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If you’ve ever heard a student say, “We just played tag,” and felt that sinking feeling, you’re going to want this conversation. 

In this episode, I talk with Dr. Hilary Glencross, PE teacher educator, curriculum designer, and founder of UBD Movement Lab, about how to make physical education look and feel like real learning without losing the joy of movement. 

We dig into Understanding by Design (UbD) and why backward design changes everything in PE: start with the end goals, align to standards, build assessments with purpose, then choose activities that actually teach something. Hilary explains what a strong standards aligned physical education curriculum looks like, why student voice drives engagement, and how clearer vocabulary and learning targets help kids explain the “why” behind what they’re doing. We also unpack assessment in PE, including cognitive and authentic options that give students more than one way to show growth. 

Then we get practical. Hilary shares her SHAPE America standards to Massachusetts frameworks crosswalk and how it can save districts hours of tedious alignment work, freeing teams up to focus on essential questions and better unit plans. We also talk UDL and SEI supports for multilingual learners in PE, including visuals, sentence stems, word wall cards, and smarter ways to structure partner talk so every student can participate in the moment. 

If you care about inclusive PE, curriculum mapping, standards alignment, and making physical education easier to defend and easier to teach, this one is for you. Subscribe, share with a colleague, and leave a review with the curriculum challenge you’re trying to solve right now. Check out the site below!

Resources:

https://www.ubdmovementlab.com/#/

Thanks for listening! 🙏🏼

If you picked up a new idea or felt inspired by today’s episode, I’d love to hear from you and if your interested in being a potential guest on the show; email [email protected] Please take a second to follow the show and share it with another educator who’s passionate and let’s keep the conversation going!” 

🗣️PSA******

P.E Teachers: Are you currently seeking graduate credits or professional development hours toward license renewal?​If so, you can receive $25 off any self-paced professional development course or year-long virtual course from my colleague at  Distinguished PE by using the code "nextlevelpe" at checkout. 

Visit www.distinguishedpe.com to learn more and find the course that’s right for you.