Central ES physical education teacher brings lesson to life with video

Central Elementary School students might open a remote learning lesson to discover their teacher Matt Wood running from a dinosaur or climbing a mountain to rescue a village.

Wood, a physical education and health teacher, is combining his interest in video production with his classroom job during remote learning.

He uses green screens and video editing to bring his lessons to life and get his students moving.

Traditionally, remote learning consists of using materials off Google slides, Wood said. Those slides often contain videos or an interactive element to keep students engaged, he said.

Wood is creating a relationship with his students when he recreates the lesson using himself as the main character.

Wood created “The Race to Gingerbread Mountain” virtual physical education workout game on YouTube.

Students had to duck, dodge, jump and skate to avoid obstacles to get up the mountain and save the village.

The game featured Wood and fellow physical education teachers Stacy Crayton and Krista Porter showing students how to perform the activity.

He also edited a video about school bus evacuation to make it more interesting for District 202 elementary school students to watch.

The original video included scenes of bus accidents and a bus rolling over which might have scared elementary school students.

Wood reworked the video to include himself narrating and used more cartoon characters to make it more kid-friendly and less scary.