Scroll through any PE-related hashtag and you’ll see a flood of activity ideas: colorful equipment, elaborate tag games, and an endless highlight reel of entertaining and sometimes useful content.

Social media has made it easier than ever to find activities for your next lesson. But the question we need to ask ourselves is: Are we improving instruction, or simply collecting games?

There’s a difference between sharing activities and shaping practice. And right now, a lot of popular PE content leans toward the former. When that happens, we risk reinforcing the outdated idea that PE isn’t “real teaching.” And that undermines the work so many educators are doing to elevate our discipline.

The Rise of PE Influencers

It’s not hard to see why. Social media rewards visibility. The more entertaining or clickable the post, the farther it spreads. Influencers with the biggest followings often get there not by promoting standards-based learning, but by showcasing novelty, performance, or personality.

That’s not inherently bad – but it may come with a cost.

When the loudest voices in the field focus mostly on activities or self-promotion, they create a false picture of what high-quality physical education looks like. It’s easy for novice teachers, veterans looking for fresh ideas, and even building leaders to confuse popularity with expertise.

We start to think, If they have tens of thousands of followers, they must be promoting best practices in PE. But that’s not always true.

What’s Missing from the Conversation

The most important parts of PE – standards-based instruction, skill progressions, assessment, cognitively rigorous tasks, and equitable practices – rarely go viral.

You don’t often see a reel about how a teacher gave specific, actionable feedback aligned to a content and language objective. You rarely see highlight videos of students using peer assessment tools or being provided structured opportunities to articulate their standards-based learning.

Why? Because that kind of work is difficult. It’s slower. And honestly, it doesn’t fit into a catchy 30-second clip.

But it’s the kind of work that leads to real impact on both teachers and their students. 

What We Need More Of

We need more PE influencers sharing:

• How they write and communicate standards-based daily objectives.
• How they assess students in meaningful, equitable ways.
• How they adapt lessons for students with diverse needs.
• How they reflect on what did and didn’t go according to plan and adjust.

That’s the kind of content that moves our discipline forward – not just what’s fun or flashy, but what’s effective instructional practices and good for students. 

And to be clear: there’s nothing wrong with sharing great activities. But we should also be asking: How does this connect to what students are supposed to be learning? What standard does it support? How do you know if students are actually learning it?

If we’re not answering those types of questions, we’re not modeling best practices – we’re just posting.

A Call to the PE Community

So here’s the challenge: Let’s shift the conversation.

Let’s lift up educators who are doing the deep, reflective, sometimes messy work of teaching high-quality physical education. Let’s make space for discussion, not just demonstration. Let’s reward clarity, honesty, and pedagogy – not just production value.

And if you’re someone who uses social media to share your PE practice, ask yourself: What message am I sending about what matters in this profession?

Because in physical education, true influence isn’t about likes or follows – it’s about consistently promoting effective teaching methods and best practices.

*The full chapter “The Impact of Social Media in PE” is now in the Second Edition of the book Becoming a Distinguished Physical Education Teacher

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 Gary Zaharatos, the author of this post) and consider writing a microblog post of your own to be shared with the global audience of slowchathealth.com. Gary is also the moderator of the Distinguished Physical Educator Facebook page.

Pair this blog post with the following:

Eliminating Exclusionary Practices by Gary Zaharatos

Tips and Tricks for Classroom Management in PE by Michael Glosson

Making Meaningful Physical Education Elementary Friendly by Will Westphal

Have you read the latest Book of the Month recommendation?