Hi everyone,
Well, the holiday excitement has begun! Experiencing the holiday season in an elementary school is wonderful and exhausting at the same time! Here we go!
.....This year I am assigned to bus duty in the upper elementary wing. Those of you who have read my blog before know that I actually enjoy bus duty! It gives me a chance to interact with students in a different setting and wish them well as they leave school at the end of the day. This week one student had a big smile on his face as he passed by me and spontaneously said (he knows I ask) "I had a great day today!" and wished me a nice evening. It made me feel good that my school was able to elicit that kind of response at the end of a day.
.....I am finishing up my unit on cooperative activities with my older students. One of the final activities is using our traverse rock wall. Students must spot each other on the wall after they learn the spotting commands. This year we were able to add a challenge course accessory to the wall which includes foam noodles in noodle holders. Students choose the level of challenge by climbing over, under, or through noodles and noodle arches. When the students walked in they were beside themselves with excitement! I was impressed at the level of cooperation during this activity! One student commented that we should use the wall more often and suggested that it be available during our warm-up sometimes. They are always thinking! In addition to the rock wall another final activity involves "noodle bits". These are small pieces of foam noodles. The task was for students to balance as many "bits" as possible on a partner, count the number of bits, and then record their best score. This was a great activity to observe! Students were so creative and enjoyed this activity! You can view pictures of all of the cooperative activities on my website: North Park PE
.....We had a great time during Fitness Friday this week! I invited my kindergarten and first grade students to the gymnasium. I taught them the Peanut Butter and Jelly Dance and the Cupid Shuffle! They and their teachers were terrific dancers and agreed that dancing is a great way to exercise! Some adults passing by the gymnasium stopped in to see what all the excitement was about and joined in too!
Have a great week!
