When I sat down with the Eisenhower Matrix, I thought I had my priorities figured out. Sorting my work into urgent versus important? That revealed something I hadn’t fully seen before.
In Physical Education, the “now” is everything. Student health and wellness isn’t just a goal – it’s what makes everything else possible. When a student experiences harm, whether physical or emotional, that becomes both urgent and important immediately. Their sense of belonging and safety has to be the foundation of my classroom.
Here’s what surprised me: I initially put relationship building and supporting different learners in the “urgent but not important” category. Then I realized – if student safety and belonging are what matter most, isn’t the relationship building what actually makes that safety possible? Those culture-building moments, the differentiated support, the daily connections – they’re not separate from the urgent work. They are the urgent work.
What keeps calling for my attention this year is understanding how my learners operate. I want to learn what motivates each of them and what tools I can provide so they’re not constantly focused on negative outcomes. Too many students in PE fall by the wayside because they don’t communicate what they need, and because my subject still carries the stigma of being “just gym.”
But I know what success looks like: engagement and enjoyment. When I see a student truly engaged, when they’re enjoying what we’re doing, I know they’re getting what they need. That’s when real learning happens.
So here’s my commitment for this year: I’m dedicating my creative energy to getting better at understanding what each student needs to feel confident in giving their best. Whether that’s creating new ways for them to communicate with me, helping others see the real learning happening in PE, or finding approaches I haven’t considered yet – that’s where I’m focusing.
Because Physical Education isn’t just about movement. It’s about helping students discover their relationship with wellness, confidence, and their own capabilities. It’s about creating a space where every student can thrive.
That’s worth my time, energy, and creative heart.
What a thoughtful post Chris. Culture-building, differentiated support, and daily connections are indeed the urgent and important work. I’m curious about what investigations you will use to get a better understanding of student needs, and how that might become transparent for them so they they understand that you are building a (new?) or slightly different culture. Perhaps its a shared understanding where they can investigate what their peers needs and what you need as part of the shared understanding. Looking forward to hearing more!