The Best Parts of My Week....2/7-2/11

Hi everyone,

We made it with a full week of school this week! It feels like we are settling in once again! There were so many great moments this week! I hope you enjoy them.

.....While finishing up gymnastics early this week I was at the junior turning bar when a kindergarten student asked me if she could do a "spaghetti roll". I was confused so I asked her to show me what she meant. She did what Kidnastics calls a "possum hang". I don't know how it translated to a spaghetti roll, but she knew exactly what to do!

.....I had finished class with a group of fourth graders and one of the students showed me his personal pedometer. We use pedometers often during PE so students are aware of their use. I asked him where he got his pedometer. He told me that it was part of a video game where the more steps he took, the more points he got to use toward his game. What a great idea to encourage children to move!

.....I was presented with a book about Fitness Frankie this week! This book came from a kindergarten class that took care of him a few weeks back. It included a sentence about what each student experienced with Fitness Frankie, and a drawing of the activity! They were so proud of their work! I thanked them and told them my heart was smiling! They smiled back!

.....I was showing different classes our new Jump Rope for Heart banner as we are beginning to get ready for this year's event. Our banners from past years are displayed on the gymnasium wall and we are getting ready to go around the corner! My fifth graders were impressed and started asking questions about how far around the wall I thought we could go. Somehow that led to questions about my age! I deflected the questions, of course, but not before guesses were made. Students guessed everything from 21 to 82! I finally answered that I was older than 21 but younger than 82!

.....Fitness Frankie came to PE every day this week because he is being taken care of by a combination class of first and second graders who come to PE as separate groups. It was great to have him in class. The students were excited and proud to be taking care of him! One of the activities this week was "Scooter Driving School". Students who were driving safely were allowed to give him a ride. He smiled all the way!

.....Students were looking forward to snowshoeing this week, but the weather did not cooperate for most classes. Oh, there was snow alright, but most mornings it was 3 degrees or less......way too cold for snowshoeing. I must give our students credit. While they were disappointed, they handled it well and I gave them some alternative choices for our indoor activities. One group chose to shoot some baskets and invited me to play with them. It was great to be included! I took a shot (basketball is not really my strength) and "swished" it! My students were impressed and so was I! Other students chose to play with Speedstacks (cup stacking). Some students even organized the whole box of cups for me! Finally, one of the students in this class had been absent the day that students practiced with the snowshoes. I invited her to try them on and practice on a mat indoors as one of the choices during this class. Without being asked, another student went right over to her, showed her how to put them on and stayed with her while she practiced. It was truly an example of having the "Courage to do the right thing" - our school motto. This student could have done many other activities during this class, but she chose to help a classmate instead..........definitely one of the "Best Parts of My Week"!

.....I think I can be funny sometimes (who doesn't really?) but there are times when what I think is funny is not the same as what my students think is funny. I made a joke or two this week at the beginning of class and no one laughed. I told them (in a funny way) that I thought I was being funny, but apparently was not. One student (one of the quieter students in the class) raised her hand and said "Mrs. R. - I am rolling on the floor laughing on the inside"! I laughed out loud and so did everyone else!

Hope you enjoyed reading about "The Best Parts of My Week"!

Visit the North Park PE website to learn more about our program!

E-mail me with comments or questions at: northparkpe@yahoo.com