The Best Parts of My Week! 5/14/12--5/18/12

Hi Everyone,
     It was a busy week chock full of best parts!

.....When my primary students walked into the gymnasium this week and saw the Yoga mats on the floor, they exclaimed:  "YES!  One of the activities we do for our Yoga unit involves a breathing and relaxation activity.  When we got to that part of the lesson, one of the students said:  I LOVE this one!"  It was great to see the students relaxing and enjoying the benefits of Yoga!  One of our second grade classrooms has a class mascot:  Bono the stuffed monkey.  Bono attends every PE class and he participated in Yoga with one of the students!  He had a great time too!  During the week one of the primary teachers told me that one of her students noticed that she was stressed and suggested that she do some Yoga to breathe and relax!  She told her teacher that it would make her feel better! 

.....Our Operation Healthy North Park project continues through the month of May.  This week I spent time hanging up the"Coop Cars" that students, staff, and families submit when they have exercised.  It was great to read the many different activities that participants are engaging in!  This project has grown over the years to include staff and community from across our district and this year we have had participation from our school alumni who have moved on to middle school!

.....One of my students this week asked me how fast the fastest human could run. I did not know the answer, but I told him that I would research it to find out.  I found out the answer:  27.79 mph, and told him the next day.  He was impressed!  I was impressed that he was interested enough to ask the question!

.....During a warm-up activity this week a class of third graders was jumping rope.  One student came over to me to say:  "I've made a lot of progress jumping rope since kindergarten!"  What a great observation!

.....Our school is fortunate to have received a Fuel Up to Play 60 Grant through the efforts of our Food Service Director and our staff.  This week we held our monthly North Park Healthy Highway assembly and announced the grant.  Our students were very excited and learned that we would be holding our first ever Family Fitness Night and that we would also be hosting chefs from the Culinary Institute that would be teaching us how to make healthy snacks!  We told the students that the "60" means that we should play 60 minutes per day and we encouraged students to pledge to do so.  Right after the assembly one of my students added up the minutes of exercise for that day and decided that PE (35 minutes), Recess (20 minutes) and our Healthy Highway Dance at the assembly (5 minutes) added up to 60!  It was great to see that the message was received!

.....As I have mentioned previously, staff are invited to take Fitness Frankie and Exercise Ernie on different adventures during the month of May to celebrate National Physical Fitness Month.  This weekend, Exercise Ernie was off to Buffalo for a gymnastics championship and Fitness Frankie was off to Florida to watch an Ironman competition!  How cool is that!  I can't wait to hear about their adventures!