Hi everyone,
It seems to me that the best parts of my week are a little bit like snowflakes.....no two weeks are exactly alike!
.....One of the things that I love about technology, having a website, and blogging is that I get a chance to connect with people that I would have otherwise never met! Early this week I received an e-mail from Paul Stasso who is the founder of P.A.C.E. Trek. P.A.C.E. stands for Promoting Active Children Everywhere. Paul asked me if I would mention his program in my blog. I had heard of P.A.C.E. Trek before, but wanted to find out more about it. I learned that this program invites students to virtually "tag along" as he completes amazing journeys all over the world. Schools sign up and pledge to complete the same mileage as he runs along a particular route. Student mileage is accumulated and students can log on to the P.A.C.E. Trek website to view Paul's progress and learn about his trip. This program is a great way to encourage student activity while introducing students to places they most likely have not been! Paul's next trip is a journey across the Mohave Desert in April, 2011. This program is free to students in grades K-12. Check it out and learn more at www.pacetrek.com!
...."Healthy Highway" continues to grow and take shape at North Park! This week a student spontaneously told me that he had strawberries for lunch. I asked him if he brought them for lunch or if they were served as part of the school lunch. He answered that they were served as part of the school lunch. He was very proud of his choice! I asked the class if anyone else chose strawberries during lunch and many students raised their hands. I then asked if there was a green circle near the choice (Green Light foods). They responded that indeed there was a green circle near the strawberries and we entered into a great discussion about green light foods and making healthy choices!
.....We had some fun (actually, a lot of fun) with our parachute this week. I learned a few new activities at a recent conference that I attended and I was eager to try them out! One of the activities involved a ball "surfing" on the parachute while I played a song about surfing in the background. The students were so very excited and had a great time working together to make the ball "Surf". One of the students said "This makes me think of Hawaii!"
......Another parachute activity involved soft music playing in the background while students took turns laying down on the parachute while the rest of us moved the parachute gently as if it were a cloud. Our parachute is rainbow colored and each handle corresponds to a color. I called colors for student turns. During one class, students were sure to encourage me to have a turn when my color was called! It was great to experience the activity and to enjoy and encourage the fairness that students were displaying while allowing everyone - including me - to have a turn! After all had had a turn, I asked students to share what that experience felt like. Students were so willing to share and were so creative in their responses! Some mentioned that it felt like they were floating, others shared that it felt relaxing! I think many would have stayed in the parachute relaxing all day if time allowed!
.....Older students had a chance to share feelings this week too! I use something called "Feelings Cards" (Project Adventure) with my older students at the end of our cooperative unit to discuss how they felt during particular activities. These cards are terrific because not only do they display words, but they also include pictures to describe many different feelings. Cards describe feelings from sad to happy to frustrated to confused to worried and so on. During one class this week, I placed about 25 cards on the floor and asked students to pick (in their mind) one card that best described their feelings during each of three final cooperative activities. I then asked students to create small groups to discuss these feelings. I gave the groups a few minutes to discuss the cards and feelings. I was impressed at the discussions that were taking place and the willingness of students to share. I then asked if anyone wanted to share with the class one of the feelings and the reason for their choice. I thought maybe one or two students would want to share with the full class group, but there were so many hands up we took extra time to share! It proved to me (once again) that cooperative/adventure education is a powerful tool to teach problem solving and cooperation in addition to building trust!
.....This last entry had nothing to do with my PE classes this week, but still makes the list of "The Best Parts of My Week! Our PTA is wonderful and very generous and was able to schedule a special assembly for our school this week. We enjoyed a full hour of a performance by a group of dancers and drummers from West Africa. This group was awesome! The energy and talent displayed during the assembly was incredible! Students were engaged and excited, but also respectful to the performers. (Our principal was so impressed with the respect that our students displayed that each class was given permission to move their class car - part of Healthy Highway - one mile down "Respect Road".) They were especially excited when the teachers were up in front learning and performing a dance! Without the generosity of our PTA, many students and staff would never have had the opportunity to experience this inspiring performance!
.....Remember, feel free to e-mail me the best parts of YOUR week! I would love to hear from you! - northparkpe@yahoo.com
