The Purchase

This is what the clerk at the counter said as I was checking out with a fresh roll – okay a 6-pack – of .94-inch x 60-yard blue painter’s tape. My response was, “It’s not about what it is, but what my students and I can do with it.”

If you are at a school where you have every resource you desire for your Adapted PE and PE program, everything is easily accessible, and there’s plenty of time for equipment setup and transition – then this post may not be for you. For the rest of us…
Blue tape is a gift of versatility for an APE/PE teacher — and best of all, it leaves no residue, marks, or trace when you peel it up. #thankyou.

Uses A through I

This tape can be used to designate floor spots that won’t move (I’m talking to you – slipping and sliding poly spots), create labels for stations/equipment/rotations, and even placed on the floor to outline work areas or court lines as needed. These types of visual supports benefit all learners.

Still have tape left? Okay. Let’s take a length and stretch it across two large cones or chairs to make a low net for a volleying activity. Another class can use pencil size length pieces to designate where hands should be placed on a long-handled striking implement or make an inverted loop of tape (sticky side out) to stick onto the floor so the ball — now resting on top — that a student is attempting to strike no longer rolls just as they swing to make contact. These accommodations can aid in ensuring all students are able to demonstrate learning and growth in PE.

Haven’t used up your 60 yards of tape yet? Let’s take some and make name tags for students during that first week of the quarter so we can learn each other’s names more easily. Additional pieces can be used for “Tape Tag” similar to “Tail Tag” but without having to tuck anything into a waistband or pocket. Take smaller pieces and allow students to give them to their peers, initialing them if they wish, as a representation of a “shout-out” for high quality work in class. These uses promote the SEL elements that we can often tape – I mean tap – into in APE/PE with a touch of intentionality.

It’s About the Mindset

Yes, I do use blue tape a lot, but it’s about more than just the tape. It’s about making the most of what you have – or can easily access – to create the best possible learning environment for all students. Making that happen is all about listening to and observing student needs and being creative with the space/time/materials you have. While I can’t influence many of those factors in your practice from afar, I hope the concept of inclusive creativity -, modeled in this blog – is heard loud and clear and you try it with blue tape, or another material you have on-hand, in the coming days. Start slow, keep it fun, and when you’re really stuck, ask yourself “is this really just a roll of blue painter’s tape or can I make it into something more?”

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 Brad Hunter, 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 blog post with the following:

“The Space Between”: Identifying Barriers to Inclusion for Students With Disabilities by Jen Heebink

The Moments That Made Us by Jen Heebink

How Legends Are Made by Heather Burd

Have you read the latest Book of the Month recommendation?