Hi everyone,
As each week begins, I wonder what will emerge as the "Best Parts". Sometimes I wonder if I will be able to write about something meaningful that others will relate to as they read this blog. Let's face it.....teaching is a labor of love and some days seem more challenging than others. However, challenges lead to hard work, and hard work leads to success. Nevertheless, as each week ends and I reflect on the week as a whole, I always come back to the positive moments; The Best Parts of My Week!
.....Several of our kindergarten and first grade classes went on a field trip this week to a local performing arts center. At the end of the day I was asking one of the teachers how the trip was and I inquired about what show they saw. I was told that they saw a show about several Leo Lionni books. One of these books is called Swimmy. I replied excitedly that I had recently used that book as a lead up to one of my cooperative activities with my first grade classes. The book is about a fish named Swimmy who teaches his fish friends to work together so that they can keep each other safe in the ocean. The teacher then said that her students told her all about the PE class where I read the book and they played a game called "Giant Tuna" where they learned to help their friends! I truly felt like that lesson made a difference in these students' lives. This experience also pointed out to me that there are many opportunities to collaborate with classroom teachers that are missed and I hope to capitalize on those opportunities in the future.
.....Healthy Highway continues to grow! This week I was assigned bus duty in the fourth and fifth grade wing. I used my "Traffic Light" sign that we made in our committee. Showing red means "Stop and think about it"; yellow means "Slow down and think about it"; and green means "All systems go". One of the places we use these signs is in the hallway during dismissal to remind students to move safely. It is pretty amazing how these simple signs work! As one student was racing down the hallway I showed the yellow sign to her and she immediately slowed down! I did not have to say a word! Other times this week students spontaneously used the hand signals to the color that I was showing! One of our parents who saw the signs in action wished that she had a similar prop to use at home!
.....Each week I have a "Question in the Pocket" as I call it. This is a question that is placed in a wall hanging that has four pockets. The top pocket holds the question, the next holds a picture of a smiling face, the next holds a picture of a thinking face, and the last holds a picture of a sad face. This wall hanging is placed at the exit doors of the gymnasium. As students leave PE they are asked to "Choose a face". This is an exercise in self-reflection for students. Students "answer" the question by touching the face that best reflects their behavior during PE related to the question. This week's question was "Did you help others during PE today?" Prior to answering the question, I asked students to tell me who and how they helped during PE. The answers they gave validated my belief that students are great helpers! They really do want to help others. They just need the opportunity and the example......
Have a great week everyone!
