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Will Photographs Increase Time on Task in Adaptive Physical Education?

JoAnn K. Hill
Judy K. Phillips, Polston Elementary School, Alamosa, Colorado

Subject: Special Education
Grade: K-1

"We showed the children photographs of themselves doing activities that used to be difficult and now are easier. They beamed with pleasure, knowing that they had worked hard and come a long way."

Purpose and Description of Project

JoAnn Hill and Judy Phillips used photographs to demonstrate the physical education activities required for each of their physically limited or handicapped students. As a result, the children not only benefited from more time on task but performed their exercises more consistently and progressed faster.

The children involved in this project were provided with individual plans of physical and occupational therapy to help them deal with developmental delays, physical disabilities such as cerebral palsy or spina bifida, or injuries and surgeries. Working together, Hill, a physical education teacher, and Phillips, a special education teacher, designed individual activity sheets for each child in consultation with physical and occupational therapists.

Hill and Phillips found that photographs were the answer. They also say the photos helped with "quality control" and were a great motivator for the children.

Activities

The major project activities were: The teachers set up a master file of activity sheets for each child, with photos of the child doing each activity glued to the appropriate sheets and the sheets color-coded by goal areas (eye-motor skills, balance, etc.). The teachers also took head shots of the support staff and the children for a bulletin board. It let adults and children immediately know with whom they were to work each day.

The teachers also prepared color slide presentations on their adaptive physical education activities. The show, presented at a local college and in several nearby school districts, incorporated both the photoactivity sheets and slides demonstrating the adaptive program. For the local parent-teacher organization, the teachers showed slides illustrating both the program and other school projects.

The individual photo-activity sheets will now follow the children as they advance in school, to be added to or adapted as needed. Copies of the sheets will also be used with other children who need to perform the same exercises-either in lieu of new photos or until new ones can be taken.

Materials, Resources, and Expenses

Primary human resources were physical and occupational therapists and the large support staff that carried on much of the one-to-one work with the children.

The teachers used personal cameras and also purchased one. Film used included eight rolls of KODAK TRI-X Pan Film, six rolls of KODACOLOR 400 Film, and six rolls of KODAK EKTACHROME 400 Film for, respectively, black-and-white prints, color prints, and color slides. A high school journalism class developed and printed much of the black-and-white film, and when the students became too busy, the school district picked up most commercial processing costs and film.

Outcomes and Adaptability

Experiments assessed the amount of time spent by support staff asking questions before and after the introduction of photo-activity sheets. Sixteen new activities were written up-eight with photos, eight without-and the principal counted and timed interruptions as each set was carried out. The result was an astonishing drop from 65 interruptions and 20 minutes of time lost down to six interruptions and less than one minute lost.

The teachers also found that little preparation time had to be spent training new helpers, that there were fewer discipline problems stemming from children sitting idle, and that the children were motivated by seeing their photographs. The students also showed significant improvements according to a motor assessment instrument and other measures.

Hill and Phillips point out that their project could be adapted to "any program in which a coordinator plans the activity and must rely on other, sometimes untrained or inexperienced individuals to carry out the lessons."

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