HISTORY and PHILOSOPHY OF THE KEYS TO SUCCESS

One of the loves of my life has been teaching physical education to elementary
school children for over thirty-five years. Periodically throughout those years,
former students would return to our school for a visit. Many of these students
had gone on to be very successful in their careers and their lives in general. In
speaking with them, they conveyed to me different aspects of my teaching
philosophy that had a lasting effect on them in their own personal development.

Approximately fifteen years ago, after many such conversations, I decided to
formalize my basic teaching philosophy into what I called the “Keys to Success”.
“Keys” is a program that consists of eight life skills (Love, Attitude, Effort, Motivation, Preparation, Cooperation, Discipline and Performance), that when used together and taught in a certain way, can have a powerful effect on students now and in their future.

In an effort to display these principles, eight large Keys, each representing one of these life skills, were mounted on the gymnasium wall. After explaining the positive aspect of each life skill in my classroom, I gave examples of how they could use that life skill in physical education and in anything they did in life. In an effort to reinforce each skill development, small paper Keys labeled with the appropriate key name were given out when a skill was displayed by a student in the classroom. In the same way, in an effort to improve classroom GROUP work, we now have larger Keys given for this purpose.

Many other useful ideas and lessons developed from this basic concept. I found that using this positive method gave my teaching more depth and purpose than ever before. The Keys not only helped my students excel in physical education, but in every aspect of their lives.

Even though this concept was initially introduced in elementary physical education, it has now been reformatted for use as a school-wide program. The Keys program is currently being used in a number of schools with tremendous feedback and testimonials. We have found that this program is very teacher-friendly, in that it is easily implemented with minimal work and maximum potential. It is positive-based and one of the few programs that incorporates both character development with student academic performance. A school Keys Mission Statement has been designed can be displayed in the entryway of the school along with the large Keys to illustrate this philosophy for the entire school. I believe that this program will not only help your students be the best students they can be, but it will also help them be happy and successful in all aspects of their lives!

Frank Gallagher