I firmly believe that in the current times it is vital for our students to move as much as possible within our lessons. Theoretical information is shared where needed but most of the times it is wrapped in an activity to understand the message clearly. We all know that students retain information not from hearing about it, but from actually putting it into practice. With the current lifestyle shift with more and more students getting over-weight, we can not afford to turn our subject into a sit down, lecture lesson. It is more vital then ever for students to move everyday, to understand the importance of making their muscles move and their bodies sweat.
Our lessons are based around activity, even the health component is an active lesson and not a lecture. Our students learn about nutrition, not through death by powerpoint, but by consuming some food (candy or fruit, depending on the wish of the student) which leads into a very short research on the accompanying food-label, looking at sugar intake and calories. From this lovely treat students then will have to calculate the amount of time they have to work in order to burn off the sugar/calories.
And although it is not always easy to make theoretical content active, I am a firm believer that we can do a lot more as long as we are creative. This has led to a cool "muscle dodgeball game"; an individual dodgeball game where you are not out, as long as you can name the muscle group that was hit by the ball. (And of course as a teacher you can allow for differentiation by targeting the more complicated muscle groups)
The IB curriculum guide (2014) states:" ...must engage students in physical education activities for at least 50 percent of the total teaching time". To me this reads that I have the freedom to allow students a 100% activity time, as long as I cover the content of my curriculum and allow the students to meet the assessment criteria set. In reality, it comes down to the fact that you occasionally must allow for some less engaging parts of a class, but in my believe not a whole lesson (with room for exceptions of course).
And yes we need to teach our students how to write correct reflections, how to plan accurately and all other skills that come with the IB curriculum. However these skills are carried by all subjects and it is worthwhile to start the discussion where and how these skills are taught across the board. By identifying which subjects cover the same theoretical material you will save yourself a lot of time. Time that can be used for action!