This is my second year contributing to this blog, and I truly enjoy reading every post. They’ve been such a valuable part of my journey—helping me grow, reflect, and evolve as an educator.

Without a doubt, the thing that has elevated my teaching the most is watching other teachers in action.

Nine years ago, I was intimidated by the idea of teaching middle school physical education. The sheer size of the classes—often 50+ students—felt overwhelming. But everything changed the day I observed a teacher who made it look not only possible, but powerful.

What stood out to me wasn’t flashy equipment or some magical lesson plan—it was the way he knew every student. You could see the relationships in the way he spoke to them. He challenged students to think deeper about what they were doing and why it mattered. His routines were rock solid, and his class was truly student-led.

Even when problems arose, he saw them coming and addressed them with calm confidence. I was in awe of what I saw—and honestly, it gave me the belief that I could do it too.

Now, years later, I feel like my class has reached that same level. But I still make it a point to observe other teachers here in San Diego. Every time I do, I walk away with something new—sometimes even from places where quality PE wasn’t happening. There’s always something to learn.

So whether you’re a new teacher or a seasoned veteran, here’s my advice: keep watching others teach. It’s one of the best ways we can raise the bar—for ourselves and for our students.

This microblog post was a featured post in #slowchathealth’s #microblogmonth event. You can search for all of the featured posts here. Please do follow each of the outstanding contributors on social media (including Austin Olson, the author of this post) and consider writing a microblog post of your own to be shared with the global audience of slowchathealth.com

Pair this post with the following:

Middle School PE: Unleashing the Fun and Building Champions by Austin Olson

A Day in the Life….of a K-12 PE and Health Teacher by Shelby Hosmer

Teach Your Students How to Fail by Patrick Noel

Have you read the latest Book of the Month recommendation?