The PE Literacy Playbook

When I first began reimagining what physical education could look like, I wasn’t trying to create a philosophy.

I simply had a vision.

I wanted my classroom to be a place where students didn’t just move.

They thought.

They reflected.

They communicated.

They created.

I wanted physical education to become a place where literacy wasn’t something students left behind when they walked into the gym—it was something that naturally existed alongside movement.

At first, that vision belonged only to my classroom.

Then something interesting happened.

The conversation began spreading beyond it.

It started with my own physical education colleagues as we explored what literacy could look like within our content area. Before long, those conversations expanded to the elective teachers in my own school as we collaborated around ways to make literacy feel authentic within each of our disciplines rather than something added on top of them.

As I continued sharing the work beyond my own school, the conversation evolved once again. Educational leaders and district administrators began asking a different kind of question. They weren’t just interested in what these strategies could do for physical education—they wanted to know how the same mindset could support teachers across every content area.

That’s when I realized this conversation had never really been about physical education.

It was about something much bigger.

While this work is rooted in my experiences teaching physical education and strength and conditioning, the philosophy behind it was never intended to stay there.

If these ideas could transform learning in a weight room…

…why couldn’t they transform learning anywhere?

That question eventually led me to four simple words that have come to define both my work and the conversations that continue to grow because of it.

Literacy in All Spaces.

Those four words represent far more than a title.

They represent a philosophy.

Every classroom already has authentic opportunities for students to read, write, speak, listen, think critically, and communicate.

The goal isn’t to force literacy into places where it doesn’t belong.

It’s to recognize the opportunities that already exist and intentionally help students engage with them.

One of the greatest privileges to come from this journey has been watching those opportunities continue to open new doors.

What began as a vision for my own classroom has grown into opportunities to collaborate with educators, instructional leaders, and districts who share the same belief: every content area has meaningful opportunities for students to think, communicate, and grow through literacy.

I am incredibly grateful for every educator who has reached out, every district that has welcomed me into the conversation, and every opportunity to continue learning alongside passionate educators who care deeply about helping students succeed.

Because of that continued encouragement, I’m excited to officially begin partnering with schools and districts through Literacy in All Spaces—a professional learning partnership centered on helping educators discover authentic, content-specific literacy opportunities within their own classrooms.

While this work will always be rooted in my experiences teaching physical education and strength and conditioning, the partnership itself isn’t about PE.

It’s about possibility.

It’s about helping educators recognize that literacy doesn’t compete with great teaching.

It strengthens it.

Interested in bringing Literacy in All Spaces to your school or district?

For inquiries regarding professional learning partnerships, please contact:

Dustin Woods

rigorousliteracyinpe@gmail.com

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So what’s next?

Long before I began sharing ideas about literacy, my journey as a physical educator began with a different question.

How do we teach strength and conditioning in a way that develops students’ minds just as intentionally as it develops their bodies?

That question was born out of my own passion for strength and conditioning.

As I began preparing to teach, I found myself looking beyond the exercises themselves and becoming fascinated by the educational opportunities the weight room presented. It wasn’t just a place where students could become stronger physically—it was a place where they could learn to think.

When I became a teacher, I wanted to build a program that reflected that belief.

From the very beginning, I believed rigor in the weight room had to mean more than simply making students sweat more.

I wanted to challenge students intellectually.

I wanted them to understand why they were training the way they were.

I wanted them making informed decisions instead of simply following directions.

I wanted them to leave my classroom capable of designing, evaluating, and taking ownership of their own training long after they walked out of my weight room for the last time.

Over the years, that philosophy has continued to evolve.

What began as a collection of ideas, lessons, and instructional strategies has gradually grown into a comprehensive instructional framework designed specifically for teaching strength and conditioning.

There’s still plenty of work to be done before it’s ready to share in its entirety, but I’m incredibly excited about where it’s headed and look forward to sharing more in the months ahead.

Autonomy by Design

A Framework for Building Independent Lifters Through Intentional Instruction

(Coming soon)