# 141 - Meaningful Movement Experiences in the Early Years with Zack Smith

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Zack Smith is one of the very best early years educators that I have come across in my career. He puts a tremendous amount of time and energy into creating the very best learning experiences possible for his young learners in physical education. Through the use of story-telling and very purposeful environmental design, Zack focuses on engaging every single student in relevant movement experiences that deepen their learning and their motor competence. Zack and I collaborated deeply this year around a research project that helped him better understand the impact that his program and teaching was having on his young learners. In this episode we discuss this research project, what he learned, and how he has used this information to further his thinking around what is possible in his program and next steps he would like to take. If you are an early years teacher or coordinator, I think you will find great value in this discussion.

About Zack
Zack Smith has been an international early childhood educator since 2005.

 In 1998, he graduated from Smoky Hill High School in Aurora, CO, USA, with an International Baccalaureate diploma. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Culture, Text, and Language, from The Evergreen State College in 2001. In 2007, he received an MA.Ed from the University of Phoenix Online.

 Zack taught preschool, elementary ESOL, technology, and early years PE at Shanghai Community International School between 2005 and 2014. Since 2014, he has been a K1 PE teacher at the KAUST School in Saudi Arabia. As an educator, Zack is interested in foundation skill development and student empowerment through innovative and continuously evolving pedagogical strategies.

 In addition to sport, Zack is also passionate about music and poetry. He is an avid drummer and songwriter, as well as a husband and father of one son.

Connect with Zack:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrzackpe

Special thanks to Bronx based band Conversing with Oceans and Alex Bondarev for creating the podcast music.
https://www.conversingwithoceans.com/