Move With Purpose

Your lesson plan looks great on paper. But what happens when your gym tells a different story? Kids standing around. Games falling apart. Engagement disappearing. In this episode of Move With Purpose , we're talking about the skill that separates good teaching from great teaching: knowing when to pivot. Discover three simple moves to rescue a struggling lesson, get more kids moving, and turn stude...

Epic Fails. Unexpected Wins. Some PE lessons are legendary. Others require a broom, a ladder, and a whole lot of regret. In this episode of Move With Purpose , I'm confessing one of my biggest teaching flops—and how it sparked some of my best teaching moments. From knee-walking baseball to homemade lacrosse sticks, we're talking about taking risks, giving students ownership, and knowing when to pi...

Stop Delivering PD. Start Designing Professional Learning. We know what good teaching looks like. So why do we throw it out the window when teaching teachers? Endless PowerPoints. One-size-fits-all trainings. Zero follow-up. Sound familiar? In this episode of Move With Purpose , we're calling out what's broken in professional development and challenging educators and leaders to rethink the experie...

We keep calling it a motivation problem. Maybe it isn't. Maybe we've made movement too narrow, too performance-driven, and too easy for people to decide, "This isn't for me." Adapted from my Born to Move. Built to Connect keynote, this episode challenges us to rethink what movement can do. Move first. Connect often. Lead better. Create more ways in. Build belonging. And stop assuming the person st...

What if fitness wasn't a unit—but part of every PE lesson? In this episode of Move With Purpose , Chris breaks down a simple K–12 progression for building fitness and physical literacy into everyday physical education: Move. Notice. Understand. Choose. From helping elementary students notice what their bodies are doing, to teaching middle schoolers how to monitor effort, to preparing high school s...

The kid on the wall isn't always unmotivated. Sometimes they're protecting themselves. In this episode of Move With Purpose , we unpack belonging, vulnerability, and the courage to try through the lens of Brené Brown's The Gifts of Imperfection . PE puts mistakes on display. Miss the ball. Struggle with the movement. Walk into the weight room unsure of what to do. Everybody sees it. So the real qu...

Most PE classes don't lose students halfway through the lesson. They lose them in the first 90 seconds. In The 90 Second Lever , Chris Meyer breaks down three moves that can change the entire trajectory of class: get students moving immediately, make the learning target impossible to miss, and make every student feel seen before instruction really begins. No new equipment. No flashy program. No ex...

The 30-Day Reflection System That Builds Better PE Programs Your PE program doesn't need to be perfect. It needs to keep getting better. After the first 30 days, you know what's working, what needs a tweak, and what's creating more stress than impact. In this episode, I break down a simple reset: KEEP what works. CHANGE what's close. CUT what no longer serves the program—for now. Then REPEAT. From...

Why Better Systems Create Better PE—and Better Learners Why better systems create better PE, and better learners. PE isn't just about keeping students moving. It's about preparing them to own movement for life. In this episode, we dive into systems 6–10: learning targets, lesson planning, assessment, student ownership, and continuous improvement—and why these systems matter more than the latest ac...

If you want this school year to feel different, you have to build it differently. In this episode of Move With Purpose, we break down the first five systems that shape the success of your PE program: purpose and vision, classroom management, relationships, planning, and curriculum mapping. No more chasing activities. No more Sunday-night scrambling. No more confusing busy with effective. Pick one...

Your PE program doesn't need another random game, trendy warm-up, or shiny new resource. It needs better systems. In this episode, we're auditing the 10 systems that shape everything—from classroom management and curriculum to planning, assessment, and teacher burnout. Because resources might give you ideas, but systems create freedom. Stop scrambling. Stop chasing activities. Start building a PE...

What if the advice we've been giving students is making things worse? We tell them to push through, stay tough, and never quit. But what if the real life skill isn't pushing harder—it's knowing when to pause? In this episode of Move With Purpose , Chris Meyer explores why teaching students to reset, regulate, and return may be one of the most important wellness lessons we can offer. Because resili...

What if the most powerful wellness lesson students learn has nothing to do with your curriculum? In this episode of Move With Purpose , teachers and leaders are challenged to stop treating wellness like a unit, a poster, or a once-a-year fitness push. Wellness is taught every day through the habits we model, the culture we create, and the way we choose recovery over burnout. From walking and stren...

Physical educators are experts at teaching wellness, but are we practicing it ourselves? In this episode, Chris Meyer explores the tension between professional growth and personal renewal. Discover why the best teachers don't return in August because they worked harder than everyone else, they return better because they took time to recharge. Stop collecting credits. Start investing in yourself. Y...

What standard are you really setting in your PE program? Not the standards on the wall. Not the standards in the curriculum guide. The standard students experience every single day. In this episode of Move With Purpose, Chris Meyer challenges educators to stop playing it safe and take a hard look at the expectations, systems, leadership, and culture driving their programs. Discover why average pro...

PE Assessment has entered a new era, and the old model of ranking kids based on genetics is being challenged. In this episode of Move With Purpose , Chris breaks down the history of the Presidential Fitness Test, the 2026 shift in youth fitness testing, and the hard truth about assessment in Physical Education. Are we measuring learning, or just rewarding naturally athletic kids? From the Kraus–We...

Evaluation season turns teaching into a performance, but it doesn't have to. In this episode of Move With Purpose, Chris breaks down the real purpose behind teacher evaluations, exposes where they go wrong, and shows you how to flip the script. Learn how to use frameworks like Danielson and Marzano as a tool, not a trap, and walk away with three power moves to take control, lead the narrative, and...

In this episode of Move With Purpose , Chris calls out the real reason you feel stuck, and it's probably not what you think. We dig into the trap of waiting for clarity, comfort, and confirmation, and why that mindset keeps you exactly where you are. If you're ready to stop hesitating and start moving, this episode gives you the mindset and push you need to take action and build real momentum.  

Let's be real, PE isn't about the lesson you planned, it's about the room you can actually run. In this episode, we break down the 10 truths every PE teacher learns, either fast or the hard way, from building routines and owning your presence to creating real learning (not just activity). We hit classroom management, relationships, structure, advocacy, and what it actually takes to move from survi...

Fresh off the SHAPE America National Convention, this episode hits a hard truth: the best physical educators aren't the most experienced—they're the ones who refuse to stop learning. Chris breaks down the real power of networking, calls out the "sit-and-get" PD trap, and shows what high-impact, student-centered professional development should actually look like. If you're done checking boxes and r...

In this episode of Move With Purpose , Chris explores how strong physical education programs can become the driving force behind a schoolwide culture of movement. Through the lens of the Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program (CSPAP) framework, she explains why intentional curriculum design is the foundation for expanding physical activity beyond the gym. From building movement competence...

In this episode of Move with Purpose , Chris takes a deeper look at the  Sport Education Model (SEM) and how physical educators can turn traditional units into authentic sport experiences. Building on the excitement of events like the Olympics and March Madness, she explains how SEM creates structure, identity, and shared purpose through seasons, stable teams, and student leadership roles. Drawing...

From Olympic podiums to March Madness brackets, this episode of  Move With Purpose  challenges physical educators to capture that electric sport energy and bring it into their own gyms. Chris breaks down the  Sport Education Model —originally developed by Daryl Siedentop—and shows how to turn ordinary PE units into full-season experiences built on identity, leadership, structure, and belonging. Wi...

Innovation in physical education has never moved faster, and if you feel like you can't keep up, you're not behind, you're human. In this episode of  Move With Purpose , Chris Meyer tackles the real challenge facing PE teachers in 2026: not a lack of resources, but too many of them. From decision overload and comparison culture to complacency and burnout, this conversation cuts through the noise a...

Ever put on a brand-new pair of sneakers and instantly feel faster, sharper, more confident? Same body. Same stride. Better grip. In this episode of Move With Purpose , Chris Meyer breaks down why many PE programs don't need a total overhaul, they need new tread. From classroom management to lesson flow to curriculum design, you'll learn how worn systems quietly lose traction and how small, intent...