As a new PE teacher, coming from the classroom, I was not prepared for the number of times I would need to reestablish the ground rules and expectations for PE class.
It was my first year with them and their first year with me, so I think know it was a big learning curve for all of us.
Plus, I saw each class for a full week, then wouldn't see them again for three weeks. For the first half of the year, it felt like the movie Groundhog Day with reminding and reteaching the rules and agreements we had made.

Something that I read on The PE Specialist when I felt like I was losing my mind that first year really stuck with me:
Change is more like a crock pot than a microwave.
It was such a shift from my world as a classroom teacher, where I had eight hours a day, five days a week to establish and reinforce a system. Now, with less than an hour, five days a week but only once every three weeks, this quote and his whole blog post was a saving grace. I highly encourage you to read it and bookmark it when you need a reminder that you aren't alone!
PE Class Rules
While time is of the essence, the old saying still holds true that if you don't take time at the beginning of the year to set the rules for the class, you'll spend the rest of the year paying for it.
I kept my rules simple and in-line with our schoolwide rules. I wanted them to be easily understood by Kinders through fifth graders, and ideally easy to memorize.
These rules also needed to be general enough to encompass a lot, since our stations and units were constantly changing.
Our three rules in PE class are:
- Respect Yourself
- Respect Others
- Respect Our Gym
We talked a lot at the start of each week we were together about what these rules meant for the work we were doing.
For example, respecting yourself meant you were trying your best, you were not being hard on yourself if you messed up, or you were grabbing water and/or a rest when you needed it.
Respecting others came down to respecting me as well as fellow students on your team and on the other team. This was the start or most of our sportsmanship talks that were interwoven into each unit.
Respecting our gym was the most broad way of including the equipment, the room itself, as well as the routine and schedule we had in place. For more on our class schedule, click HERE.

PE Class Consequences
One thing I don't like is making a kiddo sit out for PE class, when in fact movement is exactly what they may need, just channeled differently.
I will go into more detail about this later, but our main class consequences are:
- Verbal Warning
- Sitting Out on the Bench (and doing some calming and/or refocusing work)
- Email home, Stop & Think
If their behavior continues, I have them come and sit on the bench for the rest of that station and work on some calming and/or refocusing activities. These deserve their own post, but it includes choices like doing some breathwork, grabbing some water, stretching, or even chatting with me if it's safe for the class.
Lastly, if the behavior continues, I will email home and their classroom teacher (I always like to keep them in the loop since they see the kiddos much longer than I do), a Stop & Think which is a school form, and perhaps a visit to the principal's if it is a safety issue for the others in class. As always, use your best judgement by the time it's reached that level.
I post these on traffic light colors right next to the rules so kids can see the levels and then it becomes my job to stay consistent with enforcement the whole year.
If rules, consequences and class management are a struggle, I highly recommend Love & Logic. They have a book for teachers as well as many resources on their website.
Attention-Getters
In the gym, my voice tends to disappear, and I am by no means a quiet speaker!
In a classroom, I could whisper or speak at a normal level, but this past year, in the gym with masks and fans and air purifiers, it felt like I was teaching on the runway at Denver Airport!
A few things that saved me were:
- Wireless Microphone
- Bluetooth Speaker connected to my iPhone & Spotify
- Electronic Whistle
The system I used was from Amazon and their customer service was fantastic:
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