The Best Parts of My Week - 12/19/11-12/23/11

Hi everyone,
     The week before Christmas is always exciting!  We had some wonderful events to celebrate the season!

.....My primary students had fun playing "Save the Turkeys!"  Students ride scooters to save foam turkeys from the "Turkey Gobblers"!  When it was one of the students turn to be the Turkey Gobbler, she was so happy she said:  "Excitement, Excitement!"  We added some math to the activity as we counted how many turkeys were saved!  When it was time to clean up and I asked students to share, one pair of students shared one turkey together - one hand each - and exclaimed:  "We shared!"

.....My older students had a ball playing "Scooter Blitz" this week.  It was fun watching as the students figured out strategies to defend their bowling pins as well as knock down the opposing team's pins!

.....I smiled as one of my students presented me with an origami bird he had learned to make in art class!

.....A colleague shared this week that she had read an article in the NY Times about childhood obesity and  what schools can do to teach students how to make healthy choices.  I was pleased when she said that we were on the right track at North Park because we were doing exactly what the article suggested!

.....We made it snow in the gymnasium this week!  Well, not really, but it was fun pretending to make it snow by tapping white balloons up and down in the air to some holiday music about snow and winter!

.....One of the lasting legacies of a former music teacher who has since passed away is an event called "The Brotherhood Pageant".  This event was started more than 25 years ago and is intended as an event to give to those less fortunate than ourselves.  Students and adults donate food and sing holiday songs in a school-wide event.  We had a wonderful time during our Brotherhood Pageant this week and it was nice to see alumni, parents, grandparents, and friends attend as well!

.....We ended the week with an event called Winter Workshops.  Our principal came up with this idea several years ago as a way to celebrate the season in a way that would include all children and make a productive last day before the winter break.  More than 25 workshops are offered during the day and range from cookie making to making healthy snacks to chess, yoga, making holiday ornaments and more!  A colleague of mine and I conducted a Circus Acts workshop and we had a terrific time!  I had an opportunity to visit some of the other workshops during the day and students were enjoying them all!  It was a great way to end the week and begin the celebration!

I hope you enjoyed the "Best Parts of My Week!"

Visit the North Park PE website if you would like more information about the PE program at North Park!

The Best Parts of My Week - 12/12/11-12/16/11

Hi everyone,
     On Friday afternoon I had logged over 71,000 steps for the week!  It was a busy one, but definitely a fun one!

.....A third grader was using a heart rate monitor and suddenly said:  "Look at my heart beating!"

.....We have many wonderful adults who work in our building as aides.  As one class was leaving PE this week and choosing a face to answer the question:  "Did you help out in PE today?" an aide in the class answered it to!  She chose the happy face because she was a great help!

.....I have begun to create a PE portfolio for my second grade students this year.  I have been talking to students about the portfolio and the kinds of things that will be a part of it.  I recently had created the file with all of the students names in individual files and this week students had completed a Rock Wall Safety Test to be put in the portfolio.  I showed the students the box and their reaction was "Oooooh!"  They were very excited!

.....Our upper grades finished their lessons on the rock wall this week with a number climb.  Climbers chose a number from a cup and then had to climb to the next number randomly placed on the wall.  Groups of three took turns being the climber, spotter, and recorder.  Recorders wrote down all of the numbers on a white board and at the end of class worked together to add up the numbers.  I was impressed at the excitement that a combination of Math and PE could create!

.....My primary students have moved on to lessons learning about levels.  During one of the activities, a student smiled and said:  "My cat jumps in a high level!"  Another activity to reinforce the concept of levels is called the "Zany Zoo".  Students choose cards with animals and then pretend to be that animal in a zoo ring that I had created out of noodles.  One student said this week "Look!  The animals are escaping from the zoo!"

.....I asked two students to help me this week put the rock wall mats back in place so I could get ready for my afternoon classes.  I smiled when they reminisced about the lesson that was set up for the younger students coming that afternoon.  They remembered fondly the lesson from a previous year and were happy to help!

.....A bean bag frog landed on a student's head during an activity and as she was giggling about it I commented on how silly it was to have a frog land on your head.  She replied:  "Yes, that's why I'm laughing!"

.....Exercise Ernie spent the week in a K-1 class and participated in PE several times this week.  One of the days that he was in the gymnasium, a first grader noticed that "PE Paddy"(Fitness Frankie's friend from Ireland) was out and asked if PE Paddy and Ernie could play together!

.....Fitness Frankie spent the week in a 5th grade class.  On Friday I was in the library and asked the students how he was as I hadn't seen him all week because it was so busy.  A group of students chatted with me about all of the activities that he had participated in during the week.  He was as busy as I was this week!

I hope you enjoyed the "Best Parts of My Week!"

Visit the North Park PE website if you would like more information about the PE program at North Park!

The Best Parts of My Week! 12/5/11--12/9/11

Hi everyone,
     The holidays are approaching and the excitement is building!

.....I was in the lunch line this week when a kindergarten student turned to me and said:  "I always eat a healthy lunch"!

.....Prior to using the climbing wall with my upper elementary classes, we engaged in a trust lean activity.  This activity requires a significant amount of trust on my part as well as on the part of my students.  I take the lesson seriously and expect that of my students as well.  When I asked for a volunteer in one of my classes, I was happy to see many hands go up.  I chose one student to help me demonstrate the trust lean.  I was so pleased at the trust this student placed in me as we showed the rest of the class how to do the trust lean......when the rest of the class participated in the activity, I was pleased at the trust they placed in each other!

......We continued to climb our rock wall this week.  We have a magnetic rock wall and a set of letters that I can add to the wall randomly or in words.  One of the upper elementary classes asked "Are we spelling words today?  That's fun!" Some students spelled their names, others read the words that I had made and yet another student spelled the word "pixy"! I think it's great that students want to spell and it is a great way to create an interdisciplinary approach to our Cooperative Activities unit!

.....We had our Winter Concert at school this week!  For many of the students it is the first time that they have performed in front of a large group.  We have wonderful music teachers who always have the students ready to perform and they did a great job!  I always enjoy seeing the students in a different light and I am proud of how hard they (and their teachers) worked and I am impressed with their talent!

.......One of the things that makes North Park so amazing is how we come together as a community to work hard to make our school the best it can be and help others in need.  This week our North Park family did both and I was proud to be a part of it...........

I hope you enjoyed the "Best Parts of My Week!"

Visit the North Park PE website if you would like more information about the PE program at North Park!

The Best Parts of My Week - 11/28/11-12/2/11

Hi everyone,
      These are some of the best parts of my week!  I hope you enjoy!

.....I delivered Exercise Ernie to a kindergarten classroom this week.  They were so excited!

.....Even though I have been teaching for 28 years, I am always looking for new ideas and new things to try.  By doing this, I continue to learn and grow, and my students benefit from the new ideas and excitement as well! This week I tried two new activities.  One of them I learned from PE Central, and the other as a result of attendance at the recent NYS AHPERD conference.  One of the new lessons:  Scooter Ships, was so much fun that students talked about the activity all afternoon.  Before I knew it, I was adding "Space" music and using earth balls and asteroid balls as obstacles!  The other:  Noodle Bit Poppers, was enjoyed by all!

.....As a culminating activity to our Cooperative Activities Unit, students use the rock wall and older students learn to spot each other as they climb.  When classes arrived this week and saw that the rock wall was open, they screamed with excitement!

.....A fifth grade class was working together to create a "pipeline" so that various objects could travel through it.  I was especially proud of the perseverance that students showed and two students in particular were proud of their accomplishment even though it was difficult.  When I asked them how it felt when they accomplished the goal, they smiled wide and said: "Awesome!"

.....I smiled when a student smiled at me this week and said:  "I made a new friend today!"

.....We held a school-wide Fitness Friday activity this week where I played a song over the PA system and students exercised.  I saw a kindergarten student in the hallway after we finished and she said with a smile: "I'm worn out!  I need a drink!"

.....After Fitness Friday, I received an e-mail from a teacher who was happy to share that a student in her class who had been reluctant to participate in Fitness Friday as well as other activities, willingly participated without prompting and even volunteered to be the "Monkey" who decided on the exercise while friends followed along!

I hope you enjoyed the "Best Parts of My Week!"

Visit the North Park PE website if you would like more information about the PE program at North Park!