The Pacer Test. The struggle is real, y’all. Okay about y’all? It’s in my daily vocabulary because I’m from Texas and some people don’t get it, but the pacer test, it’s a struggle. So about this pacer test, it’s not a race. I find myself saying this on repeat. Why is it so difficult for my students to understand? Am I alone on this? I mean, it doesn’t matter how much prep talk I do or how many times I demonstrate it’s about pacing. It’s about as going as long as possible. I mean, you can literally walk the first couple of laps. Am I right? Teaching my students about endurance and the difference between a sprint – I mean, I totally sound like a broken record. The chime goes off and it’s like full speed ahead and elbows are flying to nudge out the person next to them. It’s not a race. And then they get to the other side and they have to wait 10 seconds for the chime to go off again.

Again, it’s not a race. Seriously though my students love doing the Pacer Test and they ask to do it often. I love that they keep asking to do it and I love that they find it challenging and feel prideful when they beat their previous number and I love the fact that they’re cheering for one another and they’re excited to see how many laps the last person can get. I just don’t know that we could handle doing it more than we already do. I think I’m good with three times a year, beginning, middle and end. I will tell you what makes it more bearable though and I stumbled upon this by accident. In a moment of freak out when my 10 year old Pacer Test CD would no longer play because it was too scratched, and I had a class full of fifth grade boys ready and eager to go.

So I googled Pacer Test music and found tons of options available to me on YouTube. So I clicked on the one that had remixed my title and I was thrilled. Updated music and beats that my students preferred listening to? When my students realized that I was playing the Pacer Test music from You Tube, no joke, they were so excited that they could practice at home. I mean one student even came to PE class weeks later and shared that she had a cousin in town and she made the whole family lineup in the backyard to run the Pacer Test. This just cracks me up! I’ll take sounding like a broken record. It’s not a race because my students love this test so much and they’re starting to get the hang of it, and they’re beginning to realize it’s not a race. So the next time you want to do the Pacer Test with your students, check out all the remixes on You Tube. That’s my little secret. You can find Pacer music on You Tube. Thanks for listening and remember, it’s not a race.

Listen to the rest of this podcast for more tips from Shannon Jarvis. View more free resources from Shannon at GopherSport.com/blog.