Welcome to the Distinguished Physical Education podcast, the show where highly effective teachers from across the world come to discuss how to create a rigorous, standards-based PE program that is safe and welcoming for all students.
This podcast is a great companion for the book, Becoming a Distinguished Physical Education Teacher, which is available on Amazon.
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Welcome to the Distinguished Physical Education podcast, the show where highly effective teachers from across the world come to discuss how to create a rigorous, standards-based PE program that is safe and welcoming for all students.
This podcast is a great companion for the book, Becoming a Distinguished Physical Education Teacher, which is available on Amazon.
#25 - Supporting English Learners in PE Without Speaking Their Language (Yet) with Kelly Donnelly
Distinguished Physical Education Podcast Episodes
40 minutes 42 seconds
7 months ago
#25 - Supporting English Learners in PE Without Speaking Their Language (Yet) with Kelly Donnelly
For all things Distinguished Physical Education:
https://linktr.ee/distinguishedpe
What would you do if 200 new students walked into your gym — most of them speaking a language you don’t understand?
That’s exactly what happened to Kelly Donnelly, a PE teacher in Denver Public Schools. In this powerful episode, Kelly shares how welcoming a wave of Spanish-speaking migrant students changed her teaching, pushed her outside her comfort zone, and strengthened her belief that movement is a universal language.
We talk about:
How to overcome fear and anxiety when teaching ELLs
Ways to build connection through shared experience
Strategies for learning key phrases quickly
Using movement to teach language and social skills
The beauty (and challenge) of teaching beyond words
Whether you’ve worked with multilingual learners for years or you’re about to welcome your first, this episode will leave you inspired — and better prepared.
Secure your spot for the 2025-2026 DPE Virtual Book Study, facilitated by Gary Zaharatos and Jen Smith. Buy tickets here! Feel free to email gary@distinguishedpe.com for group discounts or any questions.
If you haven’t already, be sure to join our Facebook group where we have assembled quite the group of experts, always willing to share their insights and help out colleagues with their problems of practice. Simply search for Distinguished Physical Education.
Distinguished Physical Education Podcast Episodes
Welcome to the Distinguished Physical Education podcast, the show where highly effective teachers from across the world come to discuss how to create a rigorous, standards-based PE program that is safe and welcoming for all students.
This podcast is a great companion for the book, Becoming a Distinguished Physical Education Teacher, which is available on Amazon.