in class participate eagerly because
of him.
However, proper physical activity clothing is also required to participate in Physical Education
for safety concerns. Students who are not wearing tennis shoes are not allowed to participate in
PE activities, effecting students grades as well. Although Logan has great attendance and a
positive attitude, he often comes to PE with open toed sandals (flip flops) requiring him sit out
for the class. I have sent home a couple slips to help remind him to wear proper tennis shoes on
PE days but he has sat out for activities for the past three classes. This has greatly impacted his
grade for the semester and hope to have your help to provide a safe and comfortable environment
in which to learn in PE class, by helping Logan remember tennis shoes.
I would gladly work with Logan and his classroom teacher by reminding both when their PE day
is coming up, along with sending home a calendar highlighting what days he has PE. Logan also
has the option to bring an extra pair of tennis shoes to keep in his classroom at all times so in
case he forgets his shoes he can use them. This arrangement can be set-up with your permission
and with the help of the classroom teacher and ensure participation and eliminate the loss of
participation points weekly.
Logan is a pleasure to have in class and is a great role model for the rest of students of what a PE
student should do at all times by following directions, actively participating, encouraging others,
being a team player, and being so excited to be physically active. But when he does not come to
class prepared, wearing the correct shoes for activity, it is difficult to recognize him as a class
leader. I ask for your support so together we can help Logan succeed in all areas/contents of his
academics. I would like to thank you for your time and all your efforts, as I know we all have the
best interest for Logan. If you have any questions or concern feel free to contact me anytime and
we can arrange a time to meet to resolve this matter.
Sincerely,

Ryan Whitehorse
Desert View Physical Education Teacher
rwhitehorse@pageud.k12.az.us
928-608-1101