The Best Parts of My Week - 3/19/12--3/23/12

Hi everyone,
    What an amazing week! As you read you will see that our annual Jump Rope for Heart event dominates the "Best Parts of My Week"!

.....During this week, I was surprised and pleased to accept many Jump Rope for Heart posters from my students!  They drew these posters to advertise the event!

.....Some of our students decided to raise money for the American Heart Association using the team approach.  They stopped by to update me on their progress this week!  They were so proud!  Me too!

.....One of my students told me that he was surprised because while jump roping was difficult for him during PE class, he was able to jump ten times in a row during Jump Rope for Heart!

.....I added a new activity to our Jump Rope for Heart event this year.  Our bears - Fitness Frankie and Exercise Ernie are so popular that I created cutouts of them using construction paper and asked students to decorate the bears and "feed them healthy snacks" by putting a sticker of a healthy food choice on their tummy!  They did a great job and the bears are adorable!  I can't wait to hang them up for everyone to see!

.....It was so wonderful to see our kindergarten students participate in Jump Rope for Heart!  Since it was their first time they were not quite sure what to expect.  They were excited, of course, but as soon as they realized how much fun the event was going to be the excitement could not be contained!

......Exercise Ernie and Fitness Frankie participated in Jump Rope for Heart too!  Each class that was hosting a bear brought him to the gym and they were so proud of their participation!  In fact, one of the classes was having so much fun with Exercise Ernie this week that they brought him to a PARP (Parents as Reading Partners) assembly on Friday!  Of course, the bears are so photogenic so pictures abound and can be seen on the North Park PE site!

.....Our Jump Rope for Heart Youth Market Director arrived during our event to support us and to deliver this year's banner.  I display each year's banner on the gymnasium wall and I tell my students that I am so proud each day when I see the banners that represent so much hard work and generosity!  When this year's banner arrived, the students were so proud!  The "ooh's and aah's" were wonderful to hear!

.....Each year I tell my students that our purpose for doing Jump Rope for Heart is two-fold.  I teach students that we do Jump Rope for Heart so that we all learn more about our own heart health and make healthy choices in terms of exercise and nutrition.  In addition, I remind students that we do Jump Rope for Heart so that we can help others who might not have as healthy a heart as we do and that the money we raise goes to help others.  At North Park, we make a point of emphasizing the participation, not how much money each child and family can or can not donate.  In fact, each child participates in the event regardless of the ability to donate.  Yet, every year the generosity of our community overwhelms me.......while we are still accepting donations, it is clear that our seven year cumulative event total will exceed $23,000.00.  Every child and family can, and do make a difference.....and I am proud to be a part of that.

Thanks for reading about 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! 3/12/12--3/16/12

Hi everyone,
   The excitement is building for Jump Rope for Heart!

.....Last Friday we held our Jump Rope for Heart kick-off assembly.  Students and staff alike are excited about our upcoming event!  One of my fifth graders stopped by to ask me if they could raise funds as a team!  Great idea!

.....We start everyday by saying the North Park Pledge.  This is a pledge that encourages students to do the right thing, even when no one is watching!  It also encourages healthy choices by incorporating the Healthy Highway Pledge.  Earlier in the year there was contest to design a new background for the pledge.  A winner was selected and the new poster was designed.  This week the new posters arrived and they are amazing!  Our principal delivered a new poster to the gymnasium while I had a class and the students were very excited!  One of the first graders suggested that we say the Pledge right then and there!  We did!

.....As we practice our jump rope skills to get ready for Jump Rope for Heart, I have been teaching the upper elementary students some new tricks.  One of my favorites is the "Rope in Rope" trick where a jumper uses an individual jump rope while jumping in a long turning rope.  It is quite a skill to master and watch.  This year one of my fifth grade students got it on the first try!

.....I had the pleasure of listening to a second grade student read Fitness Frankie's journal entry during the morning announcements this week.  She wrote it herself during Writer's Workshop!

.....My primary students have been learning how to jump rope too!  They work very hard at it even when it is a challenge.  One student commented on another student's jumping by saying:  "You're a natural!"

.....I absolutely love the look on the faces of my kindergarten students when they jump rope successfully for the first time!

.....As I was waiting for a class in the hallway this week a third grader walked by with a big smile.  She said:  "We are moving two miles!"  She was on her way to move her Healthy Highway class car in the hallway and was very excited!

Thanks for reading about 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 - 3/5/12--3/9/12

Hi everyone,
    It was a great week!  As the week progresses, I write notes down on a piece of paper so that I can write my blog at the end of the week.  I actually ran out of room on the page this week!

.....I was at a conference on the Friday before this week.  When I saw a kindergarten student on Monday he said:  "I miss you when you are gone!"

.....We continued some work on pathways this week.  When creating a curved pathway with some long jump ropes one student said:  "It's  a squiggly village!"  Another student exclaimed:  "I wish I could have these at my house!"  He was talking about some foam blocks that we were using to create straight pathways.

.....I am always impressed with the creativity of my students.  They constantly come up with ideas that I would never have thought of!  They are at their best when I give them equipment and allow them to build or create.  During our pathway unit I set up stations where students are asked to create specific pathways using a particular kind of equipment.   A kindergarten group created a "pathway snake" with some noodle bits. It was awesome!  A second grade group used foam noodles to spell their first names.  They were making zig-zag pathways and the letters in the name they chose fit the bill!  Another group was using foam blocks and they made airplanes that they flew in many different pathways!

.....My upper elementary students are participating in a basketball unit.   One of the basketballs got stuck on the top of the backboard ( a one in a million shot!).  I was attempting to get it down by tossing another ball up toward the ball that was stuck.  Of course, this took me several attempts and one of the students would rebound the ball and toss it back to me.  Another student remarked:  "This is good teamwork!"  We kept at it and eventually got the ball down....teamwork works!

.....During another basketball activity, students were playing a game during which teams were required to pass, dribble, and shoot the ball and everyone on the team had to be included in the passing.  While points were awarded for different accomplishments during the game, the overall score was not kept.  I was so proud when these students were not only cheering for their own teammates, but they were cheering for the other team members as well!  I mentioned it to their classroom teacher when she picked them up and she was beaming!  Isn't teaching our students to be good people and have good character more important than the score??????   I think so!

.....We held a Fitness Friday activity on Wellness Wednesday this week due to some bad weather in a prior week.  The gymnasium was full of 150+ K-2 students all moving during a speed stacking relay activity and they were amazing!  The teachers commented on their positive behavior and I must say I was impressed too!  This was the first time I had tried this activity with so many students.  They loved it!  They had so much fun it was hard to stop when it was time to go back to class!

.....At the end of the week we held our next Healthy Highway Assembly.  We are traveling down Have A Heart Way this month as we get ready for Jump Rope for Heart.  We are learning how to take care of our own hearts by exercising and eating healthy foods, and we are helping to take care of others' hearts by participating in Jump Rope for Heart!  The participation and enthusiasm during and after our assembly was wonderful!

Thanks for reading about 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 - 2/27/12--3/2/12

Hi everyone,
    We had an extra day - "Leap Day" - to make a difference and make it count!  I did my best to do both!

.....During a warm-up this week one student remarked: "Skipping!  That's my favorite way of moving!"

.....Exercise Ernie was being hosted by a fourth grade class this week.  When the class came to PE one of the students was very excited and told me about a new bear of his own!

.....During an activity this week we used heart rate monitors to determine heart rate.  We are so fortunate to be able to use this technology in our PE program!  The students enjoyed it too!

.....During a lesson about straight, curved, and zig-zag pathways I asked students to zig-zag between cones while carrying a football.  A kindergarten student pretended to put on some marker under his eyes just like the real football players do to reduce glare!

.....A first grade student showed me his new shoes and said:  "For some reason I run faster in these shoes!"

.....In our district this week, our senior class held a fund raiser during which the Harlem Wizards Basketball team played a team of teachers, staff, administrators, and students.  Many of our students were excited to attend the game!  One group of cub scouts asked if they could take Exercise Ernie to the game too!  They are a responsible group so I agreed and they all had a terrific time!

.....One of our teachers was going to play in the game against the Harlem Wizards this week.  She thought it would be a great idea to take Fitness Frankie to the game to meet the Wizards!  Check out the pictures on his blog!

.....At the end of the week I had an opportunity to be a presenter at a Nassau Zone Conference at Adelphi University.  I was excited to be a presenter at the conference and my excitement turned to pride as I met a PE teacher at the conference who used to be one of my students!  Time flies when you are having fun!

Thanks for reading about 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!