Brain Ball is Taking Over Physical Education Class
By Clare Wickramasuriya
In physical education classes around OCPS, students are getting hooked on a new game. This innovative game, “Brain Ball,” combines both mental and physical education, integrating math and literacy into different movement activities. Students work in teams to accomplish a task given by the teacher while moving and learning at all times and of course, having fun.
Brenda Christopher-Muench, the K-12 health and physical education resource teacher, organized a workshop for P.E. teachers that were interested in learning about this new game. She then provided specialized equipment for teachers to bring back to school to add the game into their curricula. One of these educators was Luis Hernandez-Oliveras, P.E. teacher at Chickasaw Elementary.
For the past 5 months, Hernandez-Oliveras has been helping enhance students' vocabulary, spelling, math and other skills through Brain Ball. .jpg "Kids playing Brain Bowl")
On a covered court, Hernandez-Oliveras instructs the students to dribble colorful balls, featuring letters and numbers, to music. When the music stops, the schoolchildren gather in groups and share words or solve mathematical problems with the letters or numbers on their balls. In physical education classes around OCPS, students are getting hooked on a new game.
This innovative game, “Brain Ball,” combines both mental and physical education, integrating math and literacy into different movement activities. Students work in teams to accomplish a task given by the teacher while moving and learning at all times and of course, having fun.
Before starting at OCPS, he received his bachelor's degree in physical education from the University of Puerto Rico and taught for five years at the middle school level. Growing up playing in youth leagues for several sports and having his own excellent P.E. teachers sparked his interest and passion for teaching physical education.
“In any given activity that we are using the Brain Ball equipment, students get the chance to improve not only their PE skills, but also gives them a chance to practice communicating better by having to interact with many other students,” said Hernandez-Oliveras, who has been teaching at Chickasaw Elementary for 19 years. “It’s a very innovative way to get my students excited about learning and reviewing literacy and math skills and supporting the fine effort of the classroom teachers.”
Throughout his career in teaching, Hernandez-Oliveras states that his favorite part is the “honest and pure smiles on his students' faces when they enjoy participating in any type of game, physical activity or sport.”
Brain Ball is just one of the many ways teachers across OCPS are creatively engaging students in learning and improving their skills.