The Talking Adapted P.E. Podcast

2026 SHAPE America Southern District Teacher of the Year, Sharon Gregory, joins the show to discuss her illustrious 40 year long teaching career. Sharon has done it all and shares her wisdom. We hope you enjoy the show!

2023 Georgia AHPERD Adapted P.E. Teacher of the Year Josh Porter - @coach_J_porter Twitter/X, joined the show this month and talks about what Adapted PE looks like in the state of Georgia and the amazing weight lifting program he has started at his school and weight lifting club in his community. Josh will leave you with plenty to think about as you reflect on how you deliver APE services.

Alex Bocian from the New Mexico School for the Blind joined the show for episode 23. In this episode he provides some great strategies that he uses with his VI students that any teacher could use. Alex also shares how he uses support staff and instructional aides to enhance his students learning. You can find Alex on Twitter/x - @albocian where he shares great ideas, including some innovative adap...

Drs. Amanda Young and Melissa Bittner join the show to discuss the one day CSU Long Beach Adapted PE Workshop taking place November 7th. You can register at the link below. https://commerce.cashnet.com/cashneti/static/storefront/KIN-AdaptedPEWorkshop/catalog

2025 SHAPE America Eastern District APE Teacher of the Year - Brad Hunter joins the show. Brad and Chris discuss what Brad's job looks like in Baltimore. Brad also discusses his role as the President of MAPEC and what the goals of MAPEC. Before their time was up Brad shared what his favorite pieces of equipment. This episode is brought to you by www.justadaptit.com.

2025 SHAPE America Eastern District APE Teacher of the Year - Brad Hunter joins the show. Brad and Chris discuss what Brad's job looks like in Baltimore. Brad also discusses his role as the President of MAPEC and what the goals of MAPEC. Before their time was up Brad shared what his favorite pieces of equipment. This Episode is brought to you by www.justadaptit.com

Episode of 20! Thank you for all of the support, we are proud to give back to the Adapted Physical Education field. On this episode Dr. Garth Tymeson and Dr. Scott McNamara join the show to discuss IDEA. They explain where physical education and adapted physical education fit within the law and they remind us why there is a need for continued advocacy to ensure that our field can continue to thriv...

Marty Block, Director Kinesiology for Individuals with Disabilities Program at the University of Virginia joined the show this month. Chris and Marty start off the show discussing UVA’s unique teacher preparation program for future APE Teachers. They then go deep on the overall importance for teachers to continue to educate themselves and seek out research so they are the most up to date on accept...

In this months episode the tables are reversed as host, Chris Ahrens is interviewed by Project CAPE scholars from CSU Long Beach. THis episode is a cross over that will also appear on the "What's New in Adapted P.E." podcast. In this episode Chris touches on how he got into the field, his Paralympic soccer career, and his thoughts on where things stand in the field today. As always please be sure...

Cadi Doyle, Justin Lund, and Jeff Watkins joined host Chris Ahrens to discuss their great work and the process they went through to be recognized as a SHAPE America District Teacher of the Year.

Former SHAPE America Teacher of the Year, Sammi Stewart joins the show this month to discuss her incredible program. Sammi's passion for our field is evident throughout the episode and after listening you'll leave energized and ready to keep making an impact. Sammi has presented both nationally and abroad and is an expert in our field. She is a champion of Unified PE and explains why it is so impo...

Former CSU Long Beach professor Barry Lavay joins the show to discuss behavior management. Barry discusses why it is important to have a philosophy when it comes to behavior management, why being reflective on your practice is helpful, and shares some of his favorite resources. Dr. Lavay JOPERD article, March 2019 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-9v4CDL5KCyPZltndvdbmRLxEOLy-Igc/view?usp=sharing P...

This month Lemi Hayashi and Heidi Ambrosius join the show to recap the 2023 NAPEC conference that took place in November in Burbank, CA. They discuss the value of attending, the value of presenting, what some of their favorite sessions were, and what is in store for the conference going forward. As always, this episode is brought to you by www.justadapti.com, the most robust site on the internet f...

Longtime Adapted PE teacher Ron Usher joins the show this week to discuss his long career and the creation of his YouTube Channel @coachronandbaru and his website www.coachronandbaru.com

Danielle Musser joins the show this week to discuss what the APE world in the state of Colorado looks like and to discuss what it is like navigating the intricacies of being an expecting parent, a new parent, and a teacher.

Matt Barker was the first-ever guest on the show and he's back to discuss his website, www.justadaptit.com. Justadapt.com is a sponsor of the show and quite possibly the best resource on the internet for Adapted P.E. Teachers. Chris and Matt walk through everything that is available on the site and discuss how it can support one's teaching. Please be sure to comment, like, and subscribe to the sho...

Justin Haegele a professor at ODU joined the show to discuss his book - Teaching Disabled Children in Physical Education - (Dis)connections Between Research and Practice. We also get Justin's thoughts on trends in the field and if an everyday teacher should consider going on for their PhD.

I am joined this week by Heidi Ambrosius. Heidi has been teaching for 25 years and is currently an APE teacher in the Moreno Valley Unified School District. She is also an adjunct professor at Cal State San Bernadino and is the new Chairperson for California's State Council on Adapted Physical Education. Heidi and I spent most of our conversation talking about Adapted PE in Pre-School and the nuan...

Former National APE teacher of the year and current Program Manager for APE in the Fairfax County Schools in Virginia, Brad Weiner joins the show. Brad discusses what it is like to oversee a department of over 50 APE teachers, the PD opportunities he offers, some of the great teaching practices taking place in his district, and then we go into all of the great content he's created for the field, s...

Dr. Melissa Bittner from CSU Long Beach joins the show this week to talk about all things assessment. We discuss the assessment process from beginning to end, what the law requires, and standardized vs. non-standardized assessments. Additionally, we talked about how one should list hours on an IEP and the factors that go into writing goals. Please be sure to like the episode and subscribe to the s...

For the second week in a row we are joined by a SHAPE America Teacher of the Year. This week it is Kasia Givenrod from, Southern California. Kasia’s expertise in the field appears in every topic we discuss. She goes in depth on assessments, her affinity for Unified PE, and the recent advocacy work with SHAPE America in Washington D.C. Find Kasia on Twitter and Instagram @ape_mrsg. Please be sure t...

This week we have National Teacher of the year, Jen Heebink, from Minnesota. I first connected with Jen during Covid when we shared resources back and forth. Jen’s passi on comes through in this episode, especially when discussing Unified PE. Catch her on Twitter at @jeneebink and TikTok @mrsheebinkadaptedpe. Jen will be presenting at the SHAPE America conference in Seattle next month. Try and cat...

Welcome to episode 4 of the Talking Adapted P.E. Podcast! Due to the long holiday weekend, we’re dropping on a Tuesday this week. Please be sure to go rate and follow the show on your favorite podcast platforms. This week we have Eric Kohl (@MrKohlPE - Twitter). Eric teaches a specially designed program to students designated as socially and emotionally disturbed. He provides excellent insight int...

I really enjoyed this week's conversation with Jeff Watkins a general PE/APE teacher from Maryland. I think you’ll be really impressed by the work he’s doing. His excitement and enthusiasm really comes through and he leaves us at the end with a great piece of advice for other APE teachers. Jeff’s Social Media - Twitter - @LongviewAPE TikTok - @MrJeffAdaptedPE Links Discussed https://lessonpix.com/...

In this episode, Nicole McCoy talks us through the realities of being one of just three APE teachers to cover a district. She then goes on to explain how she uses switches to make PE accessible for everyone. You can hear her excitement as she discusses her passion for finding ways to bring PE activities to her students. Enjoy the show and leave your thoughts! Be sure to give Nicole a follow on Twi...