South Bend teacher makes gym class more than exercise

The lesson, using fun and physical activity to get kids engaged with learning, showed the approach that earned Morton, Perley's physical education teacher, the title of teacher of the year for the South Bend Community School Corp.

[...] she began blending academic subject matter into her lessons more than 20 years ago, finding that the combination of physical and mental activity helped students to retain what they learned.

At Perley, a fine arts magnet school that focuses on experiences with visual arts, music, drama and language, Morton's approach is key because specialists — such as music and gym teachers — are expected to integrate language arts curriculum into their own classrooms.

Perley Principal Jill Vandriessche said Morton builds relationships with her students, and learning through movement that makes the kids more confident in their grasp of the subject matter.

In her role teaching physical education for all five grades at Perley, she said, she has the opportunity to bond with students from the their first day of class in kindergarten to their fourth-grade "graduation."

All the while, she tries to instill not just a value for health and fitness, but also qualities like sportsmanship, problem-solving and conflict resolution.